A bulge has developed in the top of my so called leather dashboard adjacent to the center speaker opening (I have the B & W sound system), close to the windshield. The bulge has pulled the edge of the material away from the speaker grill so shows the foam underside to whatever covers the dashboard. It simply appeared one day with no warning. Shows about 1/8" of the foam over around 2" in length.

Anyone else have or seen this problem?

 

had it happen to my 09 was 400 miles out of warranty jaguar said they wont fix it now i hear it happens around 55000 miles

 

Mine has 37K miles and is 3 years old. I am not impressed! Still warranty should fix it.

 

I imagine it might happen more often on cars that sit outside with the sun beating down on the dash. Not much you can do other than bring it in. I hope it isn't a common issue.

 

Live in Dallas and my 2011 dash top was replaced late last year for a bulge. Car was in Florida before I got it last fall. Heat/Sun are probably the culprit. Don't know if the new was any better made or not. Car lives in a garage now, but it is still hot.

Walt

 

Thanks for your input, everyone. I am just surprised it suddenly happened. One day it was perfectly fine and then it popped up. It certainly is hot here, but I always use a windshield screen when the car is parked outside and she spends the night in the garage so I try and avoid direct sun on the dashboard. I will take her in to get it fixed, since I still have 1 year left on the warranty but it is disturbing. I have lived here for 9 years and this is the first car to have this problem. Not exactly reassuring for the future.

 

Anyone had a vinyl dashtop do this? I was sceptical about leather being suitable for our sun loading which helped me save money by choosing the Luxury (base) model.

Now every XF has the real leather dashtop.

 

I notice that a lot of people in the hot areas like Arizona have what look like bits of carpet over their dash. Without it you see plenty of peeling and discolored dashboards. Kind of ruins the look and would certainly make the Jag look awful, but I think it is a general problem with all dashboard materials. In Austin I have seen very few dashboard covers, but with our summers getting somewhat warmer, maybe it will change. UV tends to destroy all types of materials which is why I use a sunshield to protect the dashboard (as well as reducing internal temperatures) and which is also why I am puzzled by the bulge.

 

I'm fortunate to park under cover at work and home. Whenever I park uncovered, I usually vent the roof to keep the temps from building, unless I expect a bit of rain.

Sorry to hear about your dash. Just yesterday, I conditioned all my leather with Lexol (available at Walmart and other places). I first bought Lexol some years ago at at Tandy leather store, so I figure it must be the good stuff.

 

XK forum has similar issue under discussion.

 

Not much UV gets through auto glass. Generally speaking glass blocks most UV.

I find those goofy sun shields worth using during summer months. There is a thread showing where you can get a custom fit sun shield for the XF. US dealers have the same product. They are a bit of a nuisance to use on a regular basis but there is no denying they work.

 

Of course you are correct, my mistake. Glass does block UV so UV is not the culprit. Heat is the culprit here and I do have a custom fit sunshield that almost exactly fits the windshield. It looks as if the underside of the 'leather' is what has expanded and pushed the 'leather' finish up. The underside seems to be a foam that has expanded in the heat and made the unsightly bulge. You certainly cannot push it down, it just springs back up again. It is a shame in such a nice car.

 

Do you think it’s possible that the sun shade could have actually help contribute to the problem? Is it possible that the shade was covering the vast majority of the dash—but not the area where the bulge occurred—perhaps through a gap in the shade at the bottom? If so then maybe rather than the entire dash expanding and contracting as one piece—only this one section expanded thus separating itself from the rest of the material.

 

It is possible, of course. However the sunshield is a good fit and does shade that part of the dash pretty well.

However this all has become moot. I have sold my Jag after toying with the idea of keeping it. This latest problem has convinced me that the car will probably not be reliable in the medium to long term and so I gritted my teeth and sold her. I will miss the car, but these sort of minor issues are not what I expect from a car that cost the better part of $60K when new.

I wish everyone well with their cars. I am afraid I have gone back to BMW for the moment. You never know I may be back sometime.

 

Very common problem. I've replaced plenty of upper dash panels on these cars before. It takes about 2 hours in and out. Probably even less then that to do.

 

The bulge in our dash appeared shortly after we purchased the vehicle. At that point it was 2 years old and I believe it had spent time in Florida. The local Jag dealer replaced it at no charge (good news) but we later realized that in the process the center A/C vents did not function. By the time we became aware of the vent problem, that dealership closed and was sold to the local Land Rover dealership. Replacing the dash took 3 days and I think would have cost me $1,500 to $2,000 so I'm happy for the new dash. To fix the vents will be costly I am told by the new dealer. For the time being, I make sure to keep plenty of leather conditioner on the dash and have recently got the custom made sun shield mentioned above. (The dash is the dark mocha or tuffle color.)

 

damm im having the same problem. I have an aftermarket warranty i wonder if it will cover this problem. I'm assuming no

 

i have the same problem... kinda sucks with so many others with same problem and jaguar is doing nothing about it especially if your warrenty expired. i hope they have a recall on this and fix it for free

 

When I purchased my 2009 XF-SC CPO the dash had a bulge as well. I pointed it out when I took the car back for another warranty issue and the dealer replaced it under warranty. It did take a couple of weeks for the dash to come in though. If your car is still under warranty, it should be covered.

 

I just encountered the same problem with the dashboard. My 2010 XF has 58,000 miles on it. The dashboard was fine and last week, I entered the car and noticed that the dash had bubbled up near the window by the front speaker. The temps were very cold for a few days in Illinois (-13) saw its just not a heat related issue. I also saw this on a 2009 Jaguar that was for sale in the Jaguar Dealership lot. This seems to be a common problem for Jaguar that they are aware of. I am in the process of going back and forth with the dealership and Jaguar as the Pre-Certified warranty is still in effect but the original manufacturer warranty expired three months ago or 8,000 miles ago. I am really surprised that Jaguar did not address this issue.