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Please advise a non motor head

3K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Anonymous 
#1 ·
I am an old fellow who has driven Jaguars for several decades. We used to live in Switzerland and commuted several times a year. Jaguar was chosen for comfort and economy.

We recently replaced an XJ Estate with an XE. The XE was 2 yrs old, 14K miles and comfortable to drive. Sadly on 20 Jan it was assassinated by a Land Rover arriving from the rear. Only 3 days before we came to Switzerland for 5 weeks.

May I seek your advice on the next car?

We would like another XE. We would like the comfort of using the dealer in our town because of proximity and our knowledge of the young lady who sold us the previous one. My problem is my ignorance of cars and the car trade. And I am Switzerland till March

I began by looking on the local website then the parent company site covering the South West and finally the Approved Jaguar site. My journey produced a number of questions.


  • Price - I am not confident that I can read the technical information correctly. However, it appears that there can be a 20% variation in price for the same spec. Given that these cars are all within the Jaguar fold, is that a surprise? If it is not, what is making the difference?

  • Jaguar network - I believed that my Sales Executive could act as my agent within the Jaguar network. I may be mistaken. This the (edited) response I received from my enquiry about her acting in this role.
    <LIST>
    • I would be able to source cars within our network but if you would like to purchase from me again let me know if you see a car before I do, if you get in touch with the retailer who's stock it's in I wouldn't be able to supply it to you. It would be subject to them being able to release the car to us as they may have enquiries on that particular car{1}. I wouldn't be able to source a car from elsewhere in the network as we don't know what their preparation standards are like in comparison to ours{2} and it's too great a financial risk to do it. Jaguar Land Rover have vehicles every so often that we can purchase from them centrally however because of the new model that was released last year, they are quite expensive {3} compared to your previous XE. I'll keep my eyes peeled for you though.
    {1} I hoped that I could refer to say 6 vehicles on the used network that met my requirements and ask her to sell one of them to me. I understood that this depended upon them being available from the other dealer.
    {2} I hoped that there would be a Jaguar standard which they all complied with or exceeded. This seems to question that concept.
    {3} The reason I was asking about the agency role is that generally two price conclusions had impressed me. But she could simply be saying that centrally sourced vehicles would be more expensive.
    {3.1} Younger, lower mileage cars appear to have lower prices. But I am comparing the local network with the national network.
    {3.2} Her network appears to have higher prices that the overall Jaguar network considering any of the Jaguar models.
</LIST>

  • XE varieties - How does one clearly identify the new kind of XE compared with previous models? I thought I had it but my test then fell to bits.

  • Wish List - As for the car itself we have a list of requirements. Please tell us where we are being foolish and where we are missing something important. The order is simply how they are written on a scrap of paper.
    <LIST>
    • Leather seats
    • Memory front seats
    • Heated front seats
    • A car geek tells us Autonomous Emergency Braking although it appears it does not do much in the real world
    • Power fold mirrors
    • Power boot
    • Alloys - 18 inch max
    • Diesel 8 speed automatic
</LIST>

Thank you for your patience in reading the ramblings of a confused old fellow and also thank you in anticipation for all contributions in response
to them.

Kind regards

Tony
 
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#2 ·
Interesting query.
I think that what she's saying, so far as standards are concerned, that she knows her own workshop team and trusts them to do a good job. Obviously she also wants to get the sale for herself, so if you spot a car at another dealership let her see if that dealership will release it to hers.
If you like and trust that dealership, go with it.
 
#3 ·
With regard to your wish list.
I have the 2.0 diesel automatic and think that's ideal.
I believe that with all the bad publicity diesel has been having, diesel prices have been dropping.
And my EUR 6 diesel is sufficiently clean, it is eligible for London's low emission zone.
Good luck in your search.
 
#4 ·
Hi Tony, welcome from a another Taunton local ! Hopefully I can help a little with your questions.

Price for used vehicles can vary for many reasons, location in country, Jaguar dealer or independent etc. You will always pay a premium buying from. Jaguar dealer but that can bring peace of mind. If you could post a couple of links for cars that show a great variation for the same spec then somebody may be able to help.

There are actually a couple of Jaguar networks that you dealer is referring to. The first is the complete Jaguar network that covers all dealers. I think it is that network she is referring to when she says she can't source from there because of standards.
The second network is the group that Taunton Jaguar belong to, The Helston Group https://www.helstongarages.co.uk
They have Jag dealerships in Taunton , Exeter (the dealer I use) and Truro. These garages should be able to move stock between themselves freely provided there is no active interest in a vehicle. Helston Group prices do seem to be above average.

I think your wish list is fine and there should be quite a few cars that will be suitable but a check on the Helston group site only shows six XE's available over all three dealers.

Bob
 
#5 ·
In terms of distinguishing the updated XE (facelift) from the model that was originally launched, the method that I used when I was first looking was by comparing the rear lights - the original is flat across the bottom and the facelift is narrower with a bulge at the bottom. If you take the time to look at the cars more closely there are several other differences, but the rear lights are pretty obvious.

Also, the facelift only covers late 19 reg and 69. If you go onto the Jaguar website https://used.jaguar.co.uk/search look at the approved used cars there are dozens for sale around the UK; something like 60 180d's. These vary in price, but not by a huge amount and they are all ex-demonstrators. Mine was used by the Sales Manager and when I bought it at 4 months old and 6,000 miles, it was virtually indistinguishable from a new car. I suspect that all of these cars will have been well looked after. I bought mine locally, but would have been happy to buy from a dealer who wasn't local and had the colour/spec that I wanted. In fact, I bought mine without actually seeing it until the day of purchase.

Regarding your desired specification:

- Leather seats - THEY ALL HAVE THESE
- Memory front seats - OPTION
- Heated front seats THEY ALL HAVE THESE (or certainly most of them)
- A car geek tells us Autonomous Emergency Braking although it appears it does not do much in the real world - OPTION
- Power fold mirrors - OPTION
- Power boot - OPTION
- Alloys - 18 inch max - VERY COMMON
- Diesel 8 speed automatic - ALL DIESELS

Mine has an option called a "black pack" which IMO looks good - black grille, side vents etc. This is a common option - look for the back grille surround on the pictures.

Mine is also the "R Dynamic" model which IMO is very stylish.

Prices have been slipping for several months, so I would negotiate hard with the dealers. They want to sell cars and XE's haven't been moving too quickly of late.
 
G
#8 ·
This will explain the fancy braking system and the latter really works as I found out by experiencing it on the M62 when it came into use in an emergency

https://www.ownerinfo.jaguar.com/document/4N/2016/T19935/18377_en_GBR/proc/G1904936
https://www.ownerinfo.jaguar.com/document/4N/2016/T19935/18377_en_GBR/proc/G1660287
If you think the lady sales person is honest and reliable, give her a price to work with and the requirements that you want and let her earn her commission, to find you a car. Have a look at the XF as well.
 
#9 ·
Thank you everyone for some extremely helpful information.

My next step is to formulate a spec and a somewhat demanding price point to offer the garage as a target for purchase.

What is the impact of the new number in March on prices overall?

I will post back my conclusions before approaching the dealer to obtain suggested improvements.

Once more, thank you

Tony D
 
#10 ·
Traditionally the change of registration number in March and September has seen dealers offering lower discounts on new cars and higher discounts on used stock as they have a surplus of used vehicles due to people wanting the new registration. As the car industry is floundering this seems to be happening less so you should be able to drive a hard bargain any time now.

Bob
 
G
#11 ·
Go towards the end of the month to see what they are desperate to get rid of. Some even have weekly sales targets. there will be good offers in the last week of Feb so get your spec together with price limit and let them do the work. Sit back and wait. I bet you will get a call with a cople of tasty choices. April may even get better results as all the new orders will have been completed and new secondhand stock from trade ins will be languishing on forecourts. I bought my car in Oct 15 and got around £12000 off the new price.
 
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