Hey guys, thought it would be good idea for any of you who would like to share your ups and downs owning this beautiful ride. I will be buying my first Jag this weekend. Let me know anything I should know, be aware of, etc. Cheers!

 

I own the 2012 XF Portfolio in Stratus Gray. I haven't had any issues really to speak about. The only one downside is the audio system, if you like a full sounding system where you can get enough oomph out of the bass, the standard system which came with the Portfolio is lacking. I've done an upgrade by adding the subwoofer and the amp, still in process of adding the front dash surround speaker and thinking of adding the rear deck speakers as well, but haven't had the time yet. It's a pain as you have to know how to use JLR SDD for programming. I also found the wheels to be really difficult to clean, so I bought some Aquilla Propeller wheels for it and trying to figure out why I get a grinding noise out of the front when doing some aggressive turns. I love the upgraded seats in this car and the headliner is nicer than the standard XF. The power of the 5.0 is plenty, the Supercharged or XFR would have been nicer, but I couldn't find one available when I bought mine.
You will probably get the TPMS warnings in the wheels as the car is over 5 years old and the TPMS batteries last for a bit over 5 years, if the original owner didn't change them out. It's a good idea to change them out whenever you change tires. I had one of them going bad and since I replaced my wheels and swapped over the tires from the original wheels, I did the TPMS replacement then and it fixed the warning I had which was originally coming back on every few drives.
There is a Takada airbag recall which is not yet available from what the Jaguar website says.
I have not performed the remap of the ECU and probably won't as it is pretty expensive, but I did take the 125mph limit off through JLR SDD programming.
I know there is a video about the timing guide wear: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e-wear-191810/ . I haven't really experienced this but it is always good to know.

Back to the audio section.. If you are using USB stick which I do for the MP3's, its best to downsample the MP3's to 192kbps as otherwise the system won't recognize the music. This is not just related to the 2012 Portfolio. I personally think Jaguar's integration with Android and IPhones is lacking, I would rather them have a way to project the mobile phone screen to the dash screen and control the phone in that way, so you can use Waze instead of the built in Navigation, play music, etc. You can use bluetooth for the music and use Waze on the phone but there is a lack of a place to mount the phone to see the on screen directions.
I can't think of anything else. It's a beauty, turns heads, people are always envious, and love the purr. Oh yes.. Mileage is not great, especially in the winters, but you don't buy a 5.0 litre Jaguar for the mileage. ;-)

 

Hopefully you got maintenance history and looked up some common issues.

There are some useful threads like the coolant cross over pipe issue in some cars. See thread below
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ngines-143771/

My coolant pipe issue was replaced under CPO warranty. Other than that, its been a great car .

 

Oh, and Jaguar engineers have an apparent mental block with the 3.0 & 5.0 water pump. Version#7 was still leak prone so we're still all waiting to see if Version #8 is finally the one. Its not a catastrophic failure unless you let it leak for many thousands of miles till it runs low on coolant or destroys the bearing, but just keep in mind you will most likely be replacing a water pump somewhere between 25K and 50K miles and perhaps every so often thereafter; well before the 100K to 150K mile mark typical of other cars.