Put in any newer GM vehicle and compare to a similar car from MB and VW. I chose the Cruze because that is GM's closest Jetta competitor.

There is no uniform metric for determining build quality or lack of it. It's just something that one evaluatates by seeing the interior materials, fit/finish, and the sounds the doors make when closed. Do any of you remember when the Mk IV Jetta/Golf came out? It had the best interior of any compact car. What did Chevy make at the time? The Cavalier with the cheapest grade plastics imaginable and absolutely atrocious build quality. I have driven a late model Sonic recently and the interior felt very cheap.

 

What was your ownership experience?

 

This is indeed the question; because to condemn a marque based on the ownership of one possibly faulty example may not provide an overall picture of the average quality of the brand. Example: based on the experience I have of owning ONE Mercedes and ONE BMW (the BMW was a nightmare of unreliability), I would never own another of either make. But my experience with multiple Jaguars has been entirely positive - yes, there have been repairs on some of them, but nothing out of the ordinary, Example: my wife is in year 16 of daily use (hard use) of her (manual shift) X-Type: repairs over this period? Oxygen sensor, water pump, battery - is that a repair? no - uhmmm...let's see....nothing else. Nothing at all. My 2007 XK: nothing. My own X-Type wagon :zero repairs. My F-Type - one major warranty repair, no questions asked...and the the older ones: Series III XJ cars - both V12 and 6 cylinder (some repairs, nothing major), an XJ40 (zero repairs), a beautiful X350 (zero repairs)...On balance, for me, there is no other make which provides the same satisfactory experience - not even close. There is just no arguing with the beauty of them, is there? It becomes an addiction. A few of mine...ok, more than a few:

 

X-Type R ?!? If this is real it HAS to be super rare.
I searched for this and found one article that stated the X-Type R uses the same V8 as in the XKR, producing 420 hp, but I couldn't imagine that would fit in the X.

 

Well, there is no X-Type R, nor is there a V8 in any X-Type. The R badge on this car has only one purpose: it makes nearby BMW drivers behave even more badly than usual. Fun!
The X-Type is the most UNDER-rated car ever.

 

Fake badges are not cool.

 

Indeed. My mother bought a brand new 1990 or '91 Olds Cutlass Calais sedan. The paint started peeling when the car was no more than two years old. The dealer repainted it under warranty. Then it was just abnormal problems after another. Oil leaks, overheating, won't start, dies while driving, on and on. The thrashy "Quad 4" with throttle body injection was an absolute gem - not.

She sold it in 1997 or '98 for $600 to the local mechanic who's shop it always spent time in. If there ever was a disposable car that thing was it.

In 1998 my friend bought an '88 Buick Regal as his first car. I am not even exaggerating when I say that he couldn't drive it one time without something breaking. Just some things I recall: heater broke, wipers broke, fuel injector(s), transmission blew. When it did run it always ran like crap. I had a carburated MG B from the 70's that ran much smoother and was far more reliable.

Those are just personal experiences. I read what folks have experienced with various GM products newer than these two and it's not much different.

I have owned a '93 XJ6 and a 1997 and both cars were very solid and I was always confident to drive them. Both were very easy and fun to work on. Only work ever needed was wear 'n tear things like brake pads and shocks. Similar experience with the two W124 chassis MB's I have owned. The XJ's were nicer cars though with much more spirit.

We've had good luck with VW/Audi vehicles too.

 

This is a good watch.

 

Cool or not, it's his car to do with what he likes. And one man's cool is another's bling.

 

Indeed, his car, Canada is a free country and he can do whatever he likes.

If he posts in a public internet forum, people are going to express opinions.

And no, fake badges are always uncool, never anyone's bling.

 

Thanks for your opinion, and I agree with it. The badge is not there to fool anyone because anyone who knows anything about Jaguars knows there is no such thing as an X-Type R. An X-Type R? rather absurd, isn't it? Especially since this is my wife's car. The badge was put there as an ironic statement and for the reason stated - to irritate the irritating BMW drivers - and it does, given the way they behave around it. They seem to have inferiority complexes, judging by the way they drive, and very few of them have figured out how to use the turn signals....or are turn signals optional on BMWs? A bit of fun, nothing more. Back to the topic of this thread...