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

A familiar story. My wife's father was MD of Danarm Chainsaws, back in the early 1980s he used to run around in a 10 year old Ford Granada estate and couldn't see why the marketing and financial directors were obsessed with having Mercedes or BMWs.

He resisted pressure to get rid of his Granada, from his point of view it was the perfect car because as a keen beekeeper he could get half a dozen beehives in the back.

I used to have one of those Grannie Estates. Blinking good motor car...

They certainly were! FiL's fell apart in the end with rust, so then he really annoyed the rest of the board by getting a VW T25 panel van to replace it

Howard, I do like your scientist's logic and I suspect a temperamental leaning towards asceticism.

Your thoughts - and this thread - are very timely to me, because I need to replace the family wagon (MBG350) which at 70,000 miles is still worth a decent amount at trade in, but after another year will be at 100,000 and depreciated into a very different category of used metal!

My week starts and ends with a late-night two and a half hour commute between Kent & Dorset, 4-up + dog + luggage. Each weekday includes 100+ miles of school run in North Kent's crowded and bad-tempered traffic.

What I need is:

5 doors, ideally door at rear not tailgate
Variable servicing (gentle but high miles)
Engaging enough to keep me alert
Cosseting enough for family and dog to sleep
Unassuming at junctions, changing lanes etc
Narrower than large saloon/SUV for country lanes
Proper 4WD to get my country-GP wife to remote patients

Never underestimate point 4, I had a rebellion on my hands over the Defender!

The Honda does sound worth a look, but they do seem wide? I also like the look of the new MB GLC, sadly the upcoming G-Class relaunch is rumoured to be much wider than the current generation which are nice and skinny.

Thoughts anyone?

I consider it a premium brand.

I'm not sure in which way you think it can't match the German brands.

In ride quality alone it certainly tops them. Then again a horse and cart tops BMW ride quality

I admit to a certain bias having owned several modern Jaguars. However with my last car being a Mercedes E class and having owned a couple of BMW's in recent years I feel qualified to compare.

I would agree with Tim. If the OP is considering a reliable SUV then the Honda CRV is worth a look.

No it is not a SUV that I want. I have to have a look at the CRV in the flesh but I am avoiding SUV like vehicles.

I've never noticed the width of my Honda to be an issue, The lanes round here are pretty narrow (9 feet wide outside our house), and it goes into supermarket parking spaces with no trouble.

I like the full-colour reversing camera and the proximity sensors, they make manoeuvres in tight spaces a complete doddle.

Of the engine choices, there's a cheapo 1.6 petrol version that I wouldn't think would be a sensible choice, and you can't get it in AWD format, which rather misses the point I think.

I have the 2.2 turbodiesel, and it's plenty quick enough for UK motorways, it cruises very happily at very illegal speeds.

My dad had a 2.8 Estate for quite a while; it was a great car - stonkingly fast by the standards of the day.

The funny thing was, my Dad would never have a German or Japanese car (still hadn't forgiven them for the war). When he bought the Granada, I asked him if he knew it was a German car. He said I was talking rubbish, that it was a Ford, so would have been built in Dagenham. Once I had proved him wrong he just replied "Fair enough. But it's a damn good car".

The ultimate irony is that he ended up buying Japanese cars, as it was the best option if you wanted a good everyday car built in Britain.

Howard.....and isn't a Ferrari a FIAT ?

I have a 2009 CRV ex 2.2 turbo diesel bought 3 years ago with 57000 miles on the clock. It now has 83000 miles on the clock. It has no DPF and has a manual handbrake. Of course it has a dual mass flywheel as all manual diesels have. I have considered a change but I think I will keep the this CRV for years to come and have it serviced at main dealer.