Noticed a hairline scratch on my the exterior side of my new 2024 Jaguar F-Type, see below photo. No idea how long its been there and isn't noticeable in bright sunlight, was difficult to photograph too. Initially thought it was a dust streak but can feel the scratch with a finger nail. Checked the windowsill and didn't see anything that would cause the scratch like rock or sand while it was lowered or raised.

Big question, is this covered under warranty? I called my local Jaguar dealership and they said they would want to take a look at it first. I called my detailer and he said he could buff the scratches out but I'd rather have Jaguar pay for the fix if its covered under warranty of course.

 

I have never had any other car that collects sand and rocks down in the window felt like the f-type. I have soooo many scratches just like yours on my 2016 and am constantly cleaning out the felts with tape and cloth. You can't see the rocks from the outside, you just know they're there when you put the window down and screeeeeeech. Mine's long out of warranty, so I don't know whether it's covered, but my god is it a constant battle.

 

Ugh, must be a design issue. I guess I gotta refrain from lowering the window after the scratch is repaired. Never had this issue with my previous cars of various makes.

 

There was a service campaign (or similar, not a recall) about scratches on the windows. The remedy was to replace the seals and polish or replace the glass as necessary.

Since I had the seals replaced I clean the debris out of the seal whenever I wash the car. My assessment is that because the windows slope inwards towards the top, debris slides down the glass and collects in the wiper much more than on a vertical window.

 

Well known design fault and not much you can do about it. I guess you could investigate different shaped seals but it would be a DIY patch job.
Unfortunately the seal design acts as a gutter and traps small rock against the window glass itself by channeling items to the inside instead of outwards and away from the glass like most cars

 

In the future, rub some silicone into the edges of the rubber seal (window down). That way the rubber won't GRAB debris. No screeeching either.

An alternate treatment (but not as long-lasting) would be to apply talcum powder to your fingers and coat/lubricate the edges of the seals.


We do both treatments once a year.



Might work, might not. Our windows are not scratched.

 

I had heard of this problem, but had assumed the new cars had remedied it. Apparently not. I guess I will need to be cognizant of this with my car once it arrives. Really dumb problem they let slip by there. Also dumb, fixing it without actually fixing it...Kinda seems like ignoring it more than anything ;-)

 

Wiper? We're still talking about the side windows here? To be clear, I guess you mean the seal?

How are you cleaning it out in your case? Any way to vac it out while holding the seal open slightly or something? I don't directly know what the picture of things looks like, as I don't yet have a car in front of me.

 

Use a leaf blower

 

I don't know about a vacuum.

I use a cloth wrapped around my finger to 'spread open' the seal and wipe it, with the window down. First pass is with a damp cloth, then a second piece of cloth sprayed with silicone spray, to lubricate.

Another way to achieve this is to rub the silicone-saturated cloth on both sides of the window, then roll it up & down a few times. That can make the glass streaky tho'...and don't rub your eyes with silicone on your fingers!

As they say, YMMV. (Your Mileage May Vary)

 

There is a torx screw under the rubber at the edge of the window... Remove the screw and it is easy to pull the seal and trim strip out a couple of inches to get from under the mirror and then it just lifts up... It sits in a metal channel on the inside edge of the door... Very easy then to clean it off... Make sure the window is down when you do this.....

 

How has this whole thing been going for you?

Not putting the window down doesn’t really seem like much of a practical solution. Certainly not for me, as I like to drive mostly with the windows down to hear that exhaust in all its glory.

I completely forgot about this issue until only recently when I thought I saw a faint verticle scratch in the low light of my garage. On closer inspection it was nothing. I guess I will have to pay more attention to this and bring this into my cleaning routine, as there is no way I cannot put the windows down.

Besides, the window drops a bit on it’s own when opening the door so there would always be scratch potential…Unless there is a way to make the window not drop upon opening the door (not sure).

Issues like this are head scratchers. Clearly they did nothing to fix this in reality. Disappointing for sure.

 

The reason the window drops is because when it's fully closed it tucks into the top rubber seal. Not recommended to pull it out from there, although I have done that on my previous XKRs as on cold winter mornings everything froze and I had to force the door open to get in,

 

Had a similar scratch on my new (then) 2021. Dealer said they would take the door apart and it would be covered under warranty IF they found something.
I guessed they knew they would not find the bit of sand or grit, and I would get a large bill for a new glass and labor. I declined their generous offer.
I did manage to polish it out a little. Bottom line, just live with it. You will forget about it eventually and only notice occasionally it in certain lights.

 

A TSB related to window scratches…
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/703a0...xn1bmfisu&dl=0

 

Yeah, I’ve had friends with other makes that had the windows freeze like that here in our Canadian winter and burn the motor out or something a few times. Think it was a VW.

My other vehicles don’t do the window drop thing, and this Jag is summer only for me, so I won’t have to deal with that kinda stuff at least.

 

Not sure about the OP but my scratch was visible but not "fingernail detectable".
In my case I think the new car came with the scratch, but it was noticed for several weeks later.
So far as I can tell it was one time event.

 

This is valuable, thank you!

 

I would imagine that Ian Callum was well aware of the potential for the windows to be scratched but you have to take the bad with the good. The beautiful design of this car necessitates some undesirable colloraries. For instance, most sports cars are very low so one must deal with scraping of the front air dam apparatus. In our cars, the gorgeous rear end design does not allow for optimal vision, etc.

It's a PITA, but so are many wonderful things in life. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

I kinda get what you're saying, but there are lots of beautiful vehicles out there that probably do not have this issue. I would think anyway. It's kind of a reasonably significant oversight that probably could have been avoided without ruining the car. I would think anyway. I definitely could do without this silly problem, but yeah again, I get where you are coming from.