I'm just curious, do you still get compliments on your XJ? What are some of your stories?

 

Yes. Surprisingly, my XJR gets more compliments than my XK8.

 

Absolutely - though a 2006 Super V8 Portfolio still does stand out in a crowd. Most often people notice the Black Cherry paint in the sunlight. And newbie passengers are often quite surprised at both the interior as well as the launch if I put my foot into it!!

 

I love taking my 2005 XJ8L to the car wash. The workers almost fight over who gets to drive it. There is usually a group of workers volunteering to hand dry it and at least one them always says, "Sweet car!"

 

Always get so many admiring looks / glances


Just today at the local supermarket, 3 or 4 passers by stopped to admire, gave a friendly smile or just stared.


Funnily enough, one of the local tradesmen was driving down the street just yesterday. Peter and I had both cleaned our cars so they were shining in the Summer sun.


I saw the driver motion to his mate to look at Peters X type and then my XJ, gave an approving smile then drove on

 

Barely a week goes by without someone complimenting my XJ8 and yes the car wash is the best place for that, everyone looks as it pulls out and the attendants seem to give it special care.


I had a Gentleman stop me in a parking garage to talk about my car and in a Scottish brogue he said he was Jackie Stewarts cousin .

 

Yep !

BTW there's a very nice LWB-facelift that appears a couple of times rather briefly in an episode of 'Lewis' (ITV3) - the one with Cherie Lunghi as a retired head of MI5.

'Yer tis ...

 

I have been a bit envious of the attention the Jags are getting in the USA as reported on here,

since my Jag does not seem to provoke the same reactions, despite the fact that there are very

few x350's in Australia.

Maybe I should start using a car wash?

There was one guy in the village who said:

"lovely car you have there....unbelievable!"

 

Yes, every time I blow the doors off the kid in the Mustang/Camaro at a traffic light.

 

You can't quite do that with a 2.7 Tdvi, but ... there is a motorway junction about 4 miles down the way from here with a slight uphill sliproad as you join the motorway, but with lights on the roundabout just before the sliproad.

If it's red I slide into the LH lane at the light (UK, drive on the left remember) and often some car will come up in the right lane. As soon as I'm off the r/about and on the upgrade I just boot it (Tdvi has all the torque at low revs remember) and I watch them fall away behind

 

Well, I don't know if it's just the car, but I get my car washed at our local wash for the price of a medium size car, not a large !

At rallies and gatherings, I always get complimented on the car , especially the colour and trim, (Jaguar Racing Green, with Ivory leather and gre-stained birds-eye maple). Car is now 11 years old.

 

I get many thumbs up and compliments on my XJR. Actually I have never received as many compliment on any other car I have drove. A lot of people pull up and say "nice car" or something to that affect, or honk and wave when driving down the street. Driving thru parking lots also warrants lots of comments and waves, and sometimes people have actually waved me over or ask to me to stop. Sometimes, you don't get any reaction but they just stare the car down as you drive past.

If you want some attention, just stomp on the skinny pedal, the teenagers in the car next to you will certainly notice you, and the police officer you didn't see will likely pull you over and ask you about the car....like whether you have insurance on it or not!!

Now I never go to an automatic car wash since my car is black, and the heavy cloths and brushes put swirl marks and fine scratches in the black paint, and automatic power wash ones don't clean good enough for my liking. So hand washing, and constant waxing and yearly buffing, my car is typically the most shiny car on the road.

Many people an here say they do get lots of compliment and others don't. I am guessing the people that do get compliments, have cleaner cars that are always washed and shiny so people notice them more than the typical slightly dirty or slightly faded paint that the average car on the road looks like. That is my 2 cents on why some cars get notice more than others.

 

I've got a few comments in Sydney, guys at traffic lights asking questions, thumbs up, "nice car mate" & so on. Lots of attention at the drag strip, people asking what engine it's got (usually after i've beaten them ) a lot have people have commented on the condition of the car "wow it's straight", and even more have been surprised when the've seen the mileage "can't beleive it's done that many kms, it's like new"

Back in Switzerland I got a lot of attention because of the XJR, it was even more so because of a RHD car in a LHD country. I'll share one story from the Swiss days....

One saturday afternoon I stopped in to the local supermarket to grab some steaks & some beer (i was heading to a BBQ) and when I came out there were two women standing at the XJR. They were probably in their mid 50's, well dressed, had a certain style about them, sort of the St. Moritz glam-chic, old money, very elegant, attractive, mature women.

As i'm walking up to the car they notice me coming, and turn directly towards me, the conversation was in Swiss-German, so i'll try to translate it.

Girls: (smiling) You have a beautful car!
Me: Thank-you very much, would you like to come for a ride?
Girls: Oh no, it's OK. (giggling)
Me: I'm going to a BBQ at a friends house, why don't you come along?
Girls: Oh, we have plans, our husbands are....
Me: they're not here are they? Come one, it's just up the road.
Girls: Oh, we would, but...can we? (asking other girl, who's looking at her watch)
Me: It's up to you.
Girls: Oh, any other day...are you local? Maybe we could....

Conversation went back & forth a bit more, got even more flirty, and a little dirty (as it does) but I was running late so I didn't have time to play, especially since I was married myself! LOL

Anyway, I bid them farewell, "maybe next time" and left them with a sad "we missed out" look on their faces, pulled out onto the main road, and somehow it picked 1st so I had the supercharger howling like a banshee as I passed them, they were waving goodbye with that sort of sad, dejected wave you see in the movies...

I couldn't help but think of Jeremy Clarkson's story about Jag drivers...IT'S TRUE!!!

 

So do the Polish guys at my local Tesco ! Unbelievable.

 

Just the other day the CEO at my company walked by and said "Hey, is that your Jag? It looks beautiful, I love the wheels and brake rotors. How much do we pay you? It looks like we pay you too much."


Maybe not all attention is good, LOL.

 

I have the same problem at work. Other managers, regional managers, and even the CEO of the company (that drives a Chevy Silverado) have often said "we must pay you too much". We have a good relationship so I respond with something sarcastic like, "accounting hasn't caught me yet". I have used my car at work to go on sales calls and to deliver a few things to customers and the customers ALWAYS say "man I need to get a job there". Sometimes when people come into my workplace, they will ask around "who has that jag outside".

Someone I didn't know posted on facebook asking if anyone knew "that guy that drives the black jag at-----" He wanted to know if I would sell the rims off of it.

With that, it also makes me nervous parking in bad neighborhoods, or high crime rates areas, not so afraid of someone there stealing the car as it has all the security measures, but afraid that someone would break into it or just vandalize it. So yes, some attention is not all good.

 

It seems most compliments do come from taking the XJ to the car wash. As one member posted, these XJs have a few years on them and they still stand out from the crowd.


When I used to work at a High School a few years ago I was surprised that students actually loved my car and the color (seafrost). They would say, "I want that car one day" or "That's so nice, look at that Jag." It was nice to see a younger generation appreciating a timeless design.

 

I always get compliments on my xjr...But I recently acquired an xkr and it gets a ton more compliments. I don't quite get it as I like my xjr muchmore

 

ive had 4 jaguars over the last 5 years and each one of them has gotten compliments (almost daily haha), I don't know if its just a Hawaii thing (probably a bit more drastic on an island in the pacific) but the Jaguar population is very low in general compared to BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, etc.
(would like to know how many 2004 XJR models were produced for the US? anyone know ball park?)
Still have yet to drive by any X350 XJR, or see any on the road over here. Oh yea, one time.... and it was the previous owner of my current XJR haha

Plan to own many more Jaguars in my future. There is just something about them.

Get used to the compliments!

 

I just traded my 2006 XJ a couple of weeks ago. Reading all of the "positives" about receiving comments is making me have second thoughts about letting it go, probably to the auction. Mine was black, with tan interior and was always clean. It turned heads and fostered many "sighs". People couldn't believe that it was a 2006 automobile. But of course, the Leaper on the hood could always draw attention.


You mentioned being averse to a car wash. Prior to recent years (with the 2006) I felt the same way. As a matter of fact, if I averaged one car wash a year at commercial car wash, that would be a lot. Always hand washed by me and never driven in nasty weather because of too much clean-up. But I will tell you that where we reside part-time, near Lake Norman, NC, there is a fantastic car wash with absolutely the most up to date equipment to keep a car spotless. They provide unlimited washings and waxes for an annual fee that might equal 3 or 4 meals at a good restaurant. Such a deal! When I traded that Black Beauty it shone so brilliantly that it seemed you were looking down into an endless black pool. Nary a scratch on it.


I've just had sellers remorse, I never should have let it go!


Luck
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