Grab A Sports Saloon Bargain With A Jaguar XE S

So, Jaguar saloon cars are going away. For a bit, anyway. The XE and XF – along with the F-Type sports car – are ending production in June, and they won’t be getting direct replacements.

The four-door Jag will return next year with an as-yet-unnamed, unseen electric ‘GT’, expected to take on the Porsche Taycan. The gap, though, is a significant thing – it’ll be the first time since the Jaguar brand name came into existence in 1945 that it’s not had a four-door saloon in its lineup.

Luckily, Jag’s long history of making saloons means the used market offers plenty of choice. Take the XE. It was introduced in 2015 as Jaguar’s second crack at a compact exec saloon in the vein of the BMW 3-series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class, following the underwhelming Ford Mondeo-based X-Type.

The XE was a much better product from the word go. Based on a rear-wheel drive platform exclusive to Jaguar Land Rover, it featured a lightweight aluminium monocoque and has long been regarded as one of the best handling and riding cars in its class. The engines were strong, too: in addition to JLR’s then-new Ingenium petrol and diesel four-cylinders, the top engine at launch was a 3.0-litre supercharged V6 shared with the F-Type.

That’s the one we’re interested in. Only available on range-topping S models, it made 335bhp in early cars. While four-cylinder cars later became available with all-wheel drive, the V6 S remained exclusively rear-drive, with the power transmitted through ZF’s proven eight-speed automatic. 0-62mph could be covered in 4.9 seconds, and top speed was limited to 155mph. In 2017, power was upped to 375bhp before the V6 was dropped in 2019.

So, you got a gargly supercharged V6, ample power and pace, a cracking lightweight rear-drive chassis and a body penned by the ever-talented Ian Callum. Even at launch, this was the kind of sports saloon we didn’t get much anymore – one that had a big, charismatic motor and an old-school layout without being a full-fat, M3-style animal.

Now, it’s a breed that’s pretty much disappeared, which makes a used XE S all the more tempting. The usual Jag penchant for depreciation means that early cars are now seriously cheap. Here’s one we found: a 2016, 66-plate car in the fetching shade of Firenze Red and sitting on 19-inch alloys. Over seven years and two owners, it’s covered a respectable 82,500 miles, and it could be yours for £14,250.

It’s not like it’s even a particularly old car: it has basically all the tech most people could want, including an optional upgraded infotainment system with a 10.5-inch screen with CarPlay and Android Auto capability.

Okay, a supercharged V6 isn’t going to be the cheapest thing to run, and there’s always a bit of a question mark around Jag build quality. The red leather and black Alcantara interior definitely isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste either.

If you can live with those foibles, though, then this surely represents an absolute sports saloon bargain. Certainly, we won’t see a car like this from Jag again.