Hi guys, I just picked up a 2009 XJ for my son's first car. It's a beauty. We've only had it a couple of days, but one thing seems not quite right. It seems to
be a bit bouncy going over speed bumps, and especially the right rear. There are no error messages. It's as if the shocks don't rebound quick enough ? We
have a Range Rover Sport with air suspension and it feels solid, the Jag feels a little Jello-y. The compressor seems to be working fine. Anybody had a
similar experience ? TIA.

 

That is one heck of a first car! (mine was an '87 XJ6!)

Regarding the air suspension in this model...it sucks. I had two X350s and they would always bottom out over speedbumps and dips. Regarding overall ride quality, one day the suspension would feel great...the next day, it was crap...same roads, same conditions, no explanation. My X351 with 20" wheels feels like a magic carpet compared to those terrible X350 shocks.

 

Lovely car, if that were to be a youngsters first car here in the UK I would guess the insurance premium would be maybe £25000 a year !!!!
As an example for an 18 year old youngster here a 1 litre engine run around car worth maybe £1500 would probably cost £2000 for the insurance.

 

The fact that one side seems bouncy compared to the other could indicate that one of the rear suspension units has been replaced but the other hasn't; indeed even possibly that the replacement only has a single setting damper (with a resistor to fool the suspension module) rather than one with a proper two-state (CATS) damper.

It would be worth having a look.

 

Good God man, that's more than twice what I paid for the car ! Do you all have a lot of accidents ? It is going to be rough though for insurance.
I'm curious about settings on the dampers. We'll have to get out there and look at them I guess.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the suspension. All x350's feel like they bottom out on low speed bumps. Many people name the air suspension as the worst piece of design on the x350, but I don't mind it that much. You will likely get used to it.

 

Our insurance companies are ridiculously expensive for new drivers, it does not really drop very much until they hit 25 years old, so difficult for the youngsters.


My first X350 had 212000 miles when I traded it, I had to change out 2 shockers but that was down to air leaking , my current X350 has 176000 miles on it, I have had it since 116000 miles and not changed anything on the suspension yet.
Strange you do not have " car to low" or similar messages up , will be interested to hear what the problem turns out to be, maybe control arms or bushes possibly ? They are a common fault but not sure if they will make the car bounce though.