Do the 2010 XKs have rain sensor wipers? My manual shows the auto mode but my car does not have "auto" on the stalk? "Max" is where "auto" should be. Am I missing something?

 

they have it in the XKR. Have a look at your windscreen from the outside and see if under the bit where the rear view mirror is stuck to it there is a clearish jelly looking thing. That's the sensor in there, I think.

 

Yes I see the clear square area under the mirror. Now, what position do I use on the stalk for the automatic position if there isn't one marked?

 

Any setting (Min to Max) on the intermittent step (one above off) utilizes the rain sensor. You can drive with the wipers on all the time at the intermittent step, and they will only activate when rain is sensed. I'm guessing the min-max setting defines the delay when they actually are operating. (But it's not raining and I don't remember for sure.)

 

It's been raining here a bit lately, so I think I know the answer. Min setting gets longer time between swipes, but max will still let the rain sensor do it's thing - just clears the windshield more often. I leave my wipers on the intermittent setting all of the time and they only go on when there is moisture on the windshield. Hope that helps.

 

Do you have a setting that says "auto"?

 

I sort of assumed that the Min - Max referred less to the interval per se and more to the amount of "clarity" the driver prefered. Max means the sensor triggers the wipers with less water on the windshield, while min lets more water build up before triggering the wipers. Its not really about the interval although given the same amount of water the max setting would be more frequent.


Not sure thats how it actually works but thats how I think about it and it seems to hold true. i would also suggest that the front end of the car is the least of your worries when driving the xkr in the rain!!! (I swore I would never use one of these little animated dots. What have I become.... )

 

No, it doesnt have anything that says "auto". Pull your stalk down to the bottom (boom boom). Now flick it up - the first stop is "auto" the second is manual at normal speed, and the third (top) is fast. So I have mine set to auto, with the dial thing set to max. It works fine.

 

That's were mine was set all the time until I started playing with it. Thanks BruceTheQuail and all the other great feedback. It would be great if this will be my biggest issue with Jaguar ownership!

 

I believe there is a problem when you keep your wipers set to auto. I was informed many years ago that wipers have a tendency to scratch windshields if they are activated when the windshield is dry. If you leave your wipers on auto that may happen. Therefore I do not leave my wipers set to auto.

 

That's what a couple of people in the service depts. of a Lexus and Jaguar dealership told me. Advised I leave the feature off. What about when you send it though a car wash on "automatic"? Do they people there know to turn them off? It's kind of confusing on the Jag so it seems to be left up to the owner to make sure they are not in the "automatic/rain sensor" mode when we turn it over to them.

 

Automatic Car Wash???? My last car never saw an automatic car wash and my current XK certainly will never either. But I'm a fanatic.

 

Always wash my Jag by hand, but the Jaguar dealer washes it sometimes when I take it in for service - I guess they know to turn it off. When I first got the XK I had it on "auto" by mistake. I saw some bird s--t on the windshield, got out of the car, left the door open with engine running, poured a cup of water over the windshield and the wiper came on a flung dirty water all-over the inside of the door panel. My wife just got a new RX350 with rain sensing, and she will have it washed at a car wash so I hope they know how to turn the feature off because she will probably forget since she thinks it such a nice option and leaves it on "auto".

 

I found out mine had auto sensors just after I had bought the car. Was cleaning the windscreen with glass cleaner and paper towel. Start on the passenger side, spray on the cleaner and go for the first wipe, the sensor trips and the wipers fire. Passenger wiper hits my hand and launches the blade insert up and over the hood to where my wife's Benz is normally parked. Thankfully she had run out before I had started! Anyway, this happens in the matter of 1-2 seconds and I just start laughing my *** off and thought...."Okay, cool. Auto wipers work."