Seemingly back from the dead, the 2011 Jaguar XJ has indeed risen from the ashes of 2010 and continues to improve. Gone are the old days of tradition that marked the 2010 dead-on-arrival; it its place is modern design that will appeal to anyone looking for a luxury sedan with all the bells and whistles.
Say this for the folks at Jaguar Motors: They held on to tradition for as long as humanly possible but they finally became willing to change. Possibly no car on today’s market has changed as much as the Jaguar XJ. What has emerged is quality with a modern look and it is the rival of any other luxury sedan PLUS it carries the Jaguar name, which can never be a bad selling point.
Jaguar has gone almost entirely aluminum and the result is a 4,000 pound body that is quick, nimble and handles extremely well. Is there any power you ask? Well, the base trim has a 5.0-liter V8 that will give you 385 horsepower out of the engine but step up to the Supercharged and you will get 470 horsepower and the Supersport gets 510 horses. Quite impressive to say the least. With the standard six-speed automatic transmission, the XJ went from 0-60 in 5.5 seconds and still managed to get 16/23 mpg with 19 mpg combined. The Supersport, by the way, went 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. Again, quite impressive!
The interior looks like a luxury sedan with beautiful leather, a great stereo system and more power features than something produced by NASA. 19-inch wheels provide the stability and great anti-lock brakes give you a feeling of comfort when speeding down the highway.
How does the XJ stand up against competition? Well, the 7 Series and the S-Class have their own features that come highly recommended, so it’s really a matter of what are you looking for in a luxury sedan? You really can’t go wrong with any of the big three in the luxury sedan class.
As for price, yes, the XJ is expensive and yes, the replacement parts are expensive. If you can find a salvage yard that carries quality replacement parts then by all means by whatever you need there. Going to a dealership or auto parts store is going to cost you dearly for the Jag used parts.
But it might be worth the extra cost of repair and replacement because the Jaguar XJ for 2011 is a car worth owning no matter the cost.