Greetings from Arizona! I have an '02 XG 350. Great car. Took it to a repair shop to have lighter fixed. Wouldn't you know they found all sorts of other stuff wrong with it. I am somewhat mechanically inclined and have a lift in my man cave and plan on replacing the brakes, motor mounts and front struts myself. Question: 1)what kind of brake pads work best on this car? That is, should I buy pads from the dealer (OEM) or are Napa pads just fine. I don't want to be warping rotors in 3,000 miles. Also, are there any tricks or peculiarities to changing the pads or is it fairly straight forward? 2) Motor mounts. How tough will this be? I have replaced them before on other front wheel drive cars utilizing the lift. Does the XG require the removal of a gazillion things to get to them?? 3) Front struts. How hard are these to do with the right tools (spring compressor, etc)?

Figured I would ask these questions before I tore into it and find myself frustrated. The older I get, the wiser I become (at least I think.....).

Thanks for any feedback!

 

You should have no problems with any ofthose jobs if you've done them before. All are fairly straight forward. Quality aftermarket brake pads are fine but I'd suggest replacing the rotors if they are old and have been cut before. The more you cut them, the thinner they get and the more likely they will warp.