Hi everyone. I currently have a Jag XK, which I consider a nice, reliable, comfortable daily driver. When my lease is up in 4 years I will seriously consider a Porsche 911 for the first time, because I want something more sporty, fun and manual clutch. I do value reliability and service costs as very important. Can anyone give me their opinion of the current 911's reliablilty as far as fit and finish problems, service problems like check engine lights, and approx. normal service intervals and costs at the dealer? Thanks so much. -Bob.

 

You are certainly a long-range planner...
But seriously, I have a buddy with an XK (what year is yours?) and I have a 2005 997S. I don't believe there is any comparison - regarding build quality and performance. But they are much different cars. The XK fits the Mercedes SL, Lexus SC GT genre, and the Porsche is the edgier (near supercar) sports car genre. My wife has an SC, she loves it, but I feel like I'm in a big sedan - it drives bigger than it actually is. The Porsche drives smaller than it actually is. Which is perfect - a true sports car.
And the Porsche (the 911 series) has the value of world-class teutonic engineering with 40 years or so to debug and evolve the design. The Jaguar, pre-Ford, had budget, design and build issues - and every car reflected this. With Ford, things improved a bit, but there was a huge gap to close - and I'm not sure they ever expunged the ghost of Lucas electric. Tata does a reset. Who knows what will happen?
So, net net, no comparison. As long as you want a sports car instead of a GT, there is nothing like a Porsche. Well, there now is one other. In four years, you might actually be able to buy an Audi R8 (they're all sold out already through 2009). It's the only car that is quite worthy of consideration versus the Porsche at a similar (but higher) price-point.

 

Sell the Jag now and get the Porsche! If you're already thinking about it, why wait?
Or write to this forum in 4 years...

 

Build quality on my '04 Porsche was the best I had ever encountered prior to the Aston (which is measureably better by not by enough, alone, to ever justify the cost). Design andergonomics, etc., are second to none: PorscheDesign earned its reputation as the best in the world and the Carrera/911 in particularly shows it (I am talking about layout, simplicity or function, etc., not styling the Carrera/911 is "timeless" and very fwell done in the details, but frankly it looks a bit stodgy to me).

Overall though, realize that any XK and any Porsche (except maybe the new Panamera and forthcoming "929") are very different types of vehicles: hard to imagine if you can live well with one you'd necessarily love the other as much. Make sure you like the one before getting rid of the other.