Jaguar XF goodbye - Introduction

Jaguar XF 2.7D V6 Luxury
Our tester
Name Roger Stansfield
Age 57
Job Associate Editor
Lives West London
Uses car for… Absolutely everything. This car is the only way to travel
Tested for 11 months/16,000 miles
Whay's it on test? We made it Car of the Year 2008 – we thought we'd better put our money where our mouths are.

Until last year, the UK's executive saloon market was a self-perpetuating benefit society for the Germans. Audi, BMW and Mercedes had the best reputations (deserved or otherwise), which gave their cars the best whole-life running costs. That kept monthly leasing rates down – which ensured people traded in one German car for another.

The Lexus GS hybrid has muscled in to some extent, but the rest have largely fallen by the wayside. The Italians don't even try to compete, big French saloons are a good way to make a small fortune out of a large one, and as for the American efforts… please.

Then there was Jaguar. Good, old, quaint little Jaguar. The S-type was actually a really good car by the time Jag had finished with it, but by general consensus – including the opinions of people within Jaguar – it was a thatched cottage alongside the Docklands apartments it was competing against.

That all changed when its replacement, the XF, came along. Modern, innovative, exciting, cool – there are umpteen adjectives to describe the way it blends the things we've always admired about Jags with a completely fresh approach. As for the sumptuous interior with its subtle blue mood lighting and theatrical start-up procedure: it's truly stunning.

I remember the first time I saw one. If I may borrow from the immortal P G Wodehouse: my demeanour was that of one who, while picking daisies on the up-line, had suddenly caught the down express in the small of the back. ‘Gobsmacked' is the modern equivalent.