Jaguar is keen to promote the F-Type as their new hero of the line-up, its position further solidified by the news that the long-running Jaguar XK is going to end production by this summer, with no replacement planned anytime soon. However, as big of an improvement as the F-Type is as a sports car, it is missing the main reason that I bought the XK for: cargo space.
The first thing we did after buying our used Jaguar XK last summer was to take it in for “smart” repair. If you’re unfamiliar with what that is, then read on.
Our Jaguar XK has been running fine since we bought it in early summer. Which makes its minor non-mechanical issues rather annoying. The fact that we’ve covered only 800 km so far makes it doubly so.
If you remember, our recently-purchased Jaguar XK went to the dealership straight after we were handed the keys by the previous owner, because it was throwing up “overheating” warnings. Thankfully it turned out to be just a thermostat. As soon as we picked it up from the service centre though, there was an intermittent whining noise coming from who-knows-where. Over a week, the noise became more and more common, to the point where it was even giving out the occasional whine while revved at standstill. We were expecting the worst. After all, Jaguar’s reputation precedes them.
We wanted to fill our personal fleet up with cool cars. That means our trusty Renault Safrane will eventually move on to a good home by the end of the summer. The replacement had to cleanly fall between our Honda S2000 and our Range Rover in terms of size, drive and cargo-carrying practicality. We thought of all sorts of cars, including Minis, Chargers, Alfas, Evoques, 3-Series, GTIs and what not. Then I woke up last week and had a sudden urge to buy a Jaguar XK. So I did.