First off, Hello! New Member, long time lurker...

Just a word of gratitude of all the users here. The insight helped make my purchase decision last year and has also helped calm me down after the issues I've had with the car.

I'll post my experiences in the relevant threads, but overall, I still LOVE this car! It's a luxury hot rod, plain and simple. I can't say enough about how amazing the power, sound and looks are. No regrets on making this my daily driver.

So far, I've got over 19K miles since April 2015 purchase. Still on OE tires, but upgrading to MSS soon (still deciding if I should go up to 305/30 or 305/35 on rear).

So far, here's my repair experience:

1. From new: Steering wheel "biting" at initial brake application at all speeds. Dealer spent over three weeks diagnosing and ultimately replacing entire steering rack. It reduced that initial shimmy somewhat, but it's still slightly there. I'm monitoring it. But Jaguar refunded that month's lease payment, which was great.

2. Two trips to dealer for speaker rattles and vibration. Dealer installed the insulation kit and updated stereo software. Much better, but still not as tight as one would expect. Subs sometimes still buzz. Worst stereo I've had in ANY car, but sounds decent at higher volumes which drown out the buzzes.

3. Rear cargo bay plastic trim came loose twice (fixed by dealer)

4. "Blind spot monitor blocked" error. Dealer took over a week to fix to replace blind spot sensor in mirror.

5. Around 18K miles, exhaust valve squeaking on accel and deccel. So loud I could hear it from inside. Sounded like an old barn attached to an amplifier. Dealer current replacing exhaust valves under warranty.

6. Major "knock" sound coming from firewall under center stack when car flexes even slightly (i.e. backing down driveway and going over minor bumps). It can be felt in the brake pedal, which makes me think it is a body/brace component flexing vs. A/C venting issue. Dealer is currently diagnosing.

7. Various seat/seat belt/dash squeaks, but I'm used to those. It's not an LS460 after all.

I'll post more details in relevant posts to make my contribution for others' benefit. PM me if you have any questions specific to my 2015 RWD F-Type R.

Thanks everyone!

 

The 305/30s will have a slightly larger diameter than OEM but not enough to matter. The 305/35 diameter on the other hand will affect gearing, acceleration and speedo calibration to a significant extent, Stick with the 305/30s.

Item 1 sounds like a bent rotor! New steering rack will reduce the shimmy until the shimmy prematurely wears the rack again. Symptom was reduced but the problem not resolved.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

Over past 15 years or so I purchased 3 new cars from different manufacturers. Each one of them had 'shake-in' with various degrees of problems that were resolved under warranty - from fuse box fire (Honda, didn't spread got all new wiring harnesses) to oil burning (required new scraper rings, Subaru fought me really hard to avoid getting it fixed) and now Jaguar (new clutch and fly wheel, dealer went out of their way to fix this). On other hand I purchased used cars that were minimal hassle. I also daily drive (well, one of 3 'daily' cars) classic Mercedes that is fairly reliable. With that Mercedes I do a lot of preventative and preemptive fixing at considerable expense, still over past 10 years it is less than buying that car when it was new and since they shot up in value my widow (that car will be sold over my dead body, har har) would probably recoup some of the expenses. I am convinces that with a new or an old car the ownership approach should be the same - do a lot of preventative fixes and maintenance, always understand the root cause, and don't let things linger as it will cascade.

Sadly, the new car is no guarantee of a problem-free ownership, but at least while under warranty it is not your problem. Insist they give you decent loaner (e.g. no Hertz) and get to park different JLR car outside your office every month. So far I drove Discovery (comfortable, but visibility is very poor), Evoque (ugh! almost didn't take it), XF (started meh but grew on me). I keep asking for F-Pace, but they don't have any in their loaner stock. General Manager drives nice R, if they royally f-up, I will ask for that as a loaner. Then off to an impromptu track day, that kitty needs to learn to flick its tail (hope he doesn't read this, lol).

 

Welcome even though you have had the car for some time. It's great to hear how you still feel about it. More importantly your record of repairs is most valuable. I've been fortunate in not having these problems at 20k miles now. But I know where to look when things do happen. Thanks.

 

Thanks guys. I didn't go into extensive detail on the steering wheel shimmy, but the dealer did go least cost options first. They tried new wheels and tires off of a showroom R coupe, then new rotors and pads, aligning after each, then JLR HQ advised/approved new steering rack. I believe they were diligent. At my suggestion, they even checked the trailing arm bushings and deemed them to be ok at the time. I could do a whole thread on that one issue. Comes with the European car territory, I've had Audis, VWs, BMWs, all of them had issues. The only car I've owned was completely trouble free was the Chevy Volt. I owned it for three years and 50K miles. Took it to the dealer once for a $45 oil change. Amazing.

Appreciate the warm welcome. Thanks again.

 

Thanks for sharing. Now I am a bit concerned about buying a pre-owned 14 since the warranty is expiring some time next year. I believe even a new car will have issues, but the longer warranty term might help cover it for a while

hmmmm....

 

The used car savings will way more than compensate for the cost of a good extended warranty with broad coverage.

 

Please do, it will help someone down the road.

 

+1 depending on the history of the 14 your considering, most issues it was going to have it likely has already had. The extended warranty will cover a lot of the unknown.

 

Did the exhaust valve replacements fix the squeak issue, as I have same problem. Although not excactly sure what these valves are.
Cheers w