Hello all,

I finally found a car that I hope will meet my expections. It's a one owner lease turn in with a little over 21k miles. The deposit has been accepted and will flying out on the 7th to do a extensive inspection. If all goes well, I'll be pulling out of Seattle Wa. and heading south on HWY 101 Pacific Coast Highway with my end destination being Houston, Tx.

Hopefully, I'll try to post a few photos of the trip.

Best,

Ray

 

Ray, the car should be all that you want. You are going to like the drive in the XJL on 101, especially if you turn on the dynamic suspension and start pushing the car. You will be amazed as to how well this large of a car will hold the corners. Acceleration, well, I am sure you are going to have a very wide grin on your face by the time you get back to Texas. I am sure some time in say Nevada is going to also give you a chance to see what the kitty will do too.

I used to live out in Bremerton, WA and have driven 101 just a few times. Also travelled along the whole west coast and there will be plenty of time to get to learn the car. Can remember doing triple digits on I-15 going through Nevada at O dark 30 on my way to LA.

The big things that I would check for is to get the car on a bumpy road and drive it fairly slow. Be listening for some popping noise coming from above (maybe slightly behind) you. This is a known "condition" with the cars. In short, the inside support for the sunroof will get a little loose and as the car body flexes on the bumps, it will snap, crackle, pop for you. May be a good way to get some extra money off of the car. You will also have to get used to the "Start-Stop" feature of the car (ie, you pull up to a stop light, the motor will turn off, then as you step on the gas, the engine will re-fire and away you go). It can be a little unnerving the first time you have it happen. I know it drive me nuts when I was getting driven around in London.

 

Thanks for the kind words Thermo.
It will still have the balance of the factory warranty till the end of August, so if I experience the roof pop, while doing the full service when I return to Texas, I'll have them check it out.
I do plan to have the car put on a lift during the inspection to check the underside, i.e. coolant leak.
The batteries have been recently replaced and plan on purchasing a updated radar detector for the long flat stretches.
Based on the age of the car, more that the millage, what would be items that should be addressed during the first service at my local dealership?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Ray

 

Definitely post pics. It's a beautiful drive!

 

Ray, I would have the brakes looked at (odds are had a lot of short trips in its life, so, the front pads may be near the end of life), ensure an oil change has been done recently (if in doubt, have one done so you know when to start the clock), and then do a filter change (air, oil, cabin, seat) to ensure you have good filters all the way around.

Beyond that, it will be the normal fluids to make sure they are where they need to be.

 

Ray,

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine! I think you'll be impressed with the comfort, quality of materials and workmanship, Meridian Surround Sound system, and how much fun it is to drive. Under your right foot is the exhilarator pedal!

Your first service at the Jaguar dealer should be minimal, and include an oil/filter change (important: use only the specified Castrol engine oil). Because it's 3-4 years old, I'd change the brake fluid if that wasn't don't in the last year. Engine air and cabin filters should still be OK. The dealer will do a multi-point inspection and let you know what they find. They might recommend changing the coolant. My XJ has been very reliable, and the coolant was changed at 30K miles when my water pump (a known defect) was replaced under warranty. My dealer found the tell-tale trail of dried coolant when I took it in for an oil change, replaced the pump, and informed me when I picked it up. That's the only real problem I've had.

Have an easy and enjoyable drive back to Houston!.

Stuart

 

Congratulations and, as Stuart said, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine!

Dwayne

 

I have used Valentine1 radar detectors for years and no speeding tickets. Just got the unit for my XJ back after a software update. It was wired into the overhead console by my dealer.

 

Great idea XJsss. I'll look into that.

Thank you all for the great advice. I didn't know that the seats had filters.

Would the 30K miles service include the trans. fluid and filter and rear dif. grease along with more common maintenance items.? I was quoted $1,760 for the service.

 

Ouch! I think that price includes a wallet massage!

Check your Owners Handbook for recommend service at 30K miles. I can't check mine now and am replying from my cellphone, but I doubt that either your transmission or differential are scheduled for service at 30K miles.

 

If that is what your dealer is recommending I'd walk away VERY FAST! I'm attaching the recommended service schedule and it doesn't even mention the electric rear dif or transmission fluid. On a 2013 XK it does recommend trans fliud change at 150k but no mention on XJ, but I'd do it at 150k to be safe. Lastly as the XJ is 3+ years old I would change the brake fluid (I did) and it made the braking feel smoother. Hope this helps. Its really not an expensive car to own.

 

Ask the dealer for a breakdown of the items included in that $1700 quote. Depending whether they are looking at the 3 or 4 year service, the most it should include are replacement of engine oil and filter, air filters, cabin filter, seat filters and brake fluid plus the usual inspections. I just did the 4 year service on my XF Supercharged (same engine) and the oil filter, air filters and cabin filter came out at approx. $100 for genuine parts from Merriam Jaguar (mail order). The seat filters are ridiculously expensive for what they are but take 2 minutes to change and are easily done by yourself. They probably don't need doing to be honest judging by mine after 4 years. So unless the dealer plans on doing something over and above the recommended service, and can justify the need for it, I'd be very wary of that price. Doing the 4th year service myself using the correct specification oil and all genuine parts cost me around $160 not including the seat filters. and took me around 2 hours to do start to finish. Also watch out for dealer supplied wipers which they seem to always want to change. You can pick them up from Tire Rack (Valeo Ultimate OE) for around $40 IIRC). And based on my experience, a wheel alignment seems a popular suggestion from the service advisors but I'd go by the state of your tires and any handling issues you notice. As a comparison, the dealer in Houston quoted me around $700 for the 4th year service with just the items required by the maintenance schedule.

 

The seat filters are a joke anyway. Very easy to remove and clean yourself. Just reach under front of the seats and they twist out.

 

XJsss- Thanks for the attachment. Very Useful.
This car does not have an Owners Manual. I have printed the Owner Handbook and I didn't
see the maintenance schedule. So very helpful.

TXFireblade- Great information, very much appreciate it.

RoonieQ- Glad it is a simple procedure. I think I can handle that one.

Coming out of Portland Ore. going down Hwy 5 to Eugene,I believe we'll swing over to HWY101 and travel down the Pacific Highway to Crescent City, Ca..

From there to Santa Rosa and spend the night at The Vintners Inn. Looks very nice and deep in wine country. I see a tasting at Ferrari-Carrera Winery in my future.

From there I'm questioning the next route to consider. Keeping in mind that my end destination is Houston Tx..I could make good time traveling south on Hwy.5 and catching I-10 out of Bakersfield to head east through to vast wastelands/deserts or...NOT!
Back to 101 sounds more to my liking!

Best,

Ray

 

Suggest making your way to HWY 10 then to the Palm Springs Area and then drop down to HWY 8 and onward east (near Phoenix) We did that route to Houston (we live near Palm Springs in a town called La Quinta and have friends in The Woodlands) last year. After Palm Springs it gets pretty.... well... deserted. Suggest you stop for some sun and enjoy our beautiful February weather here in our valley before you leave California. Great dining options and plenty to see here.

 

Fish, having driven highway 101 between Longview, WA and Eugene, OR, the question becomes how much time you have. Driving 101 is going to be a slow drive (plan on averaging only about 35-40 mph). Very gorgeous drive, but after a few hours, it all starts looking the same. I cannot speak for what the 101 is like once you get into California. But, I would figure that you are going to have more of the same (just nicer weather).

If you do get on the 101 in Oregon, make sure to stop in Tillimook at the cheese factory and there is also a nice winery (Nahalem Bay winery) in that same area too (just off HWY 53, about a mile from HWY 101). Really good wines and their prices are not that bad (make sure to get a full case, they used to toss in 6 more bottles for free). There is also a really good Chowder place in Depot Bay OR (Chowder Bowl, right on 101).

Once you get tired of driving 101, you can find a road that will get you back to I-5 so you can boogie and get to the desert to let the kitty run.

 

If this is a CPO car then they are required to supply all the manuals and maintenance service books.

 

If this is a CPO car then all owner manuals must be supplied. I'm attaching a clip from Jaguar USA web site.

 

Ceckman: Thanks for the suggestion. We will be stopping for the night around Bakersfield and will be jumping on I-10 the next morning and stopping sometime before dark. Need to check Mapquest for that estimate.


Thermo:In all reality, you are probably right. Once I've seen 500 miles of coast line I will be ready to le the Big Cat Eat.
So over the Golden Gate Bridge and heading east to HWY.5 it is down to the Bakersfield area it is.


XJsss:I stand corrected. This is not a CPO car. My bad.

 

Just got back to The Woodlands, TX. from Portland, Oregon picking up my "new to me" Jaguar XJL 5.0L SC. Needless to say on this forum, what an amazing vehicle at more levels than I could have imagined. But what surprised more than anything was to fuel mileage that I averaged over the 2,643 miles. Average speed-74 MPH-Average fuel mileage-27.4MPG.
I'll post a few pictures if I can get some directions on how to do so.

Thanks to all that shared thier wealth of knowledge. It helped reduce the anxiety of purchasing a used car over the internet.

Best,

Ray