Jaguar XJ Review 2024

For anyone who values a bit of driving pleasure in their luxury car, the Jaguar XJ holds great appeal. Every version has a sporting feel to the way it corners, steers and gets down the road. It can mean the ride is not quite as cushy as a Mercedes S-Class’, but it’s a fine balance in the Jaguar between comfort and control that we like. It also has a bold look that has dated well compared to some of its rivals.

If it’s kids rather than adults travelling in the rear seats, the standard length Jaguar XJ is wieldier to drive than the long wheelbase version, and it’s marginally easier to park.

We’d look for the 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engine as it’s smooth, quiet and more than quick enough for most needs, plus the petrols can be very thirsty if you opt for the V8 motors. All come with a slick eight-speed automatic transmission from 2014-onwards, while those built before this have a six-speed auto.

The Luxury and Premium Luxury trims come with loads of comfort and labour-saving kit, but the Portfolio is the one to have. This top spec provides a rear parking camera, four-zone climate control, front massage seats, heated and cooled front seats, and a Bowers & Wilkins stereo to give that truly opulent feel.

You cannot consider the luxury class without looking at the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class. All offer superb built, comfort, refinement, and driving dynamics, though this is aimed more at those in the rear of the car than the driver up front.

The Lexus LS offers near silent driving, helped by its hybrid power, but it’s not an engaging car to be at the wheel of. On the other hand, the Maserati Quattroporte will be a bit too energetic for many luxury car buyers with its rorty exhaust and firmly sprung suspension.

You might also consider a Range Rover as an alternative to the XJ if you want something with a higher driving position, plenty of kit, and lots of presence.

Jaguar threw everything at this XJ to make it as well screwed together as the competition from Germany. It worked, up to a point, as every surface you come into contact with is covered in soft leather or deeply polished wood or bright aluminium. It’s impressive and satisfying.

However, there have been glitches with the infotainment and electrics in the XJ, so it’s doesn’t have the clean sheet that a Lexus LS can boast. Still, the mix of materials and colours inside an XJ set it apart from the more clinical appearance of a Mercedes S-Class.

The display of the central infotainment screen is less impressive than many rivals. Despite being upgraded with higher definition 8.0-inch screen in 2014, it is still a little on the small side, even compared to those of some newer family hatchbacks. It’s intuitive to operate, though, and the twin-view feature is both novel and actually useful.

In 2018, this was increased again in size to 10.0-inches when the XJ also gained a pinch and zoom function for the display. Jaguar also included a 4G wifi hotspot, but it’s also worth noting the XJ is not compatible with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. That’s a glaring downside nowadays for most smartphone users.

Jaguar’s deal with top-end audio system manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins means that in the Portfolio trims, the XJ has one of the richest sounding stereos in the business.

There are 520-litres of room in the Jaguar XJ’s boot, so it’s more than up to trips to on holiday or the golf club. You open the boot at the press of a button on the key fob, which is handy, and the aperture is wide and tall to make loading bigger bags easy.

The Jaguar XJ’s boot is bigger than a contemporary Audi A8’s, but slightly smaller than a Mercedes S-Class of the same age, though this is a little academic when they are very generous.

By far the most common engine in the Jaguar XJ in the UK is the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 diesel. It packs 275PS to deal with 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds and it will punt the XJ all the way to 155mph, so it’s more than brisk enough unless you want to live out a Jason Statham role in life. This motor was later uprated to 300PS.

As with all the engines in the XJ, the diesel uses an eight-speed automatic transmission that is always happy to be left to do all the hard work. You can select the manual mode, but we’d only bother with this when descending a steep hill or when feeling in a particularly sporty mood. Up to 2014, Jaguar used a six-speed automatic gearbox, which is smooth and works well but it’s not as creamily efficient as the eight-speeder.

Alongside the diesel at launch, Jaguar offered a 5.0-litre V8 petrol in naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, the latter called Supersport and packing 510PS. The standard V8 comes with 385PS and covers 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds compared to the Supersport’s 4.7 second sprint. The supercharged engine was later increased in power to 550PS for the XJR and ended up with 575PS towards the end of its life span.

The non-supercharged V8 was dropped in mid-2012 in favour of a supercharged 3.0 V6 engine with 340PS. It was swift, taking 5.9 seconds to deal with 0-62mph, but not quick or frugal enough to tempt many UK buyers away from the diesel that was more frugal and almost as quick.

If you want cathedral-like quiet in your luxury saloon, you should seek out the Mercedes S-Class. This is not to say the Jaguar XJ is uncouth or noisy, but there are a couple of areas where the Brit is not quite as highly polished as its key German opposition.

The most notable of these is the ride quality that has an impact on cabin refinement. Where a Mercedes glides, the Jaguar picks up on some smaller surface aberrations and translates these into a small amount of noise inside the car. It’s most prominent on XJ’s with the largest wheel sizes, but all experience this to some degree.

There is also an amount of tyre rumble heard from inside the XJ as its broad tyres cover the ground. Again, it’s not upsetting, but it is there, along with a little wind flutter at higher speeds.

The engines only make themselves known when you press hard on the throttle and even the diesel has a cultured growl entirely in keeping with the Jaguar’s image.

The Jaguar XJ was never tested by Euro NCAP, but it will protect you and others very well. From launch, all models came with eight airbags, stability and traction control, cruise control, ABS anti-lock brakes, and a pop-up bonnet to cushion pedestrians in the event of a collision.

From 2015, the XJ gained Jaguar’s All-Surface Progress Control to help it deal with slippery surfaces, and also added were traffic sign recognition, cruise control with queue assist, and reverse traffic warning.

In 2017, Jaguar further improved the safety offering in the XJ with lane keep assist, forward traffic detection, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, and driver fatigue warning.

As a used buy, the Jaguar XJ is no more of a concern than any tech-laden luxury saloon. The infotainment can suffer from glitches but there are cures available.

The mechanical side of the XJ is tough and proven to last well. Servicing is needed every 15,000 miles or 12 months, and independent garages will save you a good chunk on this work.

There’s no getting away from the fact the Jaguar XJ will be a pricey car to get insurance cover for. The range sits in Groups 48 to 50 depending on the engine and trim, with a diesel-engined Luxury the cheapest and the super-fast XJR the most expensive.

For Jaguar XJs registered from 1 April 2017, you’ll pay a flat fee of £180 for road tax, plus the £390 surcharge for cars that cost more than £40,000 when new. That extra levy applied up to the car being six-years old.

For XJ sold before 1 April 2017, Vehicle Excise Duty is calculated on carbon dioxide emissions. This is fine for the 3.0 V6 turbodiesel with its 159g/km output that means you’ll pay £240. Not so good if you want the supercharged V8 with its 268g/km and £695 road tax bill.

The Jaguar XJ Luxury 3.0 V6 Diesel was the entry-level model but is very well equipped. It came with Jaguar Drive Control with three modes, an electric parking brake, cruise control, rain sensing windscreen wipers, automatic xenon headlamps, LED tail lamps, acoustic laminated glass, metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, keyless start, a power boot lid with customisable height adjustment, soft-close doors, and rear parking sensors. You also get electric windows, a panoramic glass roof, electric adjustment on the steering column, white and phosphor blue halo illumination and interior mood lighting, dual-zone climate control, three-spoke soft grain leather steering wheel with sequential shift paddles and remote controls for audio system. There’s cruise control, Bluetooth, leather heated front seats with electric driver's/passenger's adjustment, 12.3-inch full colour LCD instrument cluster with virtual information display, and 400W stereo.

The Jaguar XJ Premium Luxury 3.0 V6 Diesel adds 19-inch alloy wheels, front parking sensors, keyless entry, soft grain leather stitched and tailored upper fascia, door top roll and armrest. It also has heated rear seats and a 600W premium sound system with 14 speakers including two subwoofers and two front door woofers.

A Jaguar XJ Portfolio 3.0 V6 Diesel or 5.0 V8 comes with adaptive front lighting with cornering lights, 20-inch alloy wheels, a rear parking camera, a tyre pressure monitoring system, four-zone climate control, suede cloth premium headlining, and a premium carpet mat set. On top of that, there are heated and cooled front seats with 20-way electrical adjustment, front massage function and adjustable bolster, heated and cooled rear seats, and gloss figured ebony veneer. A Bowers & Wilkins 1200W premium sound system is in there with a remote power amplifier and 20 speakers, plus a multimedia system with front Dual View functionality and one set of headphones.

The Jaguar XJ Supersport 5.0 V8 S/C gets 20-inch Mataiva alloy wheels, an active differential, illuminated air vents front and rear, leather headlining, and Supersport Semi Aniline leather seats that are heated and cooled. A multimedia system has front digital/analogue television tuner and rear seat entertainment with dual 8-inch LCD screens, touchscreen remote control, and wireless digital headphones.

Jaguar’s R-Sport trim offers new side sills, three-piece front splitter, side power vents and a rear spoiler. A gloss black finish enhances the grille mesh, rear valance and the window finishers. Wheels are 20-inch Mataivia items. The interior gains sports seats, R-Sport steering wheel and treadplates, Jet headliner, and piano black trim or carbon fibre.

In the Jaguar XJR you have a sports body kit, road- and driver-monitoring adaptive dynamics, 20-inch grey alloy wheels, R-branded sports seats, contrasting coloured dashboard stitching, suede headlining, and piano black dashboard veneer.

Long Wheelbase (LWB) models add illuminated rear vanity mirrors, auto four zone climate control, rear privacy glass, rear electric blinds and side window blinds.