As with all of the various auto forms I am on there are always claims to serious reliability problems and design inadequacies . Also although these forms have hundreds and thousands of members only a handful are active members. Failure issues come up and suddenly become panic catastrophic problems. This leads to striking fear into anyone wanting or presently owning one of these cars. It also seems that there are maybe 1 or 2 or 3 failures reported which isn't a sample base significant enough to cause the panic. Then there are those who want to be proactive and fix something that isn't broke. This is not just Jaguar but other forms like Lexus , Toyota , GM , Ford , etc. You ask some dealers and they never heard of these issues and others say they have seen a few but not a lot. Then again these forms usually surface issues to watch and solutions to some problems . So my approach is to watch and listen and not over think how the car is running . They are just machines and will run and break so enjoy it while you can.

 

Good point Jagtoes. Excluding my 05 XJR with the air ride, all my Jags have been more or less as reliable as contemporary vehicles of the same class.

If you want to see the issue you pointed up in spades, get a load of the tire threads. Talk about your mass listeria! Guys buy cars with worn out or abused tires of any brand and then raise hell about them not being as good as his new tires.

Or an owner with OEM street tires upgrades to high performance Summer tires and then slanders the original tires for not measuring up.

 

I think not pulling over and shutting down is a major psychological phenomenon that affects even the most experienced car owners. It must be the adrenaline!

 

+1, as with anything....taken with a "grain of salt".

 

I agree 100% that people always say "these new tires are WAYYY better than the old brand I replaced." Well duh! Those tires are 5 years old and the rubber has dried out!

I'm sure the stock Dunlops were fine tires when they were brand new!!

 

Like the Viagra commercial. I'm at that point in my life where few things are going to put me in a panic. Irrational fear is irrational. Deal with it.

 

Forums are full of people wishing to complain, publicise faults or even just bad mouth other businesses.

Far fewer people wish to spend the time praising others. It is deemed a waste of time.
Similarly I had a phone call today praising to the heavens a colleague that the customer felt had performed way over what was required. Those calls are rare, usually it a moan over nothing for the sake of moaning.

 

I agree with the prior comments, however, we should recognize and acknowledge that a few XK/XKR problems seem to occur often enough as to be a concern for prospective XK/XKR purchasers. For example ...

It does seem that our batteries tend to lose charge quickly (if not hooked to a CTEK, etc.) and as a result, can trigger various strange electrical gremlins and or codes to appear. Agree or disagree?

The glove box lid mechanism was very poorly designed causing a sudden drop vs a slow, smooth drop. Thankfully, that's an easy DIY fix. Agree or disagree?

What about the poorly designed 'duckbill' issue resulting in coolant leaking into the passenger side foot-well? Agree or disagree?

What about the faulty water pump design on early 5.0s? Agree or disagree?

What other problems not covered above do you feel are common enough to warrant addition to this short list?

I'm not trying to start an argument ... I'm just trying to pick everyone's brain for a consensus list of REAL issues and problems. Be nice!

 

People dont want to admit that anxiety is a form of gratification.
Thats why we pay good money to go sit through a horror or sad movie.
Stephen King and Alfred Hitchcock made million from understanding this phenomenon.

 

I don't know if I agree or disagree with any of the items in your post. My thinking is there are only a handful of people with these complaints compared to the total number of X150 cars built. Unfortunately there is no way to get the data to either determine if it is fact or fiction. Then again are any of this issues different then what other high end cars experience.

 

Another way to look at it is folks either join forums because they are enthusiasts or their stuff is broken and they haven't found the answer through searching. I'd venture there's a ton of viewers who never join or post.

What will be interesting is watching what happens to the community as these car roll into the price range for the average guy to buy one. The LS forums went from owners to dealer used car buyers to enthusiasts as the prices dropped. The X150 is 10+ years old so there's some interesting stuff going to happen on this forum over the next couple years as more folks like me pick these cars up and run with them.

 

Pretty much all modern high end cars are loaded down with power sucking electronics, regardless of OEM. Wish I'd bought stock in CTEK a few years ago.

All cars have their quirks and faults.

 

TSB's are written for fact based issues, but not all. We can look to those for manufacturer verified defects.

That said, other issues like dash leather on our cars receive no such TSB. I read folks slather on the hide food to prevent shrinkage. I don't view that as panic or fiction. I see it as due diligence. It doesn't happen to every car but I sure don't want it happening to mine.

Forums do bring out facts, even if it effects a small number of cars and even if the manufacturer doesn't recognize all of them.

They also alert potential buyers to possible problems. How many "thinking of buying an XK" threads are out there? What is usually the first question?

How many people have installed gauges on their cars? Is that panic?
I don't recall reading about one blown engine on this forum. I suspect there are very few engine failures due to lack of them, yet several of us do it anyway. I think it's because many of us are old school and are used to them. We understand what they mean, even though we also understand that many modern day gauges are nothing more than idiot lights. (see F-Type, X-350 etc.) There's nothing wrong with it.

For me, it's an opportunity to go in with your eyes wide open and the collective wisdom of these posts are valuable information to guys like me who prefer to turn our own wrenches and need to budget for parts.

I take good care of both my cars, but my XK is my baby. When I'm out in it, I just enjoy the hell out of it. I never concern myself with what might happen.

My only wish now is for a respray and if I thought people would fall for it, I'd start a "go fund me" page to get it done. Oh and maybe get rid of the 1986 Series III VDP leftover antenna that may have been stockpiled in a warehouse somewhere.

 

First of all people only report problems and if their car does not have any then they do not complain on forums. This gives an impression that the cars are full of problems. Second, people buy the car and then join the forum only to find the car seems to have only problems.
The XK is probable no worse than any other car but the forum because of it nature gives that impression.
I cannot help but feel the US market seems to have more problems with batteries, the rear windows falling out and the dashboard splitting. This maybe a climate issue as I have not had any of these problems as I live in rain soaked Britain.
My car is a 2007 4.2 with about 25k on the clock, so maybe it has not enough milage for me to experience the problems others seem to find.
So in conclusion I find the XK good value for money with little problems, you may find things a little different. What I do know is that a lot of people ask, what is it, They think is it is a beautiful car and are surprised when I tell them how old it is. They never knew it existed.

 

This was a large influence in my purchasing an X150, this forum has a large amount of (viewing), a large amount of posters; yet is very positive about the X150, and the issues that come up really aren't that big of a deal.

For me, my car is my daily driver. I attribute most of the problems I read here to have the root cause of infrequently being driven enough. I don't really get these problems as mine is doing 12K miles per year, and not always short trips.

Consider that as of this typing, this thread has about 500 viewers...I think the rate of problems these cars encounter is quite fantastic.

It *is* my observation that you do want to own the last year of a particular engine when it comes to the X100 and X150. 2009 for a 4.2L, 2014 for a 5.0L. Over time, as any frail points get replaced with the later year updated parts, this divide(On driven cars) will be gone.

 

I would normally agree that you want the later model years of a particular engine, but in the case of the 4.2L AJV8, I don't think there were ever many engine problems. What parts were updated?

 

Forums would be dull if posts were like "year passed; no issues".

Our Volvo S60 will hit 30k miles this week. Not one mechanical issue, not one repair... Just annual oil change service... Would make for a boring forum.

 

2009 got an upgraded rear end with stronger longer lasting bearings.

It seems like from threads nearly each year Jaguar started making a new coolant pump design.

 

Kind of like our old ES300. After 250K miles, not one mechanical issue, not one unscheduled repair. Just the recommended service, and then after 10 years the wife wanted a new car!

I bet the Lexus forums are pretty boring.