A study from iseecars names the XF as the #9 new car that owners give up within a year.

 

and get what? There really isn't a competitive car out there with a better combination of sport and luxury. Throw in the Sportbrake and the design can't be beat!

 

Probably something much cheaper in a totally different market segment. I doubt its anything to do with the car itself, but rather just a function of poor financial planning. Notice that seven of the ten are all premium luxury brands. Jaguar has a certain cachet that makes some people buy them who might technically qualify for the loan or lease, but who have no business spending a third or more of their monthly income on a car payment. (If you ask me, nobody does.) An XF lets you say "I drive a Jaaaag" (in your best Jeremy Clarkson imitation voice). I've known people like that. (Heck, I admit it, I'm like that but I just buy them used and do most of my own wrenching to make it affordable.) After a few months they realize that they are eating ramen noodles at home instead of impressing their friends and business associates by pulling up to the restaurant valet. Trade it in on a Mazda 6 or similar for half the price and they may not impress their friends, but at least their friends aren't wondering why they keep declining their invitations to dine out.

 

Any guess could be right and unless you know what the poll questions are (any poll) you can't make a judgement one way or the other. How about this guess....many luxury car owners only keep their new cars for a year.

 

Plus the stylish and ultra modern styling. Mercedes E Class looks just like a slightly larger version of C and slightly smaller version S. Same with A6 with 5 Series. It takes a trained eye to even tell the generations apart, they all look so similar. All the Jaguar saloons look like nothing else on the road, not even other Jags. It's truly a shame the typical American buyer is so ignorant as to ignore this brand and simply stick with the flow of what most of his contemporaries are purchasing.

 

It's ignored because of the dismal reliability past history that haunts Jaguar even today. First words from friends when I told them I bought a Jaguar was "what about the reliability". Truth is all cars are reliable today and the failures per 100k cars from best to worst isn't significant. So far my XF has been been the best of any new car I've purchased in the last 30 years.

 

Most of that reliability past was from poor maintenance to begin with. Look at the low quality crap GM puts out in recent times, like the Chevy Cruze. Nobody would question Chevy's reliability if you presented that you just purchased one. They'd rather listen to heresay than research themselves. These are new Jaguar cars we're talking about anyways, meaning they have warranties.

 

How about "Lucas, Prince of Darkness"

 

Indeed, while shopping used XFs, I came to the realization that most Jaguars are "leased" first and then sold as CPO at the end of the lease. But the article seemed to contend that these were trade-ins "within" the first 12 months. Besides not really being able to afford the Jaguar cachet, the only other thing I could think of is perhaps ride quality. XF is a sport sedan to beat BMW and rides nothing like Jaguar sedans of the past. The marketing geniuses know that buyers make snap decisions based on initial impressions and emotional reactions rather than on careful and considered research. Not only do bigger wheels look good, but also "firm handling" makes a short "test drive" feel exciting. Anyone only vaguely familiar with earlier Jaguar sedans may not realize what 380 in/lb spring rates are going to feel like after 50 miles. My uncle always had new Buicks and bought the new Regal when it came out. He traded it back within two months on a LaCross because the new Regal was literally painful after about 30 minutes of driving. He lost a lot of money on that deal, but I guess better than suffering.

 

Don't know as I have never owned anything from the 70's. I still say most of it was caused by poor maintenance. For example, you were supposed to change the trans fluid in the Series III XJ every 30k miles. How many actually did that?

 

I believe this is the key point. Luxury cars, which the XF is to me at least, are not only expensive to buy but expensive to run. Break a CV shaft in your ford and pay less than a 100 € for a new one. Do the same on a Jag and expect to pay three to five times more.

The same applies for insurance, and, at least in Finland, tax. During my first two years with my XF my insurance around 2000 € per year. Finally, add depriciation to the list and what you end up with is not a cheap car at all.

But it would be a mistake to think this only applies to Jags. There is no such thing as a "cheap luxury car", not to my knowledge anyway.

I'm not sure if this was at all what you were going after but this is how I feel anyway.

 

Nope. I’ve had two XJS V12s and the reliability is disastrous. There’s no amount of maintenance that can be done to make them reliable. Just don’t go far from home. Lucas couldn’t even make a fuse that worked, for heavens sake.