Hello All,
I am a 4 time Jag owner looking for my 5th.
Jag #4, a 2004 XJ, was the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Once out of warranty it delivered a serious problem, usually requiring a flat bed to the Jag. shop, approx. every 4 months. Finally a month ago my long suffering wife said "No more, I am not being driven in this car any more, I am tired of waiting for a tow truck on the side of freeways". I should add, at this point, that I adored the car: sublime handling, supple ride, exquisite walnut and leather etc.
Well I traded it in on a E550 Mercedes which I absolutely detest! Four hundred lbs. heavier, very poor ride, numb steering, the V8 power not safely useable because of the inferior handling and worst of all The Infuriating Controller ["I drive" in BMW speak] which is stupid and very non intuitive and dangerous to use while driving.
My question is: Can a 2009 X358 be as unreliable as my 2004?? [Don't like the new XJ shape, sorry]

 

I am a new member looking for some advice please.
I had an extremely unreliable 2004 XJ which I adored but which my wife got tired of sitting in waiting for tow trucks. I traded it in on a Mercedes E550 which, to my great surprise, I find to be a greatly inferior car in all important respects [except reliability!] and which I can't wait to get rid of. My question, to the esteemed members of this forum: Is the 2008/09 X358 generally a reliable car? Did problems with air suspension, throttle bodies, fuel pumps, ignition coils etc. get sorted out
Thank you for your input, in advance. [I should add that, unfortunately I dislike the styling of the new XJ, so that is not an option]

 

I vouch for the reliability of the X350, if it's taken care of. I'm close to turning over 200k miles on mine. I swapped out the air suspension for steel coils, which I'm happy with. Transmission pan/filter and fluid changes. Went through an emissions malfunction that turned into new plugs, fuel injectors, O2 sensors, and cat, but it was a lot of fun to do myself. I'd definitely buy another one and not shy away from higher miles. The engine purrs and is really strong.

 

These cars were never perfect, but being towed off a freeway 3 times a year is certainly not something they were renowned for. From my perspective, having owned mine since 2010 and done 60k miles in the car, they do suffer from what I call "unfair wear and tear" in the area of suspension parts, and a few other components that need replacement earlier than one would expect. However roadside breakdowns are almost never reported on this forum, and I suspect your dealer has been less than efficient in dealing with your problems.

If you could tell us a little more about what the problems were, more advice can be given, but I would not hesitate to buy a 2008 or 9 car of this model provided it had been looked after properly. Your Mercedes will also have its faults, I'm sure.

I have to say your tale of woe indicates a dealer that is not up to scratch at all. If you're going to buy another, maybe look around for an independent Jaguar shop not involved in sales. They live or die on how well they look after your car.

 

+1 on the above, my X358 has never yet let me down in around 14 moths and approx. 12k miles


I have had it in for various fixes and upgrades which I had planned for and all at reasonable costs due to this forum and its members

 

Thanks for your response Fraser,
I started out using the Jag dealership where I purchased the car but it was bought out and closed a year later. Then used a Jag dealership many miles away. Not impressed and used an independent shop closer to home.
You asked for some more details but not sure how much room there is here but here are a few:
2009. Air susp. failed in heavy traffic. Flat bed
2009. Stalled, PCV assy. Flat bed
2010, Throttle body Flat bed
2010. Fuel pump failure at 75 MPH in 5th lane of San Diego Fwy. Flat bed
2010. Parking brake motor failed. Flat bed
2010. Refused to start. ?? Flat bed
2011. Alarm micro switch set off siren. Flat bed
2011. Fuel pressure sensor failed. Flat bed
Running out of room here. Subsequent failures: Throttle body again, vac leak intake manifold, 5 ignition coils etc etc etc. 2012 '13 '14 and '15.
Must emphasize that the car was always garaged, serviced annually and washed and waxed weekly. It was a 99 point car.

 

Concours.....Can you edit the article and put the amount of miles at each fix. That would be interesting info.

 

Sounds like you got a real lemon there ! However you log nothing from 2004 to 2009. Did you have the car from new in 2004 or purchase around 2009 ?

You put "flat bed" against all the events. So was the car un-driveable, or was that the way the shop picked up cars for repairs and service ? Reason I ask is because almost all the items on your list have been seen before in here, but not all of them make the car undriveable.

What sort of miles are on the car now ?

 

+1 on the car sounding like a lemon.


Also as Fraser say, It's strange the amount of "flat bed" recoveries for certain repairs, never seen that.


I suggest that either the dealer / recovery just did it that way and or ( no offence meant ) that the OP perhaps wasn't informed enough to realise the severity / or not of the issues involved?

 

It does seem an exceptionally unreliable car for an X350, I don't think I have seen a series of issues like this before all on a single car. OK, there is nothing new on the individual faults list, and yes, I have had to spend money on parts I didn't expect to wear out when they did, and also got a short period of "Limp Mode" but the car remained driveable. In the Owner Manual it tells you if the red fault light comes on the car should not be driven further, but with the yellow fault light one should take it for inspection as soon as possible but to carry on driving.

 

Thanks for your interest and posts Fraser and LCM.
Being new to this forum I don't know how much room I have here to relate all the details. Plus most of my records went when I traded the car. But here is a little more info.
Almost all of the problems listed earlier which noted "flat bed" indicate that the car went into "limp home" mode and as it is dangerous to drive on most freeways , or even surface streets in LA at that speed this necessitates a tow/flatbed.
I purchased the car from the local Jag dealer [Which closed a year later] in 2008 with 36,000 miles showing [ they took in my 1998 XJR in trade ] and also a 2 year extended warranty. When I sold the car earlier this year it had 58,900 miles on the odo.
Since ownership: 18 failures. Pathetic
60 days out of service. Unacceptable
$11,045.00 total repairs Reasonable
Miles driven: Approx. 20,000.
Dare I buy an X358???

 

Again I add that amount of work needed seems unusual, possibly poor maintenance ( if any ) by the PO
assuming as you say you had a warranty, weren't most of not all of these items covered?
As part of that warranty, did you get a courtesy car?
Still a pain I know, but.......
Things have moved on somewhat to be fair, but, it's still reliant on getting necessary checks done PRIOR to buying the vehicle to insulate yourself as much as possible.
That combined with the much better reliability of the newer vehicles and the not inconsiderable knowledge available on this forum, will see you through.


If you're still unsure or not convinced perhaps better look elsewhere? That may be especially true as you seem to have more than a little residual issues with the brand?

 

Agree with the above, your luck is worse than usual but I had throttle body and air suspension issues before 25K miles. Question is, how will you ensure that any 2008-9 model you buy won't be another lemon? I agree with you that the new XJ is a bit unfortunate wrt exterior styling.

Oh, and it's the internet...take all the room you need...

 

I have a new theory, (based on my own experience !!!), that buying a car with low mileage, but outside the warranty period is no guarantee of good running. Reason I say this is that the first owner never gets to find out the issues that occur on a brand new model within the warranty period, and its the poor old second owner who has to deal with them all, but without a warranty, of course !! The X350 model was late to market, and I believe Ford fired the manager in charge ! It had been intended to be on sale before the X-type but that car came out first. A lot of attention was needed to get the aluminium technology sorted out, so I suspect less attention was paid to other issues that we have all seen here on this forum.

In my case the car was one-owner and seven years old at purchase and on just over 30k miles. Yet before 7k miles were completed in my ownership, I needed a new suspension air compressor ! I have to say I've never been stranded at the roadside, and whilst I once had the car go into "Limp" mode, I turned off the engine, restarted and 'Limp' disappeared so I got home OK. However that was the year I had troubles with two TCM reflashes finally getting the gearbox back into good operation, and its been OK ever since, apart from the "hunting" syndrome.

I am quite convinced that various components on the car were found not to be satisfactory by Jaguar based on warranty experience, and changes were made. My air compressor is an example of this, as it was fitted at 38k miles, yet the car is now on 91k and all is OK with the suspension, (knock on wood !!). So the 2nd compressor has now worked for 53k miles.

Anyway, all of this rambling is just to say that I don't think 'concours' should worry too much about buying an X358

 

So the consensus concours, is that you bought a lemon. That said, a few of the items you listed are not uncommon in the X350. I haven't read anything that indicates these have been improved upon in the X358, so your question appear to remain largely unanswered..

Bottom line is these are high end cars, top of the line IMO. They are over engineered, period.

I still love mine and will tolerate any defects, myself.

Comparing them to the e-class is apples and oranges. I agree the e class is no class. Aside from outstanding cornering, the car is a bigger crap shoot than anything I've owned. I traded mine in for a cadillac.

I did own the S class as well and our XJ's are better compared to that model. S-Class has the same air suspension issues, several SRS issues, etc... Again, over engineered.

These "over-engineered" parts will eventually be commonplace on mass produced cars, like multiple air bags, electronic seat memory, rain sensing windshields, 7+ speed transmissions, lane veering warnings, blind spot warnings, bluetooth, hands free phone, front end collision warnings, variable cruise control, aluminum bodies....

Our cars blaze those trails and each have had pain points. The ones you mention have solutions. It helps to love DIY admittedly. Secondary are deep pockets. They aren't cheap, never have been and never will be.

What say you? Are you taking the plunge?

 

Thanks for your cogent comments Sean.
I have owned Cadillac's in the past and unfortunately will take a bath on the E550 if I trade it in now. I think that my problem lies with my utter disappointment with the Mercedes. My everyday driving has been Jags for many years and Ferraris on weekends both perfect in their way. But Jag owners suffer the jibes of non Jag owners [at least in LA] and come to believe that Mercedes sedans [saloons?] are similar but more reliable. Well surprise, surprise mine is not even close. my daughter's Jetta is a much better drive.
So the consensus of all you guys is that my X350 was a lemon and the X358 was sorted out and much more reliable. Great bath time! I will now start a search for a low mileage, pristine 2008/9 XJ. Thank you all.

 

If you do take the leap.....remember we're here 247 to help as and when required.


Good luck and happy hunting

 

Any update concours?

 

Also wondering??

 

Yeah, we're hoping for an update. I love my X358!!