Jaguar XJ TDVi Executive 2.7 Review

Overall Rating

Interior Build Quality - Ivory leather with walnut is really impressive and the Sovereign specification includes sat nav, climate control, voice activated controls ( a great gadget!), electric driver seat with memory function for 3 drivers (inc mirrors and head restraint adjust). 12 speaker Alpine stereo offers great sound and is really easy to use through the touch sensitive screen.
Engine - The 2.7 diesel engine is extremely smooth and offers great mid range torque. The Jaguar J gate allows selection of specific gears eg to facilitate engine compression downhill offering great flexibility and the Sport Mode really does create a different driving experience.
Fuel Economy - The lightweight aluminium body returns a minimum 36 mpg which is great for such a large car.
The Jaguar Marque - The positive comments from others on the look and feel of the car - part of the reason for buying such a vehicle I guess.
Jaguar Insurance - Having conducted an extensive market survey, Jaguar Insurance offered a competitive quotation with a vastly superior level of service compared with any other companies I contacted by phone - a real person who was genuinely interested in me, not a call centre reading scripts.

Reliability - So far the car has been off the road for a combined total of 32 days and some defects are still to be resolved. Faults have ranged from electrical defects (service interval light on, faulty switch panel, miscommunication between key fob transmitters and car, front and rear parking sensor failure) through bumper creaking (fixed by new bracket) to failure of both turbos, loss of cruise control, central locking, speed limiter function.
Overall Customer Experience (Pre and Post Sale) - Jaguar Customer Satisfaction have confirmed that the customer experience is not designed by them but lies firmly in the hands of individual dealers.

I leased the Jaguar XJ TDVi Executive 2.7 at the end of April 2006 under a 3 year PCP (having driven BMW 3 series, Mercedes C Class and E Class previously - all of which were 100% reliable and fault free). The overall package price of the XJ was very attractive but the poor reliability to date has really taken the shine off the Jaguar ownership experience. I've also been very disappointed at the support provided - PDI was incomplete and the service booklet not completed, parts have frequently been on 10 - 14 day back order, service dept is very hard to reach by telephone (always being told they will call back is really frustrating for a business person with long meetings and short breaks in which to make arrangements), fault resolution has been protracted and incomplete on collection. On one occasion I was offered a loan car - a very tired XJ that stank of cigar smoke (I'm a non smoker) - appalling! I also had the car returned on one occasion with grimy staining to the passenger seat, oily fingermarks on the seat switches and blue ball pen stains on the seat back, hardly what one expects from such a prestige brand addressing the executive market.

It has also surprised me that over the 6 months of ownership I have never received any request for feedback on my satisfaction to date - this contrasts starkly with Honda (I bought a CRV in May 06) who have asked for feedback by phone or postal questionnaire no less than six times in the same period. Jaguar investigated this when I contacted them and told me I'd opted out of receiving paper mailings in 2003 (which was nonsense - they send me other mailings) but that they would opt me back in - still nothing - so I presume they aren't interested in feedback from their customers. No wonder Jaguar is currently Ford's worst performing division.

In summary, the XJ TDVi Sovereign has the potential to be a really great car but in my experience, it's badly let down by reliability problems, delay in sourcing parts and customer service in general. The nature of cars is that things can and will go wrong on occasions - I accept that - so it's even more important that Jaguar focus their attention on supporting their customers and getting them back on the road - fast and with the minimum of inconvenience. In the age of Customer Experience Management add-ons such as Quintessentially Jaguar (the free for 1 year concierge package for XJ and XK owners), it completely misses the mark when basic vehicle reliability and customer support is so poor.