Yes, I was hoping that it would not be the norm. Guess, I will have to stand firm on this issue and hope that they find something to fix, adjust, re-program...???

They are the Toba wheels. I was wondering (wishfully) if the 2013 suspension pieces would work on a 2012?. Not sure to what degree they are tied to the 2012 software that may not be upgradable to 2013 specs?

I'll give it a good shot asking for a loaner. The last time, if you recall my post, I was given an XF by this dealer and at the time they denied having XJ(L) loaners. Maybe it could help if I told them that I would consider trading for a 2013...

As for now, I have gone to the near ridiculous solution of putting a thick memory foam seat cover and a thick memory foam steering wheel cover (just got it today from Amazon) over my beautiful seat and my $500 option wood steering wheel. At least they appear to isolate enough of the vibration out to make the car more livable.

Albert

 

Albert,

That's just unacceptable for you to have to do that one a new car. You should show them the "modifications" you have done to keep the vibration to a minimum.

The car needs an immediate attention by Jaguar. Hope they provide the service you need.

If it comes down to it, contact Jaguar North America.

 

You are right, Executive. I find myself talking out loud at times while I'm driving the car and uttering the very same words: "Unacceptable".

Having said that, it could not be an easy find. When the car was new and I already had this vibration I took it to the nearest Jaguar dealer and they said that it was fine. So, I took it all the way to the selling dealer whose short test drive also declared it to be fine but, they did find a failure code for the right rear damper. They replaced it and the ride definitely improved so, while still not what I would call luxury limousine quality but, I stopped complaining for the next 6000 miles. Just within the last 1000 miles I find myself having the same issues and complaints as at the time of the initial one. The word: "unacceptable" keeps popping up during my drives.

What can make it difficult to diagnose in absence of a fail-code is that the harshness and vibrations are very small magnitude. Quite tolerable over short distances but, very degrading over my regular, near 3 hours freeway drives. It does not vibrate as if a wheel was badly out of balance but, just enough to feel it in my body, fingers, arms, feet. Plainly it feels like the dampers are not doing their job to dampen out even the surface texture on a visibly perfectly smooth black top.

The next time I'll be near the selling dealer will be on July 15th so, that is when the car will be dropped off. It will also mark the end of the first year of my ownership of the car. Sure hope they will be able to fix it as for now I don't even want to think about taking the car for a really long drive, such as to Vegas.

And, yes, I do plan on showing the Shop Manager all the thick foam padding that I've purchased just to give me some isolation from the harshness.

Albert

 

Sorry to hear that, changing tires is different than changing wheels, your wheels may be bad, one of them. I hope it is fixed soon. try it with other wheels.

 

Sorry to hear that, changing tires is different than changing wheels, your wheels may be bad, one of them. I hope it is fixed soon. try it with other wheels.

I sold a 2007 facelift after some problem from front bushes not diagnosed and i was almost sure i also had a tiny problem with one of the wheel, it really happenned. I sold it.

 

Wow! Just to clarify Albert, I don't experience any vibration through the wheel at all. I only get a by mild "rumble" through the seat at times. Never would consider any memory foam.

Have the service manager take it for a long drive with you in the car. Good luck to you.

 

Yes, I do have that mild rumble through the seat and it drives me nuts after a couple of hours. No place for such in any car, particularly not in a $90K luxury cruiser. Today, I just showed it to my wife that the rumble and the vibration was occurring even on a brand newly laid pavement right by our house. I do not like the foam any more than you would but, it does isolate somewhat, not enough though.

Thanks for responding,

Albert

 

you do not care what we are saying and will continue complaining like this, and not update your wheels or will you?

Vibrations like this is mostly from tires or wheels related no? and to Re-balance the axle transmission shaft.

I will call another dealer to try different wheels, your dealership does not seems to care and you will stay like this for ever if you do not take action. If you trade it and got a new issue with the new vehicle will you trade it again? or would you wait after this dealership?

 

It is NOT that I do not care. Of course I do, that should be obvious from my posts. Let's talk about the wheel issue.

I had my wheels fine balanced/checked by 2 different dealers and one tire specialist. They checked for balance, wheel trueness and tire trueness. I also purchased a whole new set of tires after only 2K miles on the brand new car. None of which helped.

But, I still have not abandoned the wheel issue. I do plan on swapping wheels off my wife's perfectly riding 2012 XF and put them on the XJL. That should tell me definitely if it is an issue with the wheels/tires. I had a minor surgery less than 2 weeks ago so, I will have to hold off with that work for at least an other 3 weeks, or so.

In the meantime the car will be back at the dealer for the 1yr service and they will have an other chance to address the issue. I will also try to get a XJ loaner and, at the least, take a 2013 for a longer test drive to see the differences.

The drive shaft is also a good suggestion, I have not thought of that, yet. Not likely as drive shaft vibrations usually occur at particular RPMs and this issue does not seem to be RPM or even speed related. But, one more thing to check.

So, I do appreciate your suggestions and I can tell you that going down the list is definitely something I plan on pursuing. However, if it all fails, I will get rid of the car as life is too short to be spent pissed off while getting a head ache driving a luxury car. What ever the costs might be it would worth it.

Albert

 

Thanks Albert, I did not want disturb you even if i sounds bad, it pissed me off when dealership push you into the position of not asking things or finding compensation like the foam you used etc...i feel really sorry for you as this damn car sounds super smooth to drive and much better than previous model with the air shocks on the rear only, i envy you with such car and I never drove a xj351!!

I really hope this damn dealer will help you out, and fix this damn vibration.
yes swapping wheels is the best to do I will not wait 3 weeks and bring both cars to a tire shops sooner. any tire shop will do even the cheapest ones compare to a dealer that is dump. I suffered one year with a 2007 facelift xj spent 3500 euros not to find the issue, I changed of country indeed at the end, and this have resolved the issue as the other dealership knew what they were doing! and it takes 1 meter to mess a wheel. plus this issue not resolved could lead to other problems....like bad tires simply it is wheel related...
I will contact Jaguar USA asap as they may need 3 weeks to help/fix it or fix the dealer....

Oh sorry if you can not drive it test it yourself i guess you have to wait, but maybe someone else could drive it how it is realize the problem and exchange the xf wheel now to check it out...
I wish you a good and fast recovery.

 

One day while talking to a tecnician at jaguar Haron, we were driving and he told me, there is one great car out of 4 so called good ones, when new. He added this one car will drives perfect, well balanced and make you feel it is loaded. Maybe the engine need to be balanced/checked too.

 

I also rest my left arm on the doorsill and have never experienced a vibration in my 11 XJSC. I had the original Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's until about two weeks ago when I replaced them with Continental Extreme Contact DWS. While I was never dissatisfied with the ride it was smooth but firm. The Dunlops were not worn more than half way at 14000 miles but they became very noisy at about 9000 miles and I decided to just go ahead and make the change. It's only been a couple of hundred miles but man what a difference. The ride is dramatically smoother and very quiet. The other thing I notice is the twitchiness in the steering is gone.

 

Albert, how are you doing? recovering well?

Ready to have the xj fixed?

 

Thanks for asking. Yes, I'm doing quite well, actually starting back up with my exercise/competition routine at rather light levels.

I've made the appointment for the XJL for next Monday (15th). They will only be able to provide an XF for the loaner. We also own a 2012 XF and its ride is fine.

But, they told me that I could test drive a 2013 XJL. Again, not confident that a short test drive will tell me the full story. After all, I test drove my XJL at the time of the purchase; a total of 5 miles, or so. Then, following the signing, I drove it home (about 200 miles) and upon getting home I called the dealer with the ride complaints. It is such a subtle harshness that you may not notice it much over short distances but, wears you out over driving several hours.

I'll post the outcome of the dealer's findings, one way or an other.

Albert

 

I hope for the best, let us know how it is with the other xj. Maybe take your time and drive it more to judge.

 

So, things with the XJL ride just got more complicated.

Today, my wife and I drove up and around the High Sierras, over several near 8000' summits, over good roads and bad roads. On the way up the car rode roughly. I asked my wife to take over the driving on the Interstate so that I could "feel" the ride from the passenger seat. This was the very first time my wife drove my XJL and, in not time, she begun complaining about the exact harshness and symptoms that I had been describing here. Her words: "Yes, I feel the roughness, the road surface through the steering wheel kickbacks and, IF I CAN FEEL IT, something is really wrong." Kind of self depreciating but, true. As I mentioned before, my wife would probably not sense if a wheel fell of her car :-).

After about 125 miles we stopped for a lengthy Mexican lunch in a nice Cantina. After that we turned onto a gorgeous, deserted road to lead us back home. After a few miles and several more high summits I mentioned to my wife that the road surface had to be something special as I did not feel the harshness. Then, the road surface turned really rough and I still did not feel that "particular" harshness despite the bad surface.

Finally, we turned onto a 40 miles long, completely deserted mountain road with incredible scenery. The road surface was very good, there were many curves and many miles-long straights where I got the Jag effortlessly to speeds way over 100 MPH. My wife volunteered how smooth the car was running at all speeds now. We did not meet any other vehicles over the whole distance, being in complete wilderness environment.

So, to my mixed surprise, the XJL's ride was fine. I could not believe how nicely it was riding. Finally got back onto our heavily traveled freeway and the ride was still fine, all the way home.

So, as it appears I have an intermittent damper issue. When the car was brand new and I complained about the ride, the dealer found a code that he said was for "intermittent damper failure". They changed one damper and I had no complaints for about 5000 miles, at which point the problem reappeared.

I always hated intermittent problems, particularly those that disappeared when you tried to trouble shoot them. It could be a sticky damper valve, an electronic issue, a loose wire connector to the damper, or...??? We'll see if there are any codes in the car when I take it in next Monday.

One thing for sure; while I absolutely loved the much better ride of the XJL, things just got more complicated by today's changes. At the least, now I definitely see that there was/is something wrong with my particular car and the ride was not normal.

Albert

 

Well it's good that you discovered this. This situation is similar to what Lothar went through with the "chirp" issue...different problem I know but has been difficult to pin down.

Hopefully they will fix your damper issue when you take it in and all will be well.

 

I hope it is resolved soon...for a while I thought you were driving the new one, will you still get it a few days to compare while they really fixed your car?