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Simon, as far as car recommendations you will get a ton of thoughts mostly leaning towards Jaguar. Certainly there are a lot of great cars to pick from, I have been casually debating a sedan purchase and many of the ones listed in this thread have been in my evaluation matrix.
Do you want a full size vehicle like the 750? The "like" vehicles in this class that are pretty nice and have a decent used price are the Mercedes CLS550 or Audi A7. Of course they have high hp variants in the AMG or S7.
The folks who have bought an Hyundai product rebranded into the Genesis line like to say that it is a full size car similar to the 750 or CLS550 but at a value price. It is a very nice car but I ruled them out as they bore me, for that I would just get an Acura TLX (another friend has one and it is nice), Lexus GS350, or even a Jag XF. Problem is I already own a Jag and I am reluctant to have two of the same brand, I like diversity, but if it were to be the best choice so be it!
If you start looking at the Jaguar XE then the "like" product from other manufacturers is an A4 or 3 series BMW. Great cars but they are a more compact platform, which a lot of people value as it provides a sharper, more precise sport ride. I personally prefer the luxury of the larger cars, the best compromise for me is gravitating to the mid-size sedans like the TLX, GS350, and XF. The Audi A6 is just bland styling to me...
All any Audi does to me is scream "Wanna-Be Luxury in a Volkswagen". I've driven several Audis and I've never been able to get comfortable in any of them. The ergonomics are just........ wrong. I also didn't like the ride OR the looks.
Also when Jeremy Clarkson was in his last year on Top Gear, he made the true statement that ...It would seem that all the ***** have migrated from BMWs to Audis.... or something like that.
All any Audi does to me is scream "Wanna-Be Luxury in a Volkswagen". I've driven several Audis and I've never been able to get comfortable in any of them. The ergonomics are just........ wrong. I also didn't like the ride OR the looks.
So VW, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini just aint your cup of tea (same company).... Sad... But then, you are overly eager to put down high end Michelin tires as well.
Not sure why misfortune seem to happen to you alone my friend, but it has badly skewed your opinions on some decent products.
Audi has some of the best ergonomic layouts of any vehicle out there. They show intelligent thought when designing the location of almost every button, knob, and switch for ease of use while operating the vehicle.
Night driving is pure bliss, and something I wish both Jaguar and Lexus would learn from.
Years ago I went through this process and in order to see what I wanted I made a list of my needs. I then owned a Jag X-Type which was my DD work car. So upon retiring we decided to get a new car to enjoy for our upcoming long weekend trips. The most important criteria for us was comfort with secondary requirement was a style we liked. Ended up we were looking at a mid size car and were not concerned with performance. So we did the american car , german , english and asian car route. Tried them all out and finally decided on a Lexus ES350. We liked it's features and in fact several years later we bought another one which we have today. We will most likely be looking again next year but we have already ruled out Lexus due to the front restyle. Once again our goal will be comfort so it will be a challenge to find one that fits. By the way hence the UID we went from Jag To ES
I do not have a high trust level of Porsche(the company). However, I absolutely love being inside one driving. They are some what cheaply manufactured compared to other similarly priced cars, however, I find the interior stress free comfortable, and easy to use.
The Panamera, just the car itself, without factoring in ownership issues, would be my #1 pick for a Sedan.
A Land Rover would probably be my #2 pick next to the Panamera.
I am however, easily swayed by the style and fashion of the 5.0L XJ. Jaguar has a huge advantage on my buying decisions, as the dealer is a few miles away.
CleverName:
I guess some people are easier to please, but if something isn't right I don't want it. Keep your Audis. Not for me. I am evidently more discerning in some manners.
Oh, and different people design and build Lambos and such, just like Tata doesn't design Jaguars.
Therefore your argument is invalid.
Also for Michelin. Mine flew apart with very little effort. Actually large pieces of the tread came off the cords with less than 3000 miles and no thrashing.
"HIGH END" tires??? No, just High End Prices. Again, not for me thanks. You go ahead though and buy them because of the name and undeserved reputation.
.......... We will most likely be looking again next year but we have already ruled out Lexus due to the front restyle.......
+1 The wife went to look at the new RX350s as her older one was too old for her now. She (and I) could not understand why anyone would design such a gaping maw on a vehicle.
Long story short: she bought an old-stock 2015 off the lot and left all the 2016s sit, she didn't even want to drive one.
Oh, and different people design and build Lambos and such, just like Tata doesn't design Jaguars.
If Tata did design them it wouldn't be the end of the world; they're too smart to f it up. They've got some talented people penning their designs; just like Mahindra does.
+1 The wife went to look at the new RX350s as her older one was too old for her now. She (and I) could not understand why anyone would design such a gaping maw on a vehicle.
Long story short: she bought an old-stock 2015 off the lot and left all the 2016s sit, she didn't even want to drive one.
+2
My wife wants me to replace our 18 year old Lexus (which runs fine), but until they fix that ugly front end, it won't be another Lexus. (How much wider can they make that gaping maw? Every year it gets bigger. Maybe when it finally wraps around to the back of the car, something wonderful will appear?)
It's a bit overwhelming looking at mainstream sedans/suvs because all the amenities and tech are big factors, whereas with the sports car, I mainly just went for what I liked lookswise.
I know how you feel. I bought an older Jaguar after having back surgery because I wanted a budget luxury car temporarily to protect me from the asphalt cattle trails that Fort Worth calls streets while I healed up and the old Jag was both smooth and visually appealing. Five years later I'm still driving it, but it is starting to get old (example, alternator crapped out on the way to a crucial business meeting last week) and so I'm overdue for a daily driver upgrade. Problem is nothing on the market appeals to me except sports cars and since my back never fully recovered, I don't know that I can take a sports car on a daily basis (plus I already have a couple vintage sports cars that I drive on weekends on carefully chosen smooth roads). I keep trolling the XK section of the forum because I think they are beautiful but nobody exclaims what a wonderfully soft ride they have.
It just seems to me all modern sedans are way too darned similar in styling and design. You can't hardly even rule any out on quality anymore as robotic manufacturing means the fit and finish is pretty darned good now on just about everything. Jaguars are now fairly reliable and Toyota realized they didn't have to be orders of magnitude more reliable than everyone else, just a hair better would do. You can order wood and leather in a Korean mass market car or a plain plastic dash in an exclusive German car. You can get incredible performance out of a 4cyl and decent gas mileage out of a v8. And most all look pretty nice, but that's all, just nice.
The selection between sedan choices it seems has been reduced to a spreadsheet calculation because there's no love at first sight anymore. I long for the days of exclusive designs, back when there was nothing even remotely similar to the XJ6/8 and they sold 30,000 copies per year DESPITE that Jaguar still had a lousy reputation. You'd fall in love with a car and just had to have it regardless if it was likely to break down a lot and cost a fortune in repairs. As an old-school car-guy, I need an emotional connection to my car. Spreadsheets are for choosing a refrigerator or washing machine, not an automobile.
I keep trolling the XK section of the forum because I think they are beautiful but nobody exclaims what a wonderfully soft ride they have.
If you stick to an XK instead of an XKR, you'll have a softer ride, and if you use 19" instead of 20" wheels you'll get a softer ride, and then if you select softer tires (like the Continental DWS), you'll get a softer ride.
I don't think my XK rides any harsher than my Lexus ES300, but that's just me. You should go test drive one and see for yourself.
My XKR had a beautiful ride on 20"s, but a lot of that was that the leather in the seat had (by 60,000km) stretched a bit and took up the bumps. The passenger seat on the other hand was still like new, and the ride was more jiggly for her.
The most luxurious ride I've had in any car was my first XF which ran on 19"s. The heavier (steel) car sat perfectly on the ground and everyone who came in it always remarked how good the ride was. The only drawback was that it had a bit of body roll in corners. My second XF was on 20"s, and it cornered better but the ride was nowhere near as good.
If you stick to an XK instead of an XKR, you'll have a softer ride, and if you use 19" instead of 20" wheels you'll get a softer ride, and then if you select softer tires (like the Continental DWS), you'll get a softer ride.
I don't think my XK rides any harsher than my Lexus ES300, but that's just me. You should go test drive one and see for yourself.
I've driven a 2013 XK, but the roads around the dealership were far superior to those around where I drive daily. I'd kind of need to rent one for a whole day or something but have no idea where you can rent one.
What you want vs what you expect and what you call a smooth ride is subjective. For me I consider a smooth ride to be soft and quiet . Like sitting on your couch or favorite chair. Soft body roll is expected but should not be overly great. Bumps should be dampened and quiet. So far as I mentioned I have not driven a car as smooth and quiet as this 2010 Lexus ES350 that we bought. I suspect the 17" wheels helps but it is a pretty dampened car. I am not enamored over the FWD but it is OK for our casual driving style. We use it primarily for our weekend trips where the driving is in the 2-6 hr range. I still haven't found any brand yet as good of a ride that I want but will start looking next year. I also said the new Lexus grill takes them out of the market because looks are my 2nd priority. So to some the XF is a nice ride but it was a little to harsh for me. Same with the Audi A6 or E series MB or mid side BMW. I will take a look at the Lincoln MKZ but won't buy a 1st year model car. Just my opinion.
Old technology, but my 2002 Lincoln Continental was exquisite. Yes, it had front wheel drive which I didn't care for, but long trips were luxurious.
I've not driven the new one, but since they are still FWD I will probably never buy.
Everyone else is throwing out all kinds of ideas so i'd just like to say I love my GL550. It's got comfort, style, plenty of room and power. I got a 2015 CPO with unlimited miles on the warranty so no worries.
Well, despite its looks, I'm leaning toward a Panamera E-Hybrid. In white with the right wheels, it actually looks okay to me.
But then again, I looked at an AMG CLS63 on a lark and it's in the same price range for a CPO model. Did some research and had no idea these things were so mean. AWD and 0-60 in 3.5(!) My god, I mean check out this video at 1:05 or so:
12-05-2016, 10:24 AM
