2020 Jaguar XE long-term test review: report 7
Jaguar’s smallest saloon, the XE, has been updated for 2020. So, should you consider choosing it over its German rivals? We’ve added one to our long-term test fleet to find out...
The car Jaguar XE 2.0 D180 SE R-Dynamic AWD auto Run by Steve Huntingford, editor
Why it’s here To see if Jaguar’s recently refreshed executive car impresses or frustrates when you live with it every day
Needs to Combine fun handling with relaxing cruising manners and a prestige feel with low running costs
Miles 5428 List price £39,800 Target Price £36,730 Price as tested £47,410 Official economy 46.4mpg Test economy 34.4mpg
22 May 2020 – All in the details
In any long-term relationship, little things can make a big difference one way or another – and it’s much the same story when you live with a car. Indeed, that’s one of the main reasons why we conduct these long-term tests, even though we’ve already rated the models in question in 16 areas and driven them back to back with rivals.
It was only recently, for example, that I noticed how clever my Jaguar XE’s boot is. Okay, it’s not huge, even by executive saloon standards, but if you open its powered bootlid using the keyfob, you can’t close it again unless the doors are unlocked, to prevent you from accidentally locking yourself out of the car. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like the sort of thing I might do.
In addition, the more time I spend with the XE, the more I appreciate its air-con controls. The driver and front passenger each get a large dial, which you twist to change the temperature, pull out then twist to adjust the fan speed, and push in and twist for the heated seat. It’s a clever bit of packaging and can be operated at a glance instead of you having to hunt for specific buttons or, horror of horrors, delve into menus on a touchscreen.
Oh, and someone on the Jaguar interior design team clearly has young kids. You see, the overhead map lights in the front of the XE are activated when you tap the light itself – a cool feature that my three-year-old daughter loves to play with when she’s in my seat, pretending to drive. However, the rear lights have conventional switches, which she’s not remotely interested in, so I don’t have the lights constantly flicking on and off while I’m actually driving.
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