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Starting to sound a bit like a soap-opera.

The boot lock won’t work at 7.48V. Nowhere apparent to put a key in to open the boot. I find from the manual that there is a jump start terminal on the front fusebox. Since the car was open, I could pull the bonnet and access this.

I have a couple of other batteries available, one I wasn’t sure of the state of charge, the other is on the float charger (Ctek) but cabled up to the Mk2 engine (another story). It was easiest to bring out the start-and-charge unit.

Got it going but then I didn’t want to stop it in case it won’t go again. I decided the best is to take it to the dealer (other option was to call out Jag assist – but then a risk of damage if they take it away, plus waiting to see what happens with a loan car).

Dealer has given me an XE. BUT it has to be back by tomorrow at the latest. So if it goes back today – it has cost me a day’s work as I will have had to make two trips up and down each. If it goes back tomorrow it means I will be at the dealer’s when I should be on a building project, so that costs me another day.

I can’t fault them, they say they will try to fit it in.

The thing is, if I swap the battery and that isn’t the real issue (eg. it could be a short in the central locking) that would just kill the new battery.

The manual has a helpful bit of text.

Well, so apparently, if the battery needs replacing, it must be removed from the vehicle. Genius.

Battery voltage down to 7.48 this morning – though I guess it has been trying to lock itself all night.
It has just reported itself stolen – I have had the JLR tracking people on to me by phone.
It is good the tracker still works even at very low volts.


I don’t object to buying a battery – particularly if it is ‘only’ £140.
Since we are in a ‘problem situation’ I would rather have Jag do it, or at least ‘okay it’ first.
We all know it won’t cause any issues – I just don’t want any excuses.

A ‘free’ battery under warranty will still cost me. Two hours away from work, 50 miles, 2 gallons of petrol etc… so that is about the same as a battery to buy.
I either need it doing today or I might call Jag assist and get them to fetch it in. Seems silly for a battery though.
Can’t lock it, can’t park it – means I can’t use it.
I guess the battery is actually covered under the battery manufacturers warranty too. Usually 5 years I think.

Just been out to the shop (short trip) and the door locks were making odd clicking noises whilst driving. Parked up and tried to lock it, no joy.
Checked the dash to see if it thinks there is a door open. No.
Opened and closed every door and boot and petrol flap. Same.

It is sitting in the drive, open, and occasionally making repeated lock attempts… like a short burst of machine gun fire (only much quieter).
Now I am $%^d, I can’t park the car anywhere.
That means I can’t use it.

Won’t lock from the phone app either.

I came across a useful site whilst doing some web searches… jaginfo.org

I spotted many of my issues in the faults and bugs section, so decided to join and post my experiences.

See here for the discussion.

My contact at CRC called to update. Apparently the Head of Business at Williams is due to call me today having been called by CRC.

It was alleged (by CRC) that the waranty is a third party warranty with a company called Car Care Plan – and accoringly the terms and conditions may be different than ‘manufacturer’s warranty’. This is absolutely the first I have heard of this, and it is in no way acceptable that the terms vary. It is further unacceptable as all the issues were notified well within the original manufacturer’s warranty period. JLR need to honour the statements made under the ‘Approved Used Scheme’.

The printed documentation I have clearly states that the warranty is provided by Jaguar Landrover Limited, and further that it is not an insurance backed warranty.

Car Care Plan certainly appear to be an insurance backed warranty provider.

My CRC contact told me that Williams had said I had been offered an alternative vehicle – which it is accepted did not meet the specification required – and that I had been offered a refund. For clarity, I was actually offered to ‘reverse the deal’ and have a refund on the vehicle and the return of my part exchanged SV8. However, the SV8 had left the dealership and gone in to the trade. I had no way of knowing what state that may have been in and what use it may have had in those four weeks. It was decided that in the first instance, a repair should be attempted on the XF-S. As it happens, I have been in touch with the new owner of the SV8 and he is very happy with it, as it has no issues.

CRC want to close this case whilst waiting for the latest attempt at a fix. I fear this is a political request, and the case flags up as open for an extended time. I request that this case remains open, under its original reference starting around twelve months ago. (A previous attempt was made to close it, but I had it reopened when it was clear the vehicle still had issues).

It is 17:32 and I have had no further calls (i.e. from Williams).

Booked in for the 10th December… for 5 days.

Primary items to look at are the navigation not updating and connectivity via SIM apparently no longer working.

I found an option for a ‘free’ SIM on the Three network, so decided to install this in the vehicle (instead of connecting via WiFi to a ‘hotspot’ provided by my phone).

Short version, it doesn’t get detected, and doesn’t work. Longer version, the new SIM works in another device. My phone SIM, when transferred to the vehicle also now doesn’t work. So both SIMs work in other devices, neither SIM works in the vehicle.

Video of process shown below…

After some time, it just returns to…

NOTE: WiFi connectivity was turned off also, so as to avoid confusion.

Tested again, this morning. The Here.com site is now back up, but when trying to connect from the car we get the same issue as before.

Where do we go from here (no pun intended).

Thought I would retry the mapping site…

We follow the link ‘go to maps and services’…

I give up.

Just had another call from CRC and discussed the outstanding issues.

Basically CRC don’t think they can help any further, and want the supplying dealer to ‘deal’. They also want me to book the vehicle back in with my preferred retailer to solve the outstanding issues. Problem is, my local retailer think they are at the end of the road and can’t fix the issues (despite lots of effort being made – and I thank them for those efforts).

Outstanding, we have at least the following;

The issue with the navigation system saying it is due updates, and then not being able to progress to obtain them. I realise this might be more of a software issue at ‘Here.com’, but never the less, it is a JLR issue that needs sorting out.

UPDATE: A quick web search reveals this is an issue for others, as posted on XE and F Pace forums.

I have an issue with the dash dimmer. This has actually happened before, but I was unable to reproduce it. The dash goes to full brightness, and the control is inoperative even though the vehicle ‘thinks’ it is dark as it has already put its lights on. As it happens, the Infotainment also thinks it is day, as it hasn’t swapped to night mode. Video available of this issue.

Adaptive cruise occasionally gets confused and emergency brakes, but only for a fraction of a second. This has now occured twice, the first causing me some physical pain as it threw me in to the seat belt, the second causing an issue for the car behind.

The DAB radio is again occasionally unreliable. Latest evidence in previous post.

We still have a vibration felt through the pedals and seat. Occasionally this will hit resonance and rattle things in the door pockets. It has been addressed twice, and improved, but is still apparent and spoils the enjoyment of the vehicle.

The difference in value between what was advertised and bought, and what was actually supplied still hasn’t been dealt with. i.e. the TV tuner/dual view option which has a retail value of £890/£615 which even if divided by two as the car was not new still comes out around £752.50. I had previously stated I would accept an ‘experience’ from JLR on the basis that it wouldn’t cost them ‘real’ money and it would make me feel better about the situation. However, all the relevant experiences seem to have been withdrawn. It is noted that the lack of this feature is partially JLR’s fault (though the supplying dealer should really have checked what they were selling)… it is on the build specification, it is just ‘missing’ on this car. I am told that it can’t be retro-fitted, though in reality I doubt this is the case. Obviously it is possible, it is just that it may appear to be too much effort.

Stop/start: Still having issues with this. Presently it is not stop/starting at all (which I consider to be a good thing). However, from time to time it will go ‘mad’ and stop within less than a second of being stationary. It is either faulty or not fit for purpose. I understand that this issue affects many Jags, it appears to be an issue with JLR’s implementation of a solution required by legislation. One thing that is concerning is that I had to have the battery charged (by the dealer) as some sort of ‘fix’ to this issue. This was after a drive of 25 miles to drop the car in for service. If this ‘charge’ is required, then again the vehicle just isn’t fit for purpose.

The OSF corner of the bonnet is still not quite right. It can vibrate. This was actually mentioned on the phone BEFORE I even came to view the car, as a slight misalignment was apparent in the sales photograph (and I was promised it would be fixed before delivery).

We are 12 months in to a 24 month warranty period and we haven’t even got all of the items mentioned in the first month sorted yet. The plan looks like it is to keep going until the warranty runs out then I guess JLR will wash their hands of it. Logically, the warranty should pause once an issue has been raised and I am waiting for JLR to sort.

Boot lid issue: I find again by a little web searching that the boot lid issue is well known. I realise that there has been a redesign of the boot seal, which mine now has. However, though I realise the dealer has done a lot of work on this boot lid (including the hinges), it is still difficult to close. I am in the habit of using the ‘inside handle’ moulded in to the lid liner/carpet to close it – probably 50% of the time the lid doesn’t close properly. I have to reopen and apply a slam holding the spoiler. Not really the way it is supposed to be, and I end up with wet or dirty hands. I am hoping that the seal will relax and solve the issue… but we are already more than a month in.

The startup noise still doesn’t sound ‘right’. This is particularly bad from a cold start. My dealer tells me this is ‘normal’ though I haven’t actually compared it to any other vehicle, it certainally doesn’t sound normal to me. Again a web search reveals others with this issue. Note sure if that helps of hinders my case, but the general thinking is, that is isn’t as you would expect on this class of vehicle. At least it is now documented and we can return to this post if it lets go in the future.

Presently waiting for contact from the head of business at Williams Jaguar, and a call from CRC due on the 19th of this month.

UPDATE: A little searching finds others with some of he issues I see. Vibrations and DAB issues are mentioned on the XE forums (I know it is a different model – but some of the references to TOPIx show X260 as well as X570 models). Similar issues with the wear on the outside edges of the front tyres too. XE and XF are both iQ[Al] platform.

From my research, I can see some issues are well known. JLR needs to come clean with these issues and deal with them properly. I do feel I have been strung along a little (of course I could have done the research earlier, but in effect I am reverse engineering the problem from the symptoms I have found). Some issues seem to be being dealt with as a ‘characteristic’ – not acceptable on this level of vehicle.