Hello all!

I come from owning Audis and currently have a couple Porsches.

I bought my Cayenne this summer as a daily driver and man, what a SUV it is!

Its probably the BEST SUV ever! Period.

Here's the kicker, I dont think I am a SUV person. I like sleek sedans that are fast and subtle. Enter XF.

No offense but I have always crossed Jag off my list due to knowing of some of the older models' issues and peer pressure. Jag is a taurus bla bla bla...

My ultimate goal is to fall in love with my daily driver. I need a car that won't leave me hangin'. that gets better than 15mpg and won't kill me in the snow that we get here in MN.

I would love to hear first hand experience regarding reliability.

Nice to meet you all and thank you for the input!

Here are some pictures of some of my past and current cars to spice things up

S4


Cayenne


911

 

Crap,


double posted. How do I edit/delete this thread?

 

6 mos with my new '11 XF SC, no problems to report. Love the car. Porsche is no. 1 in quality so hard to step up from there. I know alot of Audi and BMW owners (former BMW owner myself). I don't expect to have any more issues than those brands.

 

Welcome aboard!

If you haven't driven XF yet, just be ready to buy one after the test drive. They are that seductive.

For the most part, they are very reliable cars. Some minor issues may pop up here and there from what i have seen, but nothing major.

 

When I decided to get rid of my last car, It was between the XF and the Panamera, I decided on the XF because there is not a lot of XF's in my areas, but as soon as I get bored with the XF, the Panamera is on the top of my list. As far as your questions about reliability, there are potential nightmares with any make and model,. For every scary reliability story you hear, there will be the same amount of "never had a single problem" stories. As long as the car is under warranty, I could care less about how reliable a car is. Good luck with finding a DD you love. TC

 

The XF is not ideal in snow conditions, for the rest it is a much smoother ride than the Cayenne. Honestly, I do not like the road handling of the Cayenne that much.

 

There is much debate over the snow drivability of XF's (and I expect rear wheel drive). You can do a search for these discussions as there are differences in opinions. I have not had mine in snow yet, but will soon. I did buy one of the best set of true snow tires on the market though.

A number of people have asked why don't I get a beater for winter and keep the XF in the garage. I didn't buy the car so I could drive a beater for 4 months, so I am hoping my snows get me through.

It sounds like you want to sell the SUV regardless, otherwise you could have both. The Porsche is no beater for sure.

 

I had to drive my XF home after a minor snowfall last weekend and from what I could tell, the car is a bit sketchy in slick stuff. Granted, I don't have snow tires and didn't use the weather button for better traction. I for one believe a car like this is going to be fine in snow with proper tires, settings and a rational person behind the wheel...

However, my concern is with the ungodly amounts of salt they throw on the roads in recent years. I believe this is what will lead to reliability problems down the road... and with my hesitance to take my car through car-wash's makes this even more of a concern... We just bought a Land Rover for those days... while not a "beater" it is a vehicle more suitable for bad weather... and car washes because it's white...

 

There are maybe 10 days in the whole year that we get a MENTAL amount of snow.
Maybe 15 days where we get light snow.

I just hate that I lug around hundreds of pounds during all of the other dry times in the winter.

There are also a lot of rainy days and it's important that my car is planted and safe throughout the year.

The Panamera is over-budget and over-ugly.

So at this point the Cayenne is looking like the better option.
AWD is there reliability is there...

I was hoping you guys would bash the Porsche and tell me to get a XF
BTW I already drove 3 XFs (09 NA, 09 SC, 10)

The drive, looks and the interior is what is making me want to sell the Cayenne.

 

I had the 20 inch summer performance Dunlops on my car till Wednesday last week. I now have 20 non-staggered Nokian Hakka R's on the OEM rims. Testing to follow. Agree with you about the salt. My BMW had to have the brake lines replaced because the bottom shields trapped the salt- snow mix against the underside. I am setting up an indoor garage washing station at work. My partner has several BMW's that also need winter care. A once a month or sooner under carriage wash is planned.

 

Get the XF.

 

You will have no problems with the car in the snow. It actually comes down to the driver more than anything.
I have had nothing but rear wheel drive cars with V8s under the hood. Never had problems in the snow.

 

I have had my 09 NA XF since August and we have gotten more snow here in 1 weekend this year that we did all last winter...that says a lot from the Canadian prairies. The XF does AMAZING in the snow considering it is rear wheel drive. It took a bit of getting used to but it is great. With the winter mode engaged the car has no problems at all. I have gotten stuck twice however. Once in an unplowed crescent which had about 2 feet of snow. The other time I stopped with both wheels in a rut completely iced out. I am running 20" Selena's with all-seasons. Porsche are amazing vehicles but XF's are unique and definitely luxurious.

 

This is what I was talking about

I don't know that the XF would of handled this as well...

 

You should have given it a shot it would surprise you. Like my previous post...this is what I woke up to one day and had the XF out no problem

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ram=1355167548

The snow in your pictures would have been handled with the winter mode engaged. If Jagular want to cut in I am sure he is well aware of the amount of snow this car can handle.

 

For me snow performance (disclaim that I don't own the Jag yet) is dependant upon two things:

1. Don't try to run 20 inch low profile SUMMER tires, you can't get anywhere in a 4 dr pickup truck with 20 inch summers, why would you in a 2wd car? If you must, go for some winter certified tires with lots of sipes. If you can avoid driving the car on the 10 days of bad conditions (see link and stats below for my city), just go with some good all round All-Seasons with adequate siping. I've done that in every two wheel drive car I've owned (and driven just fine on the ridiculous days) and never had a single problem. 1 cm of fresh snow in a mustang with a traction lock rear and summer tires - no dice.

2. Experience/Confidence - they're not the same term and shouldn't be confused, but most of driving in winter is driving conservatively enough for the conditions. If you've driven much in the winter, and/or pushed a rwd car hard at the limits of traction on gravel or pavement or some slippy surface then you'll know whether or not you're up for driving in the winter (at all).

I don't believe the Jag is any better or worse than any other car in the winter, regardless of vehicle it comes down to attitude and tire selection as discussed.

____________________________________________

Averages for Calgary 1971-2000
34.5 days > 0.2 cm snowfall
7.6 days > 5 cm snowfall
1.8 days > 10 cm snowfall


http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc....h1=0&month2=12

 

That's what most people don't realize.

 

Thats a neat site wannajag never seen it before. This is what it says for where I come from:

>= 0.2 cm43>= 5 cm5>= 10 cm1.3>= 25 cm0

I agree with you it comes down to attitude and tire selection. The debate I say is do you NEED winter tires. My answer is no as I am not using them. Know your limitations.

 

That snow this past Sunday here in MN was interesting. As others have said the XF with summer tires is completely useless in any amount of snow (any car is). I was moving it about 100ft on Sunday into my other garage for storage and it was a pain...

I have a another car for winter and I didn't want to subject the XF to MN winters. I like it too much. Winter tires will run about $2k on the 20" SC rims. You could by a decent winter beater for that. For $5-7k you could buy a cheap used X-type for winter.

My winter beater this past Sunday:

 

2011XF SC here. This is my second XF. Prior, drove only Infiniti's for almost 20 years (Q45, M45, G35x). XF reliability is as good. After driving the first 2010 XF Prem. for few weeks, I had the chance to drive my friend's brand new M45x. I was shocked how truckish and almost primitive it felt in comparison - dynamically speaking.
If you worry about the white stuff, Being in NY Metro area, I keep the wife's old 1999 Pathfinder as trash-around. In the last 2 years, used the Pathy no more than 6-7 times specifically because of weather conditions.
On the other hand, the 99 Pathy will probably stay for ever, while the DDs come and go........
This gives me the flexibility to drive anything I like.