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If you are seeking to depend upon your choices for transportation, then the answer is neither.
Much better values and utility to be found in many AWD vehicles ... Subaru, Audi, Volvo, Nissan ... and there's a lot of FWD vehicles that will also give yeoman service in most applications.
FWIW, unless you live in a serious snow belt area, or the Rocky Mountains, most FWD cars are more than adequate for transportation and will give better fuel economy, too.
Personal contact with Jeep vehicles has shown them to be less than reliable for street transportation, and they're not inexpensive to fix, either. Nor would I want one if the driving conditions are icy roads. The simple (if crude) CJ's of years past are not to be found in the recent offerings, and again ... if you're driving on the streets, they simply don't hold a candle to much more capable cars of the last few years.
FWIW, if this is only going to be transport for inclement weather and you don't need to haul things around, I have found that AWD cars are a much better bet in all conditions except for very deep snow. My Audi's (A4 and A6) have been absolute tanks in all weather and were especially good at handling slushy/icy roads that are far more common than 12"+ of snow. Trucks and SUV's are much larger and heavier, with much higher center's of gravity and that makes it much more difficult to control them in slippery conditions compared to a car. My wife and I tended to take the Audi in all but the deepest snow even though we had a 4WD Avalanche sitting in the driveway.
Very informative responses guys, thanks. I basically like the styling of both vehicles and both have seem to be extremely cheap now (seeing many examples close to $10K). I'm a very big fan of British cars (one of my sports cars is a Lotus Elise) so I'd like to stick with British cars if possible. However, I would be open to a Volvo S40 T5.
My big question: Which out of the Xtype or the Land Rover would likely be more reliable and less expensive to maintain. I know neither one is excellent in this regard, but which one would be the better of the two? Also, is the engine in the Xtype a Ford motor (good thing) or made by Jaguar?
My big question: Which out of the Xtype or the Land Rover would likely be more reliable and less expensive to maintain. I know neither one is excellent in this regard, but which one would be the better of the two? Also, is the engine in the Xtype a Ford motor (good thing) or made by Jaguar?
Neither, both will be expensive to maintain and both have horrible reliability.
I've had both and am an english car fan myself. For bad weather i'd chose the Rover, for good weather the Jag.
However, as many have pointed out if you're not use to dealing with exotic cars you might want to stick to something else, though I've had very little trouble with either.
I love my Magnum R/T AWD. You can get a Chrysler 300C or Charger R/T in AWD as well. Very rare cars and good performance out of the box.
Or just get a 2005 Legacy GT Limited and put some easy mods on it (tune, exhaust, intake) to get it to 300hp. You probably won't find a better AWD system than the Subaru. This is the route I'd probably go if I only had a $15k budget.
Last edited by PokerMunkee; 08-12-2010 at 07:43 PM..
Very informative responses guys, thanks. I basically like the styling of both vehicles and both have seem to be extremely cheap now (seeing many examples close to $10K). I'm a very big fan of British cars (one of my sports cars is a Lotus Elise) so I'd like to stick with British cars if possible. However, I would be open to a Volvo S40 T5.
My big question: Which out of the Xtype or the Land Rover would likely be more reliable and less expensive to maintain. I know neither one is excellent in this regard, but which one would be the better of the two? Also, is the engine in the Xtype a Ford motor (good thing) or made by Jaguar?
On the Jag engine, both the 2.5 and 3.0 are nothing more than a version of Ford's Duratec motors of the same displacement. They are more similar to the Mazda versions than the Fords as they incorporate variable valve timing. There are also a few other differences, but mainly related to the materials used.
If I had to pick between these two for the more reliable ride, I would go with the Jag, but the latest model year my budget could swing.
Very informative responses guys, thanks. I basically like the styling of both vehicles and both have seem to be extremely cheap now (seeing many examples close to $10K). I'm a very big fan of British cars (one of my sports cars is a Lotus Elise) so I'd like to stick with British cars if possible. However, I would be open to a Volvo S40 T5.
My big question: Which out of the Xtype or the Land Rover would likely be more reliable and less expensive to maintain. I know neither one is excellent in this regard, but which one would be the better of the two? Also, is the engine in the Xtype a Ford motor (good thing) or made by Jaguar?
Neither. I just looked at the Consumer Reports Auto Review issues. Neither is recommended.
On the Jag engine, both the 2.5 and 3.0 are nothing more than a version of Ford's Duratec motors of the same displacement. They are more similar to the Mazda versions than the Fords as they incorporate variable valve timing. There are also a few other differences, but mainly related to the materials used.
If I had to pick between these two for the more reliable ride, I would go with the Jag, but the latest model year my budget could swing.
The X type is basically a British Ford Mondeo with nicer interior and packaging and a higher price.
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