Exterior Design: **/****
It all depends on when you catch the
2009 Jaguar XF. Sometimes it’s stunning; sometimes it’s stunningly bland. Sometimes it resembles a four-door Aston Martin; sometimes it looks like either a Dodge Intrepid or a Chrysler LHS. One thing’s for certain, even though it’s occasionally good-looking, it isn’t the coupe in a sedan’s body that the
C-XF concept was. Next time, we’d like to see more aggression and more visual drama.
Interior Design: ***
Once again, it depends on when and where you’re looking. At night, the cabin is warm and luxurious, accentuated by the starter button that pulses red, the cool blue mood lighting and the attractive dash. Under the light of day, most of the materials not only look cheap, but really, a Jaguar should never have a steering wheel worse than what you'll find in the Ford brand parts bin. The gimmicky rotary gear selector works well, but lacks damping, so it spins freely without changing gears in time. The switchgear is cheap plastic, which is especially a shame when it comes to the gear shift paddles. The seats also aren’t the quality you’d expect from a $55,000 luxury car. Then there’s the show that happens every time you start the car: the gear knob rises from the dash as the air vents swivel open. Cool the first time, and unless you're James May and/or easily amused, less and less cool every time after.
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