I'm looking at a 2012 XF 5.0L with 136,000kms. It's a two owner vehicle, and the original owner serviced it at a land rover \ Jag dealership up until January 2023 when it was sold. It appears to be in great shape and runs strong. aside from a few cosmetic issues (scratches and worn buttons) and a non-functioning reverse camera. Are there any things you recommend checking out before purchasing? From what I've read the timing chain can be problematic but they are including a 2year powertrain warranty.

Thanks for the help.

Hopefully soon-to-be first time Jag owner.

 

You want to inspect the dash pad leather carefully. When parked in the sun, the glue will deteriorate, the leather will shrink and wrinkle or pull away around the front edge by the windshield. Its very expensive to repair or replace and early signs can be easily overlooked. At 84,000 miles, if it hasn't been done yet, all of the PA66 nylon components in the cooling system are crispy as water crackers. Check out The Big Plastic for details. Also the intake valves will be gummed up pretty awful by now and should be done while the intake manifold is off to reach the rear plastic tube. There's a number of members with considerably more mileage who've not had timing chain issues yet. There's some theorists suggesting that it has to do with not doing oil changes frequent enough (Jaguar's extended interval being too long) and/or not using the exact certified spec motor oil recommended by Jaguar. If you can confirm the service records with that JLR dealer and they'll cover the timing chain and guides for two years, then sounds like its hard to go wrong.

 

Very good advice from Phil D.!!
I would want a complete service history because they could have done a ton of work by now and that would be a big plus for you buying it used.

I would add that that car has a lot of miles and is over 10+ years old. I am surprised the Jaguar dealer will even look at the car anymore??
BUT your biggest problem will be cost unless you can DIY the repairs. Again this list is so valuable as it contains ALL the problems AND solutions for your model car. Also the NA 5.0L engine is somewhat rare as Jaguar dropped the NA 5.0L after a few years and from then on only offered the SC versions of the 3.0L V-6 and the 5.0L V-8.

A used expensive luxury car gets no cheaper to repair as it value plummets from depreciation!
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Indeed, kinda rare. 2012 is the first year of the "facelift" (though that's purely personal preference) and the last year of the NA 5.0L V8 which is technically 45hp more than the next year's 3.0L Supercharged V6. And although they did an amazing job for 2013 balancing the V6 with a split-pin crankshaft, the V8 is still smoother. When I bought mine in 2017, I originally thought I'd get a 2015, as new as I could afford, but after driving one with the V6, I couldn't help recalling an earlier drive in a 5.0L XK8 so I purposefully drove to a Jaguar dealer quite some distance away that had several used XFs to drive each back to back. Then I spent months seeking out the lowest mileage 2012 XF that I could find.

Its probably also the last V8 daily driver I'll ever have (and you'll ever have too). Everything has gone to 4cyl turbos. Granted, its amazing what they can get out of a 4cyl turbo today, but to get that power, they're loud and raspy sounding even with fake exhaust through the speakers and just not a luxury car experience to drive anymore. So even if you typically buy 12 year old luxury cars, 12 years from now you'll be looking at 2024 models and have a bunch of 4cyl turbos and barely a handful of v6s to choose from. Gas prices in 12 years may dictate what the last of the v8 dinosaurs will be worth, but I suspect that as always, few will survive in decent shape, and they'll be so rare that you might not want to pay that much for a V8 daily driver by then. So be careful not to get one that's been neglected or worn out, but if that's what you want, get one while you still can.