Having some time on my hands today, I browsed through some auto reviews of the F-Type and I learned some fascinating things -especially from US News...I learned that the F-Type is underpowered compared to its rivals (0 to 100 kms in less than 5 seconds seems fast enough to me but then, I really can't even use that speed safely anywhere); I guess the option of much more than 500 hp in the V8 version is not enough...does a Porsche have that much?), and I learned that it is cramped (but I am only 6 ft tall, so it hasn't been a problem for me); that apparently it holds only 2 people - I sure would like to be able to fit more people in a sports car; that it is uncomfortable, that it has no inflatable seat bolsters (I guess the ones in my car must be aftermarket units. But they look pretty authentic - they even are upholstered in the same Windsor leather and everything!), that the interior materials are cheap -I guess the full leather in mine doesn't look enough like the "Artico leather" - also known as vinyl - in the Mercedes; that it has no luggage space (my coupe must have had some body alterations because I have not yet had any problem at all in that regard either for trips or errands), that to change climate control settings you have to go through multiple steps on the touchscreen - my car must have an aftermarket system; it has really neat rotary/press controls - a snap to use! We should find out who designed this system and where to get it! And apparently you have to go through the same sort of touchscreen complication to adjust the various systems (my car has redundant direct-access buttons on the side of the screen to make things easy -those aftermarket suppliers are wonderful at fixing Jaguar's shortcomings!).
I wish I had known all these things before I bought my F-Type. I really wasn't aware of the deficiencies of Jaguars but then, I have been relying on my own experience of them over the last 25 years or so. I really should do more research before my next purchase because those articles, especially in Edmund's (I once read in Edmund's that the Jaguar S-Type had plastic woodgrain trim - and all along I thought it was real wood veneer. When I was at Browns Lane in 2003 and watched them preparing that trim...well, it sure looked like real wood veneer to me! I am so easy to fool) and in Consumer Reports...well, the articles seem to be written by people who really know what they are writing about.
Now that I know how bad my car is in comparison to its competitors, I am remembering what a woman told me a few months ago (after admiring my F-Type and asking what kind of car it was); she said that she had heard "that Jaguars break down for no reason in the middle of nowhere" ( that is a verbatim quote). I wish I had known that a BMW (such as she was driving) would be more reliable...and here I had been thinking that my own BMW (which came home on a tow truck more times than I can remember) was not as reliable as my Jaguars (none of which have ever left me stranded). It just proves that you should pay more attention to hearsay -you learn a lot!

One thing that the Jaguar interior designers have completely wrong is that they think the touch screen should be smoothly and unobtrusively integrated into the console/fascia area. The Germans must have it right because they have the wannabe I-pad sticking right up out of the dash, front and centre, always ready to capture your attention. So, ok, it blocks your vision a bit and so, ok, it looks as though it should fold away somehow (but it doesn't)...but it is a German design (copied in the Mazda and other makes) so it must be superior, free of glitches, and just better. We'll just forget about the misery that is/was the i-drive system in the BMW. German cars have a reputation for excellent design and engineering, and just as with the perennial Jaguar reputation of unreliability so lovingly nourished by auto journalists and even some owners, facts don't matter.

(Full disclosure: I have owned both BMW and Mercedes; I quite like some of the BMW designs but it would be good if Mercedes could actually hire a competent designer...perhaps the one Porsche has used for the last 50 years or so...or is he too old now?)

Yes, the riposte “hope you bought a spare Jag so you have one to drive when the other is in the shop “ is SOOOOOO funny on the forums where few have actually owned one. And my first car was actually built by British Leyland ;-)

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I have an 06 str and the veneers are definitely wood because I accidentally broke a corner off and saw that it was wood...Edmonds are the same quacks that value my car at 3500 dollars...terrible company

Of course it's sarcastic (all of my postings in this thread are)...and sarcasm is the lowest form of humour, so sometimes it is misunderstood. Those excrescences on the top of the German dash are simply stupid -they are a design failure, they are distracting, they are ugly and they alone would prevent me from buying a particular car (yup! Just as some buy cars based on their infotainment technology, I buy them based on aesthetics and engineering).