EVERYTHING pointed to British executive car buyers harbouring a powerful and undying love for German cars.
But what if the British are not strangely predisposed towards German cars? If that were the case, all Jaguar needed to do was build an executive saloon that was competitive against German alternatives and buyers would come flocking. The XF was that car.
The XF doesn't appear to be the most spacious car in its sector but the coupe-like lines do belie the amount of space inside. There's room for five adults in comfort, generous interior storage and a boot capacity of up to 540 litres (fold the rear seats and add a further 420 litres).
So, get in and settle yourself behind the wheel. What's it like? Start the engine and the Drive Selector for controlling the automatic gearbox rises into the palm of the hand, while rotating air conditioning vents turn from their flush, "parked" position to their open position. The intention was to make the XF feel special, and it does.
The most popular units are the 237bhp or 271bhp versions of the 3.0-litre common-rail diesel unit, the latter employing twin turbochargers to achieve its performance. The XF's lightweight design means a 0-60mph sprint of under six seconds in the more powerful car. But even in the 237bhp version it can still be covered in 6.7.
Even with that type of performance, super-efficient combustion delivers 42mpg combined economy and 179g/km CO2 emissions.
The classy XF can live with BMW, Mercedes and Audi rivals in terms of driving dynamics and its engine technology. As a used buy, it looks no less compelling.
