Hi Folks.

Last week I traded by 06 STR for a 2010 XF Prem from Alvarez Jaguar in Riverside, SoCal.

I thought I’d share with you my experiences so far.

The XF rides quieter, even though it has 19” rims, and the STR had 18’s, and road bumps are far more isolated. This was a major reason I traded in the STR, it was a bit hard. The 5.0 is very smooth and has good power, but still lacking from the STR, which is to be expected, I find I drive this one “less speedy” that the STR. The car has an ultra-modern feel about it. But it does have a few issues, not very good for a car this expensive.

List of faults found during the first week of ownership:

• The “Global Closing” function “off/on” button from the display settings will not stay “on” in the settings menu, but global closing will, so I cannot activate global closing. Software update needed I’m sure.

• Pulls to the right, and the steering wheel is cocked to the left a few degrees while driving straight (bugs the crap out of me). Needs an alignment and steering wheel centering.

• Interior trim piece to the left of the glove box sticking out, it’s not fitted correctly.

• Small chip in the burlwood cover of the center console’s front storage bin.

• Glove box is a pain in the you-know-what to open, the JaguarSence button takes about 5 attempts on average to get it open.

List of things that are not broken but will take some getting used to:

• You cannot stop the engine without the audio/nav system shutting down, once you hit the ‘stop’ button, everything turns off, vents close etc. If you just want to stop the car but keep the radio playing, you have to hit the button to stop the engine, which turns everything off, then you have to take your foot off the brake and hit the button again to turn on the ignition w/out the engine.

• Mine has the light beige/truffle interior, very light, looks lovely, but the floor carpet and mats are the same color, you have to take off your shoes to get in it without getting any dirt on it. I have cleaned the mats now like 5 times in a week. I need to find some mats that match the dash “truffle” color that don’t show the dirt so much. My STR was also beige inside, but had black carpet/mats.

• There is a “left foot” dead peddle, but it does not have a pad on it, it is just more of the light color carpet. Gets dirty very quickly. Needs to have a pad of some sort on it.

• The two memory buttons cannot be programmed to the remote key fob, like my outgoing car did.

• This car does not automatically apply the electronic park brake like the STR did when you put it in park and turn it off, you have to remember to do it yourself. It does remove the brake though automatically when you put it in drive.

• Oh, and the manual states that the dealer has to reset the “maintenance reminder” and does not go on to state how you can do it yourself for folks like me who does their own maintenance. Anyone know how to do this?

That’s it so far, love it otherwise, just wish it did not make it out the factory with those few issues, as it hurts Jaguar’s quality record, and I’m a big Jaguar fan and want them to do well.

I’ll be taking it back to the dealer in about a week to get this stuff fixed.

Thanks for reading!

 

Glove box switch is finicky. It is designed not to open if you wipe your finger over it.

It is actually a proximity switch and reacts to static from your finger to open, like elevator buttons. It is important not to press the switch or it may not open. Just slowly put your finger lightly straight onto the roundel and it should open every the time.

 

I'll address your points based on my experience with the car. I hope they are helpful:

List of faults found during the first week of ownership:

• The “Global Closing” function “off/on” button from the display settings will not stay “on” in the settings menu, but global closing will, so I cannot activate global closing. Software update needed I’m sure. (THIS ISN'T A FAULT, RATHER IT'S EVIDENCE THAT JAGUAR COMES FROM A "NANNY" STATE. THERE IS A TSB THAT SAYS IF YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT IT, THEY WILL ACTIVATE IT)
  

• Pulls to the right, and the steering wheel is cocked to the left a few degrees while driving straight (bugs the crap out of me). Needs an alignment and steering wheel centering. (ALMOST EVERY CAR I HAVE DRIVEN HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT LIKE THIS. THERE ARE TIMES MY XFR GIVES ME THE SENSATION, AND THEN OTHER TIMES IT'S PIN STRAIGHT. I THINK THE PITCH IN THE ROADWAYS HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH THIS. I SUGGEST DRIVING ON LOTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROADS TO ROOT OUT IF IT'S A CAR ISSUE OR IT'S THE ROADS)
  

• Interior trim piece to the left of the glove box sticking out, it’s not fitted correctly.(CAN'T COMMENT ON THIS WITHOUT SEEING IT. FIT AND FINISH ON JAGUARS IS GOOD, BUT NOT STELLAR LIKE THE GERMAN BRANDS)
  

• Small chip in the burlwood cover of the center console’s front storage bin. (SEE COMMENT ABOVE)
  

• Glove box is a pain in the you-know-what to open, the JaguarSence button takes about 5 attempts on average to get it open. (PUT YOUR HAND ON THE SENSOR SLOWLY AND KEEP IT THERE FOR A SECOND.)
  

List of things that are not broken but will take some getting used to:

• You cannot stop the engine without the audio/nav system shutting down, once you hit the ‘stop’ button, everything turns off, vents close etc. If you just want to stop the car but keep the radio playing, you have to hit the button to stop the engine, which turns everything off, then you have to take your foot off the brake and hit the button again to turn on the ignition w/out the engine.(I ADMIT THIS IS A PAIN, BUT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TURN THE RADIO ON FROM THE RADIO SWITCH.)
  

• Mine has the light beige/truffle interior, very light, looks lovely, but the floor carpet and mats are the same color, you have to take off your shoes to get in it without getting any dirt on it. I have cleaned the mats now like 5 times in a week. I need to find some mats that match the dash “truffle” color that don’t show the dirt so much. My STR was also beige inside, but had black carpet/mats.(YOUR COLOR CHOICE, SO GET RUBBER MATS THAT MATCH. I HAVE BLACK AND RED MATS, BUT STILL USE BLACK RUBBER MATS ON TOP OF THEM)
  

• There is a “left foot” dead peddle, but it does not have a pad on it, it is just more of the light color carpet. Gets dirty very quickly. Needs to have a pad of some sort on it. (I TOO THINK THIS IS ODD)
  

• The two memory buttons cannot be programmed to the remote key fob, like my outgoing car did. (NO COMMENT ON THIS. I'VE HAD IT ON OTHER CARS, AND BARELY NOTICED THE FEATURE)
  

• This car does not automatically apply the electronic park brake like the STR did when you put it in park and turn it off, you have to remember to do it yourself. It does remove the brake though automatically when you put it in drive.(NO BIG DEAL IF IT TURNS OFF AUTOMATICALLY)
  

• Oh, and the manual states that the dealer has to reset the “maintenance reminder” and does not go on to state how you can do it yourself for folks like me who does their own maintenance. Anyone know how to do this?(WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO YOUR OWN MAINTENANCE? TAKE IT TO THE DEALER AND FREE YOURSELF UP TO DO SOMETHING ELSE LIKE DETAILING YOUR RIDE)
  

 

Thanks for the advice "XFactoR" and "jaguar". I will try that on the g-box sensor. I'm still reading through the manual. Found the part just last night that states you can turn on the radio with the knob any time.

I have drove on many roads now, I think the pulling to the right may be the road curvature, which is always to the right this side of the pond, but the steering wheel is most definiatly not centered.

Oh, one more small issue, the rear RH passenger seat's seat belt buckle is nowhere to be found, I'm sure it's under the seat cusion but was not pulled through the hole.

 

You can get carpet floor mats in other colours from Jaguar. My dove grey car has dark grey carpets and mats, eg. Rubber mats really aren't very Jaguar.

The lack of a "dead pedal" is a feature of Jaguar's history of making fast touring cars. The seats are a bit flat for the same reason, comfort. I find I do not need to brace myself when driving hard so the lack of big side bolsters on the seat backs and deep seat cushions is not a problem. Similarly, I do not find I need to brace my foot on the floor when driving fast. The seat and driving position really are superb, you can just sit back in the seat, relax, and really hammer the car without leaning all over the place.

The reason the key fobs don't automatically set the memory seats/mirrors/steering wheel settings is that some couples switch fobs routinely and then this "feature" becomes a real pita. It is a "six of one half a dozen of the other" choice. One can simply press one of the 2 memory buttons from the open door, unless it is raining hard of course!

As for the "Nanny" state, sorry to say but it is the US that was so concerned about auto close power windows that it was illegal to equip a car that way in the US for some time, until fail safe auto reverse functions were invented and installed.

The US is far more nannying about automobiles than any European country as you will quickly find out when you drive over there! Heck, the US even required automatic seatbelts that put themselves on at one stage something the Europeans find perplexing and amazing (as in why would you drive without a seat belt on?).

 

I have many of the same issues in m y 2010 premium, some fit and finish issues and minor buzzing with certain volume levels or types of music.

Drivers side seat belt catches often even though it is being pulled slowly.

My computer keeps rebooting (yes in the car), you hear a slight beep and then it all goes black and the vents close. Thankfully the car doesn't turn off and it does come back up all on its own.

Often when backing out of a parking spot and switch from reverse to drive, it just sits there and the drive incidicator light blinks. At first I thought I wasn't coming to a complete stop or something but have since determined that is not the problem, it just happens randomly and sucks.

If you are a driver that needs the seat pretty far back it becomes very uncomfortable on the left elbow because the door pillar trim makes a fairly sharp corner and your elbow rides right against it.

Navigation is terrible as is almost every experience relating to the user interface. It is slow, clunky, and appears to have been developed ina vacuum by people that don't get user interfaces.

playing mp3 over usb or ipod is an extreme challenge unless you are using the ipod and have preorganized your music again mostly due to the clunky operation of the touch screen interface.

Voice control is so weak that is almost worthless.

I haven't yet inspected the speakers but the sound quality is a little less than I expected since the Bowers Wilkins is sold as a premium system.

Ride quality and control on twisty roads was awful without the DSC on. Odd because the manual indicates that yaw is controlled but doesn't say how and seems to indicate that suspension control is only in the supercharged.

I still like the looks of the car but I am less and less enthused with it on the whole, sad to say.

I am now acutely aware of the narrow seat buckets and the VERY reflective surfaces on the console area.

I found out about the global close issue a while back, annoying.

 

There is a factory fix for the shifter issue.

The Bowers and Wilkins is getting rave reviews from stereophiles so if you are not happy then there may be something wrong with your car's system. The standard system in my Luxury trim car is excellent. On the other hand if you are used to bass heavy stereos which are popular in North America you will find the British systems oddly flat sounding. That's actually how they are supposed to sound as they are tuned for natural sound and it takes some getting used to. BTW, the British have been industry leaders in top level sound systems for decades. The Japanese never did quite catch up in terms of accurate sound reproduction but their systems became the de facto standard because they were cheaper. They are inferior actually, even the really good Japanese systems are no match for Europe's best.

The DSC has no effect on ride control. If you discern a difference in ride with the DSC on or off it is in your imagination. This system has no effect whatsoever on ride. To switch DSC OFF you need to select the DSC button and hold for 11 seconds, otherwise you only select TRAC instead. None of the DSC settings affects ride. Only the SC version had computer controlled dampers to go with the system. The computer controlled dampers in the SC model do not have anything to do with yaw and are merely there to automatically allow for a softer ride when not driving hard. Mike Cross thinks the basic non-computer controlled suspension is about as perfect as he can make it. I think he is right. The computer on the SC model "merely" softens the dampers for comfort and then stiffens them up for dynamic control when cornering, accelerating or braking hard.

The DSC computer uses the throttle and the rear brakes to give traction control and to control yaw. It works well most of the time. There is a first "off" position called TRAC which is useful for spirited driving. The TRAC setting is especially useful in winter conditions when combined with the winter setting on the console. Even if you switch the DSC completely off the computer still activates the rear brakes to act as a limited slip differential.

Jaguar deliberately chose to move towards the German end of the ride/handling compromise. The XF rides far better than any German or American car delivering equal handling but it is firmer than previous Jaguars. The main difference is in roll bar rates and damper rates which are higher than traditional for Jaguar. It isn't an improvement but it does give better handling with less body roll.

The 19 inch rims will give an even harder ride. The best base suspension version has 18 inch wheels. Jaguar knows this but follows fashion by offering 19 inch wheels or even 20 inchers for true poseurs who do not understand how these things work.

The seats are flat but not sized for very large people. Europeans have trouble imagining how large many North Americans actually are. For the average European frame the Jaguar seats are actually quite large and flat which is more comfortable than the German car seats. The glossy console surfaces have no effect on driving..

 

There is a factory fix for the shifter issue.
-Very cool, I don't know where to find service bulletins, wish I did

The Bowers and Wilkins is getting rave reviews from stereophiles so if you are not happy then there may be something wrong with your car's system.

-Could be something wrong, the buzzing is quite irritating and it's going in to get checked out. I don't go for the heavy bass it just seems that the speakers are a bit "tight" for lack of a better term.

The DSC has no effect on ride control. If you discern a difference in ride with the DSC on or off it is in your imagination.
-Not sure who Mike Cross is but the ride is pretty nice with the exception of the spirited driving on the twisties. My Escalade, I thought, handled them....pretty darn well. Ill take it out again with my kids and report back as to the difference between DSC being on and off. I also thought that the braking was only active on the SC?

Jaguar deliberately chose to move towards the German end of the ride/handling compromise.
-I like that aspect and the stiffer ride

The seats are flat but not sized for very large people.
-Im 6'1" 200 so not that big.

The glossy console surfaces have no effect on driving..
-THey sure do for me, especially when cornering and the glare hits me right in the eyes blows visibility for a second or two. I really think that most people don't even recognise that those glossy surfaces are terrible. The Escalade was much better, you should go drive one just to see what Im talking about. It makes an incredible difference.

 

An Escalade? We are from different planets.

Mike Cross might be the best road car suspension engineer in the World right now, he signs off on all the Jaguar models.

The Escalade is just a Chevy 1/2 tom truck with a very high price tag. It is hopeless as a passenger car and in no way compares to any Jaguar. Heck, my kid's Mazda will outperform an Escalade at the first corner.

 

mdrolle,

Regarding your comments on the B&W system, have you played with the sound settings for adjustment of bass, treble, subwoofer, balance and fade via the audio screen? Also for selection of stereo, 3 channel stereo, or dolby prologic surround sound (Sat radio only)? I have a 2011 Premium and the B&W system has excellent sound, plenty of bass and really clean highs. I say this as an audiofile with a high end home system. I was apprehensive to have the B&W system, because of the tpical comments about UK sound systems, but the B&W has exceeded my expectations. I hope you can get the sound to your liking.

 

jagular, no disrespect at all here but if you haven't driven an Escalade, you need to go drive one, and the model I am referring to is the 07 430 something hp version, don't know about other models, but it was certainly not just an overpriced truck...well...it was, but it wasn't if you can understand that. It offered an incredible ride, even with 22" wheels of which I am not a fan.

Ill do some reading on Mike Cross, and no disrespect to him either but this Jag still needs some work...of course, Im picky


CashmereLeaper:
I didn't mean to give the impression that I think the sound is terrible, just less than I expected. It can be tweaked in to individual tastes which I do. Probably part of my issue is that I only listen to mp3's (ripped at 256kbps and provide excellent quality) via the usb or ipod (each has its own quirks) and cross genres and styles (as in a mix setup) and varying volume levels.
The buzzing is either in the speaker or the door panel or bezel.

 

I want to get my Global Closing Function enabled, I called my dealership and they said they would not enable it and said it was a liability issue, I said I was prepared to take full responsibility and they just said no, will not do it.

 

The wife and I tried out the XF, XK and the new XJ. The new XJ did away with the wipe button on the glove box and the factory rep (that rode along with us) made a point of telling us that everyone hated the button. Nice concept but they are logging major complaints.

 

It isn't a wipe button, it's a touch button. It is designed not to work if you wipe it for fairly obvious reasons. Mine works flawlessly.

As for the "global close" being a liability issue are you in the US Montru? For my Audi I think I had to go into the VAG system and select a European option to get global close.

In Canada mine works fine on my XF (I think, haven't checked recently so may be confused.)

 

It's an overweight drunken elephant trying to skate on a slab of butter. A friend has one and I've driven it (unfortunately) extensively and I couldn't wait to get out of it. It can't go around corners to save it's life, the interior looks like egg cartons covered in fake leather, and the chrome deuces are a joke. In the end it's a pimped up pick up truck, nothing more, nothing less. You can't compare any Jaguar to this: even the worst Jaguar ever made does a better job of being a luxury car than this.

 

I was going to be a tad more restrained but, now I need not.

The main issue with North America's infatuation with tarted up pick up trucks is that they are dangerous to the occupants and everybody else. No other country encourages the use of pick up trucks as passenger vehicles, except Canada who slavishly follow American rules.

The "luxury" SUV was invented by the US auto industry to circumvent the safety and emissions regulations affecting passenger cars. The US consumer was hoodwinked into accepting this product in part because of misleading advertising emphasizing false security claims but mainly because they were cheap. Ironically it took expensive gas (relatively) to change US buyer's habits, albeit somewhat temporarily.

The basic US SUV uses the same technology as the 1950's US passenger car and is about as safe to ride in. The US government actively encouraged, even subsidized, this fraud on the American consumer. Incidentally, this reliance on dangerous and poorly engineered SUV's just about broke the US auto industry! Ironic that FIAT now controls Chrysler and the US and Canadian governments are financing this Italian maker .....

 

Hey Le Chef, as your opinion, I can accept what you say, as a factual matter, you're just wrong, sorry.

Jagular, agreed that the majority of the SUV's are just what you say "tarted up pickups". I owned an old suburban torsion bar suspension and all, and it was a pig, that had a great turning radius
My main reason for picking it up was traveling to the mountains as often as we did as a family, made it quite appealing, the current crop of minivans just didn't have the oomfh and snow ability.

Can't endorse the statements about emission regs' or the safety (not that you wer looking for that endorsement). Safety ratings are erroneous at best in my opinion and are arrived at in a relative vaccuum. If you're speaking to rollover possibility then yes, they are more prone to rollover than a passenger car which does tend to slap the head around a bit but rollovers aren't very common.
I also think the US auto industry has been in trouble for a while, SUV's didn't help but all car sales plummeted with the gas debacle which was, by the way, human engineered mostly but that's another topic
Hey, can I ask you another question, happy to take it offline if you like but what is your opinion on healthcare in Canada? I've asked many people and have had such a variety of responses it's crazy. Almost as if it really depends on where you are in Canada?
Best to you.

 

you've not tried the Audi Q7, BMW X5, or Mercedes ML or R Class or the Porsche Cayenne. Not forgetting the LR4 or Range Rover. If you had you would know what you were missing.

 

you've not tried the Audi Q7, (yep), BMW X5, (yep) or Mercedes ML (yep) or R (nope) Class or the Porsche Cayenne (nope). Not forgetting the LR4 (nope) or Range Rover (yep, didn't drive it though). If you had you would know what you were missing.
For me, surprisingly (since I've never been a fan of BMW) the X5, I thought, had an excellent ride, actually, I almost bought it instead of the Escalade, there just wasn't enough room, the idrive was still there, and the video screen being at the back of the center console just ruined it for me.
I always wanted to drive the Cayenne, just never followed through on it.

 

Jagular:

Yes I am in the US, I am based in FL, I have been out of town for just over a week, hence my delay in replying. I was over in the UK, and while I was there I went into a UK Jag Dealership to ask them about the global closing function, basically they said if you are prepared to take the full liability, they would enable it.

mdrolle:

I drove a 2008 Escalade from Kenedy Space Center down to Sarasota, it was like driving a tank! and when we hit heavy rain on the I75 near Tampa, that was scary! I certainly wouldn't own one.

Getting back to the OP, I got my 2010 XF LUX on the Friday and left town the following Monday, my wife has been driving the car while I have been away and she loves it, she has put 700 miles on it, we have no real issues, my wife said the she backed out of a parking spot, selected drive and it took several seconds for the drive to engage, it has only done it the once, so I don't think it is a problem, I think she turned the dial too quickly or something.
The other issue we have is the iPod will not stay charged while plugged into the car.

Apart from that, we love it, for my wife to love it is something, she and her family have been BMW nuts for years, I used to have an S-type 2-3 years back and she hated it, and she got me to try a BMW, I had that for 2 years then finally got the car I wanted.