Used Jaguar E-PACE cars for sale

Used Jaguar E-PACE pros and cons

Is a second hand Jaguar E-PACE a good car?

The Jaguar E-Pace was Jag’s attempt to move downmarket to meet the likes of the BMW X1 and X2, the Volvo XC40, and the Mercedes GLA. It’s meant to be a posh, all-British small SUV, but it rather missed the mark — and bypassed customers — by not feeling like a ‘proper’ Jag to drive. It’s an Alan Smithee car — Alan Smithee being the pseudonym Hollywood directors use when they know they’ve directed a disaster, and want people to forget about it as soon as possible. 

At least the E-Pace looks sporty, with the big Jaguar grille up front, and headlights that look just a little like those of the original F-Type sports car. The sharp-edged boot gives the rear of the E-Pace a very distinctive look too. 

The cabin was a bit more mixed. Again, there are styling elements from the F-Type in there, and nice rotary dials for the air conditioning, but too many of the materials were too cheap in how they felt, and the infotainment screen was really quite poor until Jaguar updated it in 2021. 

There’s a pair of nice, comfortable seats up front, with a hugely adjustable driving position, and passengers in the back aren’t forgotten about either, although really there’s only enough space for two, with a very narrow centre rear seat. Part of the E-Pace’s problem is that it’s based on the same chassis and engines as the roomier and more practical Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport. 

At 494 litres, the E-Pace’s boot is smaller than that of the — similarly priced — Discovery Sport, although the Jag redeems itself a little by having a flat loading lip and a wide boot lid. There’s enough space for family luggage for a week away, but others are more spacious in the back. 

Because you sit quite high up in the E-Pace, it gives you a good view out (as long as you’re not surrounded by other, bigger SUVs of course) and makes commuting in and through town pretty easy thanks to its compact shape. Rear visibility isn’t very good though, so thankfully all versions came with a rear-view camera and parking sensors. 

On twisty roads, the E-Pace’s suspension does a great job of soaking up the worst of British back-road bumps — as you’d expect of a car whose chassis engineering was done in Wales and Warwickshire — but while there’s plenty of grip in corners (especially with four-wheel drive, as fitted to most models) the E-Pace feels chunky and heavy, without the light-on-its-toes feel that you get from other Jaguars, and consequently isn’t all that much fun to drive. 

On a motorway cruise, the E-Pace distinguishes itself by being quieter inside than a BMW X2, and as long as you track down a high-spec model there are plenty of electronic driver assistance systems to help take the sting out of longer journeys. 

That said, the Jaguar doesn’t suffer from the BMW’s tyre noise when you’re driving at speed – there is a little wind noise at a cruise – and it feels planted and composed. Range-topping models have plenty of driver assistance tech too, that’ll accelerate and brake for you in traffic jams – just the thing if your commute takes in busy traffic.

One major issue is that in spite of using a family of modern 2.0-litre turbo petrol and diesel engines, the E-Pace just isn’t as economical as its German and Japanese rivals. There is a plug-in hybrid model, though, which has a potential 34-mile electric range, which should save you some cash if you’re a regular urban commuter and can charge at home or at work. 

The E-Pace was a bit of a sales disaster for Jaguar when new, but the upside of that for used buyers is that an E-Pace is cheaper to buy than an equivalent Land Rover model, and only about as expensive to run. It’s also sporty to look at, even if it’s not especially thrilling to drive. 

And that pretty much encapsulates the Jaguar E-Pace, it’s a big, solid and reasonably practical SUV that will appeal to you if you’re more interested in your new SUV looking sporty than feeling particularly athletic to drive.

What to look for when buying a used Jaguar E-PACE

The E-Pace does seem to suffer a number of regular issues, including automatic gearboxes that jump out of gear, and surging throttles. The ‘metallised’ windscreen, designed to absorb heat, can also block mobile phone signals from inside the car, so many owners have had external signal booster antennas fitted. The 2.0-litre ‘Ingenium’ engines used by the E-Pace have some well-known problems too, including timing chain failures, and oil pump failures. 

In spite of a whopping 43% of owners reporting problems with their cars, Jaguar still finished a high ninth, out of 32 brands, in the Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. Interestingly, Jaguar scored better in reliability terms with owners than mechanically-identical Land Rover.