Where each one leads
Jaguar XJS
- Against cars of the same year, the Jaguar XJS comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 38% less often than average) than the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class (fails 25% less often than average).
Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
- Fewer Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (12.3% against 35.7%).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Jaguar XJS | Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1981–2002 | 2000–2006 |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | — | 19,859 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 923 | 4,802 |
| In traffic in Finland | — | 1,647 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Jaguar XJS | Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 78% | — |
| … against cars of the same age | +13% | — |
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.0% | 1.6% |
| … against cars of the same year | −38% | −25% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 35.7% | 12.3% |
| US owner complaints | 82 | 35 |
| Most complaints about | Fuel system, gasoline | Electrical system |
| Model year with most complaints | 1990 (15) | 2001 (14) |
| US recall campaigns | 12 | 2 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 426 | 35 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 12 | 5 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Jaguar XJS | Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 12.9 l/100 km (1996) | — |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €88,635 | €69,344 |
| Average odometer in Finland | — | 244,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).