Greetings,

I'm in the market for a slightly used XJL Portfolio. I was able to finally drive a newer one with the 8 speed transmission and the start/stop feature.

I must admit that I did not care for the start/stop at all. I think I would have to disengage that every time I got into the car.

Secondly, I did not feel that the 8 speed transmission worked very well in town. It seemed as though it couldn't decide which gear it wanted to be in....as if it was hunting, so to speak and therefore made it feel unsettling to me.

So I am on the look out for a really clean, low mileage 2012 which I believe was the last year for the 6 speed tranny and doesn't have the "annoying to me" start/stop feature.

I'm curious how owners of the 2012 XJL feel your car has been holding up? Do you feel it has been reliable? Any issues with motor, tranny, electronics, HVAC, sunroof, etc, etc. I'm looking for the 5.0L natural aspirated engine, by the way.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me!
No Regrets

 

I am about to turn in my '12 XJL following a 3 years lease. It has been most reliable with no component failures, at all, after 29,000 miles.

For me the car presented a dilemma. Loved the looks, the comfort, the prestige but, really hated the ride. I have 2 other Jags and a new '15 Stingray with a stiffened set of shocks, swaybars but, every one of those cars ride better than my XJL. The XJL always had this low level vibration coming through the chassis and the steering wheel that bothered me to no end. It is at low enough levels that would not be even noticeable for some people, such as my wife. Seems to be fairly common complaint from a small segment of the owners.

I love the the car but, I am turning it in at the lease-end, solely because of the unresolved (by Jaguar) ride issues and keeping the XF and the XKR.

 

I have an '11 XJL with ~41,000 miles and am delighted with it.

It's a large car with limited trunk (boot) space (for it's size), and wide door sills that bruise the legs of smaller passengers getting in, with a GPS system that sucks even after updating, and brake dust build-up on it's wheels that drives you crazy. Outside of under-hood (bonnet) insulation that sags at the edges, and a rear view camera that comes on slowly, I don't have any complaints.

Although a bit difficult to maneuver and park due to its size, the tilt-down passenger rear-view mirror and back-up camera help a lot.

Mine has the Adaptive Front Lighting with intelligent high beam, sensors that react to the cars speed, steering input and environmental light conditions, and smoothly alters the power, direction and spread of the Bi-xenon high intensity low/high beam headlamps, along with cornering lamps activated by steering position or turn signals, a self-leveling rear air suspension, and auto-dimming interior rear view mirror make driving this car at night a joy (especially for folks who begin to lose some of their night vision).

I find the ride, quietness, handling and responsiveness of this car is outstanding, especially after upgrading to Continental ExtremeContact DWS ultra-performance all-season tires.

 

Thanks axr6 for your reply! Do you think the vibration you feel is due to the extra long wheel base of the XKL or something else entirely. Could it be the tires or alinement maybe?

To date, I've only had the opportunity to drive two XJL's. The first was a brand new 2015...didn't notice any vibrations, but the transmission in town was unsettling to me as it was hunting for the proper gear. The second was a very used and abused, high mileage 2011 that was clearly not taken well care of. This car did not hunt for any gears, but there was a severe vibration to it along with many other issues. It was sad to see such a beautiful automobile be so neglected!

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. It is much appreciated!

Best wishes,
No Regrets

 

Thank you John for your reply! I have found a '12 Portfolio XJL that I have interest in that is equipped with the Adaptive Front Lighting, such as yours. I am happy for that feature as I think it is very beneficial.

In regards to the brake dust....is it that it makes the chrome rims look dirty or is it squeally and noisy when braking?

What is it about the navigation that you don't like? Is it not accurate or difficult to use, or jittery and smooth? I test drove a Lexus RX350 yesterday and that navigation was very jittery and annoying to view.

Thank you for the tip on the tires!

Best wishes,
No Regrets

 

Definitely not a tire issue. I changed the factory tires after only 2K miles hoping that the issue was with the tires. I had them balanced and the alignment checked a number of times. Had one shock changed and still no resolution. The ride has improved after about 20K miles but, still unacceptable as a whole. Now, I have to say that the the issue is pretty much limited to freeway speeds as the ride is smooth below 65 MPH.

I had the dealer's mechanic declare the ride, "abnormal" when I directed him to drive at 70 MPH. Still, no resolution, other than denial from the higher ups at Jaguar. Quite disappointed as I would have loved the car (and Jaguars in general) if the ride was decent. At least I can say that i still love my XKR and XF. For the XJL, finally, good riddance within a month...

Be sure to conduct a long test drive, involving all speeds and road surfaces. My car is particularly bad on new blacktop surfaces, seemingly reacting to the slightly rough surface finish, transmitting that very slight corse road surface to the whole chassis and the steering wheel.

 

If the car has very large wheels (like 20") with very low profile tyres the ride can be very harsh. This applies to all cars not just Jaguar. Hard to figure that Jaguars used to fit 215/70 15 tyres !! These gave the familiar boulevard ride, now sadly gone.

 

The brakes don't squeal, but their wear dust makes the wheels look dirty (i.e. black) as on many other cars, after only a relatively few miles of use. I had the same problem on my '09 Corvette and solved it by going to ceramic brake pucks and caliper covers, which I already have purchased for the Jag, but am awaiting for my warranty to expire before installing them (Jaguar wouldn't honor their warranty if I instal non-OEM components).

The Jaguar GPS is slow, clumsy to use, and lacks many of the features available on a Garmin GPS (speed limits, your speed, accurate ETA, realistic views of upcoming exits, lifetime updates, etc., etc.) Plus I prefer that the GPS sit atop the instrument panel nearer my line of sight when viewing traffic ahead, rather than 12 inches further down, and off axis from my line of sight.

My Garmin has a 7 inch diagonal viewing screen versus the 8 inch screen in the Jag's center console, but being higher and square to rather than off axis to my line of sight, the Garmin screen appears larger and is easier to read.

Thus I can leave the Garmin screen devoted to navigating, and use the Jag center console screen for viewing climate, comfort, and/or entertainment system settings. In this way I have some 50% more information available to me in my cockpit than Jaguar owners without a separate navigation screen.

Likewise, the Continental tires provide superior hydroplaning resistance, wet traction, ride comfort, snow and ice traction, noise comfort, longer life and less unsprung weight than the OEM tires, plus come with a 50,000 mile warranty and lifetime road hazard replacement.

I also installed Jaguar front and rear splash guards, privacy glass tinting for rear seat passengers, plus a host of other upgrades for my "limo" passengers.

In many respects I view the cars I buy from the original manufactures as a starting point, rather than the final verdict on the worth of the car.

Bottom line: the Jaguar XJL with the naturally aspirated 5.0 L is one hell of a great starting point. Equipped with proper tires, the ride, handling and performance in all weather conditions, except in snow over 4 inches deep, is superb.

 

Albert, what brand and model of tires did you remove and replace them with?
I have the Pirelli Zero Nero's on ours now, and want to collect input on different tire options before I need to replace them.
Thanks!

 

I replaced the 19" Pirelli Zero Nero tires with Hankook V12s since I had the Hankooks before on a Jag and they worked well. The Hankook handles slightly better due to its much higher speed ratings and stiffer construction. The Pirellis are only HR rated for speeds up to 130 MPH and have softer sidewalls. I'd say the Pirellis should be fine for the XJL, given the softer sidewalls and the fact that the XJL is speed limited to something just over 110 MPH. I switched only because I was hoping that the ride would improve with a different set of tires, which it did not. The one difference that was noticeable that the Hankooks were definitely quieter than the Pirellis over pavement irregularities.

 

Interesting comment about the 8 spd tranny in the 2015. I have the 8 spd in mine paired with the V8 NA engine and it's been incredibly good; one of my greatest likes about the XJL.

I agree with the comments on the GPS - it could be a lot better. I tracked mine against Google Maps on my cell phone and found some accuracy issues that would make me a little nervous about relying on the on-board navigation system exclusively if I truly didn't know where I was going. In fairness, I have found this to be true for virtually every OEM navigation system I've used --- none are as good as third party devices. To date, the best on-board system I've used is the one that comes with Porsche.

You can also put me down in the camp as having had no ride quality issues thus far. I do think the OEM tires can be improved upon and I plan to replace mine with the Continentals as well when the time comes.

I will also add that it's been somewhat of an adjustment getting used to parking this beast, Lol. But the one thing I'm very careful to avoid is pulling too far up to a parking stop because the front bumper is very low and will certainly be damaged if you touch up to the stop.

Overall, really enjoy this car very much!

 

Thank you so much John for a very detailed and well thought out reply to my questions. You have been extremely helpful to me and want you to know it is much appreciated!

Best wishes,
No Regrets

 

Thank you for your comments, especially for the tip about getting to close to the parking stop up front!

I will be test driving another newer XJL with the 8 speed trans again soon to give it another try. I'd want to love this transmission so that I can find a 2013 or newer with AWD as I live in Wisconsin with terrible winters. If I go with the 2012, I'll have to deal with changing to snow tires every winter and back to the summer tires every spring. Not liking the inconvenience or costs of that idea.

Thanks again,
No Regrets

 

Hi John,

Another quick question if you don't mind...
In regards to cleaning the brake dust off of the wheels...is it difficult? Do you need to do anything special?

Thanks,
No Regrets

 

Nope, do NOT use any kind of special brake dust cleaner. Just wash it with the remaining soapy car wash water, after you are done cleaning the main body of the car.
Then apply some Armor All Wheel dust repellant, apply some nice tire shine, and you will be good to go!

 

I had the rear main seal replaced at 60k miles. It was weeping a bit. Not a big issue, but an expensive fix if done by the dealer. You have to remove the transmission to get to it. That means removing the oil in the engine, detaching the trane cooler lines, replacing the seal, and adding transmission fluid. This is the same transmission that is in Land Rovers, BMWs, etc. Not an uncommon issue around 50k miles. You have to look for it, my dealers scheduled maintenance didn't notice it.

 

I look after the servicing of a relative's 2013 XJL and it has been pretty good so far. The alignment on this X351 tends to need adjusting a lot more than my 2005 X350 does though. Pot holes really put the alignment out - perhaps the R20 tires have something to do with this as my older X350 has R18.

I noticed the '13 XJL was leaking some brown/red liquid that was showing up on his garage floor from passenger side about under the door handle. Not oil. First warranty repair for the car as it stained a 6 inch wide red/brown mark on the floor so something must be causing it. Took it to the Jaguar dealership yesterday (it is under warranty) and picked it up today. Here is their report from the invoice:

Advisor: "Customer says something brown-red is leaking under the car".

Tech: "Customer complaint verified. Pressure tested cooling for leaks. Removed and replaced throttle body seal cooler lines due to leak. Also found reaction with heat shield on right side of exhaust due to split in shield. Coolant was reacting with the exposed metal and producing red-brown rusty liquid that was dripping off underside of car prompting customer complaint. Sealed shield. Problem resolved".

 

Thanks LiquidIce for the tips! Much appreciated!

 

Cheers mate, you are most welcome. I will say that the front brake calipers of my car had some rust showing on the façade, and they were replaced under warranty (after I complained about them to Mike@Jaguar on this forum), but the dealership suspected that the rust had been caused by whatever wheel cleaner solution the previous owner (or even the dealership) was using.
Since then I use only Zaino car wash and wax products and do it all myself, not even taking it to these touchless Laser car washes and making it very clear to my dealer not to wash my car when I take it in for servicing. Ever since I haven't had any issues and I routinely get compliments that my car shines like a "diamond"!

 

No not really. I typically use ArmorAll Extreme Wheel & Tire Cleaner, a foaming spray, and then immediately run my car through a "brush-less" high pressure car wash.

Their will still be a dry residue of black brake dust left on the wheels, but this can easily be removed with an old wet chamois dedicated to such use (as opposed to body or glass), or paper toweling.

Another product I would recommend is, after cleaning your wheels, spray them with ArmorAll Wheel Protectant, which repels brake dust, and makes subsequent dust clean-off even easier.

And no, I'm not an ArmorAll sponsor, I'm just passing-on what I have found in terms of products that seem to help the brake dust problem.

Again, in my opinion, ceramic brake pads combined with caliper covers seem to be the most effective solution to brake dust deposits, but others may have other suggestions.