USED Jaguar X-type Estate (01 - 09)

My car

I had two of these as company cars, first in the SE spec and second in Sport spec and I loved them both.

The 2 litre turbo diesel is amazingly economical in all situations, especially on the motorway - if you try you can get easily get more than 50mpg and overall, I was getting 44mpg. But it's also very quick - faster than the 0-60 figures would make you believe, with loads of torque and bags of power when you really need it - it's a fabulous engine. Handling is superb - I've tried BMWs and I genuinely prefer my Jags. (NB As a company car., I only had to pay for fuel, so the 5 stars for running costs only reflect this.)

The cabin isn't quite up to Audi quality, but it's a very nice place to be.

The load area is modest for an estate, but had one great trick up it's sleeve - the rear window opens independently, so you can pack every inch of the space available, unlike some estates. With the optional net behind the rear seats, you really can pile it high.

As for reliability, in 5 high milage years, I only had one minor problem and that was sorted very quickly. In fact they've been more reliable than german cars I've had previously.

Great cars and much better looking as an estate than a saloon.

My car

I clock up around 80% of my mileage on motorways and drive the car with the utmost respect, rarely exceeding 75 mph (despite my boy racing tendencies). Even with a driving style that includes changing gear before 2000 rpm is reached and never using more than a quarter of the travel on the accelerator, the best economy I have achieved so far is 38mpg. If I drive the car "normally", then I see 33 mpg at best with town driving taking this down to around 26mpg. Jaguar did replace a sticking valve recently which has improved matters slightly, but I still fall 15 mpg short on Jaguar's claimed 48 mpg.

To put things into context, my wife owns a Mercedes E240, which is a V6 petrol automatic. This returns 30 mpg, which when reconciled with the lower cost of petrol, means that on the same journey, I am slightly better off driving her car!

Other complaints have been a failed reverse sensor, an about to fail electric seat, the car consistently pulls to the left etc. The Jaguar service is always courteous, but they never seems to be able rectify faults in the first instance because the computer does not show any faults (or the computer says no in Little Britain speak).

I will revert to German cars next time and never return to this Tata owned company ever again. The worst news - in the economic downturn, my company has informed me that we have to keep cars for 5 years, meaning that I have to endure another 3 years of motoring misery.

My car

I was loaned this car whilst mine was in for repair. I like the styling, but the load space is too small for an estate. The diesel engine is super smooth with plenty of torgue and combined with the handling, steering and brakes make it a real pleasure to drive. On the downside, the body flexes too much, making the car feel cheaper than the image it wants to project. The ride is generally excellent, but can be crashy over some bumps. Road roar is very intrusive on anything but smooth roads. This is not a quiet car except on good motorway. Shame, as wind noise is well suppressed. The interior quality and styling feels good and is pleasing on the eye, not feeling particularly dated to me, just different from the average rep box. The base of the seat, for me as a tall driver, is too flat, so that I don't feel part of the car and in danger of sliding off. The height adjustment does not alter the angle, so I always felt as if I was having to brace myself in the car. Economy of 38.4 on a steady motorway trip of 500 miles is poor. Overall, road noise and flex spoils a good drive and driveline package, whilst why have an estate that is not a load carrier?

My car

What can you say? Top level spec, and a very pleasant cabin. Owned the car for 2 yrs and 40k miles and its probably been the least problematical of any car I've ever had. One problem - EGC valve on engine fixed in a few hours under warranty. Dealer (was Webbers Basingstoke now Harwoods) has been excellent, really seem concerned for you as a customer, service is pricey but much less than Merc and more pleasant about it too. This car just looks so elegant, there is a refined compact purposeful look about it. The 2.2 diesel is our first diesel and its just outstanding, the surge of power at overtaking speeds makes swift driving and accelerating easy. (Only complaint is that it picks up SO fast in 3rd gear at 40 mph that its licence bait. anyone who says "its a Mondeo" obviously knows as much about cars as Clarkson. One question for Jag though - why do you keep Jaguar assist so quiet? Although we read the handbook on Jag assist, we still carried on with breakdown insurance as I didn't believe it was really that good!