I've been away for a while after selling my '07 XKR, but just picked up a new to me '11 XK. Went from black to white and really like the change. I don't think I'm going to obsess quite so much on the paint, although I did spend over five hours with a clay bar, glaze and wax yesterday.

 

Very pretty! How does the performance of the 5.0 compare to the 4.2 S/C? I had the 5.0 in my second XF, and my thinking has been that you could hit the hammer more in the XK with that engine than you can in the XKR.

 

Welcome Back and to the world of 5.0.

 

Jesus, what were you like before? lol

Beautiful car. Did you buy it from a dealer? It looks like it came off the new car lot.

 

Thanks for the responses. I haven't really driven the new car enough to make a comparison, but the salesperson where I bought the car was really surprised when I punched the accelerator once about a block from the car lot and then told him that I didn't need to go any further. It feels just as powerful as the old XKR. The car came from a small car lot that used to only wholesale cars but is getting into marketing on the internet. I found them through autotrader. They are tucked away on the edge of the city, but extremely friendly. Every person who was there that afternoon came up and spoke with us and there was never any pressure. I was really just going to look at this car to possibly drive it and see what the new engine was like, didn't think I would like the color or the chrome wheels. I was driving it home a couple of hours later. I had been to the local Jaguar dealership earlier that day and had walked their lot for 10 minutes without a single person coming out to see if I needed any help.

The car only has 15k miles and was purchased from the local Jaguar dealership originally. There are just a couple of tiny flaws in the paint here and there, but the time spent waxing the other day has really paid off. My last car being black showed every little imperfection. It got keyed at work, and the local dealership royally screwed the paint work when they repaired it. After that I never could look at the car without seeing all of the mismatched paint and poor masking lines.

Sorry, rambling. It's nice to be back.

 

White is one of the best colors for the XK, IMO.

 

Why does it have a black lower and silver top grill in the front?

 

My 2010 XK Coupe is the same with silver top grill and black lower grill.

 

That's how the previous owner "designed" it.

 

That combination is of grills pretty common on the XKs for 2010-11 from what I've seen. I personally like it. Go figure...

 

Beauty! I'm with you re: the woes of a black coupe... Clean and polished, with no swirl marks, I think it is hands down the most stunning rendition of the car. But reality clashes with that ideal. I found another long but shallow scratch along my passenger door the other day, can't see how it could be anything but someone keying it. Can't really feel it with my fingernail, maybe it can be polished or fixed short of respraying the entire door...

White cars are IMO among the lowest maintenance colors, surprisingly to many...

Lovely car, enjoy it!

Skeeter

 

Skeeter, thanks. Sorry to hear about your latest scratch. I think black cars are magnets for idiots who don't have a clue what most of us give up to have something we are proud of. Good luck with getting it buffed out.

 

Indeed, great looking car. Congrats.

On the characteristics of "white" color. Many years ago we used to build our own white-water touring and racing kayaks. Of course those kayaks accumulated lots and lots of scratches from rocks. We learned to always make the bottom hull white since the scratches simply would not show up on the white surface. On anything of color they do. I do have some carbon fiber hulls which are gorgeous when new but, the absolute worst for showing scratches; as if every single scratch would be white colored against the black carbon finish.

Albert

 

Unfortunately, our cars do stand out from the norm of cars parked anywhere. They can be targets. I'm aware of this and would only park in a secure place or valet (where they let me park my own car). Sad world we live in, but it's realty. It's always a shame to have to do paint work to any otherwise "virgin" car.

 

Great looking Jag. Congratulations.

 

I have a Black 2012 XKR. The swirl marks were horrible and i spent a considerable amount of $$$ to get the paint "fixed". Basically they smoothed out the clearcoat and then placed 22ple on it. That is a glass coating that helps to protect the clear coat and at the same time provide a better amount of prorection from major scratches. SO far its amazing.... but indeed if you dont want to spend the money to do that... black becomes a major headache!!!

Loth

 

Lothar52 I have a Black 2012 XKR. The swirl marks were horrible and i spent a considerable amount of $$$ to get the paint "fixed". Basically they smoothed out the clearcoat and then placed 22ple on it. That is a glass coating that helps to protect the clear coat and at the same time.


First love the New XK looks great. Lothar52 can you tell me more about the 22ple? I had mine clayed and waxed but am not aware of 22ple.
Jim

 

22ple VX1 Review, Video How-to, Photos & Where to Buy | Pro Detailing

 

I had mine professionally done at www.esotericdetail.com
The red jag is mine on there as well... its a XKR-S. Its awesome... makes it super shiny and protects from scratches and general damage to clearcoat which causes swirls by how light reflects off the clearcoat. I personally would NOT put anything like that on my car myself...but since you are using a claybar your skills may be better than mine!!!! Check out that website!!!!!!

Loth

 

That website i put in my previous post is Todd Cooperrider's business website in New Albany, OH. Its awesome having a top 9 detailer in the entire US much less the world taking care of my cars!!! YEEHAW!!!

Loth