I swore that I would never drive from London to Harrogate and back again in one day. The return leg just becomes too dull and my buttocks don’t much like being in a car seat that long either.
However, it seemed like the kind of test a Jaguar XJ needed. So at 6am one cold morning I entered an ‘HG’ post code into the Sat Nav and set the steering wheel and seats to ‘warm.’ Yes, you read correctly, the steering wheel is heated too.
An hour passed in what felt like the same time it has taken your retina to cross this page. But somewhere in that time I had turned the steering wheel warmer off, and set my car seat to cool me rather than warm me.
Gadgets like the seat air conditioning which allow a passenger to be toasting themselves while the driver chills helped make the hours slip by, but they are not the main reason that the XJ is so relaxing to drive.
The main credit goes to the 3.0 diesel engine. It delivers plenty of power for overtaking, lane changing and high-speed cruising, while achieving high 30s to 40s mpg while hardly going above 2,500 revs, which means you can’t hear it.
After four hours had flown by and I stopped at a garage (just for a coffee really as there was plenty of fuel left in the tank) I genuinely wasn’t sure if I was going to find a diesel or petrol filler cap. And not one passenger could guess either, such is the level of refinement.
But the engine doesn’t give you the full picture either. The car’s suspension system is remarkable. The XJ smoothes out all the bumps, without being wallowy in the corners; I took two 60+ year olds out in it and they found the ride to be extremely comfortable as rear seat passengers. Yet, with them dropped off, I found I could throw the car about as if it were a much smaller, more nimble, driver’s car.
Of course, the passengers also loved being able to watch television and set their seats to hot until they were toasty, and then try cool too. At one point in my explanation of all the different gadgets, someone asked if there was also a Fondu set.
But again, Jaguar have got the fundamentals right, rather than just laden the car with the latest toys they have focussed on what matters: Build quality, head room and space, which was spot on for most. Although at over 6” I felt a lot more comfortable in the front. The only other slight moan was the foot rests in the back, which all agreed were unnecessary and a bit in the way.
Of course, all this space comes at a price. And while Jaguar’s engineers can hide the car’s size from me at speed through excellent handling dynamics, there is no hiding its length or breadth in a multi-story car park. It is extremely difficult to get such a big car around tight 1970s car parks.
But, assuming you make it out of the car park, you can put on the seat massager on (didn’t I mention that gadget earlier?) and sooth your back for stress, and your derriere for fatigue. You’ll be back from Harrogate in no time.
What’s the market like?
Theoretically the 3.0 d Jaguar XJs are £70,000 cars when you have the ‘right level’ of equipment. But new brokers are offering discounts of £15,000.
Cars under one year old are also hitting dealer forecourts with hardly any miles on the clock, for £45,000. Two year olds can be found for as little as £35,000 with about 10,000 miles on the clock.
So it’s fair to say that it is a buyer’s market and you can pick up some astounding luxury at half price.
Summary
New or used, the XJ is the best luxury car on the market, beating the very impressive Audi A8 quite easily; the BMW and Mercedes offerings trail a fair way back.