1. The cupholders; they broke even though I never used them. Can be fixed.
2. The long-*** antenna that comes up even with the CD player. I disconnected it part way up.
3. The fact that a car made in the 2000's uses pretty much the identical chassis from the 80's.

I do love the car though. HIDs would be nice and I would prefer no sunroof. I never use it, it's extra weight and takes away headroom.

 

I don't like the sunroof either. If I open it it rattles. I don't particularly like the door handles because I always feel like I have to be careful or they will break, same with the cupholders although mine are still intact. One other thing in getting in the car I have to be careful not to bump my head. Still I prefer the look and feel of the X308 over the X350s which I think look "pudgy" and taller. All in all though, I love the car, and I love the feel and sound when that V8 hits the high revs (~6800 rpm) in sport mode with the pedal down.

 

What have I started?

It seems like everyone has a dislike of some sort, but its interesting to see everyone's different opinions.

 

Just be gentle with the cup holders and they will last. Jaguar was well aware the chassis was outdated thats why the 2004 XJ was allnew from ground up. Not surprising it was dated since it was from 1987 and was built until 2003. The Mercedes S class and BMW 7 series both got redesigns twice in that time frame.

I never owned an X308 but rather a 97 X300 and the only things I did not like like was the weak suspension-as in 100K and it's shot requiring replacement of everything from shocks to bushing=BIG MONEY.

Other than that the front seats did not move back far enough for a large/wide man. And the terrible placement of the hand brake lever that hit my side all the time. The drivers area seemed like it was designed for a super skinny 5 foot 90 pound woman.

 

I have to say a prayer every time I start it.

 

I'm not fussy on the power aerial antenna, as I find it troublesome and not very aesthetically appealing. I also wish it had a leather dashboard and wood overhead grab-handles. But, being a VDP it has tons of leather and wood elsewhere, so its no big deal. HIDs would have been nice a standard feature. I personally find sport-mode to make the gear changes jumpy and unrefined. Its soooo much nicer when not in sport-mode. I also found it a little odd that the wood shift knobs in these cars have a different stain color than the rest of the wood trim (I changed mine to one that matched, though). What else....... As a response to those who think the doors sound cheapish when closed, I disagree. I think they sound quite heavy and solid, particularly the bonnet.
One thing I really love and find so quaint is the little leather/vinyl strap on the underside of the trunk lid to make closing the trunk a more refined operation. But, all in all I absolutely ADORE the car and can't wait to get it back out of hibernation in the spring. And, all of these little eccentricities just add character and make the experience all the more interesting and enjoyable.

 

haha!

 

It seems that a lot of people dislike the Aerial, but truth be told I actually really like my power aerial. I have a similar one fitted to my 71 Triumph Herald, and it works well.

That said my XJ8 is currently in with the mechanic getting the rear wheel bearings done, and the front suspension bushings done. I really don't like that, I miss it!

 

Real oil pressure, transmission temp, and water temp gauge missing (then again they would have been nice on every car I've owned since the '66 Mustang) - other wise it's perfection even with the broken cup holders and the messed up rear view mirror. The only car that even comes close is my XK8.

 

+1 "My car keys slap my knee all the time"

Its too cramped in the back.

I also don't like the aerial. I have mine down and disconnected as I use Pandora or streaming radio from my Evo now.

The XJR ride can be a bit crashy, but thats probably not helped by CA having the worst roads I've ever seen.

I don't like the fact that there was never a factory place to put a display screen in the dash for nav (unlike the XK8 of the same era)

And it never got the V12 :-(

 

Don't make a return trip to Great Britain (or Scotland if you're picky) anytime soon then! The roads here are little better than a farmers track in most cases! There is the odd smooth section here & there but it will soon get messed up by another private company botching a job on behalf of a council who spends money in all the wrong places.

The X300 had a V12 didn't it? I suppose you could put the 308 exterior items & interior in a 300 & have a really unique X308 V12!

 

I have never liked the "J Gate" transmission --- its not a good design. It was universally disliked when it came out - I can only assume it was too expensive to redesign.

It is less important in the XJR -- as the power is always available.

 

I hate how the cup holder sends my coffee flying all over the interior if I don't keep a hand on the cup.

I do, however, love the sound and feel of the doors. They are so nicely balanced that they respond to a gentle push/pull with a soft but reassuring "whump". If they sound cheap and rattle, STOP SLAMMING THEM CLOSED! It's a Jaguar not a dump truck!

 

That's pretty funny

 

I am one of the few people that like the J gate. I never understood why it is so disliked esp since it came out much earlier than its rivals' tip tronic. I think its more intuitive and much easier to quickly change to the desired gear without looking than tiptronic IMHO. I don't like shuffling through gears and potentially skipping the desired gear on tiptronic. I think it looks pretty cool too.

 

The "J Gate" suffers a few shortcomings. The first is you have to move the lever over to get out of overdrive and then way forward to downshift - then no auto upshift. Also, you must know what gear the car is in in order to hold it.
It requires you to look.

In both my Porsche's you flick the stalk and the car stays in gear, or hit the steering button and the car down shifts no matter what gear its in and will then revert back to auto. It is one click to downshift on a ramp and then pull away.

 

Good point. I prefer the J-gate's function to restrict the maximum gear to upshift. For example, if I only want to shift up to 3rd, I keep it there and keep it there all day. On the tiptronic systems I have used, If I only want the trans to only upshift to 3rd, I can select 3rd, but when I stop, the trans downshifts to 2nd or 1st gear and will hold either gear when I pull away, forcing the driver to shift back up to 3rd.

Or if I want to throw the trans into the lowest possible gear while slowing down, I can just shift it to 2 and it will shift down to the lowest possible gear and then to 1st or 2nd when possible. With tip tronic I can try to choose 2nd when its in 5th gear, and it will deny the request and shift to say 3rd and hold it. As I slow down, I have to keep trying to shift down until I slow down enough to be granted a downshift.

When I was driving at a track, after a long fast 5th gear straight with an upcoming sharp curve, I just throw it into 2 early scan the turn and then attack and get a 2nd gear exit without manual midcurve downshifting. On the BMW on the same curve, I only got a 3rd gear entry with a 3rd exit, and had to do a auto kickdown to 2nd, destabilizing the tail.


Different strokes for different folks. Each seem to have different goals.

 

Amen, my old man suggested something along those lines with one of his 7lt tuned units.

 

I can not remember how the BMW system operates but the Porsche system still allows you to hold a max gear with the stick out of manual mode.

In true manual mode you are picking gears as you would if shifting manually.

The only restriction is an "over rev" -- it will not allow you to downshift and go over the red line.

 

Lack of HID or even projector headlights. Even my 96 Audi which first appeared in Europe in 91 has projector headlamps to which I've added a HID kit. The lighting on the X308s is quite poor.
Tony