Hello! I'm currently looking at a 2013 XJ, but I have no experience with them. A little background - My current car is a 2009 Mercedes CL550 which I absolutely LOVE... but a building fell on it and no one will touch it for repairs. It had some special packages on it so I know I'll be disappointed if I try to get a comparable one, so I'm looking into other areas and really like the looks of this car.

The one I'm looking at is a 2.5 hour drive, so I'd rather do a little research before running down there. Thoughts, recommendations, and especially comparisons if you're familiar with the CL550 would be fantastic.

We do not have a dealership where I am, but we do have a good shop that works on imports. There are dealerships 3 hours and 2.5 hours from here in cities I visit regularly, so if it works better to use an actual dealership for regular maintenance issues, that shouldn't be a huge issue. Thanks in advance from a hopeful new owner!

 

Welcome to the forum thinkimasofa,

I'll leave it to members with this model to give specific advice but can comment on Jaguar maintenance.

From the '2.5 hour' drive it sounds like the one you're considering is at a Jaguar Dealer? There's nothing in scheduled maintenance that's beyond a competent indy but if the dealer is offering warranty, it may be prudent to stick with them initially for maintenance. Service interval is on a time or mileage basis. 16k miles OR 12 months - whichever comes sooner.

Repairs, particularly to the electronics, are more complicated and require dealer level diagnostics. Few indy's will invest in this unless their Jaguar customer base is sufficient.

Now let's see what members have to say about the XJ versus the CL550.

Graham

 

I've looked at both vehicles over the last 2-3 years.


2013 XJ thoughts


Pros:
Stunning exterior
Opulent interior if you get the right colour combo.
Great ride on stock 19" wheels.
Great gas mileage with the latest V6 supercharged motor.
Brutal performance from the V8 supercharged cars.


Cons:
The latest V6 motor sounds like a bunch of bolts being shaken in a rusty bucket at start up.
The V8 cars with the bigger wheels don't ride so well. Big consideration for me in the desert SW and some of the awful freeways we have here.




2009 CL 550 thoughts


Pros:
Opulent interior if you get the right colour combo.
Nice looking, but a little plain compared with the C215 model IMHO.
Nice ride on stock wheels and tyres.


Cons:
Only two doors.
Mercedes have been Beta testing their 7-speed transmission on unsuspecting owners. There are multiple threads around the Web on the subject. Here are two.
Transmission Failure
Mercedes named in class action lawsuit over defect in the 722.9 7G-Tronic automatic transmission | Got a Class Action?


This is the same stunt BMW pulled with their HPFP problems. It can get you killed, but it doesn't warrant a recall according to them. German arrogance at its best.