Welcome back to Shitbox Showdown! Today we’re looking at two stickshift sedans that are far more commonly seen with automatic transmissions. But first, let’s get our German project battle out of the way:
As expected, that BMW ran away with it. There seems to be some dispute as to whether or not that car had a rear window in it, but that’s the new owner’s problem, because as also expected, it’s sold already. Good luck to you, little BMW, and to your proud new owner as well.
BMW is, of course, the first marque that comes to mind when you think of sporty sedans with manual transmissions. But they’re not the only game in town; Mercedes-Benz offered a stick on C- and E-Class sedans for quite a long time, though you could probably count the number sold on your fingers and toes. Lincoln flirted with manual gearboxes in the LS before retreating to the safety of automatics. Jaguar brought the third pedal back to our shores under Ford’s ownership. And even Cadillac, which hadn’t sold a manual since the Cimarron, got back into the act, and still sells a stickshift car today. We’re going to look at a Jag and a Caddy with three pedals each, and see which one makes it work for them.
2004 Jaguar X-Type – $3,999
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter dual overhead cam V6, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Oviedo, FL
Odometer reading: 103,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep!
Here once again is our old friend, the Jaguar X-Type. Derided by some Jaguar fans as “not a real Jag” because of its Ford roots, notorious in certain circles for its Jaguar-like reliability despite its Ford roots, and familiar to our old friend S.W. Gossin as one of his more challenging rescues, this sleek all-wheel-drive sedan certainly looks the part. With a manual, it’s supposed to be a great drive as well, though I haven’t had the pleasure myself.
This X-Type looks good, in a nice vibrant but classy shade of red and with a very traditional-looking pale leather interior. One door handle doesn’t match; I presume it came from a junkyard. This paint color must be available in a touch-up rattle can, so that could be easily remedied. There’s a little wear on the seats and the center armrest as well, but hardly worth mentioning.
This car has only 103,000 miles on the clock, and the seller says it runs and drives well. There isn’t a whole lot of information besides that; I get the feeling that this is one of those dealers-masquerading-as-private-sellers ads, which irk me, but if the car is on the up-and-up, I don’t suppose it matters. You’d be wise to check it out carefully, or have someone check it out for you.
It’s nothing to do with the car, but I also want to point out a pet peeve of mine with the ad: the photos are framed in such a way to not show the license plates, but they also don’t show half the car. If you really must hide the plate number (which has never seemed necessary to me, since it’s public information anyway), do it by draping a rag over the plate, or Photoshopping it out. It’s really difficult for us bloggers to use such oddly-framed photos. Please, won’t you think of the bloggers?
2010 Cadillac CTS – $3,200
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 liter dual overhead cam V6, six-speed manual, RWD
Location: Sebring, FL
Odometer reading: 178,000 miles
Runs/drives? “Runs terrible” – has the timing chain problem
Cadillac, to its credit, hasn’t just dabbled with manual gearboxes since introducing the CTS in 2002. The stickshift option did disappear for a few years, but as of now you can walk into a Cadillac dealership and drive out in a genuine three-pedal manual. You have to step up to the “Blackwing” variant of either the CT4-V or CT5-V sedan to get it… but you can get it.
If that’s too rich for your blood, you can seek out one of these older CTS sedans, available in lesser trims with a six-speed manual. Unfortunately, that means dealing with GM’s notorious “High Feature” V6, and its complicated triple timing chain arrangement, with chains that stretch like jelly bracelets. The seller says this car had its timing chains replaced, but is now running poorly again, meaning the mechanic who did the work is either inept or unscrupulous.
You could redo the timing chains again, and maybe find the root of the problem while you were in there, or – and I’m just throwing out ideas here – you could opt to swap in a different engine that fits right in and has only one short little timing chain: the LS V8.
The rest of this ailing Caddy looks pretty clean, with shiny black paint and nice cream-colored leather inside. It’s maybe not as cheap as you’d like for the start of a project, but it’s a rear-wheel-drive manual that is already set up for the most common modern V8 around. If you can do the work yourself, you could have some fun with this thing. And if the dates on the photos are any indication, you could probably knock some significant money off the asking price; I bet this car has been up for sale for a long time.
Cars that are rarely seen with manual transmissions are cool, but when they’re luxury sedans, they’re even cooler. One of these is ready to go but a bit tame, and the other has the potential for greatness, but is a bit wounded. Which way are you going to go?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
You know which one I’m choosing.
Fantastic as always, Mark!
*Shiftbox* Showdown
The Car Wizard on YouTube says that GM 3.6 is one to avoid. So, it’s the Mondeo for me!
Too much $$$ for a Caddy that needs a different motor
My personal experience with the HF V6 is that it starts consuming oil at an alarming rate after 50,000 miles. At 100,000 miles mine was using about a quart every 800 miles. Attributed to a poor pcv design and/or low tension piston rings. It’s a six quart sump, but it’s easy to go low on oil level and the timing chain system problem is often a reflection of that. So you can replace the timing components and have the new ones fail in relatively short order too if the oil level isn’t kept up.
The Jag is just a fancy Ford Contour, so some of the unseen bits may not cost and arm and a leg. I want to like the Caddy, but THREE timing chains? Had an Explorer with the 4.0 OHC and that timing chain did me in, so I am still shell-shocked.
I really want to like the Caddy but something tells me a running ton of money still won’t fix it. Just a gut feeling. Jag.
the Jag is a fairly rare beast. most of the remaining manual X-types are the smaller 2.5 L engine and most are not AWD. sketchy seller/titling issues aside, that’s the one to reupholster/repair and drive. if you could get it down to $3K, you in the realm of being able to get some better wheels and maybe a color change to the much better BRG.
I want both, so bad!
Both are pretty good looking rides, the exact thing I hate about the Caddy sixes is apparently happening to the guy. Timing and likely Carbon buildup makes everyone wonder what was so high feature about these engines to excuse the lack of long term durability.
I will take the Ford awd Manual. it really is a no brainer, but I do fully feel the trepidation with regards to reliability of the JAAAAAAGgggg too.
That CTS is in cosmetically better shape, but everyone knows I love to experience a weird, under-loved sedan…in manual, no less! Be still my idiot heart!
The price seems a little high for a Jag with multiple shades of paint on the exterior—that corner of the hood looks like a different red, too—but it does run and drive. I’d put it in a Lemons Rally (or perhaps the Oppo Rally) immediately if I had the scratch.
They are also rotated to defy gravity! Really people! Do you even check your images before and after they are posted?
I own this exact CTS, but 2012. It is the perfect car, really. Yes, the motor is VERY low on torque, but it’s just such a nice car for the money. At $3200, this is a VERY VERY good deal, and I’m following up to maybe buy it for myself.
NO, the LS swap is NOT exactly easy, or cheap. It’s my goal to do said swap before I hit 50 years old (in 5 years). It’s AT LEAST $10k to do so, probably closer to $15k. Motors with trannies are going for $8-15k, then you need to swap the front subframe, rear subframe, and the wiring harness. You basically need to gut the whole car to do the swap because they two are so different from one another. Need-less-to-say, I still want to do it.
EDIT: I bet the car was drowned in one of the FL floods, and that’s why it runs like shit.
But the trick is to find a t-boned or rear ended CTS-V and swap the engine and computer from said wreck. that can often be a much cheaper way to swap.
I’ll go with the poorly running Caddy. I have a bit of experience with the electrical nightmare the Lincoln LS can end up being and I don’t want any part of that. I know this isn’t the Jag that’s on the LS platform but I don’t see why this one would be any different.
The Cadillac at its worst will need an engine and I’m perfectly capable of unbolting things then bolting them back up again.
I’m not really a Cadillac guy, but I did think the CTS looked pretty good. Knock some off the price and throw that LS in. It’s not really a sleeper, but you could do something with it.