Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Jaguar XE AWD

... the Jaguar *is* amazing value for money.

But then, it's Jaguar's entry model in this segment, and they're trying to prise buyers out of the equivalent BMW, Merc, Audi... so there's probably a built-in discount in the pricing.

More astonishing is the "cost of brand cachet" - the extra money it takes to get into a Porsche, Range Rover, Maserati [yikes!] or Bentley... they're not *that* much more expensive to make, and the remaining price difference is the cost of meeting the brand's service expectations, and profit.

Mind you, I suspect the Range Rover is still a real off-road vehicle, that does just fine on-road. The others... not so much with the off-road.

Will

Somehow I just cant get excited about 4 seater tin tops. I cant see what this Jag gives me that a Ford would not. It wont go any faster down the road because both will be stuck in traffic, it will cost more to buy and run, it wont be any more comfortable and even if cachet meant anything to me, Jaguar hasnt got much these days.It even has a Ford engine as I understand it.

Why does it appeal to you? What am I missing?

This.

'Keeping up with the Joneses" is a mighty powerful urge.

Jaguar have a fine range of cars and the XE compares well with other premium brands.

I just wish they'd made the XE look a bit more distinctive, especially in profile. It doesn't look special enough IMHO.

I seriously considered one as my everyday car, but then common sense went out of the window and I recently bought the last of the traditional shape Jags (X358) in 4.2 supercharged form.

Now I need something economical to run around in

Nice!

For my every day car I prefer a 4 door. I quite like the fastback or liftback style of 5 door but no one seem to make that any more. I want to be able to carry up to 5 people and some luggage on occasions. I guess I could always get around that problem by hiring a car when I need it

I had one of these years ago and quite liked it. Very dated to look at now.



I suppose there is the Toyota Prius but I don't really like the look of it.

The second thing is that I want something with a certain level of finish. Leather seats, and other finishings of reasonable quality.

Then I want something that is going to be reasonably enjoyable to drive.

I don't want to exceed 250hp. When I think of it I have never owned a car that has more and simply can't imagine what purpose a road car with more power has. I can get into enough trouble with less and that applies to bikes too. Can't see the sense in more than 100 hp on a road bike.

Also the ownership cost of anything over 250hp starts to skyrocket in Italy. Sure there are plenty of Italian super cars but they are expensive to buy and own.

Lastly I like the concept of AWD.

So what am I left with that ticks the boxes.
Probably the Jag XE AWD.
A BMW mid range model (I was looking at the X1 but it might be a bit small) Perhaps the X4 is worth a look.
Audi doesn't do it for me.
Maserati Ghibli - a bit heavy, I like the car but think a cast iron block engine from Jeep is out of place even if it has been re-worked by Ferrari to produce 250hp. Oh, and the AWD version is too powerful and too expensive anyway.
MB CLA, hmm a bit Teutonic but the CLA 250 4MATIC may be worth a look.

I've got about a month to make up my mind or I have to pay another year of tax on the car. SORN does not exist in Italy.

The breed you are looking for is rather seldom nowadays. If you want 4 doors and a tailgate, why not a new Mercedes C class station, she looks not too bad IMO and has loads of engines to choose from.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bg_Y66jT5hY/maxresdefault.jpg

You ought to at least take a look at the Honda CRV. Seats 5 easily, masses of space, all the gizmos, leather if you want it (I went for half leather/Alcantara), bullet-proof reliability.

My brother, who is a bit of an Audi snob, was amazed when I took him up to North Wales in it, I think he expected it to be a wobbly old fart's car but its ability to cover ground fast and comfortably is excellent/

In nearly 4 years of ownership of mine, I have found just 2 things to complain about: the air conditioning has whole degree rather than ½ degree increments, and when you turn the ignition off the hifi forgets that your iPod is set to shuffle, so it goes back to ticking through the tracks alphabetically.

Apart from the routine servicing (total cost £300 for 4 years) it has needed a set of tyres at 30,000 miles and a new set of windscreen wipers. Average consumption over the 4 years is 42 mpg.

Admittedly I'm biased as I'm a devoted supporter of buying local, and they are built just down the road from me, but they really are cracking cars, there are several CRV owners on TM.

And for the £50k price tag of a car with brand cachet, you could buy both a CRV and a Fiat 500 Abarth if you want some tin top driving fun.

Tim. The Honda CR-V may be worth a look. Not a bad looking car and they seem to hold their value. By the time it is optioned up it is not all that much less than some of the others.

As for the Fiat 500 Abarth; I hired one once, in my opinion it is overpriced and not very comfortable.

Is it? I guess so - I once had a sales rep who pestered me seriously to surrender his annual pay rise & merit increase ( remember when people got those?) if his new company car could be a GL not an L. He was emarrassed. He thought that his neighbours would see the L and think hm a failure. How insecure can you get.

But back to the topic. Is Jaguar a premium brand? I wouldnt have put it there any more than the old Rover was in its final days. A long time ago, in the days of the Mk 2, it might have been one but now it cant match the German brands IMO.