Jaguar F-Pace buyer’s guide
Stylish SUV is great to drive – and a fine used buy from £17k
JAGUAR was rather late entering the SUV segment. For years it had resisted building a 4x4 of its own, worried that it would steal sales from its Land Rover stablemate. But eventually, consumer tastes made the arrival of a Jaguar offroader inevitable. Introducing an SUV (or several) has been the only way that some car makers have survived, and so it proved for Jaguar, with the F-Pace becoming the company’s fastest-selling model of all time.
Looking less ostentatious than most contenders in the mid-sized SUV segment, the F-Pace has proved to be a big hit thanks to its excellent dynamics, impressive engines and roomy cabin. Furthermore, the use of a bodyshell that’s made largely from lightweight aluminium has helped to cut fuel consumption and improve agility.
The question is, how does the rest of the F-Pace’s package stack up compared with its rivals in this hotly contested market?
History
THE F-Pace first arrived in summer 2016 with a choice of 2.0-litre or 3.0-litre diesel engines, and a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol unit. Whereas the 3.0-litre engines came only in automatic AWD (all-wheeldrive) form, the 2.0-litre diesel could be ordered with either rear or four-wheel drive, the latter with a manual or auto gearbox.
At launch there were five trim levels: Prestige; R-Sport; Portfolio; S; and First Edition. Jaguar’s 296bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine was introduced in July 2017, and the 542bhp F-Pace SVR arrived in the summer of 2018; this coincided with a refresh that brought an upgraded cabin with improved infotainment, plus particulate filters for petrol engines.
Which one?
THE petrol-engined models cost significantly more to run than the equivalent diesel cars because of their higher fuel, tax and
maintenance costs. If you’re buying to tow you definitely need a diesel powerplant, and if you’re buying a 2.0-litre edition make sure it’s an AWD model.
No F-Pace is spartan, with even the entry-level Prestige model featuring eight-way electrically adjustable heated front seats, leather trim, 18-inch alloy wheels, front and rear parking sensors, navigation and DAB radio. The R-Sport adds sports seats, 19-inch wheels, xenon headlights and a bodykit. The Portfolio comes with 10-way seat adjustment, a heated windscreen and washer jets, panoramic roof, keyless go, electrically folding door mirrors, upgraded hi-fi and a rear-view camera. The S has 20-inch wheels while the First Edition gets 22-inch wheels, LED headlights and electric rear seats.
Alternatives
AUDI, BMW and Mercedes offer the Q5, X3/ X4 and GLC respectively. None of these is as handsome as the Jag, but they all have far superior infotainment systems and come with efficient engines, decent dynamics plus plenty of high-tech driver-assistance systems. They all have pretty strong residual values, so you’ll be doing well to bag a
bargain. Alternatively you could buy a Land Rover, with the Discovery, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque or Range Rover Sport all potentially fitting the bill depending on your budget; unlike the F-Pace, both Discoverys are available with seven seats.
If you want dynamic brilliance, meanwhile, the Porsche Macan should be on your shortlist, while the hybrid Lexus NX is particularly impressive for its efficiency, equipment, refinement and reliability – but not so much for its driving experience.
Verdict
WE loved the F-Pace when it was launched – enough to crown it our 2016 Car of the Year. When we first drove the new arrival we proclaimed: “The Jag is firm yet comfortable, and beautifully controlled on a twisty road. It’s cleverly packaged, too, with a roomy cabin that offers practicality, luxury and simplicity in equal measure. It’s a shame it took so long for Jag to launch its first SUV, but the F-Pace proves it was well worth the wait”. Yet while the F-Pace is undoubtedly impressive in many ways, read the owners’ forums and the owner reviews on our sister title carbuyer.co.uk, and it seems that many F-Pace buyers initially adore their car, but the experience is sometimes soured by high running costs, poor build quality, disappointing reliability and (sometimes) poor dealers, so be sure to buy with care.