I've been under the impression that the car locks automatically after a few seconds when you walk away. I've seen the lights blink on the car when I've walked away (without using the fob or pressing the buttons on the door) and I assumed the doors were auto-locking. With that being said, I don't start my car for as much as 2 weeks at time, while leaving my ipod connected, and it has always started up.

 

I think you can set them to auto lock or not.

Two weeks or more of sitting idle without a dead battery is what I would expect.

 

It's kind of been said already, but I think the issue here may not be the car itself as much as the keyless entry looking and possibly finding your key fob within range and keeping the car in a ready state. To avoid this you can either:

1. Keep the key fob well out of range of your car
2. Lock the car so that even if you are in range, it only activates the ability to unlock the car instead of the different aux. functions.

A good test to see if your fob is in range is to lock your car, put your keys away, and then try to unlock by pulling the driver's handle.

 

Thanks.

As to #1, the range is 39 inches from the nearest door handle and I keep the keys about 60 feet away.

As to #2, I asked the service advisor about this and he said locking or unlocking doesn't impact any functions. What's your source for this information about the aux functions with doors unlocked? Does it say this in the owners' manual?

 

I believe the lights blinking when you walk away without key fob or door handle locking is the car is set to auto alarm. Check your manual, as the car alarm can be active, but the doors unlocked. I have had family members open the door handle and set off the alarm. This feature is controlled through your vehicle settings.

 

The first XF I test drove this summer (09) had a dead battery sitting on the showroom floor. The dealer told me that it happens if the car is not locked and the keys are close enough to unlock/lock the doors if a button is pushed. That is a good distance because I can unlock my 10 XF from at least 100 feet away.

I also have an IPod nano always plugged in and powered on. I have not had a dead battery issue myself but as I said earlier, I always lock my car.

That said, I daily drive my car so it never sits more than a day or two without driving.

The simple fact is that locking the car is simple and does not take anything special to do every time you get out. If it keeps me from having to jump my car, I will do it everytime.

And as far as breaking and entering and thinking that if you leave your doors unlocked they won't break anything. That's crazy. That is also why you have insurance. If you can prove b&e, then claims are a snap. And some insurance companies won't pay if you do not at least attempt to secure your belongings.

 

And yes, as already mentioned, the auto locking is called Passive locking and is under the vehicle settings under security. I do not use it because when I fill the car up at a station and walk inside to get a soda, my wife/kids always set the alarm off opening the door while I am away (key fob is in my pocket).

The last time this happened I was doing that exact same thing around midnight and my wife set the alarm off. Scared her and woke a baby up in the car next to us.

Made me feel like crap.

 

Crooks that can bother to break into a garage will probably bither to break into the car too. At least that is what a couple of my neighbours csn testufy to.

 

I can tell you that my cigar lighter outlet and radar stay on until I lock my doors. Soon as I lock my doors both shut off. Kinda like the GM RAP units.
I havent sat in the car to see how long they stay on for but it is several minutes at least.

 

Yes, it seems that the aux. power stays on, the Nav. DVD drive in the trunk, the "heartbeat" lighting, etc. and I'm betting that if you press the START/STOP button without holding the brake you'll get Ignition mode turned on. The car should say "Smart Key not found" but still gives you limited access.

I'll double-check the manual as well, but I seem to remember something similar to this.

The way I see it, it's kind of like when you put your cell phone/tablet/laptop into "Standby" mode, and it uses a low amount of power as a trade-off for a faster startup. Locking it up pretty much "turns it off". Never say never though, your battery might be going out.

 

I just tested it . 8 minutes and it all goes to sleep.. Maybe you need that SW update that fixes battery drain? I had it done on both my Xf and XFR and it fixed my issues

 

The software update was done about 11 months ago and I had no problems until last August. I do keep a set of keys within 60-70 feet of the car at all times (not close enough to lock/unlock remotely), and I never lock the car, even when we go away on vacation. I typically drive the car 3 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the evening, Monday to Friday, so there isn't much charging going on. Plus, this time of year, the headlights are on both ways, and often the seat heater in the evening.

But, my wife's driving pattern is near identical on her Mercedes and has never needed a jump start, although the Mercedes dealer was nice enough to replace the battery under warranty a week before the warranty was up (they said the battery died from the door being open when they worked on the sunroof shade). A sharp contrast to the lame service I'm getting from my Jaguar dealer and Jaguar-Land Rover.

 

Earlier this week after turning off my car in the garage and not locking it I noticed the jaguar screen saver was still on about ten minutes later. I started the car once again, then shut it down, problem solved.

Just got home from a work trip and my car was dead at the airport. Maybe I need this software update. What should I be asking for specifically?

 

Yes you may. The electrics stay alive in case you want to listen to th radio or continue using Bluetooth after switch off. I forget for how long but there have been reports of a software glitch in the ICE system which flattens the battery if not reflashed.

 

I think the point was lock the garage but not the car in it. If they break into the garage, they are going to break into the car as well. The b&e from getting into the garage will most certainly cover the car as far as insurance is concerned.

While the claim is a snap, you've also got to deal with a car that's out of commission and in most cases pay your deductible. I'm going through a claim right now from a break in where someone threw a concrete block through the rear driver's side window and crawled in. $12000 worth of damage, to include some that won't be repaired (1/4" scratch on my door that won't buff out, but it's not worth the appearance issues to have the door repainted to fix that...). And it is about a 2 month wait for parts, as Jaguar doesn't have spare XFR seat coverings sitting around. Fortunately I have a great insurance company and they waived my $1000 deductible...

Bottom line having the glass broken is going to be bad mojo even with good insurance. I agree that the car should not be locked in the garage but should be in public spaces.

Cheers,

- Will

 

Tell them what your symptoms are -- battery goes dead if the car is left idle for a couple of days. My invoice for the software update says they did JTB00213 (I surmise JTB stands for Jaguar Technical Bulletin). They also tested the battery and charging system at that time.

The screen saver will stay on for around 15 minutes if the doors are not locked. They told me this was normal. Mention this as well when you take the car in.

 

Probably jinx myself by chiming in, but here goes... I've driven an XF (an '09, then a '12) for 4 1/2 years. It is parked in the garage, unlocked, with the fob on a hook about 15' away. It usually sits for several days, up to two weeks, between drives. When I drove it yesterday, it had been there 8 days. It has always fired up vigorously. The few times I saw the "low battery, start soon" display on the '09 were after I had used the NAV system for awhile with the engine off. (the '12 shuts off the electronics after 10 minutes without the engine running).

I never tried it in the '09, but the '12 electronics turn on without the key (for 10 minutes), days after the car is turned off. I frequently add info to the NAV before a trip, which could be a week after it was last driven.

Like I said, there goes the jinx.

 

When you do drive it, typically how many miles do you drive? I think this car needs to be driven over 7 miles at a time to give it a full charge. My usual 3-4 mile drives charge it a little, but not fully. For the last 3 years, with a new battery, that was enough. But now that the battery is 3 years old, I think it's just not strong enough for my usage.

 

Thanks for the specifics Long Islander, I'll be sure to mention that letter and number designation when I'm at the dealer. New leather dash and electronics reflash coming up!

 

Not sure if this adds any input , but I leave my key fob in my car all summer and it sits for days at a time and never went dead. I mention this cause if the key is left inside the car it wont lock and the antennas keep seeing the key still on the inside. If this kept it from sleeping at all I would have had a dead battery at one point through out the summer.

Might I add that ther could be a few of us who may have a dead cell in the battery which will show a good charge when tested but under load it will fail sometimes to start the car? I have seen this plague many people before in the past with BMW and AMG/MB cars as well.