Unfortunately for me, I happen to be one of those ocd over the top **** people who look at everything under a magnifying glass with regards to body gaps, fit, and proper aligning to adjacent body parts. After watching Richzak's link to a great video on XK factory production, I was impressed on how much effort Jaguar puts into getting their cars right and being on top of quality control. This is why I was kind of surprised to see 2 examples on my car where 1) the rear trunk lid was off on one side where it butted up to the light assembly and fine on the other side. 2) driver's door center body line at handle did not butt up to the rear quarter precisely. Of course no one but me would ever notice this, but never the less, I was somewhat surprised to see it. When I showed this to a 2 different body shops, both told me it was completely factory and original and was a factory error. Go figure.

 

If your car is still under the factory warranty, your Jaguar dealer should be able to adjust the trunk lid and driver's door for free and get them into proper alignment. If not, you may want to pay the dealer or a knowledgeable body shop to do so.

 

It is under warranty, but my concern ( and I have no body shop experience) is that the adjustment screws might be factory painted, and I don't want to lift the paint from them and alter anything away from the originality. I would always prefer to have it original. Not sure if the adjustment bolts are painted.

 

When I got my new XKR I went over it completely and could not find a flaw. I'm very impressed with the quality of the finish. I had to lightly remove all the acid rain marks and swirls by fastidiously detailing the entire car--mainly the top. The paint imperfections were from dealer neglect. However, I enjoyed making my car perfect.


If your imperfections are not too bad I wouldn't worry about them or let them bother you--they make your car unique.

 

I feel for you my friend, being somewhat **** myself (I keep a clipboard diagram showing every rock chip and paint scratch I find while detailing my car). I also have one rear fender panel slightly off, and is annoying. Not a soul would notice till I point it out.

The nice part about the hood and liftgate is that they are easily adjusted by yourself or the dealership, so you can have those seams lookin crisp and clean in no time. Puttin a wrench to a few bolts is the trade off, but I would do it in a heart beat to straighten up the seams. Then just stand back and smile at her beauty!

BOL
Vince

 

You need to get your two items aligned because every time you see your car you will notice them! And it will drive you nuts..........you can always touch up bolt or screw heads easily, using Jag paint pencil from dealer.
Just do it...........

Cheers, Adrian

 

You mentioned something very interesting about one rear fender panel being slightly off. Are you referring to the alignment or the color match?

 

Alignment....

I need to pull both the liners in the rear wheel wells, then loosen the rear bumper to set it right.
One of those "When I get time" (and warmer weather) projects.

Vince

 

The reason I asked was, I noticed early on after my purchase, that one rear quarter was very slightly off color (liquid silver) from the door. After scrutinity (pulling back rubber seals etc) by 3 different body men, they all concurred there was absolutely no evidence of any "aftermarket paintwork". Everything looked factory, even down to the paint thickness on both sides of the car's rear quarters. Again, I've seen there are some factory issues, some get corrected and some go unnoticed or ignored. I received an interesting possible explanation of how something like paint inconsistency matching happens, one of which occurs when the paint supply for the robots runs low. Regardless, all manufacturers have some issues, and Jaguar is 60% automated. Even the tire pressure sticker was slapped on the B pillar in a different place than norm. Bottom line, the car is gorgeous and runs like a champ!

 

One side of my XKR's top cover won't isn't perfectly flush when the top is down--sorta disappointing. I will figure out how to adjust it eventually.