Considering an XF
Discussion
To cut a long story short I recently changed my car as the Signum was unreliable and have bought an interim car until I find what I really want.
Having sat in a friend's XF last year it is the only car in recent years that has given me that longing to own one feeling but I thought it was well out of my budget.
While trawling the (now difficult to navigate) classifieds it appears that the early 2.7d is falling into my budget of up to £18K (max).
I've spent time doing a,ot of reading and apart from the odd electrical gremlin on early cars and the odd DPF issue (worrying as that's why I launched the Signum) they appear to be quite reliable.
I also understand that the 3.0d is more frugal and faster and the 2.2 is even more frugal still but I don't think my budget will stretch to either of the latter two except with huge mileage.
Any advice on things to look out for and check other than the obvious would be appreciated.
The 3.0 petrols look good value and the other possibility is to buy one and gas it.
Having sat in a friend's XF last year it is the only car in recent years that has given me that longing to own one feeling but I thought it was well out of my budget.
While trawling the (now difficult to navigate) classifieds it appears that the early 2.7d is falling into my budget of up to £18K (max).
I've spent time doing a,ot of reading and apart from the odd electrical gremlin on early cars and the odd DPF issue (worrying as that's why I launched the Signum) they appear to be quite reliable.
I also understand that the 3.0d is more frugal and faster and the 2.2 is even more frugal still but I don't think my budget will stretch to either of the latter two except with huge mileage.
Any advice on things to look out for and check other than the obvious would be appreciated.
The 3.0 petrols look good value and the other possibility is to buy one and gas it.
DPF is only an issue if you do a lot of low speed / town driving as the DPF does not get up to temp. Needs to be given a blast up a main road at national speed limits.
This affects ALL cars, not just Jaguar
3.0d lower on CO2, VED, quicker and more powerful than 2.7
2.2 only just launched in September this year so not in your budget.
make sure you buy a car with a full Jaguar dealer history as we do software and other updates etc when they come in for their servicing.
there is no central database of servicing carried out on cars at dealers, as a lot are independent dealers only any warranty work that may have been done.
This affects ALL cars, not just Jaguar
3.0d lower on CO2, VED, quicker and more powerful than 2.7
2.2 only just launched in September this year so not in your budget.
make sure you buy a car with a full Jaguar dealer history as we do software and other updates etc when they come in for their servicing.
there is no central database of servicing carried out on cars at dealers, as a lot are independent dealers only any warranty work that may have been done.
Thanks fergyd.
I have been trawling the 'net and have found a 3.0D that's just inside my price range with not too many miles on it but not at a franchised Dealer - I have emailed them to check the service history is all Jaguar.
One of the cars I was looking at today I called the non franchised Dealer who told me that all the services were franschised dealer except the last one which was at an idendependant but only 5K miles ago. I was thinking if I can get the selling garage to get the service done before I buy at a Jag Dealer there can't be much problem. Can there? IYSWIM.
I have been trawling the 'net and have found a 3.0D that's just inside my price range with not too many miles on it but not at a franchised Dealer - I have emailed them to check the service history is all Jaguar.
One of the cars I was looking at today I called the non franchised Dealer who told me that all the services were franschised dealer except the last one which was at an idendependant but only 5K miles ago. I was thinking if I can get the selling garage to get the service done before I buy at a Jag Dealer there can't be much problem. Can there? IYSWIM.
Cost of a standard service is approx £400, so not the end of the world, as long as it needs nothing doing. Watch out for brake pad wear, especially on the rear. Tyres are also quite expensive, but then the running costs are no more than any other luxury car.
Presume it's just about out of warranty if it's one of the first 3.0d, Jaguar warranty around £850 a year but very comprehensive cover inc nav, audio etc and includes jaguar assistance. Used car dealer warranties are as I am sure you know not much help if something goes wrong. Claim limit normaly low with a big list of items not covered.
Is the car you are looking at a luxury or premium luxury model?
Presume it's just about out of warranty if it's one of the first 3.0d, Jaguar warranty around £850 a year but very comprehensive cover inc nav, audio etc and includes jaguar assistance. Used car dealer warranties are as I am sure you know not much help if something goes wrong. Claim limit normaly low with a big list of items not covered.
Is the car you are looking at a luxury or premium luxury model?
Good info. Thanks again.
The 3.0 was wrongly advertised so it was an expensive 2.7
I'm after a Premium Luxury.
I know the tyres aren't cheap and have seen that they tend to chew Pirelli's so Falkens seem to be the recommended alternative.
I've found a 2.7 PL with 32 K on the clock in light blue advertised at £18k almost on my doorstep. I will try and pop in there on Friday if I can escape from work early.
There's another one with 38K in grey a grand cheaper 150 miles away but close to relatives so I might pop in over the hols.
Good info on the warranty and although I've never bought a warranty before, I've never owned anything this new and high end/complicated before so might be worth it for the first year.
Is he Jag warranty only available if purchased from a Jag franchised Dealer?
I'll check he pads but I assume they are a DIY job anyway? I have a nice big garage and maintain my TVR and Rover P5 so as long as nothing complicated I'll do them myself
The 3.0 was wrongly advertised so it was an expensive 2.7
I'm after a Premium Luxury.
I know the tyres aren't cheap and have seen that they tend to chew Pirelli's so Falkens seem to be the recommended alternative.
I've found a 2.7 PL with 32 K on the clock in light blue advertised at £18k almost on my doorstep. I will try and pop in there on Friday if I can escape from work early.
There's another one with 38K in grey a grand cheaper 150 miles away but close to relatives so I might pop in over the hols.
Good info on the warranty and although I've never bought a warranty before, I've never owned anything this new and high end/complicated before so might be worth it for the first year.
Is he Jag warranty only available if purchased from a Jag franchised Dealer?
I'll check he pads but I assume they are a DIY job anyway? I have a nice big garage and maintain my TVR and Rover P5 so as long as nothing complicated I'll do them myself
Edited by Tyre Tread on Wednesday 21st December 23:08
Edited by Tyre Tread on Wednesday 21st December 23:08
you can buy the Jaguar warranty from a Jaguar dealer but the car must have proof of it having been service in line with recommendations.
Normally if it has been serviced outside of the dealer network they would expect the car to be serviced by a Jaguar dealer before selling the warranty, just to make sure that everything is ok.
be careful with your tyre choice as they also need to be the correct weight rating, not just speed rating.
Avoid Azure Blue if it has barley interior, difficult colour combination to sell on.
Good choice with premium luxury spec, you get so much more spec in comparison to a luxury version.
good luck with the hunt.
Normally if it has been serviced outside of the dealer network they would expect the car to be serviced by a Jaguar dealer before selling the warranty, just to make sure that everything is ok.
be careful with your tyre choice as they also need to be the correct weight rating, not just speed rating.
Avoid Azure Blue if it has barley interior, difficult colour combination to sell on.
Good choice with premium luxury spec, you get so much more spec in comparison to a luxury version.
good luck with the hunt.
Edited by ferdyg on Thursday 22 December 08:30
Tyre Tread said:
Good info. Thanks again.
The 3.0 was wrongly advertised so it was an expensive 2.7
I'm after a Premium Luxury.
I know the tyres aren't cheap and have seen that they tend to chew Pirelli's so Falkens seem to be the recommended alternative.
I've found a 2.7 PL with 32 K on the clock in light blue advertised at £18k almost on my doorstep. I will try and pop in there on Friday if I can escape from work early.
There's another one with 38K in grey a grand cheaper 150 miles away but close to relatives so I might pop in over the hols.
Good info on the warranty and although I've never bought a warranty before, I've never owned anything this new and high end/complicated before so might be worth it for the first year.
Is he Jag warranty only available if purchased from a Jag franchised Dealer?
I'll check he pads but I assume they are a DIY job anyway? I have a nice big garage and maintain my TVR and Rover P5 so as long as nothing complicated I'll do them myself
I've got the 3.0 S Portfolio and I can say it's a fantastic car to own and drive. Mine definitely doe not chew through tyres but I do agree they are more expensive. The 3.0 was wrongly advertised so it was an expensive 2.7
I'm after a Premium Luxury.
I know the tyres aren't cheap and have seen that they tend to chew Pirelli's so Falkens seem to be the recommended alternative.
I've found a 2.7 PL with 32 K on the clock in light blue advertised at £18k almost on my doorstep. I will try and pop in there on Friday if I can escape from work early.
There's another one with 38K in grey a grand cheaper 150 miles away but close to relatives so I might pop in over the hols.
Good info on the warranty and although I've never bought a warranty before, I've never owned anything this new and high end/complicated before so might be worth it for the first year.
Is he Jag warranty only available if purchased from a Jag franchised Dealer?
I'll check he pads but I assume they are a DIY job anyway? I have a nice big garage and maintain my TVR and Rover P5 so as long as nothing complicated I'll do them myself
I've had no issues with mine except the NSR brake lights losing an LED (replaced under warranty). I bought it new in March 2010 and have had no breakdowns, no warning lights (except brake pads low (replaced rears for £200 by Jaguar main dealer)) and no faults at all. Last service was £350 but I can't remember what the first service cost me. I've done just over £20k miles in it, with a mixture of town/motorway driving, and the car is faultless.
There were a couple of software updates applied last month when I took the car in for rear brake pads and I can definitely agree with ensuring it has had main dealer/franchise service history to ensure all updates are applied.
Get it bought.
ferdyg said:
Avoid Azure Blue if it has barley interior, difficult colour combination to sell on.
good luck with the hunt.
Just shows that taste is individual, personally I think Azure Blue was one of the best colours Jaguar have done in recent years, so much better than Frost or Crystal blues which are like something from a tart's knicker catalogue. Barley is a nice combination, though possibly not as nice as Ivory. I would want the burr walnut to go with it.good luck with the hunt.
I am sure that they are all good cars, and though I haven't driven them extensively, did notice that the performance in Sport with the Dynamic button pressed is surprisingly good. (Drive it the way God intended and you won't have DPF problems.) This is particularly so in the 3.0 S. I drove this back to back with a 5.0 XFR, and the difference in real road conditions was not huge. The S is one fast car.
If I were you, I would (1) search everywhere, dealers (who often have special deals, management cars, choppers and trade ins that are sold before they hit the web), Jaguar AUC, Autotrader UK, PH (2) Save your money just now, see if you can build it up a little, and wait for an XF 3.0 S to come within your range. Cash is king, and will remain so for the foreseeable. If you can, get one with the sports seats (if you have tried them you will know what I mean.)
"If you can, get one with the sports seats (if you have tried them you will know what I mean.)"
only came in on the 11 model year cars and only on an S version so a lot more than the OP budget of £18k
Burr walnut is standard on the Premium Luxury.
Its not the colour, rather than the colour combination, as I work for a Jaguar dealer I know that we have always struggled with certain combinations and Azure/Barley is one of them.
I would agree that the 3.0 is the better car, but in the end its all about how much you can afford!
The cheapest 3.0d PL on the Jaguar website is £19250 but it has done 79500 miles!!
only came in on the 11 model year cars and only on an S version so a lot more than the OP budget of £18k
Burr walnut is standard on the Premium Luxury.
Its not the colour, rather than the colour combination, as I work for a Jaguar dealer I know that we have always struggled with certain combinations and Azure/Barley is one of them.
I would agree that the 3.0 is the better car, but in the end its all about how much you can afford!
The cheapest 3.0d PL on the Jaguar website is £19250 but it has done 79500 miles!!
Thanks to all of you for the information.
Although I have owned many cars in the pat this is my first time into something as complexas a modern Jag which I won't be able to fix myself (except the basics) so I want to get it right.
Unless the absolute rigt car comes along I won't buy but at the moment although I could afford to buy the 3.0 S I would prefer to keep some cash in reserve so have set myself a budget of £18k. That said if a 3.0 PL came up at the right price in the right consition then I might be tempted to spend a bit extra.
My feeling is that I'd sooner get a low mileage cosseted 2.7 than a high mileage/lower spec 3.0 as I think that looking at the perfomance figures the 2.7 will be eaily qucik enough for day to day motoring. (I have the TVR for wind in the scalp heart stopping moments).
Although I have owned many cars in the pat this is my first time into something as complexas a modern Jag which I won't be able to fix myself (except the basics) so I want to get it right.
Unless the absolute rigt car comes along I won't buy but at the moment although I could afford to buy the 3.0 S I would prefer to keep some cash in reserve so have set myself a budget of £18k. That said if a 3.0 PL came up at the right price in the right consition then I might be tempted to spend a bit extra.
My feeling is that I'd sooner get a low mileage cosseted 2.7 than a high mileage/lower spec 3.0 as I think that looking at the perfomance figures the 2.7 will be eaily qucik enough for day to day motoring. (I have the TVR for wind in the scalp heart stopping moments).
Tyre Tread,I'd wait until the new year or possibly February, the 3.0d is a fleet favourite, but now the 2.2 has arrived , better mpg and lower tax for the company driver. Expect to see 3.0's of all varieties traded in by the fleet managers for the more company and company car driver friendly 2.2.
By fleet I don't mean 100,000 mile rep cars, I mean the senior management cars managed by the likes of Arval, Lex etc on behalf of companies. Many of these have average or below average mileage,as they are too and from work cars.
By fleet I don't mean 100,000 mile rep cars, I mean the senior management cars managed by the likes of Arval, Lex etc on behalf of companies. Many of these have average or below average mileage,as they are too and from work cars.
Domf, an interesting point but won't they all be on 2 or 3 year or X,000 mile contracts?
If that's the case then we shan't really see a shift in the prices for a while surely.
Will those at a level to have an XF as a company car really give a damn about a few quid difference in tax break or mpg?
ETA - I'm not saying you're wrong but I seem to speand my life dealing with 'what if's'
Nothing to do with the fact that I'd just found a 2.7PL with 37K miles FJSH (serviced 3k miles ago) in good colour inside and out and not too far from me for under £17K
If that's the case then we shan't really see a shift in the prices for a while surely.
Will those at a level to have an XF as a company car really give a damn about a few quid difference in tax break or mpg?
ETA - I'm not saying you're wrong but I seem to speand my life dealing with 'what if's'
Nothing to do with the fact that I'd just found a 2.7PL with 37K miles FJSH (serviced 3k miles ago) in good colour inside and out and not too far from me for under £17K
Edited by Tyre Tread on Thursday 22 December 15:50
Edited by Tyre Tread on Thursday 22 December 23:16
Tyre Tread said:
Domf, an interesting point but won't they all be on 2 or 3 year or X,000 mile contracts?
No some are on rolling year replacement, so already 59 and 60 platers coming through 12-18 months oldTyre Tread said:
If that's the case then we shan't really see a shift in the prices for a while surely.
Supply and demand, the XF is coming upto 4 years old, the midlife facelift in the summer has already dented the original models market value and with many 2-4 year olds coming off lease, prices will soften, current recession market not many people investing £15,000+ in a 4 year old car, if you can get the finance and few people with that kind of spare cash, if they have it they are saving it for the next rainy day(Europe's financial monsoon).Tyre Tread said:
Will those at a level to have an XF as a company car really give a damn about a few quid difference in tax break or mpg?
The individual might not, but the company accountant will and if the company has a green policy(many do today), the lower co2 of the 2.2 improves the company's green credentials with customers, shareholders etc.Also the day of the company fuel card is disappearing and most company car drivers now pay their own fuel, that extra 10-12mpg for the 2.2 over the 3.0 soon mounts up.
Re fuel consumption,
The difference between the 2.7 and 3.0 is only 2-3 mls per gallon.
However, the figures that you are looking at are the combined cycle.
Real world economy for general driving is less, indeed, we find that 28 - 33 is more typical on local driving, lower if in town traffic, but into mid 40's on a open road or motorway journey.
The average 3.0 driver / owner will not trade down for a 2.2 XF.
The reason for the introduction of the 2.2 is to take sales away from BMW 520, Audi A6 2.0 and Mercedes E220, not the 3.0.
Most contract hire contacts are for 3 years so do not expect a huge influx of 1 - 2 year old cars onto the market.
Cars in this age are usually ex rental cars.
Whilst the introduction of the 12 model year cars will have some effect on used prices it will not be £1000's
The difference between the 2.7 and 3.0 is only 2-3 mls per gallon.
However, the figures that you are looking at are the combined cycle.
Real world economy for general driving is less, indeed, we find that 28 - 33 is more typical on local driving, lower if in town traffic, but into mid 40's on a open road or motorway journey.
The average 3.0 driver / owner will not trade down for a 2.2 XF.
The reason for the introduction of the 2.2 is to take sales away from BMW 520, Audi A6 2.0 and Mercedes E220, not the 3.0.
Most contract hire contacts are for 3 years so do not expect a huge influx of 1 - 2 year old cars onto the market.
Cars in this age are usually ex rental cars.
Whilst the introduction of the 12 model year cars will have some effect on used prices it will not be £1000's
Tyre Tread said:
This is bonkers.
I have found a 4.2 V8 Premium Luxury at a main delar with 37K miles for under £18K.
Seriously considering buying it and gassing it.
ETA: Maybe not - has 20" wheels and I reckon the servicing costs will be much higher.
My wife has a late (07) S-type with the 4.2 V8 and it is simply a sublime engine. Smooth, powerful, economical for it's size (we average 24-26mpg during the week, and up to 35 on a long run) and by all accounts very reliable and robust. The last service was £205 from an authorised Jag dealer. Not sure if the XF 4.2 would be more to service but I can't see why.I have found a 4.2 V8 Premium Luxury at a main delar with 37K miles for under £18K.
Seriously considering buying it and gassing it.
ETA: Maybe not - has 20" wheels and I reckon the servicing costs will be much higher.
Edited by Tyre Tread on Thursday 22 December 11:32
I agree about the 20" wheels though, it's difficult enough trying to get the wife to not kerb her 18"s
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