I loved my XF.

Bought it ‘used’ in November 2012 from Arnold Clark in Winsford. It had done 67k - year 2008 - with private plates reg. J10KWL.

I loved the colour ‘ lunar grey’? seemed to change colour to golden beige when the sun caught it. I loved the comfort and performance. I loved the adulation when people would say ‘nice car’.

Arnold Clark sold me the car with a two year servicing deal which I was happy to use. When the two years was up I switched to regular servicing at Reigate in Chester where the car had been purchased new.

My Jag then started to develop a problem with DSC - DPF - giving Restricted Performance which became a regular nuisance - stopping and restarting the engine to reset - calling the garage for advice - taking the car to Reigate for diagnostic checks - - Advice was given including - how I actually drove the car - At that time (late 2013) I wasn't driving any distances whereas before I was commuting to London. I also reported that the MPG seemed to have dropped drastically. Also by this time Reigate had moved and renamed FOX - Inchcape.

In June/July 2016 I agreed to have a major service at >100k, which was going to include further investigation into the DSC problem during the assessment it was pointed out that other ‘problems’ had been discovered - wish-bones, Brake discs to mention two items, all in all between two and three thousand pounds worth. I will attach invoices. The DSC problem reoccurred some time later and then only infrequently.

Early 2017 I considered swopping my car for something else having taken a liking to SUV’s but decided against that having paid so much into the car, I would look later in the year.

Because I didn't drive any distances I didn't book a service, but just carried out normal checks of the oil, windscreen water, tyres etc.

Into 2018 - Sunday Jan 28th. I stopped to make a phone call on my way to Whitchurch, Shropshire. When I restarted, after setting off, on came the DSC alarm, drove on a little to where I could pull off the road and stop the engine.

Restarted, reset, on my way - within 100 yds the car lurched - A cloud of BLUE SMOKE blew out of the back - ALARMS came on - the engine went to MAXIMUM revs - braked and braked - IN SHOCK - engine settled for 10 seconds - then same again only worse - LURCH - BIGGER CLOUD OF BLUE SMOKE - MAXIMUM revs on the engine - brake and brake - smoke from the bonnet - SHOCK - people looking at the car - back to normal, pulled over and stopped - WHAT JUST HAPPENED ? - No other cars on the road - that's lucky - what would have happened on the M’way ????
Tried to get out of the car - DOORS LOCKED - WINDOWS LOCKED - smoke coming from the bonnet !!!

Out of the car - opened bonnet - checked oil - ok - any leaks? - no - restarted engine - DOESNT SOUND GOOD. - Decided to park the car up at a nearby house as it was Sunday and garages weren't open.

Monday - Car towed to Chester where Fox quickly diagnosed a blown engine which on their ‘second’ thoughts was beyond repair - SHOCK - What to do next ? Offered £1000 against a showroom car - new engine £10000+ - Still in SHOCK and very upset.

Try to think -
Second hand / reconditioned replacement engine ? £ 3k to £4k vs resale value ? no
2. £1000 towards another Jag - I NOW have NO faith in Jaguar !!! so NO.
3. BMS Scrapcar Comparisons ?? £1600 - £ 1900 - think about it.

Fox Sales Rep still trying to persuade me to use their offer and buy another Jag - NO - No longer have faith in jaguar vehicles.
Car sold to BMS - with 110,000 miles on the clock for £1600

I felt so sad when they took it. . . That was my baby. . . WHY did it fail so DRASTICALLY ? My Jag should have lasted forever. !
DO Jaguar offer warnings that this CAN happen. ??
Garages I spoke to recognised the problem - yes this DOES happen.
What might have happened on a busy road ??

AS you can tell I am not happy about what has happened and it has taken me some time to recount what did happen. I will add this letter to Jag Forums.

B. Richardson

 

Diesel engine/Dpf related failures have been discussed many times here. do a search for more background.

 

Catastrophic engine or gearbox failures can happen with any marque, not just Jaguar.

Perhaps having the initial concern addressed may have prevented the problem, or you could have part-exchanged the vehicle for a different one earlier on.

 

I live not in US. Still can anybody explain why peiople buying jaguar with citroen diesel engines? I have heard and witnessed nothing but horror stories on 2.7 and 3.0 diesels on xf. one fellow blew engine within 3 days after complete rebuilt. ALWAYS buy naturaly aspirated or supercharged 4.2 V8 ant forger the problems. I have witneese how indy service tried to blew my engine, yet they was not sucessfully.


just buy petrol and forget all those nonsenses with citroen engines.. thw car is good, its an engine which is not good at all.
all the best.

 

If you think Diesel engines are the only ones with problems from Jaguar, then.....

 

not the only, there is differential problems, there is gearbox and torque converters problems (due jaguar policy), there is also "petrol" diesels problems (more to 2.0 ford ecpoboost,. less 3.0 SC/5.0SC) some vacum leaks, small electronic gremlins.


at least my 4.2SC and 4 more 4.2 v8 had not problem at all. i specificaly bought 4.2SC engine before lot of readings and it fully up to his name.


anyway Jag is way more reliable than Audi. thats for sure.


nearly 200K miles on the clock, original suspension(competititors like audi goes bad at 40K miles), original gearbox still great, gearshift module repalces, rear diff replaced, tyre pressure system had corroded pcb track(repaired) water hose replaced, some small oil leaning. thats all. in nearly 200K miles.

 

To the OP, you have experienced the classic "diesel engine runs on out of control until it blows up", caused by excessive diesel fuel in the oil. It blows up because the oil is burning (hence the clouds of blue smoke) and the motor seizes.
Much debate about how or why so much fuel gets into the oil but the most commonly argued reason is incomplete DPF regenerations and/or blocked DPF.
You will find plenty of info about it on this other forum: JaguarForum.com - The World's # 1 Jaguar Car Forum

 

Firstly sorry for your loss. Sounds like you were very attached to this car - and sorry to see it go.

Am I correct in reading that it was last serviced in June 2016 and engine blew in Jan 2018? That's a long time between services. If diesel in oil was the issue then some oil changes, filters along the way would have been good. I thought irrespective of low mileage the schedule still asks for annual service. It does sound from the symptoms you describe that something had been wrong with the car for a long time so I suspect that may have played a part.

As for diesel vs petrol engines I'm not sure there is evidence that diesels fail more than petrol. So I'm not convinced that just buying petrol is a guarantee

 

Thanks - I started having the problem around 2014 ( 85 - 90 k) and checked out several times by Jag.
I wish I HAD exchanged the car earlier but having spent a lot on Major service and advised parts replacements I decided to hold on to it that bit longer - oh well.