Hi,
I picked up a 2011 XKR with 23,00 miles a week ago from a Chicago dealer (florida car).
First impression I love the car, I just came from a 2000 Porsche Carrera 4 which I drove to 150,000 before some one drove in the back of it doing 30mph RIP my second P car for the same reason. so being a Brit in America and having worked with Jaguar in the past I thought I'd give the XKR a try.
So thats the good now I have some questions?
I've booked the car into the local dealer tomorrow and asked them to look at the following issues or possible issues.
1 The Check engine light came on on Christmas day shortly after the gas cap open warning appearing twice (it wasn't) the brake pad low warning come on but going away (again there don't look low). The CEl has now gone away.
Are intermittent computer issues common with modern Jag's?
2 Intermittent rough ride at low speed when cold when in Dynamic mode, I thought this was a out of balance tire until it goes away etc! Is it possible for a dynamic damper to to cause ride issues?
3 The drivers seat heater (seat pan) doesn't work is very poor the seat back is hot.
4 There seems to be a lot of wind noise from the top rear of the both passenger windows at 60. I use to evaluate wind noise occasionally for a ford door seal supplier and I would have rated this a 8 out of 10 meaning the supplier should correct a seal, this was 20! years ago European ford escorts (hardly) a premium car.
What are your guys experience is this just normal for the quality of the Jag? this is the only XKR I've driven.
5 The steering wheel heater gets toasty hot but turns off after may be 10 mins but still shows as on in the control, if turned off and on it gets hot again! Is this normal?
Any way thanks in advance guys sorry for the long list!
andy

 

Welcome to the forum.


I'm on my second XKR and haven't experienced any problems. Both of my XKR's are have been rock solid. If you're having these problems after only 1 week of taking possession of the car you should have recourse against the dealer. If you're not happy with the car for undisclosed problems I would return it. I would also do a complete thorough history check on the car, prior service, problems, ownership etc.


To answer your questions. I have none of the problems you mention above. Everything on my XKR works flawlessly. I have about 5,000 miles on it and store it for the winter. My seat heater and cooler works great. My heated steering wheel heats up nicely and only turns off when I switch it off. EDITED: On the other hand I don't think I ever had my heated seat or steering wheel on for more than 10 minutes.


Don't let some unscrupulous used car dealership take advantage of you. If your not happy and they wouldn't take the car back do your research and lawyer up.

 

Regarding point 1 above. When tightening the filler cap after putting petrol or gasoline depending upon how British you want to be. Make sure that you hear a minimum of 3 clicks while turning the knob clockwise; otherwise the filler cap may not be tightened giving you the warning lights cited above.

Regarding point 4 above. XKs and XKRs are designed to have the windows go down slightly when closing the doors and going back up to provide a good seal. Check and see if your windows are operating that way when opening and closing the doors. Another idea; lower the windows part way and then close them and see if either of these two things reduce wind noise.

I'm not sure, but I think the steering wheel heater and seat heaters turn off after ten minutes. Suggest you down load the owner's manual if you didn't get one with the car. To find the owners' manual look at one of the top three or four entries in the xk forum thread or fill in the search box with your year and model number.

Finally welcome to the fold and enjoy your car. And, be careful in the snow!! as a former Chicago boy I remember hearing about significant lake effect snow in your neck of the woods.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the feed back.
I've got the car fax which shows no issues and full service
Pretty sure the filler cap was fully closed but anything is possible.
The windows do operate with the door open / close its possible there going fully up, but won't close further with the button.
I'll let you know what the dealer says.

 

Check the voltage on the battery. All sorts of crazy things can happen on these cars if you don't have a fully charged battery.

 

Congrats and welcome,

+1 on the battery, Tbergs the man. I recently bought an 07 to replace my 97 and found the battery is much more critical on this series.

The battery has been an issue with both throwing all kinds of codes so start there.

Never had an issue on my 97 but with all the added infotainment on the newer models the power requirements are staggering. I read our cars are using 10 amps when fully awake and have three different computer systems.

I had an issue the first week where I washed and detailed the car and because I kept opening and closing things it actually drained the battery in a little over an hour and wouldn't even turn over. I guess there are three systems and if one doesn't shut down correctly it can drain the battery fast.

Many recommend a battery maintainer if it's not a daily driver to avoid these issues.

If you do some forum searches you can learn what to look for.

Mine is a daily driver and I'm also in the Chicago area. Bought winter tires and rims for our wonderful weather. 18" rims with Blizzaks for pot holes and will switch back to the 20's with summer rubber come spring.

Make sure when you exit the car you either lock it with the FOB or little black button on the handle to shut it down. I guess it takes 6 minutes for the cat to shut down when you lock it, 36 minutes if you don't.

Also I agree on the wind noise, compared to the 97 this one has much more noise (road and wind) but I expect that is mainly due to the top design. 97-06 was a sealed, sewn in traditional top whereas the 07 and up use a rubber seal in the rear that presses against the boot ring. At least that is where my wind noise comes from, not the windows so may be different issue.

Good luck, enjoy and forum searches are your best source for info.
This is a wonderful forum with incredibly helpful members.

 

Spray some water lightly around the window edges, does water get into the car?

 

The cars at the shop today.
Apparently the wind noise is typical for a XK coupe surprised but its not intrusive.
The CEL codes were real! but there's a recall with software update to fix false CEL's!
Brakes need replacing soon so there getting done under warranty !! truly amazed and very happy !
The heated seat was turned off in a sub menu some where they will show me where when I pick up the car tomorrow.
So so far very happy with the dealer experiance.

 

The X150 has more like 23 separate computer systems, and yes, it does draw over 10 Amps when powered up. Mine gave me some odd warnings when I first got it, but they went away once the battery was charged; I guess it had spent too much time on a Coventry forecourt. So you may find there are no actual faults.

The seat heaters and wheel heater on mine (MY11) stay on until I turn them off or shut the car down.

 

Great to hear Andy,

These are amazing cars and once you know what to look for they are very reliable.

Had my 97 for 8 yrs and once it hit 220,000 passed off if to my father to enjoy after I picked up the 07.

Missed the part about coupe but kinda surprised they have wind noise. Definitely wouldn't have guessed that, probably why I thought vert.

And thanks to Ngarara for clearing up the computer systems. Good to know, I'm still new to the X150 series but learning.

 

Good to hear you're working things out. The dealer you bought the car from should have taken care of this for you before selling the car.

 

Have a 2010 xk coupe, there is NO wind noise. Agree with checking for leaks in window seals. These cars are very quiet inside and very solid! Also highly recommend CTEK 3300 battery maintainer. Avoids a lot of weird things with these otherwise superb cars. I fought getting one for a year, should have bought one when I got the car. Enjoy!

 

I have had a 2006 XJ8 and a 2007 XKR and they both had what I would describe as wind noise around the side view mirrors (I think they are the same design, but I'm not sure) at highway speeds. I wonder if this is the same sound!

 

Since you have both a coupe and convertible, I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the pros and cons of each. I test drove both, but being dealer cars, I drove them both very sedately and didn't really appreciate the difference other than the glory of having the open sky all around the convertible. I bought the convertible because I've never had one and envision excursions through the mountains nearby and by the beach when I make my trips back to my hometown...and just cruising around town. I really like the looks of the coupe, but have had 'similar' experiences in a '77 Firebird in my youth...wanted something a little different. I read that the handling is a little bit better in the coupe and the 0-60 is better too. What are your thoughts?

 

I get a little wind noise around the drivers side at the attach point on the canvas roof when the wind is headed in a specific direction. It happens at speeds anywhere from 40 to 80 and is very intermittent. It isn't often, maybe 5% of the time than I'm in the car. As an example, when I was driving across Indiana, when a wind gust came, it would be accompanied by a little extra noise on the drivers side window at that connect point. I can hear road noise much more clearly in general in comparison to my XJ, but the XJ is remarkably quiet. I hear outside noise more clearly from the right rear than at any other point, but that's probably because there's a direct line from that canvas section of the roof to my ear without the benefit of a headrest or a window in the way.

 

A convertible will always be somewhat noisier than a Coupe. Bottom line is....do you want the wind in your hair? or the exotic lines of the Coupe? I'm an old timer, so I've had my share of convertibles.....Living in Florida, I need to stay out of the sun, not under it...but that was my choice. You'll have a blast no matter which one you choose.

 

apples and oranges. Just sold the vert, coupe is a little tighter, definitely sexier looking. '10 coupe also more powerful. Living in Fla I also have had my share of verts. They are both great cars, can't go wrong either way just need to decide if you want a drop top or not.

 

Thanks. I bought the convertible a couple months, but am always interested in hearing thoughts. I'm thinking down the road about the next car because the F-Type Coupes look pretty good.

 

Interesting comments here about the noise in the cabin. I'll have to take a ride in a coupe but my convert is pretty quiet. I don't get any wind noise even up to 80 mph so it would be interesting to see the difference. I've only had 3 converts as all of the rest were coupes but I can say this is the quietest one yet. It even beats some of my coupes. I did notice something when I 1st got the car and that is the side windows stick out about 1/4" from the rear windows. I don't know if this is because it needs to be adjusted or if it is the design so the air flows over the joint. Also while taking it through the touchless car wash there isn't a leak anywhere.

 

I'll look into the noise more, the dealer said it was normal but its very poor for a 100k plus grand toured my old Carrera convertible had less with the hood up The strange thing is its both doors so it may be normal.
Although it takes the deg off its not really a big issue, just a shame I'd hoped for better.