XF IS DRESSED TO IMPRESS

XF IS DRESSED TO IMPRESS FOR FLORIDA FASHIONISTA

All it took was a Sunday morning drive past a showroom window. “I wasn’t really looking to change my car. But as I was driving past, I saw it sitting there. I just loved the lines; that bold chrome grille, that sloping roofline. It looked absolutely gorgeous,” says Naples, Florida fashion consultant, Gloria Gardner. The ‘it’ was a 2010 Jaguar XF Supercharged. Porcelain exterior with Champagne leather interior. Gloria turned back around for a closer look only to discover that the dealership, Jaguar of Naples, was closed for the day.

“As I drove home, all I could think about was that Jaguar. So next morning I went back to arrange a test drive,” she explains. “When Brenda, the sales associate opened the door, I was like Ooooh, this is so beautiful”.

Resisting the urge to ‘drive it off the lot’, Gloria’s business sense kicked in. She decided she needed to do some research.

“I knew nothing about the XF. So I did what all prospective buyers do, I went on-line. When I’d found out everything I needed to know, I looked at the competition and went to the local BMW, Audi and Cadillac stores and test drove a bunch of cars.

“Inevitably, I went straight back to see Brenda and within 45 minutes I was driving home in my new XF. I couldn’t stop smiling.”

That was back in August. Since then she’s clocked up over 11,000 miles on road trips to Nashville, Atlanta and Alabama, usually with her two faithful Pugs, Persia and Paris, lounging on the back seat.

“It’s such an exceptional road car. It’s quiet, smooth and really comfortable. I just set my destination in the navigation system, plug in my iPod and I’m there in no time.”

A lifetime car enthusiast, Gloria has been involved in the vintage racing scene, has owned Ferraris and Porsches, and during a four-year stint in France, owned a racy Lotus Elan two-seater. Before the XF, there was a string of SUVs – including a Range Rover and Infiniti FX – and Cadillac sedans.

“What do I love most about the XF Supercharged? I’d have to say my 420 horsepower. The performance is just amazing. I kick the gas and it just flies. In town, I have to use the cruise control or I’ll look down and see I’m doing 65…in a 45.”

She’s also a big fan of the XF’s start-up sequence, with the rising JaguarDrive Selector™ and rotating vents.

“It really does feel like the car is coming alive. Even after nine-or-so months, it never fails to make me smile. And, of course, it never fails to impress friends getting in for the first time.

“Yet I think I like the close-down sequence even more. When I drive into my garage at night, and the shifter lowers and the vents rotate closed, it’s almost as if the car is saying “goodnight”.

As for the service she gets from Jaguar of Naples, Gloria calls it “the best”. When she took the car in for its 10,000-mile service, she liked the fact that she was loaned another Jaguar, and that when she collected her car, it had been washed and vacuumed. It's no wonder Jaguar dealers received highest ranking in JD Power Sales Satisfaction. As for reliability, she says the XF has been completely fault-free.

While Gloria’s heart still tugs towards a true sports car, like Jaguar’s supercharged XKR, she loves the versatility and flexibility the XF offers.

“To me, the XF performs and handles like a sports coupe. Yet with four doors I can take friends out for the evening. And with rear seats that fold flat, I could bring home two beautiful mirrors I bought from an old French hotel in New Orleans.”

“I’m just so pleased I drove past the Jaguar dealership that Sunday morning,” she adds.

Learn more about the XF