A year with the Jaaaaag

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sat 11 Aug 2012 00:35
A year with the Jaaaaag - jamie745

As keen students of the HJ Back Room will know I purchased a Jaguar S-Type last year and was jolly happy about doing so. Having now owned it for just over a year and having recently spent £475 on its newest Police repellent disc I thought I'd share my experiences with the Back Room.

It's a 56 plate 3.0litre petrol model in SE trim with the sensible 7 spoke alloys, black exterior and 'ivory' interior which is a posh way of saying nearly white. When I bought it the Sat Nav thought it was on the M1 all the time but that has been fixed and works fine. I've done almost 11,000 miles in it taking its total mileage up to 68k and it's been completely trouble free. No knocks, rattles, rumbles or anything. Everything works, started first time in sub zero temperatures and feels very solidly built.

Driving wise its superb, it's so quiet you wouldn't know the engine is on and you feel completely detached from the outside world as you drive around. Put your foot down and it does growl and shift pretty quickly and the automatic gearbox is much more intuitive and sensible than offerings from French carmakers that I've experienced. The steering is very good, road holding is the best I've experienced and the somewhat costly set of Primacy tyres I had fitted are excellent for grip while maintaining a very comfortable quiet ride (note I do not work for Michelin in any way, this is not a plug Avant). I've used it for general driving to work, long journies, short journies etc and it's just fantastic. It is a big car so parking it isn't always easy but it's hardly a cruise liner. Over the time I've had it it's returned 26-28mpg on average.

I love a car with lots of buttons to push, including a wooden (real or otherwise) dash and lots of leather so the Jaguar doesn't disappoint. I'm still afraid to push some of them. The stereo is spectacular and I've enjoyed cruising along to Ludovico Einaudi's new works. The only things I don't like is the boot is a bit shallow and the bleepy noise when you haven't turned your headlights off is stupid.

I was going to sell it on after a year but I'm struggling to find anything else I like so will be sticking with it for the forseeable future.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 09:09
A year with the Jaaaaag - sandy56

Sounds great. I am tempted by the S type, a lot of car for the money.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 13:49
A year with the Jaaaaag - Bobbin Threadbare

Also Jamie likes to park in mother and baby spaces or across two spaces so that nobody can scratch it....

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 14:16
A year with the Jaaaaag - balleballe

I'm sure there are much nicer cars some envious sod would rather scratch

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 14:42
A year with the Jaaaaag - unthrottled

I thought Jamie parked across two spaces because he couldn't park.

Sounds like it is doing well. Economy is pretty good for the class to boot.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 17:07
A year with the Jaaaaag - jamie745

I can park perfectly well thank you very much. It's not my fault many car parks don't make their spaces big enough, don't they realise people require large American-platformed luxury vehicles in order to pop out for milk?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 15:02
A year with the Jaaaaag - madf

I love a car with lots of buttons to push,

You need

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swirlyarts/481312074/

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 17:00
A year with the Jaaaaag - Avant

What a choice of music to listen to in a Jaguar - Einaudi....

Seriously, thanks for sharing that with us, Jamie - it shows that a big petrol car, a few years old, is a much better bargain that it sounds, particularly if you get a lot of enjoyment from it as clearly you do. Just about the right sort of mileage, too 10,000-odd a year - not too low, not too high.

One to keep, perhaps, until XFs become affordable?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 17:19
A year with the Jaaaaag - jamie745

Well my commuting mileage comes to less than 5k a year so the rest of it is more fun time. I've got a Malaysian at work who wants to buy it off me whenever I decide to sell on and I have thought about cashing in and getting something cheap, as it were. But I scan Auto Trader endlessly as I umm and arrr and eventually decide to keep it.

This car was bought for around £35,000 brand new and I paid under £6k for it, it proves these cars are out there and can cost less than many people think they do. There's people who pay more than that for a diesel Corsa. When I was a kid I had a model of the 70s XJ12 and I said to myself than that one day I would have a big Jag. It's been an exercise in satisfying a childhood dream more than anything else, I look forward to going somewhere just so as I can sit in it.

I'm not sure about the XF, I've debated a Mercedes CLK as an alternative like-for-like type thing. Another option is to downgrade to cheap motoring which I also love, a cheap car is a liberating experience.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 18:31
A year with the Jaaaaag - nortones2

I think you made a good choice in the Jag. Don't think I would want to swap for a little tin box, unless forced. The contrast would be too much. Good as modern little tin boxes are, there is no sense of pleasure in simply getting in, relaxing, and gently swishing off. They don't do swish in B segment:)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 23:04
A year with the Jaaaaag - jamie745

If anybody is thinking of buying one I'd recommend looking for a facelifted one and avoiding the early model. It's another one of them where the original felt 'unfinished' and the facelifted one was the car it would've been at first if they'd taken their time.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 11 Aug 2012 23:15
A year with the Jaaaaag - Trilogy

jamie, good to hear you've enjoyed the Jag. Inside and out yours looks so much better than the earlier version. There are not many black ones about. I keep an eye out for you, as you are in my part of the world, albeit I believe over towards the coast.

Depreciation should now be fairly modest. If you can afford to keep it that sounds a good plan. Not much will touch it for the money.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 12 Aug 2012 10:25
A year with the Jaaaaag - Oli rag

If anybody is thinking of buying one I'd recommend looking for a facelifted one and avoiding the early model. It's another one of them where the original felt 'unfinished' and the facelifted one was the car it would've been at first if they'd taken their time.

I''ve no doubt that the later model is a better drive, but I much prefer the looks of the pre face lift version - especially the rear lights.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 12 Aug 2012 16:34
A year with the Jaaaaag - oldroverboy

Well done Jamie, ENJOY.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

From choosing the right tyre to what to do when it goes wrong - we have the answers.

Tyre News And Advice