Originally Posted by pk4144

Could have posted on the XF forum but thought this might be of interest here. Besides...

...this forum is more fun. So, for anyone interested in the Sportbrake, here are a bunch of random observations in no particular order:

- 750 miles in, still love the car. I am SO GLAD I didn’t go the SUV route.
- power-wise, have to remind myself it’s not an XKR. Wish the transmission kickdown was a little more aggressive, but that’s a minor complaint. Not surprisingly, given that it’s a smaller engine, its power zone is a little higher. Really starts to cook at about 3500 RPM.
- While driving, I have to look back behind myself now and then to remind myself that this is a station wagon because it handles so well.
- speaking of the station wagon part of it, SWEET JESUS you can put a lot back there with the rear seats down. Helped a friend out the other day and we were both shocked by how much you can fit in this car.
- color: grey is tricky, but I love it when it works— and this color, “Coris Grey” (or something like that), is perfect. It’s like a really warm charcoal. When grey gets too dark, it just looks muddy and flat, and too light and it’s “too grey,” if that makes sense. This is perfect. (Lunar Grey on the XK is also terrific. “Stratus Grey,” the darker grey which I had once, is too close to black.)
- for what it’s worth: I’ve never had more comments about a car, Including the XKR. Fun to see people walking to the back of the car to see what make it is. Had to gas up in East LA and the bangers there gave a thumbs-up and shouted out that the car was “BADASS, MAN! BADASS!”
- The glass roof is a HUGE slab of glass and I love it. To be clear, it’s not a sunroof - it doesn’t move, kind of like the top of the Tesla. I can say that even during a hot Southern California day the sliding screen really does a good job of blocking heat.
- already faced down my first Jag electrical/tech issue. I’m sure there are more to come.
- like the XKR, the Sportbrake comes well equipped. It’s got four option packages, and all the cars I’ve seen online come with at least two:
COMFORT/CONVENIENCE PACKAGE: basically adds cooled seats in the front (and heated seats in the back, but those will almost certainly not be used, at least not by me). This is a must-have for me, and I’m glad I’ve got it.
DRIVER ASSIST PACKAGE: all that lane-warning, parking assist stuff (which I don’t use)….. PLUS, Adaptive Cruise Control. I don’t have this but I do care about the Adaptive Cruise so I wish I had it.
TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE: a bunch of stuff I don’t really understand. BUT ALSO…. an 835-watt Meridian sound system that makes our Bowers and Wilkins system sound like a cheap boom-box. Worth it for that alone and I’m glad I have it.
LUXURY PACKAGE: basically, plusher mats, more fancy lighting trims, and a suede headliner and A-pillars. I don’t have it, and given the spartan nature of the interior I kind of wish I did.

Any questions, just ask.

(PS: Jaguar only sold about 250 of these cars total in the US. Almost all of them are either black, white, or silver. Even the grey that I got is rare. AND…. there is one Sportbrake on carmax that’s a deep red with the “Brogue” interior, which is a lovely shade of saddle brown. It’s a little overpriced but it’s a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind car. It may be the only Sportbrake with that color/interior combo ever sold in the US. It’s in the Bay area, and if it was in LA I may have said screw it and overpaid for it anyway. I LOVE it.)

Originally Posted by pk4144

FYI the Rosello Red Sportbrake that was on CarMax seemed to have sold...

Originally Posted by cnrad

Beautiful wagon! I just discovered these Sportbrakes recently while searching for a new car - fell in love instantly! Got to test drive one and loved it even more. Now looking for the right one to come on the market.



Small world! That one actually isn't sold (yet), it was taken off the market for a while because I had it transferred from the Bay up to their Roseville location and then proceeded with a 24 hr test drive on it. The Brogue interior was lovely, and the Rosello Red was elegant - however, I am more into the neutral color spectrum for exteriors. The wagon was a little beat up - It had its scuffs, dings, curb-rashed (but shodily repaired) wheels, and what sounded like a blown subwoofer, granted it is a used vehicle, so can't expect things to be perfect. It did drive really well and was nicely optioned, but it wasn't the right one. Really just wanted to take the opportunity to see what the Sportbrake was - and it didn't disappoint. Funny thing, the sales rep I worked with said he was a top performer there and had never even known the Sportbrake existed. Definitely a sweet vehicle!

What electrical issue are you experiencing with the Sportbrake? Any other issues that have come up since, or has it been reliable?

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

@cnrad If the Sportbrake you are looking at is still under warranty, I would only be really concerned appearence. Stuff like a blown subwoofer can fixed under warranty. Scratcha dinged up; that is on you. The Jaguar wheels on the XF and XE are fragile. Get tire and rim insurance. XJ and XK had stronger wheels FWIW.

Originally Posted by pk4144

Small world indeed! Actually glad to hear your review as I was kicking myself for not going up and taking a look. That color/interior color combo is so rare. Would have been disappointed if I'd not driven home with it.

I def get a lot of comments about the car. It's rare indeed. And I'm on the east coast, in a rental again-- lost it, again, in a sea of similar-looking SUV's in a parking lot.

I do tend to "fall in love" with a car too much. After about 800 miles, I'm noticing that the previous owner was a HUGE person. The left seat bolster is fully collapsed, and the whole seat sags a bit to the left. (Didn't realize it til I spent an hour in the passenger seat. Noticable difference. Going to take it into my regular spot, see if they can get something pushed through under warranty.)

The electrical issue was resolved-- ends up it was a setting deep (DEEP) in the "InTouch" menu. Sad to say but it's true: that is the least intuitive system I've ever used, needlessly overcomplicated, and not even the manual gets it quite right in terms of how to access functions. (As an example, I'm a radio listener and I was certain the car had an HD radio receiver, but could not access HD stations. Betcha a buck you can't figure out how to turn it on in the InTouch menu. I'll even give you a hint that it's not in the audio menu anywhere, but that won't help you much.) I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Got my tint job, which really pops on a grey car with black wheels. Tint guys (who also do awesome detail/ceramic work) pointed out that the driver's door had been taken apart, and a little pitting filled in on the hood. But that was all they could see even under those crazy-bright detailing lights, so I'm feeling pretty good all in all.

I do need to get that seat fixed. Other than the little niggly things (like oh yeah why are the seat presets where the window raise-lower switches shout be, which forces you to reach waaay forward to lower the drivers window? Because Jaguar, I suppose), I still really love the car.

Originally Posted by cnrad

Thanks for the tips. Had it been gray, black, or maybe even white, I would have purchased it and done as you said, but it just wasn't the right color for me. Interesting note on the wheels, but I would swap them out for aftermarket ones anyways, so not too concerned about them; I really only pointed out everything I did to let PK know the condition that the car was in.



Yeah I could tell from your posts haha, so I wanted to help put your mind at ease and let you know it wasn't a perfect example. Another thing that was concerning with that one was that the coolant level was very low for some reason (lower than in their pics), maybe it just had a leak I don't know, but it didn't leave anything on my driveway and I didn't try diagnosing it since I wasn't interested in it. I did look for it on Carmax's website again, and it looks like it's in transit to another location right now.

Hahaha, yeah SUVs are bleh - they are everywhere... Went back to Carmax to test drive a GLA45 AMG (somehow this is an SUV) they got in, thinking it might be a fun option, but I couldn't find one thing about it that I liked better than the Sportbrake. Sat in a bunch of SUVs within the same price range and couldn't find one that felt better than the Sportbrake - not even the F-Pace. Jaguar did it right with this one.

Dang.. sorry to hear about the issue with the seat, hopefully they can take care of you on that. These seats aren't really big guy friendly hahaha. I'm 6'0 220lbs and it hugged just right, the thigh bolsters were a bit tight, but not unbearable.

Ok well that's good it wasn't an actual electrical issue, glad you got that all figured out. You're not wrong when you say it's the least intuitive system hahaha, it was a pain navigating through everything. Even the DIC is a pain... One thing I really hated was the fact that you couldn't get rid of the useless Jaguar logo on the instrument cluster. Would be nice to put something of use in place of their logo sitting there.. One pleasant surprise on the other hand though, was seeing that there is Apple Carplay support. The Youtube reviews I saw online prior to testing one said it didn't have it, but apparently there was a firmware update sometime after the release. That's funny on the layout of the door switches, we were also confused why they positioned them as they did. Little tip that may or may not help you, but for the seat memory settings, if you don't need all 3, you can set one of them to keep your positioning but lower the side mirrors for when you reverse. I don't remember how they were, but my brother saw people online that said the way Jaguar programmed the mirrors to adjust when you put the car in reverse sucks, so some people utilize that to get a better angle with the mirrors.

Oh yeah, tint is a must! The gray Sportbrakes with the black package look so good... Enjoy your car and drive the heck out of it! They aren't the most powerful thing out there, but they look damn good and drive damn well haha. I am hoping to come across a nicely optioned Carpathian gray on Brogue, but with how rare these are I'm not sure if one was ever sold here. Will continue patiently searching for that right one..

Originally Posted by pk4144

In terms of your search for the Perfect Sportbrake, here's my one piece of advice: if you've got the time, wait for a car with ALL FOUR of the option packages. Here's why:

COMFORT/CONVENIENCE: the cooled seats. Period. Once you have 'em you won't go back. (I have this package)
TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE: That 825-watt Meridian Stereo. Damn. (I've got it)
DRIVER ASSIST PACKAGE: the adaptive cruise. I do a lot of long-haul drives, and that's a game-changer on the XKR, and I can only imagine it's gotten better. (WANT IT)
LUXURY PACKAGE: I've heard and read about how it makes the car quieter and it would be well worth it for that. My XKR is a 'vert so ANYTHING'S quieter, but still. (WANT IT)

Originally Posted by pk4144

Well, one of the things done on the "CPO Checklist" for mine was to replace two coolant hoses, so I guess I'm right back where I was with the XKR in the cooling system respect.

And yes I love the Brogue interior. I don't know why more people don't go for it-- or didn't go for it. (Could you "order" these cars? I don't know. Maybe you just got what was out there.) In terms of color, I love black-on-black with my XKR, BUT... when you go to the Queen's English British car show here in LA, it really drives home that over decades people love colors. Surprising how few black or silver vintage cars are in these shows. So I was hoping for a color in the sportbrake, and the only option I liked was red, then I saw this one. I really dig it, but even on this I think the Brogue interior would have helped with the austerity of these interiors. And yeah the tint (and again, I go subtle on the tint, I don't go Drug Dealer with it) really helps.

There's just something about the Sportbrake (as is the case with the XK's)... it's like "yeah, it's a station wagon, but... it's cool." I don't know how else to say it. Everybody looks at it, walks around, like "I like this car,but what is it.... wait, it's a JAGUAR???"

And yes, they're no XKR, but for what they are I kinda like the power level. My rental is a Nissan Rogue, and let's just not talk about power. I'm beating this poor little car like a rented mule.

In terms of your search for the Perfect Sportbrake, here's my one piece of advice: if you've got the time, wait for a car with ALL FOUR of the option packages. Here's why:

COMFORT/CONVENIENCE: the cooled seats. Period. Once you have 'em you won't go back. (I have this package)
TECHNOLOGY PACKAGE: That 825-watt Meridian Stereo. Damn. (I've got it)
DRIVER ASSIST PACKAGE: the adaptive cruise. I do a lot of long-haul drives, and that's a game-changer on the XKR, and I can only imagine it's gotten better. (WANT IT)
LUXURY PACKAGE: I've heard and read about how it makes the car quieter and it would be well worth it for that. My XKR is a 'vert so ANYTHING'S quieter, but still. (WANT IT)

Keep us posted! And when you buy, post a pic here!

Originally Posted by cnrad

Not sure about special orders on the Sportbrakes. I'm sure they must've had the option to, but probably only a handful of people built their own spec considering it took Jaguar a few years to sell their inventory. Surprisingly no one wanted these cars.. Price must've definitely been a major factor, coupled with wagons being a niche market and poor marketing - hardly anyone here knows these things exist! In the short time I had it, it did turn heads hahaha. Definitely a cool car.

Originally Posted by pk4144

Nah, I'm gonna keep it as is for a while. How do these engines respond to a tune? Big difference? Also I'm nervous about swapping out pulleys while the car's still under manufacturers warranty. Maybe after then?

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Price was the big factor on the Sportbrake. They came only with the S trim and well optioned. They debuted shortly before I leased my XE. Same iteration of Jaguar parts and tech.

Expensive wagons are typically a customer ordered cars and Jaguar doesn't have repeat customers like Volvo and Mercedes do for a fancy wagon in the States. How many dealers were hot to have beyond the minimum on the lot of such a niche car? Sportbrake is a big car too. Something sized similar to the XType could've fared better? XE was rumored to do a wagon. When we leased our XC60, I could've bought/leased new Sportbrake 16K off new! Wife did not like the silver with red/black interior. Just finished a red/black interior XE and wanted something different. If they had a more agreeable color combo, I would've mandated us getting that instead.

Originally Posted by cnrad

The Sportbrake was big, but I don't know if it being smaller would have helped anything. I think it's really just the fact that the SUV is touted as the best option nowadays, and wagons have never really been seen as a cool car to own. I did see articles online stating that Jaguar had to cut prices up to 20k off MSRP to get the Sportbrakes off the lot - that's crazy! Why didn't you go for a V60 or V90 over the XC?

Originally Posted by htrdlncn

Be cool with the V8..

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

When we leased the XC60, the former Jaguar sales manager moved to a GM role at the local Volvo franchise. He offered a generous discount and no BS on what they had on the lot. Instead of eating 3-4 months of payments on XE which JLR said I needed to do (in order to lease a Velar or Evoque Convertible); Volvo wrote me a check of the payments and discounted the XC60. JLR would not take $50 off any car I was interested in, would not accept my car on their lot at lease end (another story) and could really care less whether I am a returning customer or not.

The treatment by the dealership I leased the XE from and JLR's stance on returning customers (or lack of any loyalty) totally turned me off from ever buying a new JLR product again. They couldn't do more to turn me away. I didn't even consider one of their products this time around when we bought our V60 CC. JLR has lost focus of their consumer and keeping them in the family. They think attracting hipster's is better off than maintaining multi generations of Jaguar owning families.

Volvo dealer did not have any V60's or V90's on the lot (maybe one or two) and I wasn't in a position to order and wait for a car. The US factory had just started manufacturing V60's.

Originally Posted by cnrad

Wow, that sucks JLR showed no customer appreciation.. Hopefully it had more to do with that specific dealer rather than JLR as a whole. That's cool Volvo stepped up and got you what sounds like a great deal though.