I'm looking at buying my first Jaguar. It's not going to be a daily driver just my toy. The 09 xf caught my eye. Is there anything I need to look for when buying.

 

An '09 could be a fine car! But what engine does it have, supercharged or regular V8?

The biggest issue I've heard of with that model is with the rear differential. I suggest you search through this list looking for information about them. I remember it being a serious problem that could render the car worthless (i.e., there is no fix and no replacement parts are available.

Can anyone else on the list provide further info about that?
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My karma just ran over your dogma
Current Hers: '13 Lexus ES350
Current Mine: '15 Jaguar XF (its aubergine)

 

From what I understand , Jaguar did a recall across the board for the 4.2 NA and SC for the differential issue. Even brand new vehicles waiting to be sold had their differentials replaced due to a contaminant introduced during the manufacturing process.

Before I bought mine, I found a thread here somewhere which explains the problem with a link to the recall notice which includes the list of VIN numbers affected in the US.

 

Thanks for the info I will look into it. The one I found has the 4.2 in it Im also looking at a 2010 with the 5.0 nether has the super charger.

 

The 5.0L NA engine is one of the most satisfying ever made. Go with that one.

 

+1
Of the cars I've owned, the 5.0L V8 is easily the best engine. Even the venerable 4.2 L I-6 from the XJ and E-Type doesn't quite match it and I loved that engine. I had the 4.0L in an XK8 and it pales against the 5.0L.

 

Welcome. I suggest that you don't just buy the first one that comes up. Go through the brochures for each year model you are considering and figure out what features are "must haves", "nice to have", etc. because there were lots of options. For me, not having lumbar support in the seats was a dealbreaker and so I had to pay a little more for the Portfolio edition, search longer and skip over some very nice, low mileage base models in the colors I wanted. I zeroed in on the 2012 because it was the first year of the "facelift", i.e. the more modern headlights, but also the last year you could get the 385hp naturally aspirated V8.

Auto-Brochures.com Car & Truck PDF Sales Brochure/Catalog/Flyer/Info

Besides differentials, do some reading up here on this forum about water pumps, plastic cooling system components, leather dash pads and the air bag recall. All could be issues but going into it with advance knowledge you can negotiate a better price and not feel bad about it when you have to fix them. Also, with any Jaguar, we always recommend you confirm the maintenance records as Jaguars are sensitive to neglect. Another mention, since its not going to be your daily driver, you might want to read up on and purchase a CTEK battery maintainer to prevent random check engine lights. These cars are kind of like Microsoft Windows, throwing random, meaningless error messages at you when the battery voltage drops too low. If its going to sit in the garage for more than a week at a time without being driven (recharged), you'll get two or three more years out of a new battery if you keep it plugged in.

 

>Of the cars I've owned, the 5.0L V8 is easily the best engine
Sure, but as a former S-Type owner I can attest that the 4.2 NA engine was very, very, nice, and perhaps more reliable than the 5.0 since they seemed to have waterpump problems of some sort or other.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar
Current: '15 XF (X250) Portfolio AWD 3.0 (it's aubergine...)
Past B: '08 S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past A: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

Doesn't look like you have owned a 5.0L V8 Jag, so ignorance must be bliss in your case. A 250HP 4.2 is nothing close to a 385HP 5.0.

 

>A 250HP 4.2 is nothing close to a 385HP 5.0.
Tru dat!
But just wondering how common/frequent the water pump problem is with the 5.0.
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You dreamed of a big star -
He played a mean guitar -
He loved to drive his Jaguar...

So welcome to the machine

 

I understand that the 5.0 SC is the most powerful XF engine but many people overlook the 400+ HP 4.2 SC and the vehicle that it was available in for only one year which makes them a rarity compared to most XFs. Performance wise they are the slight ahead of the 5.0 NA and the vehicle itself was the top of the range in 2009 which equates to many included options compared to others in the same and later years. Like all XFs they have their good and bad features but I wouldn't swap mine for a 5.0 NA.

Just my biased thoughts on the subject.

 

Common enough that I just treat it as a 50K miles maintenance item. It's just a water pump, not that big of a deal to replace and not that expensive of a part. Toyota's V6 is the same way, along with other cars. Just proactively replace the parts on cars that are known to be weak links (all cars have weak parts) and motor on.

 

Rarity of a slightly better engine in a car like a Jag XF is nothing to be proud of. These are not collector or sports cars, they are daily drivers that depreciate like a rock.

 

I agree, they are daily drives and mine has already experienced it's rock like depreciation. That's what made it affordable for me and many others here I suspect.

It must be nice to be in such a wealthy position to be able afford to buy the range of vehicles that you have and then boast about it with every post that you make but many here are not as fortunate as you appear to be.

This however does not give you the right to cast judgement and tell others here that their vehicles are "nothing to be proud of". I will always be proud of my Jaguar, daily depreciated drive or not.

Not sure what I did to deserve your comments?