Honest Opinion - 2009 XF?
 

Thinking of getting a used 2009 XF. Coming from Acuras, Inifinitis and currently my first Euro car a Volvo S60R. Really like my Volvo, rarely seen elsewhere, good looking, and great performance (est 330HP with my ECU upgrade). But sadly with my Acuras, only trips to service were for an oil change or regular scheduled maintenance. With Volvo, nothing major, just lots nuisances = 3-5 unscheduled trips to service a year.

My initial research seems to indicate a Jaguar XF would be no different. Just scanning the subject lines in this forum scares me. But at a car show, I spoke to an independent car rep and he said reliability on the XF was excellent! Huh?

I read of similar experiences from '04 S60R owners. The first year model on the R had quite a few TSB (Tech Service Bulletins) that were all fixed in the second model year. As a result I vowed never to buy a first year model (with exception of Japanese makes.) However in my price range and for my needs, looking for something with some style and uniqueness, nothing comes close to the XF. But I can't afford a new 2010 model.

Can people that have hung in there and put at least 15K miles on their XF comment as to how tempermental these cars are. If it is a matter of making sure all the TSB's to date have been implemented on an '09 and then it is relatively smooth sailing from then on - I may be game. But if new issues are still popping up on '09 models after 15, 20, 25K miles just when you though you had everything taken care of, I would probably be kicking myself for buying one.

I'm thinking of the 300HP model, not the supercharged for a bit better fuel economy. Ya it will be a step down from what I'm used to (4000 lbs @ 300HP versus 3,700 @ 330) but I imagine I can get the ECU remapped to give me another 20HP or so? If I was THAT concerned about performance I wouldn't be shopping luxury sedans in the first place.

I know being a Jag owner people here will be biased but in the Volvo forum if you came in and asked the same question, you would probably get some brutally honest answers. That's what I'm looking for.

Happy New Year!

My early build XF (July delivery date) has been outstanding. I had a minor adjustment to the sunroof height, a couple of balancing nuts put on the driveshaft to eliminate a very slight vibration felt at high speeds, and the two recalls: rear seatbelt mounting check (mine was fine) and fuel filler cap modification (mine was fine both before and after this mod). I have an intermittent and false check engine light issue which Jaguar says will be cured this month. This is merely annoying as the car runs perfectly and there is no fault in reality. This seems to be a high elevation issue only (I drive at 3,000 ft).

The 300 hp model is a very satisfying drive. In Sport setting it is very quick for all practical purposes. The base model conventional suspension is superb and the supercharged model with the fancy suspension is overkill for 90% of anyone's driving.

Fuel economy is superb for a mid sized V8 in a big car and is on par with my 2001 Audi S4 (although the chip in the Audi is responsible for some of this parity and the Audi is much quicker than the Jag).

I bought my 2009 last July (brand new) and now have almost 12k on it. Yes, on vacation it went this past summer. LOL I've had to deal with a recall on the fuel filler door but that was taken care of when I took it in for another reason non-mechanical related. Hubby had a couple of issues with it not wanting to go into park or drive but that was hubby driving it...I never had issues. Nothing that didn't fix itself. So far, I have had NO issues and I live in the Tulsa, OK area (to previous comment on elevation issues??). One warning came on but went off pretty quick. Nothing that wasn't just a quirk on the first 1000 miles.

I get MANY stares and head turns and LOTS of questions asked about "her". Best purchase I have ever made with a car! You will NOT be disappointed. I'm also hoping to be buying a X-type this week if that says anything about my love of Jag. The XF was my first Jag and it will not be my last!

Just to add, I do have the 420hp S/C.

I used to own an S-type until about a year ago, and traded it for a BMW 650i, I do like the BMW but have had a few issues with it.
I have always liked Jaguars and the other week I went to Wilde Jaguar in Sarasota and they had a 2009 Supercharged XF, fully loaded with only 1800 miles on it, they had it for sale at $52k, I was very tempted but they didn't offer me enough for my BMW so I decided to wait maybe until the summer when my finances will be in better shape, I know I probably won't get a deal like that one again but we will see.

I've had my '09 XF Premium for about 5 months now, and like the others above, have had no major issues with it.

One issue I have had relates to the Bluetooth radio failing to properly disconnect from my phone (HTC Imagio) resulting in a dead battery a couple times until we figured out what it was. Jag Tech reportedly is aware of this issue with certain phones under certain circumstances, but as of yet, AFAIK there is no update for this. So, whenever I think about it, I manually undock the device, a little annoying, but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Overall, I'd have to give this car very high marks for style, comfort, performance, and reliability. Like N2AV8TN said, it sure does garner looks.

For a good mix of performance and fuel economy, it's hard to beat. Driving gently I routinely see upper 20s, this morning for example, on my 40 mile commute, my average was 28.2 MPG, which for a V8 is outstanding. Even driving aggressively, you should still expect 20MPG or better, unless it's all stop and go. Because the car is very heavy, start/stop fuel economy is awful, but again, it's a V8, what do you expect.

As a luxury performance sedan goes, I felt this was the best value, and I looked at Caddy, Acura, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Volvo... Feature for feature, my '09 Premium, for me, was the best deal for the features I was looking for (hard to believe that most of the other luxury sedan makers do not offer split rear seats!).

The Caddy CTX was the "nicest" ride of all of them, however, it was a bit too soft/sloppy for me, and, the interior was, by comparison to the XF, cheesey.

I've now also had occasion to drive the XF in the snow, and for a rear-wheel drive car, it is [relatively] sure-footed, far more so than the Mercedes C class I drove before this.

Would I buy this car again? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to others? Definitely - but, I do very much like the fact that I really don't see many of them on the road (I am in the Baltimore/Washington area).

Go for it! :)

3-5 unscheduled service visits is VERY high. The 2009 XFs in our survey have been averaging about one repair trip per year. Which is still worse than average, but nowhere near 3-5.

Jaguar XF reliability comparisons

We now have 24,000 miles on our '09 XF Premium Luxury. It has been extremely dependable.

It did have me worried the first time the fuel filler would not open at the gas station but was always able to get it open eventually. The recall fixed this problem.

The second problem was with the chimes and warning buzzers. It slowly started to loose all of its sounds. First the warning buzzer for the seatbelts, headlights etc, but then the blinker sound started to fade and eventually completely went away. This was also fixed and both times they gave us a really nice loaner, so it was not a real big thing. (Kids loved the loaded XJ8L we had for a week.)

It is my wifes car but I am amazed every time I drive this car about all the things Jaguar got right with this car. From the Pulse of the start heartbeat, to the gear selector handshake to the rolling of the vents. When you start this car you know you are in for a treat even before it starts moving.

theres a new bulletin to fix the shifter issue, take it in, it can stick and need a tow. Its a quick fix that pays .6hr
get a 2010, the price dropped in '10 on the 4.2 xf's and cheaper than 09 youre looking at. Unless youre gonna buy a xfr

also 2010 xf 5.0L is only $2-3K more and its alot better engine plus 385hp feels great.

i would love to buy a 2010 White XF 5.0L but I don't want a car payment lol.