Well...have put around 750 miles on my new (to me) '13 XF, and a few impressions:

1. What a classy ride. The color combo of the Carnellian Red and Ivory/Oyster interior with the Portfolio trim is just stunning. It's gotten (unsolicited, in parking lots) comments like "wow, that's nice" and "beautiful car" from folks.

2. What a quiet (as opposed to my departed Jetta Turbodiesel) cruiser. Even though it's a 2.0 4-banger, it's just a nice place to be on the interstate, and when you open up the tap, it gives a nice subdued noise as you wind through the cogs.

3. Once you get all the options set the way you want them, it's really not that complicated a car to work with on the road. You do have to read the manual, try all the options to see what works best for your style of driving, but, once it's set, it does what you ask it to do.

4. Fuel mileage, combined for me in town and highway is averaging 28-29 mpg (US). My highway speeds are in the 60-70 MPH range (it's crowded in the northern Philly suburbs especially along the PA Tpk at rush hour), so, while not as thrifty as the veedub, it's not heartbreakingly bad. Noticable, but not 'OMG, why did I go back to a petrol car?' thoughts.

5. Interior? What can I say. It's just a classy place to be.

6. Handling...the car only has 16K on the clock, so it's still relatively tight and nimble. Long sweepers off the interstate are no problem to glide through, finding the apex and clipping it properly seem to be effortless...around town, once you figure out where the corners of the car are, it's a cinch to maneuver properly.

7. Did I say it was quiet? Yeah.

Niggles:

1. Dealer, as part of the 'prep' for putting it on the lot, repainted the lower part of the front bumper to fix (I guess, since the VIN sticker is still on the cover and all the attach bolts don't look like they've been moved) stone chips and feathered in the respray quite nicely...but also painted over the front sensors (so much for doing a good job) which mean they don't work. Talked to my body guy, and he suggested letting him lightly sand back the second paint layer to the original surface and buffing them out to remove a layer of paint. May go that route since the front of the car is well hidden.

2. Missing the front license plate plinth; though we don't need them in PA, it would be nice to have to mount a leaper plate (don't think the hood ornament looks right on this car with the shape of the nose) up there.

3. Couple of the floor mat retaining hooks are missing. Not a big deal; can get them from the local dealer or Guadin or ?

4. Overlay floor mats (OEM) don't have a heel pad for the driver side. May have my interior shop sew one on; it would be a shame to ruin the mat with the heel grinding away at the carpet.

5. Notice that leaving it in D that the car starts off in 2nd gear; seems to be a smoother take off if I put it in S, drop the car into 1st manually. Not that it's bothersome, just an observation.

So, bottom line...still waxing a little nostalgic over trading in the VW (this is the first time since I started driving in '73 that I don't have a VW in the driveway), but enjoying the new XF in its place. I'll get over it. Besides, if I want to drive something different...I have the XJ8 and Europa to play with...

 

Nice, well put. The XF is very classy, the interior is clean and elegant with a nice suspension for a comfortable ride. It is very quiet and smooth on the highway and aggressive when you want it to be.

 

"5. Notice that leaving it in D that the car starts off in 2nd gear; seems to be a smoother take off if I put it in S, drop the car into 1st manually. Not that it's bothersome, just an observation."

Starting in 2nd gear is normal. On both my current and previous XFs I can drop it back to 1st gear while sitting at the lights simply by using the "down" (left) paddle, without needing to put it into S mode.
But apparently this doesn't work on all XFs, so who knows if it will on yours, nothing to lose by giving it a try.

 

Well put. I'm a newbie also and your highlights match mine exactly. I'm over from a Lincoln LS, which was a nice road car, but this one's quieter, and I am enjoying the extra punch. I have a plain vanilla white one, far less eye catching, but I'm still getting more comments than I expect. And I like your bottom line - it is really a nice place to be.

 

Thanks, Terry.

I'd liken the XF to a comfortable workshop: clean, efficient, and modern. Long hours at the wheel seem to just glide by. My X308? More like a tweedy gentleman's club: overstuffed chairs, walnut paneling, thick carpets, obsequeous waiter standing there with a bottle of sherry. My departed VW? Typical teutonic efficiency, nothing not needed, but on the other hand, no frills (as compared to the offerings from the Asia-Pac rim, but do you really really need separate volume controls for the radio for the front passenger?) or gee-gaws to break. The Lotus? That's basically a home-made go-cart with a plastic body, no sound insulation, and a formula 1 (from the 60s) suspension.

All different. All good. But, the XF, to me, is just what I was looking for, even with the 2L Ingenium under the hood, and the few little niggles. Really looking forward to exploring and enjoying the capabilities.

 

Oz:

Yeah, it seems to be normal across the ZF range of boxes; the beemers and audis do the same thing, as does my XJ8. Don't think that the Merc box in the XJR starts in 2, but, don't have any experience with that.

Thanks for the insight; went out on my morning caffeine run, but, before I took off, went through the menus and found the option to activate the paddles for both D and S modes.

Thanks for the guidance!

Another niggle: the LCD display in between the speedo and tach..wish it was bit more ... um ... programmable? I don't know...maybe it would have been nice to have a few more options displayed than the 5 or 6 you get by pressing on the turn stalk. That was the one feature on the VW that I kind of miss on this ride. Oh well, like I said, just a niggle.

 

Good write-up. I constantly get comments as well. They did a great job with the looks. The V6 gets about 23 MPG. Way more power than the 4 cylinder turbo loaners I have been getting. But even the 4 is par or better than most other new cars on the market that aren't exotic.

Jaguar makes a nice set of rubber all weather floor mats.

If you don't have the lighted sills, you may want to consider them. Very classy looking. Everyone notices and comments.

The trunk cargo organizer is very handy.

I also have the jaguar trunk rubber mat. This cleans up the look in the trunk nicely.

The diffuser is a nice addition that enhances the looks as well as the stability. I noticed the improvement in stability immediately after I installed the diffuser.

Enjoy! I am sure you will.

 

Stopped by the ******* oops dealer (actually, the guys at the parts desk are real helpful) and ordered the front rubber mats; save the carpeted ones for the car shows...as well as the trunk mat and windshield sun shield. Yeah, trinkets, and could probably get by with generic parts from PepBoys or ?, but that's not the point of owning a Jag, is it? LOL

Enjoy? Yeah; did a 320 mile round trip (stretched her legs a bit on the PA turnpike/US222/US30/I83 down to MD and return), pretty much 65-70 MPH all the way, the average fuel says 30.2 at the end. I can live with that.