Is the V6 diesel a mistake? Reliable?

Some say one should avoid this engine, and it’s 2.7 liter predecessor, but I’m hoping what I’ve seen so far is not representative. However, having looked at lots of XF reliability threads, I’ve seen little mention of the diesel one way or another. Perhaps most members are in the U.S. where diesels are rare? Anyway, any insight into how reliable the V6 diesel is and/or how it compares in reliability would be hugely appreciated!

 

Hi there ZIMT,

As a relatively new member of these fourms, and not being in anyway technically/mechanically minded as many of our forum are, the only advice I can give you is from an owner/drivers perspective. I brought my 2.7L diesel XF new in August 2008. It was the moxt expensive car I have ever purchased, so it was a big deal for me on a couple of fronts and so I did at the time as much research as I could on the car and the various engine types etc. Noting that as well there was not much known about them (certainly in Australia). In fact I brought the car sight unseen as there were only a couple of cars allocated to the entire country and these were subsequently shipped from state to state for display purposes even though I had already ordered mine.

I think the there were three really big decisions for me in buying the XF. Whilst I was always in love with Jaguars their reputation around reliability (rightly or wrongly) was a concern. Secondly Australia is vast but Jaguar dealerships are few even in the largest of cities so technical support was an issue. Thirdly our summer climate is hot and out on the road, temperatures can be up to 50 degrees celsius so I needed to be assured that I would not have overheating problems.

The one thing I knew I didn't need was a big super powerful V8 as I enjoy long distance touring but with sufficent power reserve for overtaking so that immediately brought the engine choice down to the 2.7l diesel or the 3L petrol. The literature at the time as well as the reviews gave me confidence in that under Ford's ownership prior to it being sold to TATA, Ford had focussed on significantly improving production, overall build quality and reliability. Secondly the 2.7Litre diesel had been developed by Ford/Pergeout and it was already being used in models before the XF, so I felt there was sufficient operating experience and real world operating knowledge about the engine and of course the ZF transmission had a superb reputation.
Between ordering my car and its arrival, there were lots of reviews appearing and many referenced the diesel as being extremely capable and foreshadowed that it would be a popular choice with the British market in particular. I was fortunate as well to speak to someone who was associated with Jaguar about the capacity of the cooling system and was assured that it would be highly capable manging our hot climate.

So what has been my 14 years experience with my 2.7L diesel. Totally brilliant is all I can say. It has just ticked over 90,000 km of absolute fault free running. For it's 14 year anniversary we took it for a short 920km day drive on a combination of both highway as well as very twisty tight roads in the Southern Alps which included a lot of running in Sports mode with the paddle gear change holding the engine at times in the 4,000RPM range and no issues with overtaking.

The really big drives for my XF are out into the outback quite often 3,500km to 4,000km over three or 4 days ending up at location 1,500km from a dealer. The car travels effortlessley and several years ago I took it from Melbourne to Alice Springs in Central Australia and took advantage of a section of 500 plus kilometres of highway that has no speed limit and the car ran superbly in the 180km/hr to 22okm/he range. The fuel range with the diesel is around 1100km on a tank and the fuel economy running as low as 6.1L/100km but usually 6.6/100 on country cruising versus about 7/100 around town. And that's what my diesel XF is all about long distance country cruising but when need like overtaking a 4 trailer rod train on a 2-lane road you squeeze the accelerator and the car gets up and goes. It may not emit the stirring noise of a super V8 but there is still quite a nice rise in engine note. The other great thing with the diesel is the torque the engine delivers that means the car maintains speed with no difficulty on long highway inclines.

The only issue for me in relation to my XF is Jaguar itself and the honesty and integrity of those dealerships. I have moved to a private specialist Jaguar maintainer with a 40-year reputation. They maintain my XF as if it were their own. Knowing I undertake ultra long drives they inspect the car thoroughly and as the car has aged they focus on condition based maintenance and through their long experience they know the problem/critical areas to look for well ahead. The only big maintenance item was the timing belt replacement which was replaced and again they took the opportunity to thoroughly check everything whilst that part of the engine was accessible. The feedback from my maintainer is that its without doubt the ultra long drives with lots of continuous running is a significsant factor in the reliability of the car. The battery for example lasted 13 years before replacement and that is an area that is referred to in many forums that Jaguars do have electrical issues if the battery is not delivery its full output.

So if you are not looking for that bristling performance that a big V8 brings then all I can say is based on my experience is the diesel has performed supebly and exceeded my expectations. Next big drive Melbourne to Queensland in October - 8,000km.

 

I live in Europe, so its hard to compare (we have very high road tax on diesel so thats why I sold it). I had a 3.0d XF-S (275hp) from 2014, was a great car. Immense torque, very smooth engine, insane gasmileage for a big powerful car. I'd avoid the 2.7 for lack of power and increased consumption.

The only real issue is these cars need to regenerate the particle filter. If you dont drive enough long distance within the correct parameter, it can foul. Or worse, regenerate while youre coming to slow traffic or a stop; in that case they tend to dump the extra fuel needed for the proces into the oil and dilute the oil, leading to possible bearing failure if left unchecked.

So if you drive a lot of miles and change the oil often (not JLR intervals), theres no real issue apart from some plastic bits breaking, which the V8s do to.

 

Maybe I should also extend my question a bit - when looking at used cars with the V6 (in my case, the 3 liter), is there anything I (or a mechanic who is not a Jaguar specialist) should look at to determine whether the engine has issues and/or hasn't been treated well?

Thanks!

 

What if I change the oil often but don't drive lots of miles? Or to be precise, what if I do lots of miles (that's what I'd buy the car for), but there are also some 1, 2, or maybe even 3 month periods when the car is used in the city almost every day with no long trips in between? How bad would that be / how often would I need to change the oil?

 

You can check the oil level - it rises if there's significant diesel dilution.

 

I have a V6 Diesel, now with 150k miles on it and its still perfect. I think you will have more issues with things like door locks and rear brake pads.

 

I asked two service guys at a local dealership which XF engines are most/least reliable. (I didn't specify whether X250 or X260.) One told me to avoid 4 cylinder diesels, and that I should aim for under 100k km with the 6 cylinder, and that it's very important the oil is changed when it should be. The other repeated the oil change advice for diesels, and told me diesels are best for long trips, but shouldn't be used in cities, where petrol/gasoline is the best choice. The reason is the regeneration issue mentioned above.

I should ask if extra frequent oil changes make the 6 cylinder diesel OK for city use - and if so, how frequent.

Does anyone here has any views about that?