I'm currently driving a s-type r and plan on making the leap to a supercharged xf. I really want a 2010 but there at least 5k more from what I really wanted to spend. And I keep seeing posts about blowing motors which is way to expensive in the 5.0. The 4.2 I kno is already a well built reliable engine. How reliable have these cars been? Mainly 2009s

 

My main issue has been with dirty injectors or so I'm told. When it happened to me I got a "restricted performance" light which clears after restart. Dealer did a injector clean which seemed to fix it for 6 months. It happen again recently. I run cleaner through it every month or two. It isn't a major issue because a restart usually clears the light and it drives fine. Restarting the car fixes a lot of phantom lights/issues. I haven't heard of too many others reporting the injector issue so it may not be common. My dealer says it's common.

Issues I have seen posted or dealt with:
-low battery voltage causes any number of sensor errors (main cause of random lights)
-gear selector issues getting out of park (fixed under recall)
-leaking water pump (5L mainly but I think there was one 4.2L person posting about it)
-squeaky door/sun roof (usually door/roof seal that needs lube)
-TPMS issues have been a pain for a few posters

I feel that the reliability is about average to slightly below. However, I love how it looks and the supercharged 4.2L is blast to drive. The supercharged version comes with almost every option. I get compliments on it all the time. I'd still buy it again if I had the chance. The money you save going with the 09 SC vs. the 5L SC is significant and in my opinion I don't think 50hp is worth the money.

 

Extremely good. The S Type was a joke compared to the XF.

Just trade up.

The 5.0 is an excellent engine. There have been very few engine problems with either V8.

 

Blackcoog- Are the dirty injectors the result of ethanol in USA gas? If so, problem plagues many cars. I have been primarily using no ethonal gas to hopefully avoid this problem, if that's what's causing the dirty injectors.

 

That is what I was told. Supposedly we have higher ethanol content in MN. My dealer told me that so I'm not sure if that's true. I guess I've never noticed the issue on my cars or any cars that my friends drive which is why I don't necessarily believe it. I build and flip cars all the time and I've never had a dirty injector issue.

 

I was following the Audi S5 forum for awhile and there were a few there that were told their fouled fuel injector's were due to ethanol and poor fuel in USA compared to Europe and it wasn't covered by warranty. Since I have access to supposed ethanol free premium I use it although it is somewhat out of the way to the particular station that carries it.

How many miles on your car?

 

I have 46k miles on it.

 

I purchased a CPO 2009 SC, which was one of the first cars off the assembly line in (gulp!) Nov 2007. The dealer replaced the dash cover and some miscellaneous trim bits as well as the key fob backs under warranty and that is it. I've had no TPMS, injector or battery problems (knock wood). I love this car. It is so much better than anything else I've owned (BMW, Jag, Alfa, American Crap, Japanese Crap).

 

Ethanol is a solvent so no it isn't a cause of injector contamination. Cheap gas might be. Modern cars don't suffer from injector fouling if you use mainstream gas.

 

Total BS from Audi as usual. DI engines have problems because the detergent laden fuel doesn't flow over the intake valves. Period. Interestingly, Toyota has a dual injection system which has port injectors as well as direct injectors which helps keep things clean.

 

I believe because ethanol is a solvent it can dislodge other contaminents that may be in your tank or elsewhere in the fuel system and they can collect on the fuel injectors. I believe it also aborbs water, which can contain contaiments. I am no fuel expert, however. I have read that the tier 1 fuels are supposed to be better, but if someone knows of a scientific, non-biased source on these issues, please post.

 

Maybe this will help from Rock Auto:

Gasoline direct injection (GDI) is becoming more common as new car manufacturers work to wring more power and better gas mileage out of smaller engines. Carbon and other deposits quickly collecting on intake valves and interfering with their operation has been a problem on some GDI engines. The problem was a surprise to me. Its causes are actually quite simple while the solutions vary and are complex.

Old style, port fuel injectors spray gasoline into the intake manifold runners at around 75 psi (500 kPa) or less. The gasoline and air are drawn into the combustion chamber when the intake valve opens. GDI injectors are mounted in the cylinder head much like a spark plug and they spray the gasoline directly into the combustion chamber. They must deliver the gasoline at extremely high pressure, typically around 3000 psi (21,000 kPa), to overcome high in-cylinder pressures and to deliver fuel vapor in a precise, short time period. For perspective, 3000 psi is the maximum pressure generated by a typical pressure washer or the pressure of the compressed air in a high-powered air rifle.



With port fuel injection, the gasoline and its detergents wash off the back side of the intake valve every time the gasoline enters the combustion chamber. GDI injectors send gasoline blasting into the combustion chamber at pressures that could easily take chewing gum off a sidewalk, but the gasoline often does not reach the back side of the intake valve. Carbon, oil and other residues can build up on the intake valve. The valve does not seat properly leading to problems with engine performance, emissions and durability.

Dirty intake valves are more of a problem on some GDI engines compared to others because engine and fuel system design is the primary factor. Using gasoline without enough added detergents and too many short trips around town are a couple of other suggested causes, but to me they just indicate the need for a better fuel system design. It does not matter how much detergent is in the gasoline if the gasoline never reaches the back of the intake valve. I personally like the idea of needing to frequently take cars for long drives at high speeds, but unfortunately, my spouse (and police officers) long ago stopped believing my “need to blow the gunk out” excuse.

Car manufacturers have different, sometimes almost contradictory, theories on how to prevent carbon buildup on intake valves in GDI engines. Some try to leave the intake valves open slightly longer to allow gasoline to reach and cleanse the back of the intake valve. Some think it is better to keep the gasoline off of the valve so soot does not build up on the valve face. Some car manufacturers are creating GDI / port fuel injection hybrids by adding a fuel injector back to the intake manifold to guarantee there is always a little gasoline keeping the intake valves clean. There is likely more than one good solution because there are many fuel system, cylinder head, valve train, fuel injector, etc. designs.

Time and miles tell which GDI engines have the fewest problems with dirty intake valves. A car manufacturer might declare success if an engine does not need the cylinder head removed and the intake valves scraped clean during the warranty period, but the car owner likely never wants to remove the cylinder head. Maintaining the crankcase ventilation system (PCV valve, etc.) and the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR valve, etc.) systems on GDI engines is more important than ever because they are another possible source of oily residue and carbon that could collect on intake valves. With spring approaching, even carbureted and port fuel injected cars might benefit from a tank full of fresh, detergent gasoline and a good intake-valve-cleansing, blow-the-gunk-out drive (while observing the posted speed limit of course)!

 

I have a 2012 Jag XF Supercharged, a little over 5k miles now.

And So far mine has no problems, I'm assuming the previous generations has been fixed on these models 2012+

Only issue I'm dealing with is not a big one, but when the car sits idle I feel a bit of weird vibration, the Service is telling me it's fine and normal but None of my other cars do this.

I'm guessing it's the engine mount issue, maybe worn out ? i dont know , service guy says it's fine and normal so they're not willing to touch anything till it's a noticeable rattling problem


I literally lol'd , I said something similar just the other day to my bmw buddies, "American crap and japanese crap" lol

 

Direct injection engines suffer from a little noise and shake. Nature of the beast, better mileage.

 

Thanks for the info. I've got a 2009 SC and am askin hoe you liked the TCP intake from performance motors.
Thanks again for your input.
Chris Nagle