I have a VERY low VIN #'d car... under 1500 (thus why I've been having a TON of problems with it). I have a loaner while Jaguar is working out the details of swapping my vehicle out. The vehicle I have is in the mid 13000 VIN range and I noticed something different in this car vs mine.

In my vehicle, I can use the paddles when in D or when in S mode, but when in this car, I can only use the paddles when in S mode. Also. The gear shows on the very left side of the screen, where the audio info is. Big 1-6's scroll through the screen when you shift from one gear to another.

Are there software changes in these vehicles that aren't put in place over the other cars?

I can't put my finger on it, but something is different on this car compared to mine.

Just curious if anyone else has had any similar experiences.

 

When you are in dynamic/sports mode the big 1-6 should show up on the far left when you are shifting.

 

The ability to use the paddles was changed in the latest software update. In the original owner's manual, it stated that you could use the paddles while in D. In the latest version of the owner's manual, it states that only supercharged vehicles can use the paddles while in D.

After I had the update applied to my vehicle, the paddles were disabled in D mode, even though I have a supercharged vehicle. I just haven't gotten around to taking it back to the dealer to have them enabled.

 

I am not sure if I have the latest software update but I believe my paddles still work in drive.

 

Well that was a dumb statement I made because if I hadn't had the update my paddles would still work in drive.

 

My car is supercharged and in the 13k vin range and my paddle shifters only work when in sport mode also.
I'm kind of debating whether to have the dealer activate it or not since on my previous car an xf, I used to accidentally hit them all the time and downshifting when I didn't want to.

 

The only thing you can do to make it a little faster is to turn off animation in the settings section.

 

and this is why jaguar made the change, at the dealer level we occassionally have to sternly tell a couple customers that there is nothing wrong with your car when it for some unknown reason upshifted or downshifted... we know, they hit the paddle without realizing it. its just hard to convince a few people of that every now and then. Most people just go wow I didnt even realize that or yeah now that you mention it i probobly did. That actually wasnt to be change on earlier cars that have been sold however and was a presale reflash, not post sale. Whats worse is an advisor or tech that opens mouth to insert foot that isnt aware of this issue or doesnt put 2 n 2 together, and tries a repair or fix only to relise that theres nothing wrong. THEN trying to explain to a customer that thats all they did is hit the paddles, then you might as well be pushing a rope
On earlier vins, yes there are.were issues that Jaguar worked to fix quickly for customers and on cars going down the assembly line. Thats why known issues are not issues on later vins. Ive said it before and say it again, Jaguar worked/works very hard to fixing issues on the XJ and instead of seeing these fixes on later production years, you see them in the current year, just later production numbers. So maybe 1 day if all automakers did this. We as the public would no longer say "Don't get the first or second year of a new model", but " don't get the first few 1000 vin numbers of a new model year"

 

MAy be a tech can enlighten me. I had the latest software upgrades. I also had been told by the dealer that the paddles will be disabled in normal mode. HOWEVER, my paddles still work in all modes.
All the other things of that upgrade (I believe was the one taking care of some sidemarker staying on draining battery issue) are in. I had the delaer verify if the latest upgrad is actually "in" my system. It confirmed.
Now how can that be?
Don't get me wrong. I like my paddles enabled in all modes. BUT I am wondering if the update "didn't take".???

 

gears you werent supposed to get the update to change the paddles. This is a presale service action only. Since you already own the car youre not supposed to have that update done. While Ive had my advisor at first tell customers this was to be done and add the service action to the repair order. I had to show her that it is a "PRESALE" only service action and I deleted the lines and didnt do the action. Especially cause its to be done as presale so if I do it Jaguar wont pay the dealer and they wont pay me. Now Im sure that if you have issue with the paddles in Drive, it can be turned off and Jaguar will pay for this change.
Jaguar comes out with things that are supposed to be done before sale and for dealers to refrain from selling a car until those are done, as they find them and want changes made. Most involve software, but last year there were some issues with diffs from Jaguars supplier and Jaguar had the affected cars diffs replaced before sale.

 

I have had all software updates done and I can still use the paddles in drive mode--small gear position numbers show in right hand display instead of "D" and if I don't use the paddles for about 30 seconds, paddles are deactivated and it reverts to "D" in the display. When in sport mode, "S" appears in right hand display instead of "D" and big gear position numbers show in left hand display. It stays in this mode until I manually shift to drive mode or turn off the car.

 

Me too. I have the latest software and can manually adjust gears via the paddles in any mode. This is a really essential feature as far as I'm concerned. I usually drive in dynamic mode with the gear selector in D (normal) and it's great to able to nudge it into a lower gear from time to time. I use S (sport) occasionally but would hate to have to put it into sport every time i wanted to manually change a gear. Seems like a ridiculous software "update" if that is true.

Nigel

 

I agree. I also usually drive in dynamic mode unless I'm driving in deep snow. I would hate to have to switch to sport mode just to use the paddles. There have been a couple of time while using my knee to "drive" that I've inadvertently nudged a paddle, but this pales in comparison to the number I've times I've used the paddles (on purpose).

 

I am about to pull the trigger on a new XJ and I would love the tech opinion on whether it makes sense to go with a recent 16000-18000 serial over a 9000 serial, which was built last fall. Has there been anything significant in modifications or quality control over the last 4-5 months of XJ production?