Aluminum rivet bonding technology done by both Aston Martin and Jaguar during Ford's ownership. That tech developed into what Ford uses in their highest selling vehicle, F150.

 

All of this is true. However, is Consumer Reports, that are independent and don't take advertising money, rank JLR any differently?

It could be the case that JD Power is corrupt and for sale AND JLR pushing out unreliable junk.

 

This year I have a decision to make. My F-type warranty is up at the end of the year. I can pay about 4K to get it CPO for 2 more years. So far into 3 year ownership, the car cost me about $10K out of pocket and warranty covered approximately $40K worth of repairs. If this continues, this car would cost approximately $15K/year in repairs and maintenance at dealership prices. These numbers is what I spent on my 50+ year old classics when I am doing major projects. Thankfully, I can afford all of this.

I should be more outraged about this, lemon the god damn thing and move on. Unfortunately I just love my F-type and they don't make MT anymore. So I put up.

 

I would save the $4k, keep the car, and find an independent garage. What happened that the car needed $40k worth of work?

F-Types will be collectible one day, especially manual versions. If you have the means then perhaps add it to your fleet of other collections and drive it only once a month.

 

The corruption at Consumer Reports is EPIC.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
They take in hundreds of millions and have absolute power that makes the Church look like child's play.

They have never lost a lawsuit and been sued plenty, even the Church is envious.

 

I would totally believe JD are a 'for-hire' 3rd party reviewer. Every time I see one of those stupid Chevy 'reality' commercials they are bragging about all the JD power awards they get. I guess when you have 200 awards to give and only 200 car models to review, every squirrel gets a nut. Kinda like the 'participation' awards all these kids are getting these days!

Interesting to see how they list and rank manufacturers. Funny thing is ... they don't list anyone with less than 2 power circles:


So is that why I don't see Bentley, Maserati, Ferrari on there?? Because they actually scored so low they didn't even make the list??

That would make it a bit misleading to say Jag and Land Rover are the worst.



Same thing here:



Where are the Audi A5's? BMWs? Oh, they are so bad they couldn't even make the list. By this logic the Dodge Challenger is the worst Midsize Sporty Car. Hmmmmmm, doesn't sound right.

Whoever wrote the article is clearly being misled by how JD publishes their findings.

But what do I know, I drive a Jaguar.

 

I say trade it in and get a V12 Vantage in a manual. Will hold its value better than an F type is a lot more everything.

 

Unfortunately, yes to all (well, most) of this.

But my trip to the Queen's English car show in May changed my thinking a bit. I think there will always be great affection for Jags, more so as they age, BUT...
I can't see there being much passion for an F-pace or an XE, or the like. Can't see someone driving one of those onto a car show. I think the XK and the F-type will be the last of the timeless Jags.

Also, much as I love black cars, it struck me that colors are more prized, especially on vintage cars. Thing is, I'm not a fan of white or silver, so my options are limited.

But I still love the smiles and waves I get when driving the car. It'll age well. (Speaking of that, I noticed my Jag dealer always prints a date - 10/30/09 - on my invoices. Is that the in-service date for my car? Amazing-- I'll soon be driving a 10-year-old-car.)

 

I am a fan of the Vanquish and a couple other models, but man that Vantage is just gross.

 

Maybe, but I like what a reviewer wrote in their "best car for a mid-life crisis" piece:

"I want a current-generation Jaguar XK. Coupe or convertible, doesn't matter (although the coupe looks better), and I don't need an XKR. I've put a lot of miles on recent XKs, and I've enjoyed every one of them. The big Jag two-door is a great highway cruiser that's athletic and willing to dance on a winding road. Plus, I love cars whose styling compels me do a double-take as I walk away. The Jaguar earns a triple glance back."

 

New clutch, flywheel 3x
New transmission
New differential
New side windows and window seals due to scratches
New exhaust valves
New tires 3x (factory alignment ate 1st set in 5K, they paid for alignment but not new tires)

I am sure there is other small stuff that I don't remember about.

That pretty much what I am already doing, only I tend to gravitate to F-type and end up driving it more. Rev match downshift is just glorious on this car - vroom, pop, pop, pop, vroom! My classic SL is my second most favorite car, it is a lot more comfortable and has all that chrome, but it doesn't sound despite having V8 unless you go WOT.

I was considering getting last year Viper SRT, but undecided between that and C7 ZR1. I think Viper will be collectable too, but C7 is just too common to be worthwhile. Will see how the books look at the end of the year to see what I can bite off.

 

Can't agree more about being a "for-hire" reviewer, especially when you have certain manufacturers taking these "awards" as glowing endorsements which they then turn form into an advertising platform, from which JD Power is compensated (in the form of licensing rights to be able to use their name in commercials)

I always take issue with how they get this polling "data" - which they vaguely explain in their disclosures (who are they polling? How many people? Of that amount how many didn't give a response). My thought's; I find it's often the people who have issues with their cars to be the most vocal. People who don't have problems aren't going out of there way to tell everyone.

 

JD sent me a survey after first year of ownership, I replied and documented all issues I had. So there is data point of 1.

As to Consumer Reports, I am not going to blindly accept grandiose claims about their corruption, cough up evidence or I will assume you are sour grapes over fair but scathing review of whatever half-baked product your firm had made cheaply in China and then dumped on the market.

 

Wow what happened did you think it was an automatic for the first six months? ))

 

CR has a much easier way. A power that even the Church does not have!
They charge to reveal what is right and wrong and they claim to be the single ultimate irrefutable authority. (right there alarms should be going off)
Since they make their money by enlightening you, they have perverse incentive. All they have to do to grow subscription is to cry foul.
Imagine if we took a ****-artist and told him he could make $300 million a year and he was untouchable and had the final word. How would he act.

The creator and the critic

 

As an outsider, it has been my view that this was staged development working on learning the technology using brands with different production numbers.

The lowest production number was used first, Aston Martin got the DB9.

Then Jaguar got the X150, work on further developing the technology to be manufactured at a lower cost and higher volume.

To me, the Aston Marting DB9 and Jaguar X150 are part of the lineage of the new F150.

However, that is my outsider perspective and not an insider perspective. I do see the progression of Ford owned brands working towards applying this construction in a steady process of increasing production volume and reducing cost.

 

JLR parts for clutch assembly went through at least 4 revisions before they gave up and just discontinued MT. They released car with a slipping clutch that would burn itself out in only couple thousand miles. It was so bad that no 2016 manual F-type made it out of warranty with original clutch, but JLR didn't do a recall.

So incompetence, worse than water pump issues that XK/XKR had. Hence, in my mind, awful reliability rankings by JD are well-deserved.

 

They give out plenty of good reviews and recommendations. Your claim that they make money by unfairly thrashing products makes no sense, as CR subscribers are looking at their reviews for two reasons - to avoid really awful stuff, to find above-average stuff.

While CR isn't infallible, your claims of bias and corruption remain unsubstantiated. In my mind, CR giving your product bad score is likely due to your competitors having a better product. This doesn't mean that what you have is bad, it just isn't as good as the alternative.

 

I haven't wanted a Vantage, primarily because I prefer a little larger car, not that the back seats in the DB9 and other 2+2s they sell can fit unamputated adults. I had a hoot in the manual V12 Vantage I drove, and I think it has the potential to be a collectable later, but the larger GT 2+2s are more visually appealing to me. The length I feels works really well for the design language. I will say that Aston adapted the design language and extended it better than the VAST majority of manufacturers since the 2 seater, 2+2 and 4 door all actually look related and good in their skins.

However, I'd never call any of the modern Vantages "gross". I absolutely believe getting a used Vantage will hold it's better with time than an F Type; Jags have a MUCH lower floor before they shoot back up than Astons do. I do want an F Type R at one point though, but it will be dizzying low on the resale when I finally bite; probably 25-30k for a nice one.

 

For Aston Martin, several used models are good deals right now. Late model DB9's from Virage and newer are very attractive priced. Going to be automatic, but I just love the paddles on my Rapide. Almost as fun as my buddy's Ferrari California. Light years more fun than the paddles on any Jag I have owned. Better than Maserati's Cambiocorsa. Aston's may not be the fastest shifting, but it feels like a manual with when you want to shift and has nice rev matching and all that. Dramatic up and down shifts. I don't care about ever owning a real manual again. Just need to pick the right cars with paddles.