Back in Spring 2013 my wife and I drove down to Kaiserslautern to check out the new "F-type" at the local (3+ hr drive) Jaguar/Range Rover dealership. The dealer was on his way home, but he took the car back out so that he and I could take it for a test drive. It was in love, at least at first.

Fast forward to December 2013, drive down again. Purchase vehicle, happiest I've been in a car. No major problems, except the fact that I was still going slow for the break in period.

February 2014 - Paint starts to chip on the lower quarter panel. Center vent does not raise and lower properly. So I take the car to my nearest Jaguar dealership (45 minutes away) which is in the Netherlands. They're typically who I prefer dealing with because they tend to be nicer in general, and speak English more often. They take the car for a week+ and all the problems are fixed for now.

May 2014 - Paint starts to chip on the opposite quarter panel. Brakes screech like mad. Take it back to the Netherlands, they have it for two weeks, all problems "fixed".

July 2014 - Paint chips on the original quarter panel. Get fed up and take it to a dealership in Germany. Maybe their efficient processes will help me get this problem resolved permanently. They fix the chips, and take a look at the brakes, which are screeching again. One week, free rental car (XF) so I'm not mad.

September 2014 - Brakes still terrible, but I've learned to live with the sound at this point. Start hearing what sounds like a power steering belt going bad. Take it back to German dealership. "You need an all new Supercharger because yours is bad. We don't have it in stock so you have to wait two weeks." At this point, I'm pretty frustrated because having spent so much money on the car, I would have figured it would work properly.

December 2014 - Belt sound comes back briefly during a drive in the rain, so I take it in to get inspected. Belt gets "Oiled" because it was too dry? Ok. Drive home, notice the ECO mode doesn't work any more. A lot of you probably think that's great, but I like things on my new car to work, so I ended up taking it back again.

He then tells me that I need to have my one year maintenance done, and it will cost me 600 euro... Wow.... (Don't get me wrong, I was expecting quite a bit, but that's... yeah)

Final words: Though I am pretty disappointed in the quality control of Jaguar, it's still a phenomenal drive and I feel lucky to be the one behind the wheel. I just wish mine didn't have so many problems.

Thanks for reading.

 

Wow, that has got to be frustrating. Somebody wasn't doing their job on QC and missed those items. I trust everything has been documented and if so take it up the chain to Jaguar HQ and express your displeasure. It certainly looks like these issues can and should have been resolved permanently.

 

Sorry to hear of your problems.. I've had three jag's now and they all have been great. I guess one will pop up once in awhile that has issues.

Hopefully when resolved, it will run trouble free from then on.
Lawrence.

 

With the Autobahn, that must have been clear on the other side of the country...

 

yikes. So sorry about the troubles.

The brakes on my Ftype did screech for a while and it took 3 visits to fix it (it rained on 1st visit hence they were unable to hear the screech). Last time, they drove the car around to ensure brakes were warm and were able to replicate the issue. They said it was something with older setup/brake assembly.

I believe there is a Jaguar representative on this board and you should contact him. I honestly feel Jaguar should replace your car and if you are vocal about it with the company, they might do that.

 

That's useful info. The OP's car must have been a very early build, and I do know that all manufacturers tweak things throughout a MY. My end of MY build '14's brakes are, and always have been, "as quiet as a church mouse."

I've not had a single other issue either.

 

Zero brake issues on my early model. O2 sensors & Check Engine light have been my issue, but not much of a problem.

 

It's not far away, but the autobahn can be deceptive sometimes. With the way people here drive, I don't feel comfortable driving faster than 130mph (I drove down in my 2008 Challenger). They don't bother looking for who is coming in the fast lane, they just (no signal) move over. I've seen many close calls, so I prefer to stay around 85-100 depending on traffic conditions/weather/etc. There's also a large stretch where I cut through Belgium to save time, and they have a strict 120kph limit.

 

It's a terrible feeling driving up to a stop light with the top down, and having that sound come out of the car. Cool points gone (If I had any to begin with.)

In any case the dealership said it was the brake dust collecting in the pads, and a little "hard braking" would burn it off and clear the sound... To me that just seems like a cop-out answer which basically means "We have no idea nor the desire to fix this problem for you."

I wouldn't mind having another car/another shot, but I doubt my dislike of my situation would be enough to have them replace it. I'll track down the Jag rep on the board and shoot him a message. Thanks.

 

It was an early build. I could excuse one or two problems with a new MY, but the amount of problems I've had seem to indicate a separate problem. I can't fully blame QC though, because many of these issues materialised well after I drove the car off the lot.

I'm glad that your car works great though. Best of luck!

 

I will look inside my car if I still have the work order which describes what they did to the braking and if I find anything, I will let you know

 

I'm with you Kherov. The issues you've experienced are not acceptable. Paint falling off a car (which is loosely based and comes off the same line as the XK) is not about early models off the line - its just poor quality - plain and simple. Please people, Jaguar has no excuse whatsoever for that. They had several years of XK production in the same building, on the same line, with the same paint system to work this stuff out.

I had some issues with my brakes and it turned out to be the pads. They seemed to soak up water from being washed and in my case would even judder like the discs were warped. New pads and I was sorted.

The big issue in all this is how well you get looked after by both the dealers and especially Jaguar. I know many will say its up to the dealers to sort, but this car is Jaguars brand flagship. And for me, they stopped thinking about the brand when the design and marketing departments had done their job. Jaguars customer services team never got the memo or realised that they had to up their game as well and thats what has killed the brand for me. I love the F-Type, but its unfortunately the last JLR product I ever purchase.

 

While a certain inconvenience is somewhat acceptable (especially in any new or mostly new product) it should be less so - some might argue a lot less so - in a car costing close to, or more than, $100k. Now, the bottom line for me is - stating the plainly and painfully obvious - that customer service is all about servicing the customer! (Brilliant deduction, don't you think?). Someone has got to care, whether that be the dealer (challenging as that might be for some dealers) or, certainly, at the very least, the manufacturer.The buck must stop with them.

While it's lovely to think that the F-Type will "stand on its own" - without any or few issues or cares in the world - a world class brand, and if they want to stay world class, should (MUST) stand by their product. And if you've had countless issues someone should (MUST) stand up and be counted.

And help you for crying out loud.

Disappointing to say the least if no one does.

 

Don't get me wrong. I think the dealership here in Germany is trying their best. The guy I work with is great (the one that speaks English). I'm not mad at them, I am frustrated at Jaguar as a whole.

When I was younger I looked at Jaguars and thought to myself "One day I'd like to have one of those" (Particularly the Jaguar XJS). But now that I have one I'm pretty disappointed. I really wanted to like it, and I'd be lying if I said I don't, at least partially. What would you do?

 

It sounds as if you're doing all you can. If I were in your position, I'd feel exactly the same way, but fortunately mine has been perfect.

I've also been on car forums dedicated to 7 different manufacturers (including the very best) over the years, and in every single one of them, members have had the misfortune of ending up with what we call in the U.S., a "lemon." Fortunately, it's rare, but when it happens to you, it is infuriating.

 

Same here.

Needless to say it's unfortunate that something which should provide you with much joy and pleasures gives you - it sounds like, mostly - headaches and, based on your "dreams", disappointment. Disappointments. You have legitimate issues which should be addressed.

What would I do, besides what you're already doing? I would attempt to get some Jaguar executive involved. Whether that be via phone (all I can say is I've done that before [re] "X" with great success), e-mail, post, etc.. Someone at Jaguar surely (should) care about your...shall I say...plight?

In lieu of that - and I am NOT saying to do it - and if all else fails (speaking like the professional commodity broker that I am) sell the car and "cut your losses"!

That, however, should be your absolute last resort; and, of course, you shouldn't have to resort to that. Question is: can you live with what you have and what you're going through?

 

My sincere sympathies. It is unfortunate that you aren't here in the States where you could take advantage of the "lemon laws".

 

One of the big problem with my other car (Maserati) is some dealers don't or won't communicate with Maserati very well, or quit trying too soon. I'm sure even with Jaguar, which has been doing the same volume as Maser lately, some dealers are much better at handling problems than others.Most Jag dealers are long term so they should know what to do and with US volumes down service is an important profit area, if they can't get warranty right why should they get over priced paid service?

 

I've sent a PM to Ryan@Jaguar (a few days ago), but haven't received a response yet. Anybody know if he's still an active member? If not, are there any other representatives from JLR that I can get in touch with?

A belt in my car started to screech again on Monday. Back to the shop again!

 

Ryan was there about 10 days ago.