Overview & Reviews

Jaguar cars have a long history of elegant styling and sporting performance. The brand was born in the United Kingdom, and for years its vehicles were synonymous with the old-world luxury of the British upper classes. More recently, Jaguar has been under the ownership of other automakers, but Jaguar cars will always bear the unmistakable gleam of traditional English refinement.

The company traces its roots to the Swallow Sidecar Company, founded in 1922 by Bill Lyons and William Walmsley. Based in Blackpool, England, the company produced a popular line of aluminum motorcycle sidecars. Swallow eventually switched its focus to automobile production, changing its name to SS Cars Ltd. in 1933. The first vehicle to carry the Jaguar name was the SS Jaguar 100, released in 1935.

After World War II, SS Cars switched its moniker to Jaguar so as not to be associated with the Nazi paramilitary organization that bore the same initials. Its first postwar offering was 1948's Mark V. The luxury sedan was joined that year by the XK 120, a sports car that was the fastest production automobile of its day — its name indicating its top speed. The XK 120 proved quite popular, and helped Jaguar establish a strong presence in the sports car market.

By the 1950s, Jaguar had begun exporting luxury vehicles to the United States. Created just for the American market, the Mark VII Saloon was introduced in 1951 and was a hit with stateside motorists. In 1956, the car took the prize at the Monte Carlo Rally. Later in the decade, Jaguar added the Mark VIII and Mark IX to its lineup. Meanwhile, the XK became the XK 140 as performance increased. Then came the XK 150 which was obviously even faster, though not quite as curvaceously alluring as the 120/140 models.

The 1960s saw the launch of one of Jaguar's most well-known models. The E-Type (or XK-E as it was known in the U.S.) debuted for 1961. The new sports car, available as either a coupe or convertible, provided performance and refinement wrapped up in an undeniably sexy package. The success of groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and icons like Twiggy the fashion model made British culture a hot commodity during the '60s — a fact that likely had positive implications for Jaguar's popularity in the U.S.

A decade later, Jaguar introduced the XJ6C and XJ12C coupes to join the sedans. At one point, the XJ12 was the fastest production sedan of its day. By the mid-'70s the lovely E-Type was replaced by the relatively bland XJ-S. The 1980s saw Jaguar continuing to raise the bar in performance with the launch of the XJ-S HE and a true world supercar, the XJ220.
By this time, however, Jaguar's cars had also built up a reputation for questionable reliability, electrical problems being the chief source of owners' angst. Increased competition from German automakers and adverse exchange rates didn't help matters either. Without much capital to work with to improve matters, the company decided to pursue a partnership with another company. This decision ultimately led to a full buyout of Jaguar by Ford in 1990.

Ford's influence (and financial support) was evident with the 1997 launch of Jaguar's XK8 and supercharged XKR sports cars. Powering both was Jaguar's new AJ-V8, a compact yet powerful engine that was also used in certain Land Rover vehicles. A few years later, Jaguar made an effort to broaden its product line with the introduction of a lower-priced, entry-luxury compact sedan known as the X-Type. Unfortunately, this model sold poorly, as its modest European Ford sedan underpinnings proved to be a liability. Around this time, Jaguar's old-school traditional styling grew stale as competitors moved into the new millennium with cutting-edge, modern designs inside and out.

Sales plummeted, and Jaguar's financial problems caused further headaches for parent company Ford, which was also experiencing financial turmoil. Ford cut its losses and sold Jaguar (and fellow British premium brand Land Rover) to Indian manufacturer Tata in 2008. Though reliability still remains a concern, new models like the XF and redesigned icons XK and XJ seem to indicate a bright Jaguar future, as they feature modern designs sprinkled with a fair share of classic Britannic charm.

User Reviews:

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  Forget about the manual transmission - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By Dissapointed - May 1 - 3:36 pm

  I had a 5 speed 2004 X type, the styling, suspension and handling are Ok. The engine not very economical, but OK, needing 91 octane. My 5 speed gear shifting action was Ok, but the clutch was awful, and after only 20K miles the rear differential was clunking badly. The dealership changed the clutch, and I got to see the old unit - a terrible design. Lots of plastic pieces also broke. Happy to get rid of the car - I now buy Japanese.

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  2003 X-Type - 2003 Jaguar X-Type
  By Ron Turkett - April 2 - 2:30 am

  Had differential, prop shaft and window regulator replace along with dash electrical and other smaller items. The dealer had the car for more than one week for the first three months and then not so frequent.

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  Disappointed, Frustrated & Angry - 2003 Jaguar X-Type
  By Let Down - March 25 - 10:00 am

  I have a 2003 3.0 Automatic. Loved the car at first - the style and sporty drive. Now after only 10,000 mi I have had the transmission replaced 2X! They finally had to admit that they had transmission problems with these cars. I have talked to other X-Type owners and they have experinced the same thing. At first the dealer denied there was a problem until I made a real stink. It still isnt right so they are calling in Jaguar HQ.

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  Big Mistake - 2007 Jaguar XK-Series
  By ascorvettemike - March 10 - 5:23 pm

  Great looking exterior, but too bad the rest of the car does not measure up. The transmission and stereo are phenomenal. The back seat is useless, and the driving experience is ho-hum. This is a nice car, but at this price-point, I expect much more. The seats are average, the ride is simply okay - not exhilarating. The car handles okay, but is a tad rough, which is surprising given its size. The size is one of the main problems - this car is simply too big for a 2 seater.

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  new car - 2004 Jaguar XJ-Series
  By alton - December 29 - 10:00 am

  The ride is very rough,I feel every bump in steering wheel and seat. The road noise is very loud, it appears to come from the wheels and floor,on some bumps the suspension system feels like it is bottoming out.This is my third jaguar and I believe it is the worst one. The front seats are very uncomfortable especially when getting out of the car due to the high edge of the seat.If I had purchased this car instead of leasing I would be trading the car.

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  Not impressed - 2004 Jaguar S-Type
  By Dillardo - December 11 - 7:33 pm

  I am not that impressed with my S-Type. It doesn’t even feel like a luxury car to me. The inside is very basic, the stereo system is horrible, and perhaps I needed to upgrade the stereo system. However, for the amount of the car, one would think the car would have a better sound system. The car has no cool features! Ok, I have memory seats, thats basically it. Nothing about this car feels luxurious! I hope that they do a better job with the redesigned S-Type. It should be more wonderful things about a car other than the exterior appearance, having a great interior, as well as great features makes a car complete. I cannot believe that the original asking price for this car was $45, 000. There is no way this car was ever worth that amount of money.

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  Looks great; pity about the mechanics - 2000 Jaguar S-Type
  By Dr B - December 11 - 2:00 am

  Love the outside, pity about the workmanship. Yes the interior doesnt hold much room, but I didnt buy it for that. Unfortunately just after the warantee finished both front windows fell off their levers costing and arm and a leg to fix. The moulding on the front of the car also came away.

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  Beautiful But Dont Go There - 2000 Jaguar S-Type
  By OFFPUTTING - October 5 - 10:00 am

  Ive made 17 trips to the dealership for warranty work. Over 1% of the mileage accrued was logged on trips to and from the dealership. To date Ive spent almost two work weeks of time due to dealer visits. The check engine light has been on for 1/2 of the 45,000 miles logged. A window fell out. Wheel bearings shot. Goofy radio that came on of its own volition. Transmission defect.Sensors failed. If you are lonely and seek human interaction buy a Jaguar 2000 S Type 4.0. You will get loads of human interaction at the dealership because youll visit the folks there frequently. Also be prepared for multiple dealership visits for the same problem.

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  JAGUAR X TYPE - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By lance alspaugh - July 31 - 10:00 am

  glorified Ford Tauras. We were trapped by the Jaguar Promotional Media blitz when this vehicle entered the market. While it seems to be well built, quality of desirable extras (needs a decent stereo) very little leg room and extremely small back seat. You get what you pay for in this case. Great on the freeway, however this does not make up for its shortcomings nor can we recommend the vehicle.

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  the most horrable nightmare - 2000 Jaguar S-Type
  By hoser1 - June 9 - 2:00 am

  I LOVE the design of this car and I LOVE to drive it...when it is not in for repair...I drive a rental more than my own car because it is always in the shop...for weeks at a time. the dealer ship couldnt figure out why it would always miss between 40-60 mph so they charged me over and over to "fix" different things...finaly the check engine light gave them a code which indicated the coils of which there are 12 they have been failing one at a time and each time I am back, last time I didnt get 10 miles from the shop. I am now driving another rental!!!!!!