A week ago I bought a 2012 XF. Pretty base model but it had some added options that I felt made it a great buy at the price. I've already done some long haul driving in it and a few things have come up that I can't quite square given what I've read/found online. First, and probably most annoying, the driver seat doesn't seem to have any "tilt" function. It moves up/down, forward/back, seat back reclines back and forth but I can't seem to find any way to get the front of the seat to tilt up or down. I've never seen this left out of any power adjustable seat and just refuse to think in a car like this that it's not possible. Any thoughts, suggestions? Next, the car does NOT have a rear view cam. Anything with a display, IMHO, should be equipped with a rear view monitor but I went into it knowing this and assumed the park assist would suffice. However, there is no "on/off" button on the overhead and, while it comes on in "reverse", I can't find a way to get any forward park assist. Another no brainer to me, but did they actually leave out forward looking sensors on some models? Finally, I can't find any way to access tire pressure. It seems as though the TPMS only flashes a warning when some random tire might be low. Really? Every vehicle I've owned with a TPMS will give you the current tire pressures and tell you which one is low. This seems really basic to me...especially in a $60K car. Okay, so you're probably thinking I really didn't do my homework before buying but these seem like such basic things I assumed they were there. So I'm an *** I guess. Otherwise, I love the car. Drives great, power is amazing, ride is incredible, look is a show stopper and it's a great value. I've had a Benz, Caddi, BMW, Infiniti (4) and this blows them all away. It's the kind of car you get into and every single time, say to yourself..is this mine? Last thought, I'm really spoiled to the rear view thing. Has anyone successfully installed an aftermarket that works like factory? Thanks for reading and thanks for any feedback!

 

I've moved your model-specific question from General Tech Help section to the XF & XFR section.

Members with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

 

That's correct! All those features are options on the base model. Portfolio has all that and more.

 

You said you got some options but it sure does not sound like it. The stripped base model has the basic seats (still leather and power) and rear parking sensors only. The rear camera and front parking sensors are a very commonly selected single option, as are side blind spot monitors. BTW, the TPMS does show which tire is low (or the one it thinks is low if the sensor is bad) in some circumstances. It does not give an actual pressure reading.

 

Okay - so what options were actually fitted? You've suggested that it was a great price, but you've not said what it actually had fitted as extras.

I'd like to be more sympathetic, but I've been researching XF's for almost 9 months, and have a pretty good handle on what is available and what options are fitted in the country in which I live. Each market is different, but here in Australia, all the things that you mention are extras, or only standard on the Portfolio at best.

Mind you, the 10-year-old car that I'm about to replace has the ability to adjust the seat cushion angle - something that the basic XF cannot do. Ditto with cornering headlights, ski port, split-fold seats, and a whole lot more. Hence my move to a Premium Luxury or Portfolio.

 

I'm going to check the model specific area and will post there. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Oops, I'm already there! The car has the cold weather package (heated steering wheel, etc.), remote key-less entry and chrome Artura wheels. According to the sticker about $6000 worth. The car was a dealer owned manager's car with just under 7K miles. So, I avoided new car sales tax and got it for well under 40. I scoured the entire country (US) and must have talked to 6 dealerships and this was the best deal I found by 4K...and that was the very next best deal I could find. Generally, dealers wanted about 6 more so I felt this was a pretty good deal. On top of that, every other "good" deal I found had some color combination that I just really didn't want. One thing I've learned is that you can't take a long enough test drive to know, in the long run, if you're really going to love a car or not. If I love one, I generally keep it for 5 or so years, if I don't, about 7 months (ouch). I did know going into it that this was a base model and resigned myself to the fact it had no rear view monitor. That's the only thing I really wanted that it didn't have. Except for the seat tilt thing. That really annoys me. It's just not anything I would ever have even thought to ask about. And, as for research, I haven't even been able to find a reference to "no tilt"... 8 way is as "no frills" as I've found in literature/reviews. That's just basic and I can't imagine that it saved a lot of money in production to leave it off. Bad move. As for the TPMS I haven't actually had it come on as a warning but I haven't found anyway to access it just for info purposes. If a tire goes low and it tells you which one and that's all it does I guess that's good enough. Another thing I like to look at is the engine temp and I can't find that either. I just like to know the car is semi warmed up before I start driving but that's not a big deal, just let it idle for a minute or so. Maybe in a year or so I'll move up but it just seemed to me that the Portfolio model was a whole lot more money for not really all that much stuff. But despite my gripes it's still a hell of a car....simply beautiful to look at and incredibly fun to drive.

 

Engine temp is not listed in any XF model. I agree I'd like to have one to know when the car is warmed up. The car is supposed to alert you when there is an issue.

 

Modern engines could care less. The clearances are so tight anyway, warming up is pointless. Synthetic oil, or indeed any modern engine oil, flows properly immediately even in very cold weather. Unless you floor it when dead cold you don't need to know if the engine is warm or not. if it is cold enough to matter then the engine is warm enough to floor it when the cabin air heater begins delivering any heat at all. Generally, if the seat heater is warming your butt then the engine can take full throttle.

2009 base cars had tilt. 10 way adjust, including air pressure based lumbar adjustment Supercharged cars Got additional adjustment for both front seats with the driver getting 16 adjustments (8 really, since what goes up must also come down, each adjustment is two way).

You have to lift or depress just the front or rear end of the seat cushion adjustment switch to get tilt on the 8 way sets. If you lift or press down on the whole switch the whole seat goes up or down. Was this feature deleted from the facelift 2012 base car? Cynical if so as the "sport seats" were optional on all trim levels, supposedly.

Just checked the UK site and indeed base models have 4 way seats in the UK market (8 way would be in the US brochure, sounds better but is exactly the same: fore and aft, up and down, recline and upright plus lumbar support in or out). For 2013 in the US you must buy the expensive Portfolio package to get the tilt seats, then you get a version of the sport seat with other adjustments. Canada's Jaguar site doesn't seem to even tell you what you don't get!

One way other manufacturers make money is differentiation of option packages. Jaguar is now selling enough cars to do the same. Ever tried to spec an Audi or a Porsche? Only cable or satellite TV, or mobile phone service, are more cynical in their extraction of profit. You buy a Jag on the cheap and then beef about lack of value delivered? Really?

As far as I know only Porsche displays actual tire pressure on its instrument panel. Which other Marques allow you to access actual tire pressure? All active TPMS transmit actual pressure and tempersture signals but only Porsche displays them as far as I know.

 

My wife's new Nissan displays the tire pressures via the TPMS, so I'm sure many others also do it.

 

I wish they all did, pretty useful where I live. Big temperature swings mean tire pressures are rarely correct so I run mine higher than specified for safety.

 

My '07 Corvette and '13 Camaro both display actual pressures for each tire.

My '07 Trailblazer SS also displayed tire pressures.

My sons '12 Cruze also does I believe.

I was surprised my '09 XF SC with full load does not display tire pressures, seems ridiculous, an unfortunate oversight by Jaguar engineers.

Still love my Jaaag tho!

 

I read somewhere that the sensors aren't accurate enough to rely on so maybe that's why Jaguar didn't bother. It would drive me nuts to keep checking for correct pressure when it was a sensor not accurately sending the true pressure. I liked the info in the Cayman I test drove but I only assumed it was accurate. I never actually checked.

 

TPMS is notoriously difficult to calibrate for A broad range of environmental temperatures: I thought in the US it was mandated for new vehicles (but nowhere else).

As for engine temperature, here in Australia we have a different problem - we want early indication of overheating. The lack of a scale reading is not helpful, and it's better to take preventative action before its too late. Speaking from experience...

 

EU has now made TPMS mandatory. But that is unsurprising. Modern governments love to legislate for our collective safety regardless of cost or benefit. Who could be opposed to additional safety? This is the most corrosive characteristic of modern government, from a long list at that.

 

Most of the luxury car buyers have no intention on joining a forum, making any mods to their cars or doing any work on them. Mfg's tend to dumb down the gauges and warning systems since the average owner only puts gas in it and takes it in for service when they receive a mailer or the engine light comes on. Tires and oil are sometimes a concern. Gauges don't mean a thing for them and unless a light comes on or they hear a warning chime, they just blindly drive along.

 

Couldn't agree more, raising our standard of living when nobody asked, it's a runaway train.