“Hey Dave, an old Jaguar just got traded in for a Polestar 2,” our video manager Griffin told me. “Oh boy,” I thought. A 16-year-old Jaguar. This is going to be an absolute steaming pile.” Then I drove the car, and I was blown away.
“Yeah, so the XF was kind of the start of a new era,” The Autopian’s Thomas Hundal told me over the phone as I drove to work. “It’s the first Jaguar sedan built under the leadership of legendary designer Ian Callum,” he continued. “It’s not what you think. It’s not a janky, poorly built Jag. This thing was, you could argue, the first really modern Jag. One of the most important cars in the brand’s recent history.” Then Thomas, whom I call when I need really obscure information on relatively modern cars (he’s an encyclopedia), told me something interesting: the XF is built on the same old Ford DEW98 platform as its predecessor, the retro-styled S-Type.
So how can the XF be so revolutionary if it’s just based on the same old Ford-based bones as its predecessor, and if it shares some of the same engines like the 4.2-liter V8 in my test car? Well, you’ve got to realize that the Ford bones were actually excellent; they just weren’t wrapped in the right car. In fact, that Ford platform underpinned the Lincoln LS, whose suspension was designed by none other than The Autopian’s own Huibert Mees, who said in his introductory piece a few years back:
As is normal in a company like Ford, I worked on many new designs that never got past the prototype stage, but then I became part of the D/EW98 platform, which became the 1999 Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type. As part of that project I spent two years in England at Jaguar Cars doing the ride and handling development of the S-Type. I learned all about ride, handling, steering, vehicle dynamics, and about how to make a car comfortable but still fun to drive.
Sure, Huibert may have been relatively early in his career, but the man is an absolute ace, going on to develop the suspension for the Ford GT and the Tesla Model S. Needless to say: By the time I arrived at work, my entire perspective going into this Trade-In-Tuesday had changed. Yes, the bones were old, but they’re excellent bones that, for 2008, were finally wrapped in a beautifully styled car thanks to Director of Design Ian Callum.
When I got behind the wheel, I was in awe. This is a sub-100,000-mile car that our partner-company, Galpin, has for sale for only $10,860. It is 16 years old. Its powertrain is dated, its infotainment is dated, and I was convinced every electronic would be toast, in typical British car fashion. 
Instead, I found myself firing up the engine to a car that, even all these years later, feels like a masterpiece, and a well-built one at that (sans the trim piece shown on the right and the speaker at the center of the dash, which had warped a little from the sun).
When you fire up the 300-horsepower, 4.2-liter V8, the air conditioning vents slowly and elegantly rotate about the Y-axis (i.e. the cross-car axis) to face you.
Down at the center tunnel, the shifter for the six-speed automatic — this beautiful, substantial aluminum jewel of a rotary dial — pops up from below:
Just look at the wood; it’s perfect, even after all these years.
I love the analogue gauges:
Every surface of the XF is top-notch quality. Door cards, center console, center stack, steering wheel, gauges, dash — this thing felt luxurious even 16 years later. 
The two things this car needs to really feel modern are 1. An updated center screen and 2. Maybe a different motor.
If you look at reviews when this thing came out in 2007, you’ll find them all to be absolutely glowing. The chassis was always ready; it just never had an elegant tophat, but Ian Callum fixed that, and now Jaguar had a sporty, luxurious sedan that was truly gorgeous inside and out and that could hustle with the Germans.
My car had the smallest V8, the 4.2-liter making 300 ponies and, with the help of a ZF 6-speed, it gets the sedan to 60 mph in the low 6-second range. Not bad, and with the paddle shifters, you can have a lot of fun getting some growl out of that V8.
But, as quick as my trade-in felt, it was really its remarkable ride and silent interior that surprised me. The thing felt like a sensory deprivation chamber, silkily gliding through the world, bathing me with top-notch materials.
The XF eventually ended up with a 5.0-liter V8 engine option in both naturally aspirated and supercharged form, with the latter making up to 510 horsepower in the XF-R. With that engine and the dated-but-decent six-speed ZF auto, this Jaguar rips 0-60 times in the mid-4s. That car, with a new infotainment screen, seems like an amazing enthusiast’s machine for $25 grand. The $11,000 one I drove was no slouch, either, even if it was more of a cruiser than a bruiser.
After 16 years, the interior quality, NVH, and chassis tuning still felt impressive. And I wasn’t expecting that from an old Jag trade-in.
Top graphic images: Griffin Riley
Just want to mention that I’m loving the used car reviews.
I can read old reviews of the same car when it was new, but I like the different perspective, and the feeling of rediscovering something familiar.
I have a distinct memory of watching the review Top Gear gave this when it first came out. I remember my 17-year-old self being impressed by the rotating vents and the pop-up gear selector.
Both common points of failure these days, I believe.
I daily drive my 2006 XJR convertible with 151,000 miles. It runs so beautifully. The whine of the supercharger really brings her to life. I’ve kept it in perfect mechanical condition but it could use some paint. Otherwise, great car
As if there aren’t already enough things for me to be envious of David about (the domestic bliss of a wife/child, one of the nicest i3s(es) in the best color in Los Angeles, automotive technical knowledge and repair skill, surviving trenchfoot, being a principal of The Autopian, etc…) him having the chance to drive and review all the weirdest Galpin trade-ins takes the cake. 😉
PS: I was only vaguely aware of this car, but I’ve watched many videos about the Lincoln LS which are generally filled with praise for the car, and warnings not to buy a used one because they’re something of a pain to work on and certain parts are made of unobtainium.
Despite this, if I were the sort of fellow that was inclined to consider $11K eff-it money, I’d be sorely tempted to drive over to Galpin and buy it.
More guilt trip catchup… Could the reason for it being a working electrically stable non recalled product is it is caught in the twilight zone between the Ford and Jaguar universes?
Too many bits from the Ford Mondeo in side, and the outside design is badly let down by the ugly grill which has all the charm of a locker door. European diesel ones got PSA diesels which are good, if a bit rackety in the early morning– the 2.2 litre bi-turbo for 170hp will run at 130 kph all day.
It was the X-type that was partly Mondeo based.
Edit – the XE. Sorry.
Nope, you were right first time
XE was RWD and well after the Mondeo. You had it right the first time.
The “Ford Bits” are probably what made it actually more reliable
Probably?
Nice hat David.
That’s super nice for an xf. The screen isn’t all yellow and messed up like it is on alot of them and most ford products of the era. But knowing it was traded for polestar 2 makes a ton of sense. Must be a classy person.
This is what happens when someone takes care of a car. Incidentally, the Lincoln LS still looks good.
Heartily agree on both points
I agree the LS still looks good. It also makes me wonder two things:
1) Same platform as the SN95 Mustangs…so, manual/Coyote swap?
2) Same platform as the SN95 Mustangs…so, would the IRS fit on a Mustang after some fab work?
I also think the S-Type R is a great looking car.
FWIW, and old neighbour drove Jags from this era, and never had a lick of difficulty. The cars were just rock solid.
I can say definitively that the SN95 and the LS are NOT the same platform. They are completely different. SN95 has a strut front suspension and solid axle rear. LS has double wishbone front and rear.
Ok, thanks for the education.
EDIT: Whoops, crossed SN95 up with S197.
I know damn well the SN95 is essentially the same platform as the Fox body. Mea culpa.
Is this a continuation article on product placement?
I got to do a small autocross in an XF and it was super fun, stepped the tail out just a bit. I seriously considered a used XF wagon before buying the default Frankfurt airport taxi. I occasionally see an XF wagon and think it wouldn’t have been a bad choice.
Great Car
Great Color
What’s not to like?
I’d still rather have an S-Type.
Was it really 109ºF when you took it for a drive?
(Not sure when it was driven but it’s been around 100 for the last few days in Southern California and our cars have been registering 109-110 degree temps. Alarming to see on a dash but prob not entirely accurate.)
Wow!
It was 46ºF outside this morning when I went out to dump some recycleables into the bin.
Felt nice.
Yeah, and to really make it miserable, the heat wave came with HUMIDITY. Remnants of a hurricane and high pressure over Arizona caused a ton of very warm water and very wet air to make it into the LA basin. Basically it reversed our usual pattern of onshore/offshore wind patterns, allowing very humid air to then get absolutely baked by the sun.
It was something like 107 in Long Beach, with dewpoints approaching 70 degrees. Heat index was over 120. We basically got Houston’s weather in SoCal for a few days. It was miserable for me, a transplant from PA, but I at least knew what to expect. The CA-born looked like they were going to die – which we quite possibly would without AC. Which is surprisingly common due to the fact that it’s never that humid and normally the wind patterns make sure it cools off at night. On the worst day, it was still in the mid 80s and humid at 9pm.
Also, the hurricane caused huge waves and the fact that warmer water expands meant the sea level was about 6” higher than normal. There was a lot of damage along the waterfront, including Nicholas Cage’s house in Malibu, and the rail line that runs along the coast in southern Orange County down to San Diego is shut down indefinitely due to the massive erosion.
Please tell me there wasn’t any damage to the high speed train. I’d just die if there was.
The NIMBYs have buried that thing so hard it might as be in a tunnel its whole route. Probably would have been cheaper that way. And this is coming from maybe the only resident of the state that still wants it built. We’ve spent more on litigation and environmental reviews than the whole damn railroad would have cost!
Well…we do have A/C in the inland areas where it does get hot. Not everybody lives down by the beach. Still, the recent humidity reminded me of my years living in the Midwest. On the plus side: No beach means no erosion issues where I live.
Oh yeah, for sure, I guarantee there isn’t one house in the Inland Empire without it.
When I lived in BHC Arizona the boaters pulled the boats out of the Colorado River when it got down into the 90s. They considered the low 100s chilly.
But it’s a dry heat! (He said, without irony.)
I lived for my first 30-ish years in PA, where these conditions happened at least once a year.
Looks like a 2006 Corolla shot up with Botox.
I worked for JLR from 2011-2014. I always enjoyed driving these when I had the opportunity. The refreshed, 5.0L equipped versions were quite nice – particularly the supercharged XFR. We also had an S-type R at my facility back then, and by comparison to the XF it seemed really old-fashioned. Whatever tweaks they made to the XF chassis vs the S-type made the XF a better car to drive.
I have the NA 5.0 in my 2011 LR4 and it can haul that 6,000 pig with aplomb.
I was mightily tempted by an XF-R a few years back, but the one I looked at had a few too many red flags, which seems to be the case for all XFs (and maybe all Jags) once they hit their second or third owners.
Always wanted a JAAAAAG and I’ve almost picked up one of these before, but I needed something more reliable.
So I bought an 06 Mini.
Yeah, I’m not smart. But that Jag is still tempting.
Oof, mouth meet foot. To be honest I would have made the same decision not expecting Mini to be the steaming pile it was, and jaaaag for once not being one.
A Jag made by Ford is more reliable than a Mini made by BMW. Or at least as reliable and cheaper to fix
My ‘07 Mini Cooper S was one of the worst cars I’ve ever owned. It combined the “best” of German complexity and British reliability. Owned it only three months. The three best days with it: the day I bought it, the day I tracked it at Road America, and the day I sold it.
I had mine for 10 years and things had been failing since year 8.
Such a fun car to drive, but so unreliable and hateful to work on.
SO hateful to work on. I have nightmares about changing the oil filter. I replaced a lightbulb but did not use the “right” bulb so the car continued to complain. Replaced the rear brake pads, then discovered I had to replace the wear sensor too.
But it really was fun to drive.
I’d say the LS, S-Type and of course Thunderbird are all better looking top hats than this.
The DEW 98s are nice driving machines that is for sure.
A few thoughts/questions
1. Is the quite cabin a reason to have a convertible so you can hear the V8?
2. Did Tracy actually write a statement to add a better screen to make it more modern?
3. Why can’t we get an article to explain why if trees grow outside and need rain and sunshine does real wood warp and crack when exposed to them.
Re wood: it’s the difference between alive and dead.
Yeah I’m over 60 I know about dead wood.
XFs are worth basically nothing in the UK now – this was the first one I found but I have seen cheaper.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602230145631
It’s a huge amount of car if you can stand the fuel costs.
That’s what happens when the government ruins the country with expensive progressive programs that put the price of medium nice things out of the reach of medium wage people. The rich might preserve a few but if you get the average income earner in you can have a classic.
Why does the UK want to preserve every 2000 year old toilets, refuse to allow modernized buildings make it illegal to start a farm business but actively wants to destroy the domestic automotive market?
I don’t know where you’re getting your opinions about the UK, but it’s wildly inaccurate.
Apart from the bit about the automotive market.
He’s done his own research! And by “expensive progressive programs” I assume he means…Brexit?
We have free healthcare, so maybe that’s the expensive thing that’s ruining the country?
Brexit continues to be a disaster, but it’s mostly expensive because of all the obvious consequences, rather than requiring a load of spending to implement.
Really? The countries that remain in the European Union seem to be doing far worse. And as long as you believe you have free health care Europe is doomed
Brexit was a bad idea for all the countries involved. But worse for the lone country which crippled its own international trade.
I do love the idea that my personal beliefs could doom an entire continent,
Let’s not forget the disappointment of not seeing Nigel lose to a bin face alien.
Binface’s policies all seemed alarmingly sensible. I think satirical comedians probably make better politicians than actual politicians.
Should be an easy litmus test:
Does a satirical piss-take of you have sensible policies that benefit the greater good? If yes, you are the bad guy.
Pretty much Diddly Squat Farm clips. They fight any charges, even plowing a field that wasn’t plowed last year. You can’t change anything but trying to destroy ICE cars. Hey are protesters against ICE for immigration enforcement or do they think it is ICE vehicle enforcement? They really aren’t that smart.
Farming is bleak, especially if being bad at it makes for good TV.
It’s what happens when simplistic right wing morons think that withdrawing from one of the worlds most successful trading blocks will magically make them more prosperous.
I love this generation of Jag and I’ve been tempted so many times. I always dodge that bullet though.
Good deal if it all keeps working, and sounds very nice to drive.
That dashboard looks a little too much like the one in a Ford Fusion-based Lincoln MKZ of the same year. The outside is also bland from most angles, just another rounded late-aughts high-beltline sedan with a mailslot trunk.
Jaguar fans are probably long tired of hearing about Jags needing to look like old Jags forever, but they gave up a lot of distinctiveness inside and out when they went to this.
.
There’s some survivor bias in favor of older Jags.
They’ve fixed most of the early broken bits, and the truly horrendous ones are long gone.
How dare you sway me with your logic? (scroll, scroll, scroll)
After drooling over the XJ6 for years (still do) I was so disappointed when the XF came out. Looks like a Kia. And I don’t mean that as an insult to Kia at all, but a Jag should never look like a Kia. The XJ6 sure didn’t.
Me too on the 6! While my inner wannabe British rake screams “no you fool you want the XJS!”, the lines of the XJ6 drown that out. It’s probably Jag’s most perfectly proportioned car.
Hard to stop when KIA designs their cars to look like Jags?
100%, I think the series 1 XJ is the best looking car Jag ever made, Mark 2 sedan a distant 2nd, with the XK, XKE ties for third.
As one of the current (few) Jaaag banner carriers here, I’m happy to see you gave the car a chance. (Not that I didn’t think you would, of course.)
People tend to prattle on about tech features equaling luxury – hell, no. Luxury is a Jaguar interior. My F-Pace is remarkably quiet and comfortable; NVH are banished.
If you have a chance to drive a JLR product with the supercharged 5.0-liter, DO IT! I had a Range Rover Sport so equipped and it moved out very smartly; that engine would be fantastic in a lighter sedan.
Well put on the interiors. When even Kias have a ton of tech, the unique thing you’ll remember in a car is a cockpit like a well tailored suit.
Thank you! This person gets it. 🙂
Let’s remember there isn’t a bit of tech anywhere that isn’t built like shit and likely to be outdated by the time it comes to market. If they can’t design a plug and play upgrade modern cars are simply $40,000 laptops that aren’t worth shit in the retail market
Sorry if I buy a Jag I want to hear that marvelous motor.
This seems appropriately Jaaagg, in the best ways, to me. The XJ6s were sold for what, like 20 years, and always seemed slightly dated in good ways. As an American, I think I’d be outright suspicious of a totally forward looking Jaguar.
But doesn’t this one seem charmingly dated simply because it’s now almost 20 years old? It didn’t launch that way, Jaguar tried to make it as modern and of-the-moment as possible. The motorized vent covers and rotary shifter, for instance.
Fair enough point. At least for me, the majority of the interior looks out of the 90s, with a few contemporary touches added, like the ones you cite. And the swing and a miss headlight treatment.
I agree Jaguar needs to be more like Morgan updated chic