anonymousmoose

Well, I got my windscreen (under warranty) replace due to that antenna issue I posted about. The dealership didnt complete the job on-time so they gave me a contrasty loan car for overnight. Being a Jaguar/Rover/Lambo/Ferrari/etc dealership, they gave me an X-Type to take home (I wonder why not the Ferrari ;-).

Now I have not bias against Jaguar, I actually really like the cars.

Anyways... this car felt no where near the sophistication and smooth drive of my C200. It was crazy, I honestly felt like I was driving my Holden (GM) or Ford again (previous cars). It was very unrefined, the controls felt 'cheap'. The car just didn't feel quality.

Perhaps if you want a Jaguar on-par with Mercedes, you need to go higher in the models, I never drove any other Jaguar before. But I really wouldn't be looking at a Jaguar X-Type after this.

Moviela

Well, the Jag was a Ford. Just a Taurus with a leather sofa.

Ford had no more use for the low numbers that Jaguar Cars posted, and Lincoln competed quite well in that segment. They sold the marque to an Indian comer TaTa Motors. Now I love anything to do with TaTa's, but the Jags are made of Leverite, as in Leverite there.

nizzle

I have an 04 E55 and my fiancee has an 06 XK8 Victory Edition Convertible. Even thought the Jag is a VERY nice car and even though the Jag is 2 years newer, the E55 outclasses the Jag in every aspect...... And I really like the Jag, BUT, my MB is way nicer. The Jag exterior looks exotic, interior looks luxurious with lots of leather and wood, and it drives pretty nice. But, the HVAC control setup is cheap looking, the stereo is cheap looking,and just the over all fit and finish of the Jag is no where near the quality of MB.

mskembo

Nizzle, that's exactly what I've noticed about Jag.

tommy

Actually, a Contour. Even the power window switches were the same. Was awful crossbreeding.

The newer ones look good, at least on the outside. No manny (well, and not enough money, of course) means no Jag for me. Who wouldn't sell their left nut for an E Type, though? When running, they are absolutely gorgeous.

Glyn M Ruck

Actually the XType is a Mondeo in drag in the English speaking part of the world. I prefer the Mondeo. I don't even fit in an X Type - made for small people!

speed7

I did the opposite.. I had an 83 Jaguar XJS with a V12 and then went to the C36...

It was old but pre-ford and really nice.
Its progression though its life:










LUV ME SOME JAG. =) And its fun to drive too...

mskembo

It looks MEAN in the last two pictures!

speed7

Thats the latest version... engine is dead atm.. but thats 24 hours of lemons. =)

nlpamg

I'm not a fan of the X-Type, but I do like Jags.

I've test driven the XKR and the XK-RS. Beautiful cars that make a glorious sound. But, they're not fast enough for me.

Here are the XK-RSs that I test drove:


I wouldn't mind having the vert.

splinter

Says the man with a GT-R!

Glyn M Ruck

Phil,
Time for an upgrade. The new McLaren MP4 12C. Drove one the other day thanks to friends in the right places. What a car! Easy on the street ~ push a button & it's track ready ~ the one I drove had all the nanny's switched off - properly. Holy mother in hell but the thing is fast.





Local race driver did the fastest time ever recorded around our Killarney race track on standard Pirelli's with Sport exhaust & said it had more to give but he had no intention of bending it. Faster than two R35 GTR 2011's, Faster than Audi R8 V10, Faster than Lambo Gallardo Superleggera.

anonymousmoose

Very nice Glyn. I saw that one on Top Gear. Speaking of coupes, hows you CLK going? Got any updated photos?

anonymousmoose

Thats a different league of Jaguar to the X-Type right there.

BUT the thing about about Mercedes. I've driven the current S-Class, E-Class & C-Class. All of the classes drive like you are in something special, even in the C-Class. Same with the w203, you can feel the difference in quality of an everyday GM vehicle. But with the X-Type, it honestly felt like another Ford. And I am trying to be as unbiased as possible because I do like Jaguars. The 3-Series BMW also felt a step above the everyday car. But I haven't driven a 5 or 7 series to compare.

People always accuse C-Class owners of buying just because of the badge. Which is a bit insulting for those who actually appreciate the vehicle. But the X-Type did fell like the perfect 'in it because of the brand' car.

mskembo

Glyn, I don't know how to communicate my insane jealousy... I feel like a crack addict that just saw a Mount Olympus made of crack... and then heard that a guy I liked smoked it all.

Oh, well... time to buy a lotto ticket.

tommy

The difference was that it truly was a "just in badge" Jag, being that it was a Ford underneath. Just like my parents' disgustingly awful Cadillac Cimmaron was when I was in college.

The C class is in another league, factually. Maybe not to some snobs out there (and quite a few on this site, honestly), but you can't really do anything about that.

Glyn M Ruck

CLK is going fine. Loving it. Still no new pics - I will get around to it. MBSA has finally found me some Basalt Grey floor mats to replace the Alpacca Grey ones fitted at present. Should be here next week. They are as rare as rocking horse crap.

nlpamg

Glyn, I would do it in a heartbeat! I was on the list at the local McLaren dealer (just out of sheer speculation)... Hopefully one of these days. Although I may try to weasel a test drive

I agree with this statement immensely!

Glyn M Ruck

Try and take one for a hard drive - preferably with some track time. It does everything so competently & with no fuss. I'm no Lewis Hamilton & probably getting a bit old to be driving things like this - no way could I really stretch it but I loved it. It does not have the flat plane crank wail of a naturally aspirated Ferrari & is slightly clinical but it's the best supercar I have driven & you can drive it on the street with ease. The typical Ron Dennis statement that "we can prove scientifically why this is the best supercar around" deserves contemplation. It really is extraordinary.

+1 on the C Class.

PilotAlan

We're on our 4th Jag. The XJ8L was a great car, and the XF we have now is simply wonderful. I have done 1200 mile road trips averaging 80mph and stayed comfortable, and have had it against the speed limiter at 130mph and it was as stable as a rock.

We had an X-Type, and while is was a bad plan for Jag, if you looked at X-Type on its own (forget the Jag badge) it really was a good car for the money. All wheel drive, good power, comfortable, etc.
Of course, the C300 4matic blows it out of the water, but they are at very different price points.

We have put well over 250,000 miles on four Jags, without a single major issue.

anonymousmoose

Sounds good. Hope the floor-mates arrive safe and sound. I cant remember if you ended up getting the rims changed or kept the ones it came with? I had a look at the dealer classifieds and if I had waited a few months, could have also got a CLK for the price I bought my C200. But I have no regrets. I'm just thinking resale value, a CLK might have been the clever choice. Maybe next time I'll lease a coupe, but I do like sedans a lot. Totally Off-Topic: I read the E200 will go on-sale in Australia for just under $80k ($79,900 of course). Perhaps in 2.5 - 3 years I can pick one of them up in my budget.

anonymousmoose

The problem in Australia is that the X-Type is quite a lot of money. On C-Class/3-Series/A4 budget. Not sure about the USA. Heck, if I drove the X-type before I drove another Euro car, I probably would have liked it better.

Again, please dont think I am anti-jaguar. I would love to try out an XF, XJ or something like that. Jaguars to me are very prestige looking cars which still captures the elegance of yesteryear motoring (except maybe the XF etc, they do look very very modern). I have a lot of respect for them. I really liked the Diesel Jaguar Jeremy Clarkson drove in the long distance challenge (with all the electrics and aircon going lol), but that was over $100k here pre-owned.

This is my favorite style Jaguar. So you can see why I like the look of the X-Type.


If I won the lottery [Figure of speech as I dont play], I would have a Jaguar in the garage as at least one of my cars :-)

Oh, and who can forget when this thing came out... I still have a model of the XJ220 at my parents house (left most of my car die-casts behind when I moved out years ago).

I remember wanting one of these so badly when I was a kid. The 350km/h did it for me back then :-)

Glyn M Ruck

Coupes are not for everyone. My car runs one up 99% of the time so the Coupe works for me with occasional rear seats & access when needed. The fact that you can drop the rear seats from the trunk is another bit of clever design on the CLK if you need to carry the odd large object. All in all it's a wonderful car to drive. Handles really well with very stiff anti-roll bars.

I have not changed wheels yet. Decided to be cheap & wear out the tyres first. The wheels have grown on me & one if the reasons is that they are some of the easiest Benz wheels to keep clean that I have experienced. So now I'm thinking of de-staggering and putting a set of the 8.5 wide rims up front as well. Time will tell.

My service manager buddy also printed out the car's history for me from the MBSA system. It had no bugs brand new apart from arriving from Germany with a flat battery which was replaced & a complaint that she pulled with the camber of the road so it now has the fluted castor bolts fitted.

Just got a call while typing this. My Genuine velour mats have arrived. Here's hoping they are the correct ones. The damn things are expensive.

Gotta love it!

anonymousmoose

I wish the w203 had this feature.

FrankW

X-type was a jab at the entry level luxury sedan. while it doesn't look too bad or perform bad...it failed miserably in the market as it had smaller passenger room than the rest, less power than the rest and the sport model wasn't really that sporty. However I wouldn't mind it because it still looks great.