Faults:

Rear indicator bulb.

Door mirrors not folding when parked.

General Comments:

This is a fantastic car to own; effortless to drive, and much admired by others. It seems to be car that gets appreciation and respect... not jealousy or road rage. When driving, no one cuts her up on the road. People let you through at junctions. It has immense presence, with the elegance and slight menace of an old school Jag, yet painless to own. Yet it won't disintegrate from tinworm. It's reliable and well made.

By European standards this is a big car; yet despite that, effortless to drive.

Despite looking like a traditional Jag, it's bristling with tech under the skin; everything has purpose, and works silently in the background.

All on the mechanical and electrical front seems robust and well engineered.

The air suspension works extremely well, and gives a magic carpet ride, combined with superb handling ability. The ride is similar to an old Citroen or Rolls Royce, but with far better handling. It also lowers at speed to improve handling and aerodynamics.

Performance wise, the V8's far better than the V6 version, and has a gorgeous burble to it, along with a significant power hike. It just feels a far more complete package and more rewarding to drive. Whilst no supercar, this cat's no slouch, and can really move when needed

The interior's much in the same league - Everything a Jag should be... and then some. Acres of leather and walnut trim, combined with modern ergonomics and technology from the era.

Despite my being very tall, it's extremely roomy and comfortable inside, making long journeys a pleasure.

The seats are extremely comfortable and supportive, and there's decent legroom front and rear. The multi zone climate control works well and chills the cabin perfectly when needed. Being stuck in traffic in the middle of a heatwave is not a problem here. Equally, in cold weather the system warms up the interior and defrosts the windows without any drama.

Reliability wise, only one thing has gone wrong in the last year is... an indicator bulb. This is a far cry from the Jags of old which required eye watering maintenance, and rinsed their long suffering owners in the process.

The downsides:

Parking can be tricky due to its size.

Fuel consumption around town isn't great... around 15 mpg... but 50 at motorway speeds and on runs (V6 version drinks the same amount, if not more).

Not ULEZ friendly.

And that's it.

Regrets so far: None.

In short: the Bentley experience... for peanuts.

Faults:

Front parking sensor had to be replaced.

Cracked rear suspension bushes replaced.

Curling trim on glovebox lid.

Split in boot seal.

General Comments:

Despite similar looks, the X350 is a generational shift from the X300/X308 series and is a far more modern and sophisticated car.

These cars are seriously fast on the open road (mine is the 4.2 V8 - the 3.0 might work a bit harder), but a gentleman's club on wheels around town. It is a fantastic long-distance tourer, which shrugs off poor road surfaces. The low speed ride is a little firmer than its predecessors (but still in a class of its own compared to Audi & BMW), but the trade-off is far better high speed body control and less cornering roll.

The interior is beautifully trimmed and much more spacious than the older XJs, even in SWB form. The sound system is superb. My 10+ year old car still looks and feels new inside and out. Everything works as it should, and there are no creaks or rattles.

Criticisms? Try and find one with HID lights, as the standard headlights are no better than adequate (I bought extra-bright Phillips bulbs for mine and that helped a bit). The boot is large, but takes careful packing as the floor is uneven. The screen for the sat nav can be unreadable in the Australian sun; but the lady giving directions is terribly British and polite, so you can just listen to her! And beware the cost of updating the sat nav disk - over $200 - no wonder mine was 8 years out of date when I bought the car.

Running and service costs (IF you find a good independent Jaguar specialist) are surprisingly reasonable. The car has been totally reliable in my ownership. Fuel consumption is absurdly good for a large V8 - I average 13.5 l/100 km around town and have seen as little as 7.8 on a long country drive, with about 8.5 being typical if you're cracking on a bit more.

In summary, my previous XJ6 gave me four years of cheap and reliable luxury motoring, and this car is a significant step up from that in everything except its exterior styling (subjective I know, but I think the X300/308 were even more nicely proportioned). I anticipate keeping it for many more years: until the current model gets cheap enough to be a bargain second hand proposition!