Left NYC at 2am heading to Atlanta to pick up my car as I finally decided to make the plunge.... Just hit north Carolina. I must say my fathers Mercedes s500 4matic is one amazing vehicle.... I hope the jaguar is half as comfortable as this big body Benz is!!!!!! This is some road trip. This car better be worth it !!!! I'm excited and nervous at the same time.........

 

Godspeed!

Sounds like what I did, I flew to Atlanta to pick up my Jag. BTW, why the heck are you driving? You should fly!

 

Take pictures of it when you get there. Which one did you buy? Good luck. You'll like how light the Jaguar drives compared to the MB.

 

Jsedita,

When you get back to NY do give us your take on the 2 cars. It's a rare opportunity for you and us to get a side by side comparison. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the Jag will pack an "emotional" edge as opposed to an objective superiority.. But there I go, putting my thumb on the scale.

Some time back in the late 70s on a trip to Europe I had on opportunity to rent a big Merc and drive it from Amsterdam to Geneva, Switzerland. At the time I owned an XJ6. That big Merc was superior to the Jag in most respects. It was the most competent car I had ever driven up to that time. But the thing was, it was a bore. It did not reward the senses in the way that the Jag did. With the Jag there was a compulsion to just drive for the pure pleasure of it. No such emotion was elicited by the Merc.

I've always wondered if the same kind of difference exsists to this day.

 

What car did you get and where did you get it? I'm in Atlanta.

 

We drove due to my fear of flying and the vehicle I chose was a 2004 vanden plas. Silver. Purchased it from smartcarsinc. When I get back to Brooklyn I shall post a write up and compare the 2 cars ... I will also try to post some pics asap.

 

Fear of flying! HA!

How does it drive? Welcome to the club!

 

finally made it home and got a second to relax and regroup...... will post pics in a few... great drive albeit a long *** one as well.... getting to flip back n forth between the mercedes which happens to be a 2004 and the jaguar which is an 04 as well............ there are many differences......... The jaguar really is nimble and quick on her feet while the mercedes is must more stout and not as interested to play..... Quick flicks of the wrist at 80 mph seemed to be much more composed as the mercedes is much more twitchy... even when not in sport mode the mercedes feels a bit more plush and smoother ride. The mercedes also feels much tighter then the jaguar dose.The seats on the mercedes are way more comfortable and seem thicker then the jaguar...the bose system blows away the alpine system in my opinion. As far as the interior and exterior for that matter is much nicer in the jaguar as obviously I wouldnt have purchased it on heritage alone.... Buttons, switches and knobs seem to be very well placed and in very logical comfortable positions in both.. The jaguar layout seemed better to me in my opinion and not that difficult to figure out... Learning on the fly wasnt that bad and I even got the rear entertainment system working in 5 minutes... Not quite sure how exacly but ill figure it out soon enough. Trunk seems pretty big in both car and i really dont care.... I dont know really what else to say but any questions feel free to ask !!!! great experience w my pop and a good freind.... Jaguar so far has impressed me. In the first 750 miles so far she has impressed.. So light she feels really . I averaged 27.7 miles per gallon and my range was 458... Is this possible? anyway thank you guys... And im excited to see all that bs hype about unreliabilty smashed to the ground

 

here ya go

 

Yup, this thing gets great highway mileage. The genius of the X350 is that it is so lightweight! (VDP models I think are about 3700 lbs, maybe less since yours is not a LWB model).

I don't find the button layout to be terrible, but it's not great either. It's a pain in the butt how if I want to adjust the climate control manually, I have to click "climate" and then find the right button on the screen. But all the buttons do feel like they are of relatively high quality, and I do think the entire console is appropriate for the classic looks of the rest of the car.

My previous car was a '97 Lexus LS400. Coming into the Jaguar was like a breath of fresh air. Although it did not ride as smooth as the Lexus, nor was it as refined, it was much faster, much more nimble, and best of all was OOZING with character and class! I like that I can go from the original XJ from the 60s through each generation all the way up to the X350 and see the evolution of the design.

 

i agree alan... that gets annoying expecially on a 700 mile trip.. i found that to be the most annoying thing of all but in the end really it is pretty straight forward. Alan you hit it right on the money "it may not be as refines but wow is she nimble n quick and ready to play at the drop of a hat... im falling in love w this car very quickly... It really does have character and a sort of charisma that no bmw or mercedes ive owned have ever had! i need to add 1 or 2 things like ipod streaming and bluetooth

 

I see that you also have an unusual car. 04 was the only year for the SWB Vanden Plas!!

 

This is true, but the SWB VDP is missing the tray tables!

 

is this a bad this for this model?

 

No, you just won't get to enjoy them! I never enjoy mine anyway, but its' fun to show off!

 

No one ever uses the tray table anyway. Just a beauty accoutrement to me. The SWB VDP is a rare animal in the 350 series. Maybe a collectors car in 30 years!!

 

any possible way to get them retrofitted? without changing the seats

 

Not really.

 

Whoa, slow down! I think you are trying to do too much too soon. Enjoy the car and just take your time on doing any upgrades/enhancements. You will worry yourself sick trying to do so much so soon. It is a beautiful car as is and just move slowly to make it your own. I would suggest that in the future that you go with the mesh grill. Really makes a decor enhancement for the better.

 

can you send me a pic of what your talking about? thank you