Who would buy a Jaguar X-Type?

With the announcement that Jaguar were to stop building the X-Type, there will have been much celebration within the offices of Top Gear Magazine. They seem to have an irrational hatred of the car but is it right that it should be pilloried so?

Well I bought one. Back in 2005 when lots of people thought it was a re-badged Mondeo but I knew that it was different - it had a 2.5 litre V6 engine and four-wheel drive and a picture of a big cat on the radiator grille.

I knew that by buying new I was going to take a huge hit on depreciation, but just like the only other car I’ve bought new – a 1991 Rover 214GSi in pearlescent cherry red (I know – the folly of youth eh?) – I have plans to keep this car until it falls apart and dies of old age. Mind you, if you believe the new car section at the back of the Magazine, us X-Type owners aren’t a happy bunch because our cars are already failing and falling apart – but that is more of a perception due to do with the comments in the Magazine not being updated since the Jag did particularly badly in its first user survey – since then it has had some good, respectable years. I’ve had a few niggles with mine which were all quickly resolved but certainly no problems compared to its predecessor, a 1999 Mercedes, but that’s another story for another day.

I think that the X-Type received a lot of criticism for two contradictory reasons:

i) Jaguars are boring cars with a non-changing look and staid gentlemen’s club interiors and
ii) Jaguar shouldn’t be going into new un-Jaguaresque areas such as diesel engines or estate cars or, worst of all, horror of horrors, having tow-bars.

Well, let’s take first things first, I happen to like the look of the old big Jags, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of Arthur Daley (have you been watching the repeats on ITV4? – very good and you get to see a lot of cars of that period – like Morris Marinas) It’s also nice to stand out from the crowd a bit – when I first bought the car, the poor X-Type sales meant that my racing green estate example was the only one around. The perception of the car amongst non-car-enthusiasts is also very high. I caught a repeat of a popular motoring magazine show that wasn’t Top Gear (other motoring magazine shows are available) on Dave a few weeks back. A survey they performed rated the X-Type as considerably more prestigious than the equivalent products from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus and VW.

And, taking second things second, the diesel Jags have proved very popular although a diesel is not for me. I need an estate to transport my children, and more significantly, all of the paraphernalia that comes with them. The tow-bar not being compulsory meant that I didn’t tick that particular option.

Anyway, with them being discontinued and discounted, they should be available at bargain prices now with rarity and assumed prestige helping maintain interest in the model for years to come. Even Mr.Clarkson has admitted he likes the All-Wheel-Drive Estate.

So would I buy one? Well no, I’ve already got one, silly! But if I didn’t, then I would. As a driving enthusiast I’d have to go for the 3.0 litre – as a normal person, one of the cheaper, more economical front-wheel drives would do. So, time to get the Auto-Trader out (other car-selling magazines are available)