First Year Summary (aka List of what went wrong)

[Lordpontifrite]

So I'm nearing my first year of owning one of these lovely cars and decided to list what I've gone through in the hope it can help someone, like some of you have helped me. Reggie is a 2002 X Type, 2.1 V6 with the weirdest options on one of these cars I've ever seen. I've never seen one like it. 

Firstly, when I got "Reggie" he wasn't in the best of health. The sump seal had gone and there was a rather annoying Oil leak. Halfords fixed this for about £130.

Secondly I went to get the tracking done, only to find that the previous owner had put tyres for a Nissan Qashqai on it. I had wondered why it was juddering around corners! So a full set of tyres went on. 

Next came an incident where someone smashed into the front wing. Replaced for £65 with the right colour code from an eBay breakers who were brilliant. 

Then there was the juddering problem that got worse and worse. My back street mechanic kept telling me it wasn't the spark plugs and kept doing engine flushes. In the end I went to Jag Tech in Nottingham who are quite frankly superb. It turns out it was the spark plugs. Apparently small time mechanics don't like doing spark plugs on these due to the time it takes to get the air intake manifold off. However there is a trick of the trade where you can apparently get to them through the gap between the windscreen and the bonnet. Unfortunately they didn't want to tell me how exactly lol. 

Next came the most annoying problem. THE ALARM! It kept going off so I was forced to disconnect the battery every time I locked up, which is a pain. In the end I narrowed it down to the rear door lock on the passenger side. This should be an easy job but it is in fact incredibly fiddly. The most annoying aspect is trying to fit the little clip for the door handle, which is done blindly in the corner of the door. If you can, get a mechanic to do it. 

I have also switched the original CD player for an original tape deck. This might seem like a downgrade but it allows me to use my phone with a cassette adapter and keep the original looking stereo. I also tried fitting in a touch screen double din unit, however due to ducting at the rear of the unit, it wouldn't fit. You can only use low profile double din units or a single din fitted at the bottom. 

If I can help anyone with any of the above issues don't hesitate to respond.

So that's my year with Reggie. Apart from the above issues, on the whole it's been rather enjoyable. He's great to drive, looks pretty stylish and great for lolloping about on country roads.  

As for my next task I'm looking for some waist seals for the rear doors to try and keep the water out!.