I must say sorry to a LOT of Jaguar owners who seem to disagree with my stance, but I truly LIKE the interior of the XE toned way down.
Jaguar is a luxury maker, and a performance car maker---and I understand fully a luxury owner’s perception that “I’m buying this thing as a statement to others, and a reminder to myself, that I have a certain status, have achieved a level of elegance and high price in my lifestyle, and I have earned the right to distinguish what I own from the poor guy on a budget in a velor-lined ’91 Camry owns—I may respect that ’91 Camry owner, but deserve to be exclusive from him”.
You want your car’s interior to have luxury that expresses and reminds you of that exclusive feeling.
I came from a compact Toyota ownership, and though people complimented how clean and elegant I maintained that humble poor-man’s car, I more enjoyed how that little car could PUSH IT on the road, if the driver knew what he was doing. I could FWD zip and skim through some hair-raising traffic hazards on the city streets AND on the highways… that little car had STONES. (I can say that word on this forum, right? “Stones”. It’s okay?
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Recently I took my first step into “luxury” class makers. And yes, it is enjoyable to see AC vents electrically slide open, and cup holders trimmed in chrome, and 30-speakers hand-set into rosewood and teak inlay—BMW, Audi, Merc, Jaguar,…sure, okay. Feels sweet.
But it was also my first step into “performance” luxury class. And
The criticism that Consumer Reports and other Reviewer kept saying, is EXACTLY what made me start drooling about the idea of owning the XE: the way it DRIVES is making them slap-happy with glee, and the interior is missing a lot of luxury…and it still costs 40-50K to buy.
Hmmm, I think I get it. Jaguar makes very luxurious vehicles, but this ONE vehicle intentionally lightened its luxury to put most of the cost on the engine and wheels.
If I buy a 50K Audi or 50K X-type, I’m getting 40% luxury and 60% performance. If I buy an XE, I’m about to end up with 15% luxury and 85% of….p-per-p-p-Pete’s Sake and Holy Smokes, I want to try the XE!
That’s exactly what I LIKE. My 50K got me non-sliding AC vents, and no chrome trim on my cup holder, and a slap-happy growling uphill highway turns in the pouring rain with STILL not a single skid or oversteer yet!
I think every maker should offer ONE model like Jaguar’s XE. Just one model in their line that deliberately sheds a bucket of money off the cabin candy, and diverts the savings all to the design of its road claws. That sort of design decision is not the kind most luxury owners will prefer… but it’s nice to have it available for the niche owner who has more of an infactuation with his road than with his cigar and inlay wood.
I’m the niche owner. I really don’t thing the interior could be “better”.
