So I've finally got around to hand washing my XJL and I just noticed that there is bubbling on all four inside door posts where the steel door hinge attaches to the aluminum.

Also, I noticed small bubbling in the inside rails of the glass panoramic roof.

Is this normal for a three year old Jaguar to be bubbling like this? Anyone else experience this before?

 

Hmm.... It all depends on how much salt spray your car is subject to and how much rain and industrial pollution falls on it. The hinge sounds like galvanic corrosion, due to steel being in contact with aluminium. I have to say I am surprised as this is so obvious a potential corrosion site that Jaguar would normally seek to mitigate the effect, usually by use of zinc plating on the steel.

Not having seen these roof rails it could be the same syndrome, steel/aluminium galvanic action. If you could post up a couple of pics further advice can be given. If it were me, I'd be down to the dealer, as you have a corrosion warranty with the car.

Aluminium can corrode quite badly give the right conditions, but is normally much more resistant than steel due to it forming an oxide layer very, very, quickly if the metal is exposed to air. It's where air is excluded, but water and salt is present that it can corrode quite quickly, and I have seen this on my own X350, the previous model to yours.

Generally speaking though, these cars are very good for longevity and will last a very long time if maintained correctly.

 

Thanks for your reply, Fraser. I will try to post us some pics in a bit and hopefully I can get some more answers.

As for corrosion warranty, I'll definitely be at the dealer this week with the car. I trust they'll be able to sort it out.

I'm wondering if I should oil spray the car after I get it fixed?

 

A 2011 XJ will definitely still be under a corrosion warranty, take it up with your dealer.

And please take some pictures!

With aluminium being used for the X350, X150, X351, F-Type, the XE and most certainly any upcoming models, the more info we have on aluminium corrosion the better.

 

Here are a couple of iPhone pics I just took. The hinges are pretty much all the same (more or less) so I just took a pic of one. I've also attached a pic of the roof rail beneath the glass panoramic roof.

 

That is pretty surprising. Definitely would be something covered under the corrosion warranty, regardless of the levels of salt the car is exposed to! (OK, maybe not if it made a trip to the bottom of the ocean...)

 

Your picture is not a door hinge, but what we Americans call a door striker plate. FYI, my 2011 XJL, which originally came from Florida, and which I purchased 10 months ago in North Carolina, has zero corrosion in these areas, or anywhere else. All in all, my impression is that Jaguar engineers did a superior job in preventing corrosion than in any other car I have owned (and I have easily owned 25 cars over the last 58 years). I can remember one large Mercedes V-8 sedan I owned where the hood hinges totally rusted away from the inner fenders where they were attached; which caused me to swear to never buy another Mercedes automobile for the rest of my life. Fortunately your covered by a strong warranty. Let us know how things work out. Good luck.

 

+1 on door striker plate and also getting it checked by the dealer

Hope to hear.....

 

The strike plate! That's what it is! I was trying to think of the name of that part. Thanks for the clarification.


So I called my dealer and they're going to take care of it. I'll post updates soon.

 

That bubbling on the sunroof part looks like steel corrosion and due to very bad metal preparation and painting, frankly.

The striker plate corrosion looks like classic crevice corrosion initiated by a paint defect or hole, and subject to damp retention and absence, (or little of), atmospheric oxygen. The corrosion site creeps along under the paint, drawing water in through the paint by osmosis. The only way to cure it to remove all corrosion produce then refinish, and make sure damp cannot get in when replacing the striker. I have nothing like this on my car, (the previous model to the X351), in this location, so I suspect it is a production error by Jaguar.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply, Fraser! I'm just baffled that the corrosion on the striker plates is happening on all 4 plates and no one else on this board has even heard of it!


The dealership is sending me to their own facility that is considered to be one the best in the city, so that's a piece of mind, however, I'm just hoping that once fixed, the problem doesn't return.

 

I don't check this forum very often, but my 2011 XJ is going in to the dealers this week for two jobs, one of which is the same roof rails corrosion problem.

Hopefully we will both get it sorted.

 

I also have the same corrosion problem on the side tracks of my sun roof.

James

 

Chaps, My rails were sorted by my dealer yesterday whilst sorting my roof noises, the components were refinished by their body shop and back to a nice satin black finish.


Hopefully will not happen again.

 

By the looks of it, I'm not the only one who's having these issues with corrosion.


Apparently, my SA is telling me that Jaguar is aware of this because there is a bulletin on the issue.


Hopefully we all get it sorted out and the corrosion does not return.

 

Thanks for the posting, I thought I was the only one with this problem but it looks like it is a systemic problem with these roof rails. I plan to take it to the dealer this week. It is still under warranty.