call me a purist...call me old fashioned....call me whatever, but i just dont like the new model of the XJ. looks like a ford, or a rounded off lexus...nothing about it says JAGUAR in my mind....

where's the leaper?
what's up with the mazda looking grill?
where's the chrome?
where's the wood interior?
what's up with the front end?
what's up with the BACK END???
where's the boot emblems?

i know its a still a great car, but i just dont think it looks like a JAG--looks like a FORD on steroids.........

am i alone in this?? is it just me??
im only 40-- im not THAT old.....

sorry jag-- ill stick with my X308.

poodledoodledude

 

Amen brother....doesn't look like Jag...

 

Agree.

 

Actually, being a card-carrying geezer, I find liking the looks of a Jaguar is very much a time-dependent phenomenon. Being an E-Type owner, I thought the XJS was a disaster, until I starting thinking that maybe the pre-facelifted XJ-S was quite elegant, then that maybe all the XJS were pretty cool. More recently, I have starting to like the looks of the much slagged-off XJ40 - its squared off lines are starting to look more like character lines. Maybe Sir John Egan was right after all. Sometimes it just takes time for a design to look right (at which time the designers have already moved 10 years into the future). Never say never.... Man, I think that it is time to get a Mark V.

 

Agree 100%. Wanting a new luxury sedan, but it will not be a Jag. My 2002 XJR-100
still looks way better than the new ones.

 

But if you're a Jaguar Dealer don't call - he ain't buying.

Graham

 

In all fairness to the new XJ model, it does have just as much interior wood as the previous models (although more like rectangular slabs of wood), and there is a rather prominent boot emblem of the Jaguar leaper.

Like the following posters before me, I agree that it isn't a Jaguar in the traditional sense and was hoping by now that the design would have grown on me.

I also think the rear boot design of the new XJ could be tweaked a little by modifying the rear tail lamps so that they don't wrap up around the deck lid. I like the way the Rolls-Royce rear tail lamps appear very small. The back of the Rolls kind of has that understated "bad-***" elegance that the previous Jaguar XJ used to have. I think that's what Jaguar should go back to.

I might also get rid of the horizontal side vent. I think it takes away from the purity of the lines of the car.

Lastly, I would bring back the Daimler // Vanden Plas trim lines. I realize that Portfolio, Supersport, and Ultimate are the new trim line names. However, Daimler and Vanden Plas as luxury coach-builders have much more character.

 

Oh for heavens sake!
People said excactly the same thing when the Mk11 was introduced.
They said the same thing when the first XJ6 was released in 1968.
They moaned about the changes made to the Ser.111 XJ6
People bitched about the stodginess of the X350 (with some justification)
The new Xj is a superb example of a vehicle for it's time.
Seeing one in the flesh and being able to run ones hand along it's supple lines.
Driving one is an experience by itself and i still say there isn't another vehicle in it's class that compares.
So good people, put away the flat caps and tweed jackets and appreciate the car for what it is, a superb modern vehicle for the 21st century! ;o]

 

I love the new XJ and will get one as soon as I can find the funds!

It screams luxury and refinement.

 

When I first went onto the Jaguar web site I looked at the XF and then the XJ - for a while I thought the picture hadn't changed, I kept pressing the button again and again until I realised - they look so similar at first glance......I am like a cat with two tails on this (no pun intended) - It is (XJ) very modern, I like the modern iterior and the clever features but I do feel that somehow for all that, it lacks some of the elegance and class of the older XJ models - still retains it's identity as a Jaguar I feel, however, starting to get a bit close to Mercedes and BMW, dare I say Audi interior design for my liking (which I don't think is a good thing, to be clear) a bit 'same-ey' in my opinion..... I really love the ownership of my X308...it makes me feel good (didn't cost much under 2k...I just love owning, looking at it and driving it) All that said, If I win the lottery, I am definitely going to have one of the new ones though, top of the line, I am such a shallow, fickle man....!LOL Allan

 

Ah everyone has their price Allan, "Sold to the man in the flat cap and TWEED... hey that's ME!" Ha Ha, I for one admit that the new XJ is a very different Jaguar to the previous lineage, but maybe they are right and maybe I need an uplift or FACELIFT to appreciate the difference, I sadly had an invite to test drive a few of the new range in Aberdeen this weekend but I'm gonna be in Edinburgh most of the day!! Duh!
I am a fussy so and so and due to my Pure Love, Affection and wet dreams of the Jaguar Historical line-up, the XJ220, the XJS, the Mark ll, the XJR, the XK8 and all the other PIN-UPS of MY DREAMS, I find it hard to appreciate the new headliners! If anything I'd be going backwards in history to amass my collection as I find the brand is more than that, it's unexplicable and so hard to imagine words to describe the car that bring the saliva to your mouth or when it drives past, you are left gaping, open eyed and sometimes dry mouthed!!! This is the Magical Lure of a JAGUAR, there's nothing remotely like it and there never will be, it's just the way I feel and in this world of permanent political tomfoolery, ever present fraud, thievery and malice, it's so reassuring that so many people out there like you just happen to feel the way I do!!!

There are so many great quotes and cliches out there and I read them more every day and some are outstanding, I find the Fascination, Feeling and Taste are simply unanswerable and can never be truly fathomed by some vague opinion poll, market research or some analyst in a laboratory, Damn it all to heaven, it's a quandarythat only Mike Lyons and you, the Jaguar Driver and the Jaguar Enthusiast or admirer...
IT'S THE WAY YOU FEEL and THE WAY YOU ARE,, IT'S ONLY a JAGUAR!!! But it's what YOU WANT!
And Allan, in retrospect, if I won the lottery, I'd have the new XJ in a flash and I'd be completely hypocritical and still retain that dream of no, I won't, I'll have the XKR, no, the XJR, oh the vanden plas, no, the X350, the XJS, or the XK120.
I want them all....................... T'is the Dream, Taste the Cream, Jaguar.. Behold the DREAM!
Regards, Stu

 

It has to be said that I'm not a fan either, but then unless we are talking expensive supercars, I think pretty much every manufacturer has lost its way design wise!
It looks to me as if everyone puts all of their dimensions and requirements into a piece of car design software and then glues their respective badge to the grille, so that we the public, can actually see who made it.
I may well be old fashioned, or maybe a purist, but the new XJ doesn't float my boat at all.

 

I agree Stuart, works for me, you summed it up perfectly, IMO. Thank you.

 

Thought I may as well include my 2 cents worth of opinion. As far as I am concerned, the 2003 XJ8 is the last of the full size Jaguar and I feel very fortunate to have one that is in great condition. I guess I am old school and proud of it.
Dave

 

If a person who owned a brand new XJ walked up to me and wanted to trade it for my XJ8, I'd do so without even thinking twice, in a NY minute. That said, without a doubt, I'd rock a new XJ and none of the "where's or what's" would even matter.

 

Prices of all other existing variants in the XF range are down $9600, with the exception of the range-topping Jaguar XFR performance sedan, which is now $21,000 cheaper at $189,900.

XF models powered by Jaguar’s all-new 250kW/450Nm 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol engine have been priced at $95,650 for the Luxury and $112,650 for the Portfolio.

Plus "on road costs" and our hugely expensive "Luxury Car Tax"

It is possible I will never see one Flashing past!

 

Oops. here is the XJ...
Vehicle 2012 JAGUAR XJ X351 MY12 PORTFOLIO SWBPrice $269,900 Drive Away No More To PayKilometres 32Colour BlackTransmission Sports AutomaticBody SedanDrive Type RearEngine 8 cylinder Premium Unleaded Supercharged IntercooledReg Plate ZRF948VIN SAJAC16J9CMV38759Stock# 103248Fuel Economy (combined): 12.1L / 100km

 

That's $245,434 in US dollars, that's assuming you used Australian dollars. In either case, it's just out of my price range.

 

great responses everyone. i see we all have differing opinions, which is cool. i did manage to see a new XJ in a parking lot at a church building next to a mercedes. nice lines, nice color, but it didnt strike my fancy. BUUUUUT.....in all fairness, in 10-20 years ill probably own one and LOVE it...it is a jag after all

 

I agree with poodledoodledude. The new XJ IMHO looks like a lump, and driving behind one looks like you're following a full diaper. With few exceptions new luxury sedans are all very generic looking, with the new XJ out of the same bin. I love my newly acquired 2002 XJVP, and will find a pristine 95-97 (for the 6 cyl experience) to add to the garage. Keep thanking my lucky stars to have found a terrific Jaguar specialist who keeps the car perfect at all times. Driving down LA freeways it's hard not to feel that we're in some futuristic hell where all cars look alike. I think the XF has better character lines than the XJ, and that's not saying much. I may be wrong but doubt the new XJ will age gracefully. My least favorite design detail is the arbitrary slapping of the leaping cat logo on the TRUNK...Hunh?? Just doesn't work.

I work in broadcasting with a very young staff, and they think my 2002 is the coolest thing on wheels, because of the characteristics we love about Jags: elegant, athletic, curvaceous yet crisp design, and PRESENCE.

Jag's new two seater is an attractive car, but would folks with some awareness of Jaguar be able to identify it without badging? Doubt it. I'm sure I'll be in online bidding wars for A-condition 96-97's and 2002-2003's in the next year (no nikasils please).