Dochands,

If I were you, I would be more concerned about Park Place Motorcars than I would be about the Jaguar brand. Park Place dominates the entire luxury car market throughout the DFW metroplex. I have purchased five automobiles from various Park Place franchises over the past ten years, and have had extensive experience with their dealerships.

If you're looking for luxurious showrooms and service department waiting rooms, Park Place is your best bet. If you're looking for honest, efficient, and competent automobile maintenance and service, I don't think you will find it there. In a nutshell, my experience with Park Place Motorcars service is that they are slow, dishonest, and careless.

Two of the more glaring issues I experienced with Park Place service were that they damaged the hood of my MB S430 by closing it on a wrench, and that they lied to me about my S550 needing a new headlight assembly when the only problem was a faulty bulb.


Now on to the Jaguar XJL issue. Before you buy the car, just be aware that it WILL have pops, rattles, buzzes, and squeaky creaking noises after you have driven it a few hundred miles. These items can't be repaired, because they are inherent in the materials used to manufacture the vehicle. The car is full of brittle plastic which is quite noisy when flexed. If you need proof, use your finger to apply very gentle pressure to the black plastic trim which surrounds then center video display and control center buttons.

The bottom line is that if your not particularly irritated by noises, you'll enjoy the new Jaguar. If I were deaf, I would absolutely LOVE mine. I purchased it from Autobahn Jaguar in Fort Worth, and overall, dealing with their service department has been a much better experience than that of Park Place.

 

Hhaahaha.... I guess the X351 isn't an old man's car--it is a deaf man's car.

 

I have never owned a high end car that didn't develop a few minor squeaks and rattles after driving it for a while (including my wife's MB E550 coupe)--there is just no way to keep this from happening and one must have a little tolerance for this or it will make you crazy (sometimes it's weather related--some noises occur more in extreme heat or cold due to expansion and contraction of various materials). I would not say that there are any more of these noises in my XJ than in my previous cars or that Jaguar has used an abundance of cheap materials that would cause this. On the other hand, the roof popping was definitely a problem for me, but, fortunately, my dealer fixed it permanently--it did take them a couple of stabs at it, though, since some of the TSB's were not out yet.

 

Having just traded my 11 XJ for an 11 C63 AMG, I am enjoying developing my initial impressions about differences between the cars. I'll post more as I find the nuances of the AMG car, but I am impressed with the Germans so far. I agree very strongly with Aaviation that the underpinnings of the XJ seem to be of cheaper quality than some of the other luxury cars. I don't have much to prove that other than almost 10 trips to the dealer for noises throughout the car.

 

I appreciate the advice and I know the dealer and his service staff can make all the difference in the world.

For better or worse it will be serviced in Tulsa not Dallas. They just had the color and price I was looking for but I have sent several emails to the sales person based on what I have read on this forum. At least now there is a paper trail if an issue develops and TSBs are not done as promised. Sad I have to even think like this but I am a realist.

I recently starting riding a Can Am Spyder and dealer service is a constant topic on that forum. In my youth I was often the early adopter of new performance vehicles and I know that a couple of them that were disasters were so because of an incompetent service department. It prompted me to take night courses in auto repair but frankly just didn't have any aptitude for it. lol

I have been lucky since then and have not had any disastrous toys. Though my airplane was an issue until I changed FBOs because the owner let his son take over. LOL

As you can tell I am an active forum participant so I will reporting my joys and travails. Maybe that Arden sport exhaust I want will throat up the exhaust and drown out the squeaks. LOL

 

I respectfully disagree. After second roof work noise was done with all the items in the TSB and a few sticky foam items added to roof liner clips, ALL ROOF NOISES ARE GONE! And that is for 3 months now and over 4k miles on crappy Chicago roads. Just takes the right technician. It's not a matter of the materials, but the way they are assembled in production.

 

Ditto. a) ultimately my dealer did fix all noises permanently and b) my CLS63 also had a few minor interior noises. Also fixed after the first few weeks. I am VERY noises sensitive but I am also aware that most passengers never even notice the noises I hear.
Keep in mind the materials coming together, temperature challenges and related expansion from subzero temperatures up to 120F interior temperatures and the needed flex in the car's body. Once the roof noise issue (a clear production procedure flaw) was fixed, the XJ was just a s good noise wise or better) as my previous X5, CLS63 and Lexus GX470.

 

I've been talking to the sales manager He quoted the TSB number for the roof fix and will confirm its done.

I've also asked for a printed list of completed TSBs to document that they are done.

Thanks to your posts and the forum hopefully all that can be done will be done.

 

I thought the hi vin cars didn't have the roof pop issues

 

Yes they still have the roof noises my first XJL was in the high 15000 vin numbers

 

Lots of plastic and a few noises in my wifes MB E550 coupe. Her solution? Turn up the radio! There is no such thing as a car that doesn't make any noises after a few thousand miles and extreme temperature differentials.

 

Sure there is. Try a Lexus LS.

 

I purchased my 2011 XJ with 6500 miles on it from a local Jag dealer. I took the car for a 250 mile round trip to Dover Delaware before I purchased it, and the roof didn't pop like this at all during that trip. As posted earlier, it only makes that noise when the car is moving from a level plane to an angled plane such that one of the front wheels is not on the same plane as the other front/other two rear wheels. This typically occurs when pulling into a driveway while turng 90 degrees from the road, for example.

I was thinking that the number of penetrations (sunroofs) Jaguar put in this roof causes the roof to flex under these conditions, thereby generating the popping noise. If there is a dealer fix to this problem, I'll be greatful.

 

Mine did the same thing under those exact conditions and my dealer fixed it permanently.

 

I beg to differ--had one and it had a few leather-to-leather squeaks and dash rattles too.

 

My Jag is in the shop yesterday and today to fix (hopefully) the rear directional light problem as well as the roof pops. The service man told me tonight that he believes he has solved the popping problem, and is still working on the light issue. At least they were able to duplicate that issue while they had it in the shop.

 

Mine is in the dealer now for the roof popping, I emailed the tsb Gears sent me and the service manager told me that was the old tsb for the first production low vin cars, that was the reason they gave me a second brand new car.
He said he would double checking it wasn't done then will do it.
I found it odd, because I drove with a tech and he told me he was aware of the popping and he will fix it, I mentioned the manager telling me the tsp was older models and his answer was he' ll fix it.
I pray so.

 

My second XJL Supercharged is still in the shop. The Tech corrected one rattle in the dash and is now trying to locate the other rattles

 

Hi,
it is correct that the TSB is fairly "old". However, there isn't a new one out at that time and the dealer should check if all of the TSB issues are not present in your car. One major noise source for "popping noise" are metal joints covered with paint. Simply taking a knife and cutting / scraping the paint out will fix it. Dealers should all be aware of it. Isn't it a stupidly simple cause and fix to such an annoying problem?

Either way, my message to all the doubters and complainers: My car was permanently and completely fixed without any considerable invonvinience to me. A simple visit and now my car is as it should be.

 

I would like to add a comment to all the readers to keep the following in mind:
There are some people who seem to have legitimate "lemon cars" just like the exist from any brand.
There seem to be some people they won't be happy with the car, no matter what. Whatever the source, unrealistic expectations or buyer's remores.
Jaguar now must have built I guess around 30,000 of those cars. Now if you check the people posting the major problems (I am not talking about the ones with small legitimate problems or questions) you will find how many? A handful may be?

You see where I am going with this. Out of 30,000 plus cars it is quiet normal that you have a share of a) unhappy customers for whatever resons and b) the occassional car which turns out to be a complete lemon.

But again, see the numbers. No goe to any BMW or Mercedes board and check there.
In other words, Jaguar is just as good or as bad as the other brands. But, in my view, the car is a lot more exciting in many aspects than the cars of those other brands.

Just my personal view for consideration.