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This is coming together pretty quickly. I'm looking at a 2015 XJL that is certified with 25k miles on it.
The exterior is Ebony and the interior is the upgraded Bordeaux semi-aniline leather.
Anyone with experience with the Bordeaux leather? It looks nice and that is a good selling point for me.
The Ebony exterior color wouldn't be my first choice as I prefer metallic, but I'm pretty good with anything other than white (just a personal preference).
The additional options (the upgraded leather, the reference sound, the illumination package, dark headliner, etc) really hit the sweet spot for me so unless there is concern over the Ebony or the Bordeaux interior I think I might have found my new ride...!
I had few black cars in the past, and if possible I avoid that color. Here is why:
1. The car gets very hot in the sun.
2. While car looks magnificent when washed and waxed, any spec of dust or pollen is instantly visible.
3. It is way too easy to visibly swirl black paint. If you detail your own cars, you will need to seriously up your ability to be able to work on a black car.
4. Primer is universally white, so any scratch that even slightly goes through the paint is very visible from far away as white&black have high contrast.
I had few black cars in the past, and if possible I avoid that color. Here is why:
3. It is way too easy to visibly swirl black paint. If you detail your own cars, you will need to seriously up your ability to be able to work on a black car.
This. Definitely this. I had 2 black cars, a Jeep SRT and a CLS63, and had this issue with both of them. It drove me nuts. No matter how much I tried to fix it, without spending a small fortune, i could always see the swirl marks and it bothered me to no end.
My 2011 XJL Supersport has the Bordeaux semi-analine interior. What's the concern? Colour? - a matter of personal taste - it's dark burgundy. Upkeep? - just clean/condition it regularly. The semi-aniline leather is superior to the XJ's standard leather in both look and feel, holds up well, and shows little wear & tear.
I didn't know you could get Bordeaux leather with a black exterior..interesting. I wonder if they reduced the amount of actual semi-analine leather in the 2015 models (like the loss of wood picnic tables in the rear)? The dash leather looks to have switched to a black dash for all interiors in later model years. In my 2011 XJL Supersport, the dash is also lovely Bordeaux leather. It's very special and compliments the car's Caviar exterior paint perfectly.
Good luck with your purchase. Cheers!
Last edited by RoonieQ; Jul 12, 2018 at 03:55 PM.
Reason: typo
My 2001 XJL Supersport has the Bordeaux semi-analine interior. What's the concern? Colour? - a matter of personal taste - it's dark burgundy. Upkeep? - just clean/condition it regularly. The semi-aniline leather is superior to the XJ's standard leather in both look and feel, holds up well, and shows little wear & tear.
I didn't know you could get Bordeaux leather with a black exterior..interesting. I wonder if they reduced the amount of actual semi-analine leather in the 2015 models (like the loss of wood picnic tables in the rear)? The dash leather looks to have switched to a black dash for all interiors in later model years. In my 2011 XJL Supersport, the dash is also lovely Bordeaux leather. It's very special and compliments the car's Caviar exterior paint perfectly.
Good luck with your purchase. Cheers!
Thanks for the awesome feedback! I don't have an issue with the color - it is actually one of the things that most excites me about this particular XJ. I've just never seen or dealt with this type of leather before so your experiences really help a lot.
The main issue is that the pictures that the dealership has of the interior of the car are small and very washed out. Since this XJ is 2500 miles away I'm going to ask for some much better interior photos as I will probably have to buy sight unseen (except for pictures!)
I got lucky and found that my local Jag dealer has a 2017 F-Pace with the Ebony paint - looks sharp! I know it will be more work and upkeep but that doesn't scare me.
Thanks again for all the input and feedback to all the contributors!
Glutton for punishment that I am, prior to my current vehicles I had three consecutive black vehicles. For all the reasons other people noted, I am determined that there will be no more! As for interiors, I prefer darker ones; they get just as dirty from use but don't show it the way light interiors do. My XJL was a great combination: lunar gray (looked wonderful and did not show dirt badly) with jet black interior.
My vote is for Ebony Black with London Tan interior. People are still gushing over car and it's a 2012! Frankly, if I purchased new I would have gone with white or burgundy exterior, but completely happy with combination I now have. Black is a little more work, but I have the complete detail package from Pinnacle Black Label to include two buffers and all the items to address paint, glass, tires, leather, vinyl, etc. Once you have a good protective base, black exteriors are much easier to maintain.
My vote is for Ebony Black with London Tan interior. People are still gushing over car and it's a 2012! Frankly, if I purchased new I would have gone with white or burgundy exterior, but completely happy with combination I now have. Black is a little more work, but I have the complete detail package from Pinnacle Black Label to include two buffers and all the items to address paint, glass, tires, leather, vinyl, etc. Once you have a good protective base, black exteriors are much easier to maintain.
I will have to check out the Pinnacle Black Label products.
Thanks!
Last edited by Vorpel; Jul 12, 2018 at 03:14 PM.
Reason: Spelling
Black cars are a labour of love. If you dont like washing and waxing regularly and dont have a bit of a fastidious nature then dont touch them. But I have a 14yo black Ford FPV GT which still looks fabulous when washed and waxed... for about a day. Swirls marks are a problem thats for sure so you need to use anti-swirl polish regularly and sometimes, dont look too carefully.
But I still love black...
Now if only I can stop people opening doors into it and stone chips hitting it... (sigh)
While initially I really wanted a black one because my previous car was black and always looked "bad ***", I feel like the lines are better represented in silver.
Also with a car that has such viscous lines, like it looks the business, I think black is a little too much.
I'd love to see what it would look like with the classic gold/bronze colour of older jags.
Silver is probably the easiest colour to keep looking clean - even if it isnt while black is the worst. My favourite 'fantasy technology' is car paint that can be altered to any colour with little effort - maybe a specific electrical frequency or magnetic resonance. THAT would be awesome!
colours are personal preference. For example, the most common colour is white and i REALLY dont want white while most people eschew black while I love it. Each to thheir own. but i DO love Velocity Blue on the XJR575. It just 'works'.
Your question once again proves the maxim: sarcasm translates very poorly on the web.
You will only get my BRG XJ L out of my cold, dead hands. There are so few XJ vehicles in the United States to begin with, and for whatever reason, British Racing Green XJ’s are even more rare. I think my green kitty is beautiful regardless of her rarity, but the fact that she has so few littermates makes her all the more special to me. YMMV.
You will only get my BRG XJ L out of my cold, dead hands.
2013 Jaguar XJ L Portfolio 5.0 V8 (NA)
I like your BRG a lot. I would have liked to have found my XF in blue or green but "caviar" which is sort of a deep burgundy turned up first with low mileage and the options I wanted. My criteria was basically "any color besides the grey scale". I've had a black car in the past, currently my pickup truck is grey, my Supra is silver and my XJ8 is white plus all around me in the parking lots and on the roads are black, white, silver and grey cars. I wanted something that would stand out, especially since the XF looks so much like every other sedan. I don't think there is any other sedan on the market offered in green at all right now, so if I were ordering a new one today, BRG would be an easy choice. Have your family notify me if God forbid, you have an "estate sale".
Close to buying - color questions
