I came across this video this morning and was happy to see a modern review of the X150. I don't agree with some of his points or his scores at the end, but it seems like overall he appreciated the car.

 

LOVE this. He's a tall dude and him getting into and out of the "back seat" was worth it alone. (And I loved the cameo appearance by our beloved TPMS warning light...)
Mostly I liked someone "discovering" the car, and noting most of the things, good and bad, that most owners already know.
Interestingly, he seemed to like the catfish nose of the car, which remains a deal-breaker for me.

 

I don't like his personality or a lot of the points he makes or, if I'm honest, the color of the car. But I do like the car itself.

I'm glad I am not the only person that has the TPMS warnings all the time despite having plenty of air in the tires.

 

I can't stand him. I've never seen one of his reviews that I thought was knowledgeable or accurate, and his personality just bugs me. On the tberg score he rates a 2!

 

You're too generous. If he had done his homework, he would have known that the back seats were not designed for adults. I didn't expect a bad comedy show.

 

He did one on a hummer h2, and he got everything wrong as well. I have an h2 and every single point he made was either false or opinion, very little factual information. It should be called "does doug like a car".

 

He gives me a headache....can he never stop talking? Especially because half the things he says are incorrect and the other half are inane.

 

Anyone who is in danger of accidentally opening the door instead of simply unlocking it should really stay home.

Also, he reminds me of Cousin Eddie

 

You're too generous on something too! Those back seats aren't meant for all-in-one-piece living humans. I think if they're small enough to fit, they really might be small enough to need a baby/child/booster seat, which i question how well that will fit and how far forward that makes the front passenger. I called it a belted parcel shelf. I really like that shelf for a laptop bag, purses, etc. It's a place to put stuff for the specific journey you are making, and it's nice its there.

Aside from that I actually really like the door handles; I have them on both my X100 and X150. It's nice not to go find a lock/unlock switch. If you want to get out? Open the door with the handle. But it's locked? Opening does the unlocking. On my BMW, you get to pull the handle twice to unlock then open the door in that scenario. It's a slick design on the Jaguar and I like it.

I think he was harsh on the infotainment, which in era was actually quite decent. My Maserati infotainment is straight garbage, and the platform is a year newer (but I think some infotainment was recycled from the several year older Quattroporte platform). My Jaguar has more features and is more well laid out than my newer VW (which its unit aint half bad). Other than mentioning heated seats are in the screen, people get it. I do wish the vent location was buttons though; we have the dual zone physical temperature controls, a little bit of buttons for where the air comes out would have been nice. Honestly though, it's decent for how minimalist it is. I like having the seat controls on the door panels. No fumbling for which button does what (yes you get used to it, but what about noob passengers?!?). Per what Doug says, it's nice too.

For me, I like cars that just are intuitive. Jaguar did some creative stuff on the X150, but none was crazy out there. The little shifter puck is a little less self explanatory than the lever in the 4.2L cars, but it's still like a 2/10 on the difficulty to figure out scale; I don't know about reliability of the puck, but I know the soft touch coating on the earlier shifter surrounds flakes with time and looks stupid. I let my parents use my cars all the time and my 71yo mother, who is not a car person, just "gets" the X150 and is capable of just using it as a regular car. She knows to angle the nose to not bottom out and park further back so you dont ram the nose into a curb and damage the bumper. The car feels special, but is capable of settling in to just being a nice car when you want it to be. I mean that as extremely high praise.

 

I don't think I will ever watch one of his reviews again, just don't enjoy his style. But, in all that blathering he did make some valid points, everyone on this board evaluates based on love of the car and brand. He is not clouded by that affection and so his perspective is completely different, much of it was nitpicking, but it is a $132,000 car so expectation would be high.

 

I've watched most of Doug's videos, and followed his articles on Jalopnik even before that. He's reviewed a phenomenal number of vehicles over the years. We all should be so fortunate. While I've not always agreed with his views, I know for the most part where his opinions are coming from and can respect that. He makes fun of every small backseat, and if any vehicle has one, part of his routine is to get into it - regardless of it's impractical design.

It's very easy to be defensive about our beloved (or formerly beloved) vehicles. All of us has a passion for our XK/XKR's and we each have likes/dislikes that certainly won't all be the same. There really is no need to take anyone else opinion to heart, or vehemently defend our vehicle choices. The only opinions we can control are our own. Simply enjoy the camaraderie of Jaaag ownership and help others to do the same.

I'll continue to enjoy Doug's reviews for what they are - and even Hoovies Garage too

 

He was a bit too critical, in my opinion. I think he has something against Jaguar. Have you seen his F-Pace review?

 

Of course - I found that review to be about average

 

He sure did like the XFR though.

 

His opinion, his movie - no one forces us to watch and agree. But definitely it will help value of our cars. Some people will realize that something like Jaguar XK(R-S) exist.

Ps. Beautiful car on a show. Congrats to the owner.

 

I haven't watched this one yet but I've watched a bunch of his reviews. He makes fun of almost every sports car's back seat. It's kind of a running joke since he's so tall.

 

Agreed. It's an old bit, but I still like it.
Besides, I love that area behind the back seat.... for storage. I had the same in my old SL500, but it was simply a storage area. But once you go to the trouble and expense of putting a pair of seat belts back there, you've decided to sell it as a rear seat. And you get the beating that's coming your way in reviews.

And I think y'all are harshing on Doug a little bit. Sure, I'm also jealous of someone who's car-review YouTube channel has over four million subscribers, but I gotta admit he's doing something right. And even if I don't always agree, I get a kick out of the way he geeks out on the smallest of things-- like door locks.

(Interestingly, the road-test part of the review takes up very little time, is mostly quite positive, and makes observations we'd all agree with: it's fast as hell, the exhaust note is perfect, the steering might be a little soft but the handling is surprisingly sharp and nimble for a car of its size. Agreed on all points.)

 

yea overall, I like his reviews.

Also he LOVED the XJL.

 

I caught the review late last night and thought it was generally well done. You have to admit that control of the infotainment system is dated compared to what is now available and not as user friendly as one would like. I don't recall him mentioning adaptive cruise control or some of the other (especially for the time) advanced capabilities the car has.

As I recently acquired my XKR, I was happy to hear him go to town on how to 'unlock' the passenger door. When the seller explained it to me as I was looking over the car prior to purchase - it went in one ear and out the other - I think I was paying attention to the beautiful exhaust note. For the last two weeks I've been leaning over and pulling the passenger side door latch.

Beautiful car, but the back seats are a puzzle - 3 year old might be comfortable on a booster seat, but I can't imagine trying to put an infant car seat back there. Similar (but smaller) than the rear seats in my extended cab Chevy Colorado.