This sounds simple and obvious, but I don't entirely agree with it.

Remember when Ford bought Jaguar and took it downmarket with the Ford Mondeo/Contour-based X Type? Measured by short-term sales totals alone, the Jaguar brand grew dramatically. In the larger view, though, the effect on the business was catastrophic. Each sale made less money for the company than before. More lastingly, the Jaguar brand was devalued irreparably in the eyes of buyers.

Now I'm not saying Lexus is making any single misstep as enormously bad as that one, but it's the general direction of their changes across the board. Top models killed. Bottom models visibly and audibly cheapened. Coasting on their laurels to sell cars with less real physical superiority engineered into them. That can work for a luxury brand, but it can't work forever.

 

I had an Xtype... wagon... diesel.
Loved it!

In my memory the interior was better than in my current ES UL.


Illustration photo

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your car. With that said, your enthusiasm for it was not shared unanimously:

"The X-Type's close relationship to the Mondeo became a point of criticism... The X-Type's sharing of a modified Ford Mondeo platform was not well received by Jaguar purists. In January 2008, Jaguar director of design Ian Callum said that the X-Type 'was essentially designed in Detroit and presented as close as a fait accompli to reluctant designers and engineers at Jaguar's Whitley design centre.' Noted automotive designer Robert Cumberford called the X-Type's styling "an unimaginable pastiche of many past Jaguars" in the June 2001 issue of Car and Driver magazine. Overall, due to poor sales, Jaguar lost €4,690 per vehicle produced." - Wikipedia

"Why it’s foul: Ford Motor Company gussied up the front-wheel-drive Ford Mondeo, marketed as the Ford Contour in the United States, with a ton of vintage style in an attempt to compete with the rear-wheel-drive BMW 3 Series. No one but Ford executives were convinced with the results. In addition to not feeling like a true Jaguar, premature gearbox troubles further damaged its reputation." - Autoblog

 

sad indeed. the "good ol days" with cars are fading quickly.

soon the best cars will almost exclusively be used cars.

 

I had one, a Jaguar Racing Green (not BRG, but more emerald) 2006 X-Type. The only thing the X-Type had in common with the Mondeo was the platform and a transverse engine, otherwise it was all different. Mechanically the entire drive train was new with the rear-biased AWD. Everything else was pure Jaguar, including the leather interior, all the switch gear, etc.

It got an unwarranted bad rap.

But quality was an issue, especially the AWD transfer case. But that was Ok. Because it was Ford product, and when I got it CPO I was able to purchase a 4 year bumper to bumper total warranty from Ford. Because of that my Jaguar dealer was able to submit repair bills, for many things that Jaguar wouldn't have accepted before, and Ford always paid.

Here's an example: remember keyed door locks and that they had a little flap to keep dirt and stuff out of the lock. Well that flap failed leaving the outside "key slot" open to the weather. Well in about 2010 or 11, when the car would have been well out of new car warranty, that flap failed and I brought the car to my Jaguar dealer.
They followed the factory repair guide that, apparently, called for a COMPLETE replacement of the door and trunk lock-set. Unfortunately complete replacement lock sets no longer existed, at least in North America. The repair order stayed open for 5-6 months before the dealer notified me that the parts had come in. They did the work and Ford paid, no muss, no fuss, no drama. I have no idea where the found the parts (on a shelf in Zimbabwe or bimble-fart New Zealand) but they tracked them down and sent them to Boston USA.

Oh, and ya, I think I paid $2000-$2500 for the policy. It was just a regular used car warranty on a recent (at the time) Ford automobile. Plus I purchased it at an ordinary Ford dealership, where the salesman just checked this list of cars covered by their warranty and found the X-Type there.

But, at the time, Ford also owned Volvo and Aston Martin. Wonder if any of them were covered ...

The quality of the up market my S-Type and later XF were much improved.

But lastly, remember our ES350s got the bad rap of being gussied up Camrys.