My wife's X Type is getting a little older now (145k on the odo) but more importantly she is starting to reach the point that she is interested in not having to shift a manual in her daily commute. Found a 09 Supercharged that looks promising with about 50k on the odo. Anything that I should be cautious of beyond a normal car? What are the opinions on the tranny in the XF as I much prefer the mercedes tranny in our XJR to that in our XK8 in terms of longevity, shifting and service.

 

I think you'll find most posters on this forum will push to go with a 10 or later. I have a 60k '09 and have had a few little niggles, but nothing too troubling. I think the '09 is the bargain point for a v8 sc. The '09 had potential issues with the differential, but if it is OK, not leaking and not making noise, then an oil change should be #1 priority.

I believe the 6-speed trans is the ZF 6HP26 and has proven to be reliable for a number of manufacturers. At 50k you should plan for a fluid change.

Since the '09 XF uses the last of the traditional AJ8's engines, it is essentially very well proven and most describe it as bulletproof.

The only potential issue are LED rear lights going out (had that happen, in fact the car is on its second drivers side rear LED cluster), trunk lock wires chaffing and causing issue with the central locking (not had that, touch wood), rotating front vents not rotating (have one not rotating and have set the system to not rotate at all), the shifter knob not working (my car had it fixed), wheel bearings (my car has had a couple) and a propensity to eat through rear brakes (due to the stability control).

If all this sounds scary, it really isn't that much of an issue and as long as the car has a good service history (mine was a 2 owner with select edition that had a wad of receipts/repairs).

A professional inspection is a must, do not trust carfax etc. Make sure everything works on the car, I do mean everything. I did not try the rear sunshade and found out later it was sticking, a bit of silicone lube fixed it. Try to find the prior owner and call them to find out what issues they had and why they sold (I did that, got the reply that the PO bought an XJ but missed and preferred the XF SC).

I've owned 2 S-Type 4.0's, a X-type VDP, an XJ6, XJ8, XK8 and now an XF. The XF is a superb car and a sleeper in terms of attracting unwanted attention. Finally the '09 SC XF is loaded with almost every option so making it even more of a bargain IMHO.... Assuming the car checks out, I'd go for it.....

 

Thanks for the insight. As for the rear dif. Where does it tend to leak the output shaft? How hard is it to change the fluid in it. The XK8 I made the decision to drill an access hole in the trunk as dropping the rear wasn't gonna happen for me. How expensive are the led clusters? Is it simply loosing a solder joint or what? Is it just the 09s that have that issue? Can a later light be used?

I agree that the super 09s are indeed well priced at the moment. Had planned to wait for the awds to drop down a bit but my wife is sick of the manual tranny so it is time to start looking. I like to buy mine at the lower points and sadly, I think the next could be our last Jag with the movement to aluminum it becomes a vehicle not able to tow (we bought our xjr simply for the nice towing ability compared to the X type and that is a must in our household at the moment.

 

Hmm, and I'm thinking of selling my '11 XF-R.....everything perfect on it. Just need to reduce the stable.

 

Rear diff has a fill hole but no drain. I used a hand pump from Harbor Freight. It can leak at all the shafts but if it isn't leaking it should be OK to change the oil. It's easy to get to once you have the car in the air, no drilling required!
Light clusters are $400+ from the dealer, but I snagged one on ebay for $50. A lot of the clusters on ebay already have bad LEDs and idiot scrappers sell them to the unsuspecting. Many of us have tried to open the cluster, but so far no one has managed to do that and then put it back together! It is glued together (not siliconed) and it is a bugger to even crack open. It's probably only an LED that takes out the whole bank, but it looks cr@p when it goes, so to me it needs to be fixed. I do not know if later lights can be fitted, but knowing Jaguar probably not!

Good luck!