Okay, so I drive a 03 Td6 and obviously loving it. However there are some aspects which make me sad.

Car specific ones: my car was heavily neglected by the previous owner, hence a lot of "sudden" issues pop up time to time. I start to suspect that at some point the car was disassembled and then put together in barbaric way, amount of cable ties & hot glue I discover everywhere speak for themselves.

Model specific ones: dynamics, sometimes I want it to go faster, especially pull off. Tractorish vibration & sound (and looks, when back to 18" rims). GM gearbox which literally ruins my mental heath as it developed a fear of revving the engine above 2k rpm.

Recently a good advertised 05 SC went on sale, with 198k km on the clock, service history (LR) of "up to the very last km", from the first owner, looking good interior and no signs of next door garage servicing.

In theory this car can satisfy my needs: dynamics, vibration, back to 20", fear of gearbox and interior without literally each trim part having chipped mountings.

However I need your advices as I know nothing about the Jag engine. Also I've read some scary stories like "never buy a 05 RR (or it was about 06)" - BMW to Ford migration models. Even my scanner got a separate category for the 06 (IIRC) MY, like 02-05, 06, 07-09.

Also I cant find real consumption numbers, "Internet sites" say about 13 MPG in town, while I saw here on forum people mentioning 16-18...

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

P.S.: I was also considering a 4.4 diesel which also offers a solution to my "problems", is newer, with fancy dash, reduced consumption & so on...

Consumption about right. You'll be driving round with a silly grin on your face though. A bloke near to me has one with a similar mileage to the one you mention and loves it. Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984

The 4.2 S/C engine itself has a superb reputation for reliability, I'd very happily have one of those (and indeed very nearly did before I ended up with a 2011 5.0 S/C instead). Real experts will no doubt be along soon to advise on the 05/06 switchover piece, as similarly, I've read various stories about cars around there built with half BMW/half Ford electronics, so might be better to go one year older or newer if possible.

Fuel consumption - my 5.0 S/C is supposedly slightly more efficient overall than the 4.2 S/C, but I can all but guarantee that you won't be getting 16-18 mpg out of any L322 S/C around town in stop/start city driving only! If I am just crawling around London (which admittedly is pretty bad traffic-wise, and constantly getting worse...) in my 5.0 S/C, it's down to more like 8-10 mpg, maybe 12mpg if I can actually stay at 20-30mph for some reasonable lengths of time. To get any higher than that you really need some decent constant stretches on faster roads/motorways. My standard (pre-COVID) journey in the 5.0 S/C of London -> Poole (120 miles) generally consists of 1 hour fighting across central London and then 2 hours of motorways (at 70mph), and I'd generally be returning an average of 21-22mpg. If I'm only doing motorway work I can get a bit higher than than, and have seen 24-26mpg on occasion, especially if I limit myself to more like 60mph. On the 5.0 S/C I think the official "combined" figure is 19mpg and "city" figure 12mpg. I'm a gentle driver for the most part, and can generally beat the combined figure by a bit if London traffic isn't too bad, but have never beaten the city figure - these big supercharged V8's really don't like stop/start traffic.

You definitely don't buy an S/C Range Rover to enjoy it's fuel economy, but they are great vehicles and I'm still super happy with mine after 2.5 years!

Oh, I know what you mean, that grin...

Yup, it’s obviously not about fuel economy, just wanted to hear some real life figures, thanks for your reply!

My 06 model gives around 9mpg when driving round the village and town, most journeys are less than 5 miles of mixed driving, but I don't drive to save fuel, I love the performance so no complaints from me.

In my opinion the 06 is a hybrid car a BMW body with a Jag engine squeezed in, but that means simpler machine with the better engine, the 07 model gains terrain response, electronic rear diff, the horrible electronic parking brake(imho) etc. so possible increased costs if it goes wrong.

When I bought mine I was looking at buying a 4.4 but one drive in the SC and I was hooked, so yes go and buy one.

Perhaps I should mention Rust, check very carefully around the nearside/left rear wheel arch both leading and trailing edges, the rust is hidden behind the plastic trims so not easy to see. Range Rover 4.2 Supercharged 2006
Ford Focus EcoBoost 1.5 2017
MG TF 2003

Previous Cars of note
Land Rover Discovery 2
Jaguar Mk2 3.8 - Company car
MG Midget 1974 - Concours

My td6 was only ever getting 16 - 17mpg around town. Throughout ownership I aways regretted not opting for an SC instead.

Mine is a 4.2 with both pulleys changed on the s/c and I get 15 to 16 with a mix of driving- it always has been about that and I have done 130k in 6 years its on 196k miles now and still going strong

YES buy one its worth it for the grin it gives.
Toodling around town approx 10-12 mpg, on a run approx 16 mpg @ 50-70mph.
I always fill with Shell V Power (personal choice).

yeh 13 mpg

Anyone in double mpg figures around town just isn't trying hard enough.

C'mon people. get them grins on.  2006 4.2 SC

I'd say buy one, I have one and love it.

The only problems I have had with it have been the usual L322 problems or age/mileage related (holed air spring, failed reversing camera, failed GPS antenna, wheel bearing, suspension bush here and there etc etc), it's a 55 plate 2006 MY with about 169k miles on the clock so I do expect to replace or repair wearing parts.

As for fuel consumption, round town (normally a 9 mile commute each way with a 12mph average speed on a good day) I am getting about 12.5 actual mpg, I am sad enough to note miles and litres at each fill up so I don't rely on the computer, although in my case it's not far off at 12.9 mpg.

Mind you, if fuel consumption was my main worry I'd have bought a diesel Dacia sandero or something and it's more than made up for by the fact overtaking is effortless even when packed for a holiday and it will truly go pretty much anywhere I point it in forest, field, hill or heather.

Tyre cost (and available options) is another downside of the 20" wheels, I was just £800 for 4 Pirelli scorpions, but on wet tarmac it now goes round corners whereas the more offroad biased General ATRs I had before near enough ignored any kind of steering or braking request on damp or wet roads.

ETA: - the worst I've seen is about 8mpg, but I was hooning about some hill roads locally a lot at the time (the lecht area). 2006 MY FFRR 4.2 S/C autobiography (Auckland Blue - 901)
1996 Discovery 300Tdi S (death by rusting) (Silver)
1995 Volvo 850 T-5 est (now in Valhalla) (verdigris metallic)
1987 Volvo 240 GL est (now in Valhalla - not owned but driven lots)
1990 Kawasaki ZZR600 Blue
1979 Honda CB250 NA Superdream Red

It’s up to you, it sounds more like your issues with the TD6 are more to do with the specific one you have as it’s a badly maintained one rather than the car itself.
I’m hoping others don’t get the pitchforks out with what I’m about to say , but if I were going for that era of performance 4x4 I’d take a Cayenne Turbo over a 4.2 SC personally.
If your budget allows I’d go for the 4.4 TDV8.

Some more real life figures

My 07 4.2 SC gets 12-13 on the small runs around town, to the shops etc.

We went on a run to Chelmsford a little while ago and managed to get 25 - but we were very sensible!!

Is there any difference between 05 and 06 models (not 07, with revised dash & stuff). Also, 05 SC, what gearbox ZF 6 speed, not 5, correct? 5’s are only BMW 4.4? Thanks!

P.s.: yup, a year later I’m back to the same exact dilemma haha