Some old rough around the edges looking random guy today randomly asked me if my car from 1989!! YES 1989! "uh buddy you are off by ONLY 11 years" I said quickly in an admittedly ******* way. I had to bite my tongue after that. He said "well all Jags have looked the same since '89". He claimed he was a mechanic that has worked on Jags (def wouldn't trust this guy anywhere near my car). Of course I heard the typical "Jags sure are beautiful but they break down all the time" lecture. Basically just a jealous guy b/c his 90s Saturn he personally drove looked shitty.

Some other random person a while back ask if my car from 1990.

Neither of these people seemed to know anything about cars, much less luxury cars (esp. Jags).

Yes, the X308 is on the XJ40 chassis, but c'mon, my car does not look like a XJ40!


Anyone else have similar stories?

 

Hmmm....Shoulda got yourself an X300....most people miss-guess mine forward - accusing it of being mid 2k or newer. Lol, guess those oval markers and the chrome strips fizzling out before they get all the way across the bumper make yours look dated!

 

there was a girl at my school that thought my 02 XJR was from the 1970s

 

I pulled up to the gate at a park with my '85 XJ6 a couple of years ago and the lady taking money said "it's nice they've gone back to the older classic style". I didn't bother to tell her it really was the older, classic car. I don't think many people can guess on my X308, but the reliability myth still persists. People will say "I always wanted a Jaguar, but ... I'm not married to a mechanic, or I need a car I can drive every day, etc., etc.".

 

I think when people give the "unreliable" speech, that they are jealous. Honestly, it is a bit rude for a random person to compliment a car by saying its beautiful for a second, then criticize it for the next 5 mins for its perceived reliability. It seems like every time I hear that, it comes from a dude driving a junk '80s or '90s domestic car in bad shape that I am pretty sure is more unreliable than a Jag.


I've also gotten parking tickets that had my car listed as a 2008.
People usually guess its from the 2000s. Unlike basically every other luxury car, it never gets the "its not that special, its just a old luxury car" response like a 7-series or S class from the era.

 

Did you ask her out? LOL

 

^^LOL

Yep, I have had someone think my 99 VDP was from the 70s too. Others act surprised when they find out its a 99. I still get hella compliments on it though.

 

It's an opinion and that's all it is. How many times have you voiced a misconception about something that is based on something you truly believed, no matter how wrong?

As far as 80's and 90's cars, domestic or otherwise ... as long as they have gas and spark, they'll pretty much run. They certainly won't go into "restricted performance" or "limp home" mode.

If armagedon comes and there is a choice in the garage between a X308 and a 1985 Dodge Diplomat with the police package and Slant-6, take the Dodge.

 

I've been asked many times why I choose to drive round in "an old Jag" They then normally hazard a guess at it's age. Normally, like Burmaz experienced, many years out. It doesn't bother me too much because all steel bodied XJs are beautiful, XJ40 excluded (Don't even get me started).

It really irritates me though the common assumption that all Jags are mechanical time bombs and need a mechanic & a fuel tanker to follow them everywhere. The 70s was a tough time for all manufacturers not just Jaguar, people forget that. But without experimentation progress can't be made. Not a lot of people remember nor realise that.

 

At McDonald's at 2:00 last week, the lady said mine looked great for a late '60s car. Then I told her-- no, it's an '02. Don't worry though, they looked the same for 40 years! (Secretly contemptuous)



A few of my classmates have said "Is it new?". Or "it looks new" (when I told them I had an older Jag before they saw it).


I'd never have a girl in the car who couldnt tell the difference, but... I was DD at my fraternity, (which I'm not in anymore, and let strangers in the car for nothing!!!!) and a girl said "what year is it?" in a bad way. Beforehand, as the unlock sound came on, she said "Ohhh... I though you drove that G35, (i was parked next to)" I was furious. When I asked her to explain, she said "I prefer sportier cars".



Only once has anyone ever thought it was older than it is (McD's lady). 2 coats of wax, spotless rims and rubber can't hurt though. I talked with this guy in the drive through and he guessed its age about right. He wasn't even that big into cars!


Rarely does anyone mention the age of the car though. It looks nearly new, other than an ill-fitting rear door and bootlid which might be tip-offs.

 

I had a guy a couple weeks ago assume that it was still under the factory warranty. Which I guess would mean he thought it was a 2007??? He said he had owned a couple Jags...

 

Yuck! The XJ40 was not a good looking car at all (to put it nicely). If the guy guessed that my car was a pre-XJ40 XJ6, I would have understood. The fact he said it looks like a XJ40 touched a nerve.

People always ask about the year. Its kinda strange how often that question comes up. People usually assume its around a 2005, but most people won't try to guess. The people who throw out the "1980s Jaguar" are always the ones you would be surprised if they even had a car. That has only happened 2x over a span of 7 years though.


This car gets so many compliments that it is crazy! Someone random the other day was asking me about my car while we were driving down the road! She gets a compliment about once a week. Not bad....

I parked on a sidewalk (it had a 1/2" curb) for 2 mins. which was about to get me 2 huge tickets when I returned. But the meter lady let me off, and another cop about a week ago did the same. The cop asked all about the car.

 

You should have told the girl "I prefer an empty passenger seat in my car over you riding with me. See, we all have preferences! We have something in common after all!".....jk

 

Many do think the x308's are years older than they actually are.

The quality and reliability issue, while certainly well deserved at one point, is obviously not an accurate description of the x300's and x308's. Ford completely missed the boat on this issue -- they spend hundreds of millions of dollars engineering and reengineering the models and spent nothing on getting the word out that the cars were improved, preferring to believe that word of mouth would some how change peoples perceptions.


They were leaders in the certified program -- this helped resale values and brought a second income stream to the dealers. Unfortunately, they needed to have an innovative warranty program to eliminate the perceived risk of Jaguar ownership -- they never did this and the poor Jaguar perception continued even as Toyota stole an entire new class of luxury buyer from all the major markets with the Lexus brand

 

I don't know how anyone can call a Lexus Luxury, they are plastic and dull. But that said I am 100% British and prefer my seats to have previously gone moo, carpets to have said baa and the wood to be from a tree. Or Jaguar :P

 

I had my 01 XJ at the Ritz Carlton In Charlotte a couple months ago for a meeting. When I came out it was Valet parked in between a new Porsche and a S63 mercedes. The valet looked at me and said he could not put a restored classic that looked that good in the deck. I told him it was an 01 and he was amazed. Of course the car does not see dirt and has a shine to die for. I really wanted to snap a photo but did not want to look to proud.

 

hahaha! That would of shown her... she had a Hyundai Tuburon... I was just pretending like she wasn't there. In my mind, I was just numbly passing the time along... I tortured her with John Coltrane though. She also said "you seem like an old guy.", remedying that by saying, "That's good though, fraternities need a guy like you!". And I wanted to say, "Yeah, they're called AUMNI." Plus she said "Oh, my grandparents have one of these.".

Whereas the rest of the night everyone was drooling over the car, I got "You are my favourite pledge!" quite a lot. Too bad that didn't make much difference when my neophyte-idiot pledge class voted to have me removed. I must've intimidated them with my suave charm and drink tolerance. Not to mention the Jaaaag.

I can't believe how often I get "is it new?", though. Makes me happy. I get loads of compliments on the car.

These 2 drunk girls (who were nice) kept trying to give me impromptu dating advice, but then the guys were just cut them off to say, "Don't you realise that he has a Jag?" LOL. They asked what year it was, but didn't hazard a guess either way.

 

a grandad car with some mad young kid init, but when i stomp on the throottle and if i give them a chance to come beside they have to ask what isit!

 

I've been asked if my 99" VP was from the 80's on multiple occasions. It was one of the reasons I put the mesh grill on it. I wanted it to look a little more like the 2003-2007 XJR.

I haven't had someone say it was from the 80's since...

 

Haven't had many try to guess the age of my 2000 VDP. Everybody just comments on what a beautiful car it is. It amazing how many heads you see turn when they see it. Carnival Red is a catchy color though.