A family gathering in the Midlands was the perfect opportunity to wrestle the Jaguar’s keys off its custodian, Matt Burt.
A close relative of mine has been toying with buying an Jaguar XF and his reasoning makes for an interesting story, which we’ll come to in a moment.
During the journey from Surrey to Rugby, my mother spent the duration admiring the XF’s rear seats, before reminiscing about her time at automotive supply company TRW, where she was involved in providing interior fixtures and trim for both Jaguar and Land Rover.
Later, a chat with my uncle Divyen unearthed the real reason behind his pining for a Jaguar. Divyen’s father used to manage a team of engineers on the production line at Jaguar’s Radford plant in Coventry, where it built predominantly engines. This way of life was soon ingrained in a young Divyen and various family visits to see the operations and factory-fresh plush Jaguars fuelled his desire to buy one.
In 1993 his father sadly passed away, which made him only more determined to buy a Jaguar as a living memory of his father. Having driven most modern Jaguars, Divyen was torn between buying a used XKR or the second-generation XF, which was my main reason for commandeering Matt’s XF 3.0 TDV6 for a weekend.
Our XF was the perfect show car, and Divyen couldn’t wait to grab the keys and have a rummage around inside. “Jaguar has got it spot on,” he said after poring over our car. “The way the company has transitioned from the past to where it is now shows the amount of research and development that has gone into the cars. The XF, for me, is the right car. It looks good and it is functional for my personal life.”
Although our 3.0-litre V6 diesel model is a little out of Divyen’s price range, it cemented his decision to buy an XF and fulfil his ambition to own a model from the car company that means so much to his family.
JAGUAR XF 3.0 TDV6 S
Price £49,995 Price as tested £61,920 Economy 41.9mpg Faults None Expenses None Last seen 26.10.16
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A three litre diesel XF is as
Modern Jaguars are nice, but
This is no longer the 1980s where city boys, country gentlemen and east end gangsters are your target market.
The XE in particular is up against the trendy A4 and 3 series.
Many of your new customers will be turning up in less-than-new cars, of which some aren't Jaguar. Don't ignore these customers.
wrong choice...