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Yes, the sales projections for the X-Type were absurdly high...but that does not make the actual sales of the X-Type anywhere near "failure" territory. It is in fact the largest selling Jaguar model ever, and for good reason. Not sure what would make a person a "Jaguar elite" but would owning many of them count? (the number would shock you - and covering everything from a Mark 2 through almost every XJ model). To my mind and eye and in light of my experience with other Jaguars, the X-Type IS a real Jaguar in every way. It is not as quiet or luxurious as an XJ, nor as powerful or fast as an XK but a real Jaguar? yes. Could it have been better? of course - but that can be said of every car model, regardless of manufacturer.
If nothing else the X type will be remembered as the last of the real Jaguars. Have you had an opportunity to drive or even sit on a modern Jaguar? The XE in particular? Rest assured that sitting in modern Jaguars exept for maybe the F type, is no different than sitting in a high end Camry. No matter what the people who own them tell you. The X type looks and feels exactly like what a Jaguar SHOULD look and feel like. I guess some people hated them precisely because it represented tradition and old English style. So they did away with all of that and now you have a bland exterior and interior that is no different from any other car out there. It's a real shame. But if you want wood, traditional styling, fluted bonnets, and the round headlights that defined every Jaguar saloon from 1940's SS cars to 2009 then the X type is your car.
Hell, I owned a few Porsches, my favorite was a 911. Some Porsche guys are the same way....my current one is a Porsche 914. It is called by Porsche elite as the poor mans Porsche, the VW Porsche, just like the 924 was made as a joint Porsche/Audi venture. Do I love my cheap fun to drive and work on 914!!!! Hell yea!!!!
914 is actually my favorite Porsche especially because I was an expert on those motors. Yes they were called a VW Porsche by many but in truth VW's should have been called Porsches anyway since that's who invented them.
If nothing else the X type will be remembered as the last of the real Jaguars. Have you had an opportunity to drive or even sit on a modern Jaguar? The XE in particular? Rest assured that sitting in modern Jaguars exept for maybe the F type, is no different than sitting in a high end Camry. No matter what the people who own them tell you.
I share your admiration of the X-type, but is acres of wood, premium leather and chrome are essential to the DNA of a Jaguar interior then modern Jaguars (XJ, XF, and the recently out-of-production XK especially) more than fit the bill. The XE ( and yes, I have driven the V6 supercharged rocket) is meant to compete with the woodless, chromeless, leatherless, characterless, common-as-cockroaches BMW 3 Series, so yes, it has less wood and chrome. But even in the XE wood trim is available as one of the trim packages, along with full leather.
The Jaguar ethos did not die with the X-Type and the quality, the performance and the reliability are leagues ahead.
And about the interiors of modern Jaguars: here are photos of my XK. Everything that is caramel-coloured is leather - every square cm.: dash top, front, underside, seats - every bit of the seats: top, sides and rear, the rear seat area and side coves, the central part of the door panels and the door pulls - it is all premium Italian leather, much softer, much better quality that the leather in the X-Types. And the wood: gorgeous burl walnut on the dash, the console, the door window switch units...and the chrome....so, it is pretty hard to agree that modern Jaguars do not maintain the traditions of luxury we we all love in these cars. The current Jaguar models have moved to a more contemporary idiom but the quality is still there.
oh...and then there is that heart-melting exterior in aluminium...
I do not really like the new Tata branded Jags. As far at the old ones, I did blow up a 88 1/2 XJ6 on a test drive. It has nothing sporting about it but the interior was much better with materials than my X Type. As with most British cars, they were never known much for reliability. Ford did bring the engine design and saved Jaguar from being removed from the market. Tata is now doing some things with the Jag that are nice. This was not supposed to be a slam on the X type. I love my Ford based engine, the AWD, and it is great in the snow. Just got it back from getting the headlights restored today. Snow tires on, OEM winter rims.....great Colorado winter beater and cheaper than a used Subaru. Ordered an aftermarket double din NAV unit and adding remote start. Was going to trade it in but just figured I would keep it. The car is pock marked with some hail dents....but it is a tank that keeps on running.
Jaguar and Ford expectations about X-Type were not just too high. They were ridiculous.
Most importantly, X-Type lacked cheaper 4-cylinder options.
Imagine that BMW offered only 328xi and 330xi options. How many xi variants did they sell in total?
Jaguar isn't Apple. How could they expect to beat BMW and Audi sales with only premium-priced petrol-hungry V6 (mostly AWD) cars? At least for the first two years of production.
Still, X-Type did very well, especially since Ford ditched it somewhere around 2004 and soon it had to compete with much newer E90 ranging from 1.6 to M3.
But ... 1.6 ... Jaguar...?
@sov211
Your XK is beautiful. But X150 it is 2005/2006 car, it's a car from X350/X-Type era.
Jaguar XE interior is a pain for my eyes, it's ugly And I'm sorry to say X351 and new 2016 XF aren't any better.
And about the interiors of modern Jaguars: here are photos of my XK. Everything that is caramel-coloured is leather - every square cm.: dash top, front, underside, seats - every bit of the seats: top, sides and rear, the rear seat area and side coves, the central part of the door panels and the door pulls - it is all premium Italian leather, much softer, much better quality that the leather in the X-Types. And the wood: gorgeous burl walnut on the dash, the console, the door window switch units...and the chrome....so, it is pretty hard to agree that modern Jaguars do not maintain the traditions of luxury we we all love in these cars. The current Jaguar models have moved to a more contemporary idiom but the quality is still there.
oh...and then there is that heart-melting exterior in aluminium...
Your beautiful XK is still part of the old guard. To be fair the F type still looks like what a Jaguar sports should (although I think they could have done better) but the current line up of saloons and now SUV are a homogenous hot mess that looks more Japanese than Jaguar. Same stupid grill and headlights on every single one of those cars. Nothing about the current XJ, XF, XE or "FPACE SUV" is heart melting. More heart breaking than anything else
In fact, given the proper trajectory and sufficient propellant, pigs fly very well!
Originally Posted by Robert Scott Neilly
Andreas, I think I qualify as an English Car Nut, growing up with and learning to drive in MGAs and Bs, Triumph Spitfires, and E-Types, and I bless the name Ford every time I get in one of my cars, because it starts, and the lights work, and the heater heats, and I can drive through a puddle without looking for the next curb to coast over to. "Glorified Mondeo" wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if it were true, but the X-Type is so much more. Classy, unmistakable Jag looks, beautiful and durable interiors, lively performance, and dependability (if you listen to them, and look after the little things) My X-Type is approaching 200,000 km, and I like it so much that I went the route of doing a very expensive replacement of the outer frame rails in the area of the A-Pillars (mine is an '03, prior to the galvanized frames and proper drain holes: I didn't do my homework when I bought it used) because I couldn't think of a similar car I wanted more. And I still can't. But I would never have contemplated buying such a complex car, never mind my (recent)XK8, or its replacement Vantage, without the security of knowing that Ford had overseen every aspect of the cars. AND, just a bit of trivia for the Mondeo Looking-Down-Their-Noses Twits, the whole DuraTec engine line, which your new car will have a variant of, was originally designed and engineered by Porsche, with top end and breathing subbed out to Cosworth, which puts it in some pretty fast company. Do your homework, and take the plunge. And stay in touch with the Forum. A better bunch you won't find on any site!
In fact, given the proper trajectory and sufficient propellant, pigs fly very well! (love that saying, applies to so many things)
I was thinking of buying a used Mercedes CLK and a friend of mine said to stay away years 1998-2007 because Chrysler had owned Mercedes during that time.
I thought about the parallels btwn that and the Jag/Ford relationship, and, in talking to my gf, she came up with an interesting point of contrast btwn the two scenarios.
She said that since Jag wasn't known for high quality in the past and Ford has been very focused on quality since the "Quality is Job One" motto for decades now, having a Jag from the Ford partnership years is a good thing.
In contrast, Mercedes is known for high quality but Chrysler is not, so, buying a Mercedes from the Chrysler partnership years may well be a bad thing.
Just a thought. Btw, I never did get the Mercedes; I put a down payment on my first home instead. We close in 12 days!
Still rolling in my Jag with 141K miles on the clock. Runs great, no need for another car.
I was thinking of buying a used Mercedes CLK and a friend of mine said to stay away years 1998-2007 because Chrysler had owned Mercedes during that time.
Your friend is ill informed. Chrysler never 'owned' Mercedes, nor did one company have much engineering influence over the other.
We had four Mercedes so far. Three of them (all M class) were a dream and just ran and ran like a classic Beetle. And one was an absolute maintenance nightmare that would have looked great on the bottom of a lake. But I was nice and sold it to someone that was looking for a problem to fix.
Heated seats, Heated front screen, you can sit there with a smug look as the frost melts then the wipers come on and you have a nice clear screen. I do a lot of miles and its the most comfortable car I've driven. I just want the thing to give up the ghost so I can get a new one.
Parts are cheap not that you'll need many. Just the usual wear and tear wheel bearings, brakes, driveshafts.
300,000 mile plus and still smooth. Pity they didn't do the 4 wheel drive with the 2.2D engine.
The X Type was my first Jaguar. The car was fun to drive and had a modern style that kept it relevant. The well maintained ones still look a hell of alot better than many modern vehicles. I disagree with alot of the previous postings regarding the maintenance. I drove that jag but hard !!! All I had to do was change brakes, rotors, oil, and tires. BE WARNED...that girl like to drink. Give her the top shelf stuff and the X type will still get looks.
I have been driving Jags for the past 10 years now. People always talk crap about reliability being bad, etc. I have not had an issue with the engines or transmissions. Electronics are another matter.
The modern Jaguar is one of the most luxurious cars on the road today. You get skin in the game, and its a Jag. Not many around . Enjoy the X type. The ONLY ting you will hate about the X Type is the absolute non-existence of ANY ...and I mean ANY ... as in NONE...performance upgrades. You get what you get, so find the 3.0 Liter variant and enjoy it till it drops!
Last edited by Cherry_560sel; 02-03-2017 at 08:39 PM.
I got a call from a mechanic friend the other day who blasted the "X-type is a Mondeo" line for years.
He actually had a Mondeo (very rare here in the States) in the other day for an alternator replacement.
He called to apologize. Apparently it takes hours to replace that critter, or you need to drop the exhaust (probably not a good idea on a 15-year old Ford!)
The Jag? water pump AND alternator, both from the top, 45 minutes start to finish. (you need a long extension and a universal for the socket to get it from the top, but it is do-able!)
10-07-2016, 06:45 PM
