p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } My various Jaguar memories go back a long time. As a child many of my, and my family's, friends did not have cars. My parents did not get one (a Ford Anglia) until 1970. Many of the cars were ageing Ford Pops, Standard 8/10s with a few more modern ones like Anglias and Austin Cambridges. Two friends' fathers' cars stood out. One was a vast Mk VIII or Mk IX Jaguar and the other an old Bentley. I never had a ride in the Bentley as my friend's father was rather aloof but the Jaguar was fantastic with performance and acres of space in the back. Space wise the only other cars that made the same impression were a Ford Galaxie estate (that a friend's mother aquired from somewhere) and a Mk IV Zephyr. The dentist we had ran a Mk II that he was still using in the early eighties when he retired - maintaining it regardless of cost.


Once I had been driving a few years I did look at a number of Mk II's but all had issues to varying degrees (rot , smokey engines, slipping clutches, etc.). A colleague brought a Mk II 2.4 auto that seemed to have constant issues whereas an old school friend brought a Daimler V8 version at the same time. The Daimler gave him years of service until we lost contact about twenty years ago. I did look at an XJ6 in the early noughties but again it had to many issues mainly electrical.


Moving onto today. The car I have been driving for six years suffered engine failure a month ago. Once I realised it would not be a quick fix or even the end of the road for the car I decided to look around for another car. What a nightmare. Its eleven years since I last hunted around for a car – I had seen the one I was using with a for sale sign on the side of the road, spoke to the owner, had a test drive and brought it there and then. Anyway I had just had a test drive of a Honda that lasted a mere two miles as it just did not feel right. When I parked up, back at the dealer I saw an '03' X-Type in a corner and went and had a look. It looked quite presentable and I arranged to come back with a friend the next day as they were closing. Anyway we checked it over and everything worked and then took it for a drive of probably twenty miles. Everything seemed fine and I am now the owner of a Jaguar after 40 odd years on the road (including motorcycles). My friend has an automatic Mondeo of the same era and so we could do a direct comparison. Whilst there may be some Mondeo components in the X-Type they are very different cars. In fact my friend is now considering changing his Mondeo for a late X-Type. Reaction of family and friends is quite varied. Some think it is a great car whilst others think it confirms I am a fool when it comes to cars!

 

Welcome.

Well done and written.

Who cars what others think, its YOU that matters most.

 

I was more of less forced to drive a Honda a while back, as a rental, because some woman side swiped my van. I Completely understand what you mean! Your Jaguar had an easy act to follow, didn't it! Congratulations!

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums MichaelJohn,
Good to have you with us.
You will find all the X Type info here X-Type ( X400 ) - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Welcome aboard .

 

Welcome to the forum

 

welcome to the forum

 

Welcome to the forum MichaelJohn,

Good to have you with us at Jaguar forums.

Follow Norri's link in post #4 to the X-Type forum for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

Please remember to add vehicle details to your Signature to help others to give relevant advice. Go to the User CP button on the left of the top menu bar, then Settings & Options under Your Control Panel. Select Edit Signature and enter the details.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Hi and welcome aboard, its good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

Any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos, using the
search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Using JF "How To"

There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
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