I have had my 2006 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas now for just over 6 months, and have held off writing a review of it until now because I wanted a fair amount of ownership time on which to base stable opinions about the car. It is black-with-chrome, bought it at a very good price with only 13K miles on the odometer (a former executive lease vehicle).  To date, overall, the car has performed substantially better (and in more comfort and more fun to drive) than any other personal vehicle I have ever owned. This experience is consistent with the J.D. Power customer satisfaction data that have come out on 2006 models in 2009, ranking Jaguar (with Buick) at the top of the list for their cars. What a turnaround for Jag, which not so long ago had a reputation for building beautiful, comfortable cars that spend three quarters of the year in the shop. :)

More specifics, by category:

APPEARANCE: what's not to love? I could write, quite literally, for a week on how beautiful the car is, how classic the design, how it immediately attracts attention in a sea of look-alike Mercedes', Audis, Lexuses, etc.... but you can see that for yourself elsewhere on the web. I agree however with the general impression that there is, quite simply, NOTHING else on the road in the way of luxury sedans like the classic Jaguar XJ, and it gets constantly noticed on the road and in parking lots everywhere it goes. It is a beautiful car with a remarkably high-quality paint/finish/outer detailing job all the way around. And thank goodness I got one of the last model years to feature the classic Jaguar leaper on the hood. :)

COMFORT: again, what's not to love? My XJ is quite simply the most comfortable vehicle I have ever driven, and I agree with numerous reviews I've seen that call it the most comfortable long-distance driving sedan on the road today. The quality of the leather seating and interior is top-notch. Seats are adjustable every which way to Sunday, as is the steering wheel and even the pedals. Wood veneer is high-quality, and compliments the interior wonderfully. The Vanden Plas (VDP) is a long wheelbase model, which means the back seats have enough room in them to qualify as a studio apartment in New York City, and a beautiful, solid little fold-down tray table like you're flying in First Class on an airliner, to boot! Lots of cubby holes, drink holders, ashtrays, etc. make the XJ live up to its rep as a "sport limo" inside-- the cabin envelops the occupants and surrounds them with great comfort (this is my AND my passengers' opinions to date); outside noise is kept to a minimum, except when you have the sunroof cover pulled back (I don't use it much, but handy feature all the same). The Alpine stereo system is magnificent, as is the Bluetooth wireless phone connection. The built-in Alpine/Jaguar nav system-- well, it works, and works reasonably well (I like the fact that the voice guidance is also built into the dash display, so you'll hear AND see the instructions as they're provided)... although I have to admit that we like the Alpine system built into our Honda Accord Hybrid a little better for its ease of inputting addresses and finding landmarks.

RIDE/MILEAGE: The ride is superlative, and goes along with "comfort" above, basically. The onboard CATS (automatic suspension/handling system) system works wonderfully and always ensures a comfortable ride with good handling of bumps and ripples, OUTSTANDING handling for a car this size-- nimble, with tight response as one would expect of a premium vehicle of this nature-- it's actually kind of dangerous at times if you don't remind yourself, as you feel the handling of the XJ, that you're not in a MUCH smaller car, but rather a very large, luxurious thing that was meant for cruising in the height of style and comfort. It's really, really easy to concentrate on the "sport" in the label "sport sedan," particularly when you feel the pickup from a well-maintained V8 engine on the Jag's far lighter-than-competitors rigid aluminum frame. Somewhere, I read reports that the "official" -60 time on this thing was about 6 seconds. I regularly get to 60 from a dead stop in about 5 and a quarter-ish, when I've had the opportunity to time it with any reliability.

Gas mileage is good for a car of this size WHEN you drive it responsibly, which of course is the hard part when it's this fun to drive (laugh). On longer trips, my XJ VDP gets about 30-32 mpg and in town (which is the bulk of my driving) it'll routinely get about 19-22 mpg. I use nothing but premium unleaded (as the manual suggests, 91-93 octane recommended), so I *would* warn potential buyers that this is another one of the costs they need to take into account if considering buying such a car. I know in some places they say your premium car will run on "standard" unleaded and that the engine will get used to it. I've also seen and heard a lot of horror stories about engine fouling and rough-running with "standard" gas, much like you could get used to eating nothing but lettuce for the rest of your life-- but probably wouldn't like it very much. I figure the extra per-gallon price is worth it to keep my big kitty running at his peak. :)

CAR CARE/MAINTENANCE/PROBLEMS TO DATE: well, not much to say about care or maintenance other than that it's a good idea to wash it regularly, which they'll do for you at the Jag dealer, by the way, when you take it in for any service (mine will also let you just bring the car by for a free wash if you want one, which includes wheel detailing!). My XJ has not required anything extra-special in the way of care or feeding since I bought him, although I DID spring for a portable XM radio and installed it on a vent clip that looks perfectly fine, gave me satellite radio on the stereo system that sounds perfect, and saved me about $1300 that the dealer-install would have cost (and saved my beautiful curved wood ashtray cover up front, which you lose if they install the big Sirius radio there!).

Problems to date? Well, the biggest one was an engine warning light that came on about three weeks ago; I took the car into the shop two days later, got a loaner for the day as they fixed the problem (thermostat was out of range and returned an error code to the onboard computer), complete repair bill paid for under warranty (Jaguar's is one of the best and most comprehensive in the biz), got my beautiful XJ back and was on my merry way at the end of the same day. Otherwise, the car has been pretty much flawless. There's the odd classic British idiosyncracy occasionally, e.g. the automatic lights will turn on awfully late one night compared to the previous evening, the "on" button doesn't turn the stereo on 'til you've punched it a few times (or turn the engine off and back on to reset the electrical system), the proximity sensors peep their heads off in the middle of the road for no reason for a second.

Each of these things has happened once to me, but did not affect the ride, safety or comfort of the car. The dealer says no idea what was going on, but to report if any of them ever repeat, which they haven't to date. I don't chalk it up to annoying problems-- I just think, like their real-life feline counterparts, it's one of the many signs that Jaguars have purrrrrrrsonality. :)

I will drive this car as far and as long as I can, as it has quickly become my favorite of any car I have ever owned. When I just can't get any more miles out of it, it'll obviously be time to compare models at that time and find one that best fits my needs; I don't know what that'll be at that time, but I *do* know that my first stop in shopping will be down to the local Jaguar dealer to see this car's latest generations. The 2006 Jaguar XJ is a remarkable vehicle, and if you can get it used and low-mileage at a fair price, is a far better buy (in my opinion) that buying many other comparably-priced new vehicles from which you might choose.

The "luxury car" market has gotten cookie-cutter boring in recent years, particularly among the labels and models that entry-level buyers know the best. I comparison shopped a number of other vehicles before deciding on the Jag XJ, and NOTHING that Mercedes, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Audi, Cadillac or BMW had came CLOSE to the warm, supple, magnificently luxurious cabin that the Jag offers. Externally, none of them really caught my eye, either, because they all looked like they were trying to mimic some yawner of an "ideal." Except, of course, the few that looked like they were trying to mimic the Jag.  I didn't test drive ALL of them, but in terms of overall ride and performance, the Jag won again. Some of the Germans are "sportier," but also feel cheaper and nastier when it comes to simply trying to feel comfortable in the seat and interacting with the cabin.... they also seem to have "auto-everything," which is like trying to drive HAL, the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Jaguar has automatic features where you want them, but otherwise is a classic driving experience that gives you the sensation of control of a very remarkable machine.

I highly recommend the Jaguar XJ as a general model, and the 2006 Jag XJ VDP as a specific model. I am in love with my car. :)
Amount Paid (US$): 35000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2006
Model and Options: Vanden Plas