The new Jag XF is here! Couldn't wait for this car, and now I'm left feeling slightly under-whelmed

There are pics all over the web but CAR Magazine in the UK as video of the car in action, inc at the 'Ring, plus an interview with Ian Callum

he has a lot to answer after so much promise in my opinion. tho saying that i wouldn't mind winning their comp to be on the XF launch in Monaco

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 12:57

The XJR and STypeR are the sleeper cars that just move me on all levels. Lucky you to drive a top-drawer STypeR.

See my comments about Jaguar depreciation elesewhere and feel free to comment.

Regards,
Dan Lokun
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S, etc.

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 19:41

Jerry why did you buy the last of the S-Type R's rather than XF SV8?

Regards,
Dan Lokun
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S, etc.

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Mon, 01/14/2008 - 19:40

Jerry why did you buy the last of the S-Type R's rather than XF SV8?

Regards,
Dan Lokun
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S, etc.

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 16:42

Who should get credit or blame the designers or management? I the entire design field has moved ahead making the Jaguar look staid.

Regards

Dan Lokun
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S

Submitted by SC38-21185J on Mon, 01/07/2008 - 18:28

I like the new XK....very fine.

XF...well, we'll see, but I really think Jaguar/Ford missed the boat (beginning of the end) when they decided to produce the X-Type over the
F-Type.

Will be interesting to see what Tata does with Jaguar, but I would expect more bland styling, dumbing down to the lowest common denominator.
Too bad.

Patrick McLoad
JC Houston

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Wed, 12/19/2007 - 18:33

PS - up above I saw the comment "Yuck".

No-one ever said "yuck" about the XKE in 1961. It was more like " ... holy crap, who do I kill to get one."

Regards
Dan Lokun
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S, etc.

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Wed, 12/19/2007 - 18:29

I am glad that everyone feels so strongly about this new car good or bad.

I am unaware of any "My Corolla Rocks Me Forum" except maybe in a business school.

By reply in no particular order:

1. My personal opinions have not stopped 3,000 XF pre-sales in the UK or a pending sell-out to Tata.

2. The "... don't Mondeo my Jaguar vibe" that (unfairly) burnt the X Type off the North American map might also bite the XF.

3. The visceral, rave feedback with the BIG, BIG thumbs up for the F Type is not happening for the XF based on the foregoing comments here and elsewhere.

4. The whole "... you have to love the new XF or Jaguar is doomed because this is the make or break car" message is NOT going to make any prestige new car buyer part with $60K+ .... only super-duper sexy will.

5. Volvo IS SOOO reliable but Jaguar is ... SEXY! XJ220 is uber-SEXY (in a enviromnetally bad way). XJR kinda sexy. XF less so again.

6. Reliability brings the customers back .... SUPER SEXY (aka "Gorgeous") hooks the luxury buyer in the first place.

6. The message the XF conveys to me is: "I got my mojo workin' but it just ain't working on you."

7. Can Jaguar not see that the halo effect of the cranked up super-sexy supercar from Audi with its buzz (also a sellout) moves A4s? - No guts no glory I say.

Regards,

D. Lokun
Whose wife drives reliable her Honda in the snow

Submitted by NC19-03320J on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 23:26

Hi Dan,
The F type was stored near here for several weeks and a friend took me over to see it and it was a "killer" model, but it wasn't anywhere near being a real a car. I mentioned seeing the car to a fellow Jag club member who was a designer for Chrysler and he agreed that it was a great concept but would never be built, at least not in that form, as there was no running gear or provisions for a top.
Turns out he was right!
Bob

Submitted by silver007@shaw.ca on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 18:25

Art Dickenson.
1983 XJS GT "Silver"
Pacific Jaguar.ca

Dan, I totally agree,unfortunately all we will get out of this new model will be reliability,something like that asian car maker, they can't win in F1 either............

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 17:52

The aborted F-Type is abolsute proof Jaguar could design and build a hot car next week if it wanted to. The fact that Jaguar doesn't do this is baffling.

I do not see much of the lineage of past design glory in the XF regardless of the winking references built in.

It is hard to believe that this same company (without fat capital) built the butt-kicking XJ220, XKE or classic XJ12, XJ8/XJR.

Regards,

Dan Lokun
Toronto, Canada
'90 XJ-S FHC (hibernating)
'62 XKE OTS (hibernating)
'59 XK150S OTS (under resto)
'89 XJS Junior OTS (hibernating)

Submitted by NW61-43836J on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 19:30

My eldest son is 15 years old and is certainly a Jaguar enthusiast. If I even raise the design of this car with him, I am greeted with an outpouring of total disgust. This is partly because he has taken the time to search the web for profiles of cars and has determined that the XF looks like it has been copied directly from the Lexus or perhaps even the Infinity. For my part I think it bears a striking and disappointing similarity to the latest vulgar Camry. I for one, and my son for another, believe that Ford is still mistakenly trying to mass market Jaguars - a strategy is more than likely doomed to failure. Bringing Ian Callum in to try to find something Jaguarish in his otherwise notable Aston designs, is not, in our view, a recipe for success for the Jaguar marque. My son's worst nightmare is that Jaguar will become the luxury division of Hyundai...isn't there someone out there with some fiscal resources coupled with some imagination and appreciation for this remarkable brand???

Submitted by NC43-62049 on Wed, 12/05/2007 - 17:35

Don't like it.

Too blah on the outsife & too gimmicky in the inside.

McCallum's best design work was the DB7.

Reagrds,
Toronto Canada
90 XJ-S,etc.

Submitted by manshun@usys.net on Mon, 12/03/2007 - 19:07

I think the XF will mature into a very beautiful car. You might all consider it ugly at this point ... but you might have thought the XJS was not beautiful when you think that it replaced the E-type. But seriously, The XJS has become a very nice car, even with some intial stumbles.

When the modern S-type came out, I did not like it .... but now I've come to accept it as a Jaguar. The shape has really matured nicely.

With regards to the XF, it certainly is not beautiful, but I would think that it will mature into something nice. The front has headlights that look like they are from a Volvo, and the rear reminds me of a new Buick.

Man-Shun Poon
Vancouver, Canada / London, England

2001 Jaguar XJR
1987 Jaguar V12 VDP
1986 Jaguar XJ6
1982 Jaguar V12 VDP

Submitted by silver007@shaw.ca on Thu, 11/29/2007 - 18:38

Art Dickenson.
1983 XJS GT "Silver"
Pacific Jaguar.ca

Several years ago when the new S Type was released it was not an immidiate visual success story. Over the years however it has grown on us and become more Jaguarish...... if there really was such a word. The new midsize car does have certain resembalancies to other marque's, esp the one last seen on the cover of JJ, looked like a Volvo Stn Wgn to me, there are however many on the Jaguar Car's Web page that look very sporty to me.
The true beauty of the new car may just be that currently Jaguar is listed as being # 1 in the customer / consumer ratings. Too often cars are released too soon before all the bugs are worked out, and cars become scorned due to their constant need to go back to the dealership for warranty repair.
Hopefully this new model will continue to excel in quality and performance. I hope a test on the Jaguar North American Slalom Course in this vehicle comes my way soon.

Submitted by dougdwyer1@com… on Thu, 11/29/2007 - 09:53

I'm not fond of it either.

But I think Jaguar is trying to build a car that *lots* of people will want to buy, not just a relative handful of melancholy Jaguar enthusiasts (like me) who think the best has come and gone, never to return.

Doug Dwyer
Longview Washington USA
1995 XJR

Submitted by gpaul@columbus… on Thu, 11/29/2007 - 07:33

I had an 86 Series III XJ6, what a great car!
I just bought a 2002 XJ8 as what I saw as my last chance to have pretty real Jaguar. I like this one very much, but even it is not as nice as the XJ6.

Jaguar used to understand that what they had and very few if any others had was the asthetic. Such beautiful forms!

I'm afraid what most of us think of as Jaguar is a thing of the past!

I'm dealing with this with my other car a Mazda Miata. I have a 2002 SE and a 1994 M both examples of the best of Miata. Now they are focused on competing with BMW, Honda and all of the other Miata copy cats. What Mazda doesn't get is that they understood the genre, the others never got it.

Regretfully money speeks more than the asthetic.

The XF is a nice look car, it's just not a Jag!!!

Gary

Submitted by gpaul@columbus… on Thu, 11/29/2007 - 07:32

I had an 86 Series III XJ6, what a great car!
I just bought a 2002 XJ8 as what I saw as my last chance to have pretty real Jaguar. I like this one very much, but even it is not as nice as the XJ6.

Jaguar used to understand that what they had and very few if any others had was the asthetic. Such beautiful forms!

I'm afraid what most of us think of as Jaguar is a thing of the past!

I'm dealing with this with my other car a Mazda Miata. I have a 2002 SE and a 1994 M both examples of the best of Miata. Now they are focused on competing with BMW, Honda and all of the other Miata copy cats. What Mazda doesn't get is that they understood the genre, the others never got it.

Regretfully money speeks more than the asthetic.

The XF is a nice look car, it's just not a Jag!!!

Gary

Submitted by lngjon@sbcglobal.net on Wed, 11/28/2007 - 20:28

This thing is horrid. I'll really miss Jaguar as a car company when it's gone. The XF is the right way to make sure that happens.

How bright is that, anyway? "Our sales are flagging, so instead of making a car that celebrates Jaguar values, we create what looks like a bloated toyota and further alienate our loyal fans."

Stupid. Buying a Jag, or for that matter, any British car, is buying a certain heritage. Successful versions of this can be found in the new Rolls Royce phantom convertible (Corniche) and Phantom, (while modern, they are still, arguably, most definitely rolls royces). Aston Martin has done a good job with this as well. This 'new' jag is a complete bastardization. It's terrible.