XF mk1 what's peoples thoughts?
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm thinking of a XF and was wondering what's peoples thoughts on them? Run for the hills and don't look back or are they worth delving into? I tend to do a few long journeys a month so is it worth a diesel or sticking to petrol and are they likely to fall apart as soon as I look at it or are they generally reliable?
Thanks for any thoughts
Gary
I'm thinking of a XF and was wondering what's peoples thoughts on them? Run for the hills and don't look back or are they worth delving into? I tend to do a few long journeys a month so is it worth a diesel or sticking to petrol and are they likely to fall apart as soon as I look at it or are they generally reliable?
Thanks for any thoughts
Gary
My partner has a 2010 tdv6 3.0l Portfolio Luxury. It's a very nice car to sit in, it goes well at any speed, has a serious turn of pace when you want it (the ZF6 speed comes with the same Dynamic mode button as the faster cars which is a nice thing). It's decent on fuel, and just wafts along effortlessly on long drives. Its a little modern inside (big slabs of aluminium on the dash) but overall I think it's still an elegant cabin, just not quite as opulent as the XJ. Maintenance seems to be the key. Almost all electric niggles seem to come from a weak battery (they very sensitive to voltage drop it seems) and the cars that haven't had corners cut on the big ticket items (serpentine belt at 10 years or 100k miles, gearbox fluid and filter every 50k) are well worth seeking out.
Frankly, there's very little reason not to at the very least test drive one, they really are lovely.
Frankly, there's very little reason not to at the very least test drive one, they really are lovely.
I ran a 2009 XF diesel S until last year and replaced it with a GR Yaris.
The Jag was a great family car for years. Sadly ULEZ, and a cracked rear turbo pipe are what sealed its fate.
The transmission was starting to slip so a rebuild would have to be factored in.
Gave us 236.000 miles of happy family motoring
The Jag was a great family car for years. Sadly ULEZ, and a cracked rear turbo pipe are what sealed its fate.
The transmission was starting to slip so a rebuild would have to be factored in.
Gave us 236.000 miles of happy family motoring
I'm running an E46 M3 at the moment, I've had it 17yrs. It's a great car but the state of the suburban roads round me means that the suspension absolutely crashes and bangs over potholes and, with my Dad just moving into a care home and my mum living home alone 100 miles away I am faced with the choice of potentially trading the M3 for something more economical for longer distances, and something that doesn't rattle my fillings out when I nip to Tesco. I also want a bit of oomph, and need to be able to tow a small caravan occasionally, which I cannot do with the M3 (can't fit a tow bar)
Passing by an indie dealer local to my Dad's care home the other day when I had an hour to kill I noticed four different XF 3.0D models on the forecourt, a car that I had never given much thought to before. I must admit I am taken by the looks and the cabin looks a lovely place to be. Could this be the car for me?
However I'm hugely wary about buying a used 10yo diesel. Do these throw up big bills for DMF/DPF/Catalytic Converters/Injectors etc? I've got a well known Jag specialist local to me but I don't want to be funding his retirement if one of these throws some big bills.
My BMW has been uber reliable in my tenure save a few broken rear coil springs, but that's more attributable to the dire state of UK roads than the car itself.
Passing by an indie dealer local to my Dad's care home the other day when I had an hour to kill I noticed four different XF 3.0D models on the forecourt, a car that I had never given much thought to before. I must admit I am taken by the looks and the cabin looks a lovely place to be. Could this be the car for me?
However I'm hugely wary about buying a used 10yo diesel. Do these throw up big bills for DMF/DPF/Catalytic Converters/Injectors etc? I've got a well known Jag specialist local to me but I don't want to be funding his retirement if one of these throws some big bills.
My BMW has been uber reliable in my tenure save a few broken rear coil springs, but that's more attributable to the dire state of UK roads than the car itself.
PurpleTurtle said:
I'm running an E46 M3 at the moment, I've had it 17yrs. It's a great car but the state of the suburban roads round me means that the suspension absolutely crashes and bangs over potholes and, with my Dad just moving into a care home and my mum living home alone 100 miles away I am faced with the choice of potentially trading the M3 for something more economical for longer distances, and something that doesn't rattle my fillings out when I nip to Tesco. I also want a bit of oomph, and need to be able to tow a small caravan occasionally, which I cannot do with the M3 (can't fit a tow bar)
Passing by an indie dealer local to my Dad's care home the other day when I had an hour to kill I noticed four different XF 3.0D models on the forecourt, a car that I had never given much thought to before. I must admit I am taken by the looks and the cabin looks a lovely place to be. Could this be the car for me?
However I'm hugely wary about buying a used 10yo diesel. Do these throw up big bills for DMF/DPF/Catalytic Converters/Injectors etc? I've got a well known Jag specialist local to me but I don't want to be funding his retirement if one of these throws some big bills.
My BMW has been uber reliable in my tenure save a few broken rear coil springs, but that's more attributable to the dire state of UK roads than the car itself.
Maintenance is king. Also appropriate usage and not cutting corners. The dpf is fine if you're using the engine for what it was designed for rather than only short trips to Tesco and back. Low quality oil randomly replaced every 20k miles or whenever rather than putting the correct spec at the correct intervals keeps the EGR sweet, and then it's just a matter of keeping the battery in good shape (a good 75% of faults are directly down to a weak battery causing erroneous fault codes) and spending on the odd thing now and again. They're no Honda, but they're very far away from being an Alfa Romeo. Passing by an indie dealer local to my Dad's care home the other day when I had an hour to kill I noticed four different XF 3.0D models on the forecourt, a car that I had never given much thought to before. I must admit I am taken by the looks and the cabin looks a lovely place to be. Could this be the car for me?
However I'm hugely wary about buying a used 10yo diesel. Do these throw up big bills for DMF/DPF/Catalytic Converters/Injectors etc? I've got a well known Jag specialist local to me but I don't want to be funding his retirement if one of these throws some big bills.
My BMW has been uber reliable in my tenure save a few broken rear coil springs, but that's more attributable to the dire state of UK roads than the car itself.
Oh and the 3.0 doesn't have a DMF, that's the manual cars. I doubt it'll actually cost you anything different to your BMW.
Get a fly lead and a CTEK trickle charger if you are not using the car everyday, as a momentarily weak battery will have you lit up like a christmas tree and frightens you that it could be expensive, had this before changing the original 12 year old AGM battery. There is a BMS (battery management system) which can cause issues (like locking door issues) if you don't have a code reader to reset - I changed my battery myself and kept everything live with an extra battery and jump leads. The new battery must be fully charged up before attaching to ensure it charges up to that level everytime, don't just throw the new battery in, as it loses a bit of charge in storage.
if you forgo the trickle charger I'd recommend that you turn off the special rotating air vents as this eats the battery just at the point of starting the car, its a fancy party piece I'm happy to forgo, as I think the blank expanse of plastic now looks very dated when closed. I'd also recommend stopping the mirrors from folding (setting for this in the menu is hard to find as it looks hidden, if my memory serves me) as they can freeze and break in the winter and they also use the battery just before you start the car. I have a volt meter on the USB charger I have and on 1st putting the ignition if it is at 11.9v rather than 12.5v it probably needs the battery charged to avoid codes and orange engine management lights. With my changes above I rarely have to look at this these days but something to be aware of if there are issues with an early XF.
I've the 4.2l Supercharged SV8 petrol XF on 20" tyres and the ride comfort is something else, never had a more comfortable car on our potholed roads than this, I've had the XF 3.0l petrol as a courtesy car which didn't ride as well, so not sure that has the CATS suspension. the ZF6 autobox is actually quite good and the flappy paddles will allow you to rev the car out and not change gear until you do it, good if you want a bit of engine braking for a corner. A 320 mile journey in one go to Scotland and regular 160 mile journeys to the other side of London with use of the very easy to use cruise control leave you surprisingly refreshed compared to other cars.
As these are getting on now I'd be looking to have a good Jaguar Specialist to keep your running costs low, with real evidence of lots of maintenance, my short cut for this is premium tyres, Continental, Michelin (brucey bonus for these) Pirelli, Goodyears etc, as you have to go out of your way to ensure these are fitted rather than end up with cheaper tyres, my thinking is, if you go out of your way for tyres you normally do the same for the maintenance. Oil changes for the diesels are vital, walk away if these have been missed especially if the car was only ever used for short journeys, your likely use of long journeys should be the best for longevity. Drive a diesel like you've stolen it and you have far less problems, although that might be difficult with the power of the 3.0l diesel.
The forums, especially facebook ones, will be full of the negatives as you never hear much about cars that give no trouble as no one wants to tempt fate, I'm up to 184,000 miles on mine, with 28,000 in my almost 3 years of ownership, so they can hit some large mileages.
If you get the option for a Bowers & Wilkins audio system go for it, the sound is sublime, 14 speakers with the subwoofer in the boot the size of a small fuel tank, the clarity and the bass of live albums transports you to the front of stage. So much better than any home or car setup I've ever had.
The other good thing is XFs are relatively cheap, you get a lot for your money.
if you forgo the trickle charger I'd recommend that you turn off the special rotating air vents as this eats the battery just at the point of starting the car, its a fancy party piece I'm happy to forgo, as I think the blank expanse of plastic now looks very dated when closed. I'd also recommend stopping the mirrors from folding (setting for this in the menu is hard to find as it looks hidden, if my memory serves me) as they can freeze and break in the winter and they also use the battery just before you start the car. I have a volt meter on the USB charger I have and on 1st putting the ignition if it is at 11.9v rather than 12.5v it probably needs the battery charged to avoid codes and orange engine management lights. With my changes above I rarely have to look at this these days but something to be aware of if there are issues with an early XF.
I've the 4.2l Supercharged SV8 petrol XF on 20" tyres and the ride comfort is something else, never had a more comfortable car on our potholed roads than this, I've had the XF 3.0l petrol as a courtesy car which didn't ride as well, so not sure that has the CATS suspension. the ZF6 autobox is actually quite good and the flappy paddles will allow you to rev the car out and not change gear until you do it, good if you want a bit of engine braking for a corner. A 320 mile journey in one go to Scotland and regular 160 mile journeys to the other side of London with use of the very easy to use cruise control leave you surprisingly refreshed compared to other cars.
As these are getting on now I'd be looking to have a good Jaguar Specialist to keep your running costs low, with real evidence of lots of maintenance, my short cut for this is premium tyres, Continental, Michelin (brucey bonus for these) Pirelli, Goodyears etc, as you have to go out of your way to ensure these are fitted rather than end up with cheaper tyres, my thinking is, if you go out of your way for tyres you normally do the same for the maintenance. Oil changes for the diesels are vital, walk away if these have been missed especially if the car was only ever used for short journeys, your likely use of long journeys should be the best for longevity. Drive a diesel like you've stolen it and you have far less problems, although that might be difficult with the power of the 3.0l diesel.
The forums, especially facebook ones, will be full of the negatives as you never hear much about cars that give no trouble as no one wants to tempt fate, I'm up to 184,000 miles on mine, with 28,000 in my almost 3 years of ownership, so they can hit some large mileages.
If you get the option for a Bowers & Wilkins audio system go for it, the sound is sublime, 14 speakers with the subwoofer in the boot the size of a small fuel tank, the clarity and the bass of live albums transports you to the front of stage. So much better than any home or car setup I've ever had.
The other good thing is XFs are relatively cheap, you get a lot for your money.
thepeoplespal said:
Get a fly lead and a CTEK trickle charger if you are not using the car everyday, as a momentarily weak battery will have you lit up like a christmas tree and frightens you that it could be expensive, had this before changing the original 12 year old AGM battery. There is a BMS (battery management system) which can cause issues (like locking door issues) if you don't have a code reader to reset - I changed my battery myself and kept everything live with an extra battery and jump leads. The new battery must be fully charged up before attaching to ensure it charges up to that level everytime, don't just throw the new battery in, as it loses a bit of charge in storage.
if you forgo the trickle charger I'd recommend that you turn off the special rotating air vents as this eats the battery just at the point of starting the car, its a fancy party piece I'm happy to forgo, as I think the blank expanse of plastic now looks very dated when closed. I'd also recommend stopping the mirrors from folding (setting for this in the menu is hard to find as it looks hidden, if my memory serves me) as they can freeze and break in the winter and they also use the battery just before you start the car. I have a volt meter on the USB charger I have and on 1st putting the ignition if it is at 11.9v rather than 12.5v it probably needs the battery charged to avoid codes and orange engine management lights. With my changes above I rarely have to look at this these days but something to be aware of if there are issues with an early XF.
Herein lies the problem for me: sometimes I only use my car once a week as I mostly work from home. I then might do a 200-250 mile round trip to visit my folks. I have on-street parking so keep my M3 battery topped up with a solar charger on the rear parcel shelf, which seems to work, but being a 2005 car it doesn't have a huge amount of tech draining the battery. It does sound like a lot of XF issues can be avoided if you are using the thing far more regularly than I likely would. if you forgo the trickle charger I'd recommend that you turn off the special rotating air vents as this eats the battery just at the point of starting the car, its a fancy party piece I'm happy to forgo, as I think the blank expanse of plastic now looks very dated when closed. I'd also recommend stopping the mirrors from folding (setting for this in the menu is hard to find as it looks hidden, if my memory serves me) as they can freeze and break in the winter and they also use the battery just before you start the car. I have a volt meter on the USB charger I have and on 1st putting the ignition if it is at 11.9v rather than 12.5v it probably needs the battery charged to avoid codes and orange engine management lights. With my changes above I rarely have to look at this these days but something to be aware of if there are issues with an early XF.
That swirly air vents thing looks very James Bond and I'm sure it seemed a good idea at the time but, like keyless go, I've never in my 35+ yrs of driving jumped into a car and wished I had it. More trouble than it is worth IMHO.
PurpleTurtle said:
Herein lies the problem for me: sometimes I only use my car once a week as I mostly work from home. I then might do a 200-250 mile round trip to visit my folks. I have on-street parking so keep my M3 battery topped up with a solar charger on the rear parcel shelf, which seems to work, but being a 2005 car it doesn't have a huge amount of tech draining the battery. It does sound like a lot of XF issues can be avoided if you are using the thing far more regularly than I likely would.
That swirly air vents thing looks very James Bond and I'm sure it seemed a good idea at the time but, like keyless go, I've never in my 35+ yrs of driving jumped into a car and wished I had it. More trouble than it is worth IMHO.
Your use case is almost identical to that of my partners. She has a solar panel too (4.8v one from the AA). If you double lock the XF it puts all the modules like Bluetooth etc (which can stay active if you single lock it) to sleep. That swirly air vents thing looks very James Bond and I'm sure it seemed a good idea at the time but, like keyless go, I've never in my 35+ yrs of driving jumped into a car and wished I had it. More trouble than it is worth IMHO.
Definitely test drive one. The first time I drove mine it had an engine management light on, the boot wouldn't open and the salesmen was a helmet. I've advised and assisted people to buy cars over the years and I'm no stranger to spotting a wrong 'un. My car was definitely one to avoid!
I still bought it. I've driven lots of stuff over the years and the Jag just got under my skin straight away and "fitted" me perfectly. The warranty/dealer got everything that was wrong with it fixed and now it's just a lovely thing to have and to look forward to driving. It ticked round 100k yesterday and nothing rattles, it never feels flustered or challenged however you drive it and because I am a child I still think the vents and gear selector are cool. I also like the 20 inch wheels even though everyone says they ruin the ride and mine is black so to me looks sleeker than the lighter colours.
Mine gets used every day for work and at the weekends for trips out etc like any other car because that's what it is. It has a few fancy bits you don't get on a Focus but ultimately there's nothing magical about XF's that make them any more daunting or unreliable than any other reasonably modern car. There's an awful lot of panic about the 3.0d engine exploding on the internet but every single car I've ever owned has had a reputation for exploding dramatically or bursting into a ball of fire according to the internet.
I still bought it. I've driven lots of stuff over the years and the Jag just got under my skin straight away and "fitted" me perfectly. The warranty/dealer got everything that was wrong with it fixed and now it's just a lovely thing to have and to look forward to driving. It ticked round 100k yesterday and nothing rattles, it never feels flustered or challenged however you drive it and because I am a child I still think the vents and gear selector are cool. I also like the 20 inch wheels even though everyone says they ruin the ride and mine is black so to me looks sleeker than the lighter colours.
Mine gets used every day for work and at the weekends for trips out etc like any other car because that's what it is. It has a few fancy bits you don't get on a Focus but ultimately there's nothing magical about XF's that make them any more daunting or unreliable than any other reasonably modern car. There's an awful lot of panic about the 3.0d engine exploding on the internet but every single car I've ever owned has had a reputation for exploding dramatically or bursting into a ball of fire according to the internet.
Coming on for 7 years of ownership of mine. The only issue I have had in that time that has stopped the car running properly was a seized turbo balancer valve actuator which rusted-up during one of the covid lockdowns. Turns out it was a common issue that Jaguar had already designed a (rustproof) replacement for and should have been replaced under warranty, except that my car has spent the first 6 years of it's life going almost no-where (I got it with 7k miles on it) as the first owner was a retired bloke who died and his wife was reluctant to sell it.
They eat through rear brakes (the pads are underspec'd for such a big car) but decent branded replacement pads are ultra cheap as they are shared with Citroen C5/Cadillac BTS/early Audi A8.
Rear subframes can get very ratty looking although they have to get really rusty before they start to lose strength.
PS. Whatever you do do not join any of the XF facebook groups. Loads of people buying high-mileage cars thinking they can run them on shoestrings and then bemoaning the cost of wear-and-tear items.
They eat through rear brakes (the pads are underspec'd for such a big car) but decent branded replacement pads are ultra cheap as they are shared with Citroen C5/Cadillac BTS/early Audi A8.
Rear subframes can get very ratty looking although they have to get really rusty before they start to lose strength.
PS. Whatever you do do not join any of the XF facebook groups. Loads of people buying high-mileage cars thinking they can run them on shoestrings and then bemoaning the cost of wear-and-tear items.
I've had my X250 Facelift for 3 years, bought from a JLR Dealer in lockdown as I've always wanted one. 2012 XF S Portfolio, in ultimate black, black leather, 1200w B&W audio sounds amazing, heated and cooled seats with adjustable side bolsters are so comfy, it's been superb, had the exhaust crossover pipe replaced under warranty about a year ago, and the Intercooler replaced a year before that, both common issues.
Been faultless other than that, 8 Speed autobox is superb, will do nearly 50 mpg on a run, and it can certainly go when you need it to.
Mines always on trickle charge if it's parked up for more than a weekend, has a proper Jaguar kit with quick release connector, never had any battery related issues.
Adaptive dampers mean it's very comfy most of the time, or in Dynamic mode it stiffens up and really can carry speed down a b road.
Tyre wise I've kept up with the OE J Rated Dunlop SportMaxx which seem good in both rain and dry.
Not the snow though, didn't even try!
Sadly it's going as I've got a company car and my wife isn't getting on with using it, we sold her V60 as we didn't have room when my other car came, and I wasn't getting rid of it that easily!
If you want a good one, it would probably suit your needs by the sound of it, only just got to 78k as well.
Been faultless other than that, 8 Speed autobox is superb, will do nearly 50 mpg on a run, and it can certainly go when you need it to.
Mines always on trickle charge if it's parked up for more than a weekend, has a proper Jaguar kit with quick release connector, never had any battery related issues.
Adaptive dampers mean it's very comfy most of the time, or in Dynamic mode it stiffens up and really can carry speed down a b road.
Tyre wise I've kept up with the OE J Rated Dunlop SportMaxx which seem good in both rain and dry.
Not the snow though, didn't even try!
Sadly it's going as I've got a company car and my wife isn't getting on with using it, we sold her V60 as we didn't have room when my other car came, and I wasn't getting rid of it that easily!
If you want a good one, it would probably suit your needs by the sound of it, only just got to 78k as well.
Edited by cento16v on Friday 12th May 22:21
I have recently bought a 3.0d S with portfolio (2015) and having had years of Audis it’s a bit of a relegation.
300hp/600nm , XF box is good. Seats are the best since I owned a Saab. Audio is very very good and it is very quiet inside.
Even on 20” inch wheels and rubbish Yorkshire roads the rise is better than the former Audi on 17s.
I was skeptical but it is really growing on me. The only issue is I keep running out of road as it is so relatively quiet the soundtrack doesn’t match the speed you are doing.
I bought mine from a Jaguar dealer who have been pretty good.
Seek a portfolio if you can.
300hp/600nm , XF box is good. Seats are the best since I owned a Saab. Audio is very very good and it is very quiet inside.
Even on 20” inch wheels and rubbish Yorkshire roads the rise is better than the former Audi on 17s.
I was skeptical but it is really growing on me. The only issue is I keep running out of road as it is so relatively quiet the soundtrack doesn’t match the speed you are doing.
I bought mine from a Jaguar dealer who have been pretty good.
Seek a portfolio if you can.
gary2010 said:
They are definitely sounding more and more tempting I have to admit, I do like a good sound system in a car, whats the 8 speed box like reliability wise? Black definitely suits them I reckon, thank you all for giving me your thoughts it's been very helpful.
Italian red also suits it.Gassing Station | Jaguar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff