2009 JAGUAR XF First Steer
30 Apr, 2008
24 Comments 
British Bull dog comes to mind with such a pronounced power bulge on the bonnet but for me, it works well enough and is close to the original C-XF concept, as you can see.
But step inside the XF’s cabin, and this is where you will be seriously impressed.
Jaguar has set the new class benchmark for interior fit out with this car and that’s a big call, if you take into account, superstars like Audi.
Quality – is an understatement, with metres of oak or walnut, married with patterned aluminium to produce a look which you might well find in one of Italy’s super expensive RIVA speed boats.
I love the shape of the key fob, similar design lines to the car itself, but of course, you don’t need to insert a key or anything as old school as that, to fire up the XF.
The flush mounted start/stop button pulsates a blood red colour, begging to be pushed, so as to ignite one of the four powertrains on offer in Australia.
That initial push triggers what someone called a “thrilling piece of mechanical ballet” which I have not seen from any other carmaker.
Rising up out of the console is the JaguarDrive Selector, a cylindrical alloy shifter if you like, which you simply rotate to select your desired transmission mode. Some might protest gimmick, but let me assure you, it is both practical and fast, not to mention the sheer visual theatre of the performance.
And then there are the air-conditioning vents, which when in their inert position, are disguised with more of that patterned aluminium. As the transmission controller rises, these vents simultaneously rotate around to their open position. It’s quite impressive and utterly silent.
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(8 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I got an XF to bad it’s 21 years old with a ford badge, can i swap it for this. this is a nice looking car.
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I dunno, the exterior styling still looks a bit contrived to me. The chrome strip around the rear side window looks a bit too thick. The headlights look too big and ugly. The grille - mmmm… The thick chrome strip across the boot looks like it was copied from a Statesman ! Can’t see it would be any better than a CLS Merc to get into the back of…
The inside though looks good and has a few new gimmicks to get the punters in. The silver switches IMHO are a bit tacky and their function isn’t as easy to see in daylight as those with a black background but generally it seems a nice place to be !
But would I buy one - nah…
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Interior : Nice
Side Profile : Nice
Rear End : Nice
Front : BUTT UGLY
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Lovely, lovely, lovely! Beautiful - some people who didn’t know too much about cars would mistake it for a 4 door Aston Martin. My friend in Manchester just got one and I went up to see it and its sooooo much nicer than my old S-Type. I got rid of the S-Type about 5 years ago because the interior wasnt all that pleasant and it had bad electrics but I may be about to get one of these.
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Fantastic looking piece of automotive sculpture, and very overdue for anyone with respect for what Jaguar’s were in the past.
My only wish is that the headlights were more aggressive like the show cars. Otherwise, brilliant. Love the interior too.
With good road manners too, Jag should finally be onto a winner. I’d buy one if I had a spare $100k or so.
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
the concept photo looks awesome.
yes i can see that many cues ended up on the production version, but why is it that the concept photo looked a mile better.
compare all the body lines and they are the same.
its like the production version got a bit bloated.
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April 30th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
ahh the front lights spoil the whole car. everything else looks sophisticated and those lights look like something kia would do… there you go.. i said it.. kia lights.
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April 30th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Front is ugly, Rear only looks good because it’s very similar to an Aston Martin. Looks like they couldn’t decide to copy Aston Martin or Bentley. Then someone decided it didn’t have any carry through Jag styling, so they mixed in a Jaguar light bulge that carries through the bonnet.
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April 30th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I tend to agree with TP, I love it from every angle, except the front. Not sure why but it just doesn’t cue in to the rest of the car, I think mainly it’s the large outboard headlamp. The prototype front looks better IMO.
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May 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am
I thinks it looks great all-round, however the headlights are the least attractive part. why could they not be more like the concept showcar? probably cos they would look dated too soon. Obviously not a car for our friend the Stig. Stick with the statesman then.
As for the techno bits, I love to see them, why have a big clunky lever when a small knob will do, why have a bloody great lever for a hand-break when a little one attached to servos will do. Most of the manufacturers fail on this point burying their heads in the sand and thinking lets stick with the Dinosaur age thats what we know best. BMW’s idrive cock-up accepted.
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May 1st, 2008 at 3:16 am
Looks yuk and nothing like a Jag.
Best days now that curry-eaters are running the slow are OVER
PASS, get a Benz or Lexus
Cheeers
F-0
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
I think it looks fine and tad sad - will be better in metal but! If that looks yuk, well your outta luck as you support Toyota whitegoods that are as exciting on the WOW factor as watching grass grow!
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:15 am
frugal if it looked like a older jag then you would whinge that it looked the same am i correct??
I think that is a hot looking car bar the front, looks like they have bought some cheap mesh to finish it off with!
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:16 am
Nice looking car……….you can easily see the similarities to the lovely sleek Mondeo and the FG Falcon, not surprising really seeing that this was really designed by Ford. Looks like the doors would go straight on to a FG !!! The headlights could be better but still look ok…….
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:37 am
TONYN -
Prezactly, the front looks like it was done by Koreans.
What sort of drugs do Koreans take anyway?I want some!:-)
Ssassyong[sp?] and early Daewoos…..wow spaced out designers on rec.type drugs 4sure!!
Cheers
F-0
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May 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Front lights spoil an otherwise nice looking car
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hyundai Elantra Coupe anyone?
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Are you a comedian by trade cameron?
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May 6th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Price in UK $A70 700 - $A114 500
Price in Australia $105 500 - $166 700
Please explain why is there such a great difference Jaguar-LandRover Australasia?
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May 6th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Yep - the reason is you guys get ripped for lux cars. Whereas we get ripped for everything but lux cars. Try mondeo Au = ~A$34K UK = A$39K
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May 8th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The imported Mondeo is not subject to the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) but LCT on the $A105 500 XF is $A11 020, so on this occasion someone other than the government is responsible for the majority of the rip-off.
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May 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
The headlight bumps are usually at the bottom part, as in many BMW, but the XF’s are on top. It looks a bit odd, maybe too artsy fartsy but the whole car looks pretty promising outside. It’s about time the S-Type be replaced; even the previous generation 5-Series was far better than that.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Pity the new Jag isn’t aimed at younger crowd in Aus as it’s being marketed to in the rest of the world. Unfortunately us aussies get the honor of paying the highest price in the world for the XF. For example the bottom of the line model in the US (which by the way is the N/A V8) is US$49,995 ~ in Aus it was around AUD$135,000, not including on road costs and not including the new tax hike… so lets call it US$50,000 verses AUD$155,000. So if you want to project the image of an obese, balding (with perhaps a comb over) 50 ~ 60 year old with yellowing teeth then go right ahead and get this car because that’s the demographic jag is squarely aiming for in Aus.
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June 6th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
A more glowing review of the car couldn’t be writen by Jag’s own PR department.
Yes, it’s a great car…But come on guys, let’s hear the flaws along with the superlatives please?
rising gear selector and pulsing heartbeat start button, all cool stuff granted, but won’t that novelty wear in time?
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