I have an 04 xj8. Taking loose the headliner appears not to be an issue. Getting it out of the car to repair maybe. Does a person need to remove a seat or more to get it out the door?

 

As others have said, this is a very common problem with these cars, at least the X308 and X350. Some people blame the hot weather, but that is just BS - it is rare on Japanese and American cars. This is simply caused by junk foam backing on the OEM headliner, and it is inexcusable for any car, especially an expensive luxury car! And Jaguar wonders why they can't move up in the car rankings?

Oh well, not much you can do about it if you like these cars. The problem is not the glue, it is the foam on the liner material. If it is properly replaced with NON-Jaguar material, it should not happen again. The key is making sure all the old foam is scrubbed off the board before the new material is put in place. I did my 2000 myself for about $70. On those cars it was real common for the liner to drop in front of the rear window first. Seems the X350s are coming loose under the visors more.

Mostly an easy job, but it was a little tricky to get is completely smooth around the visor wells. If you screw it up, it is almost impossible to just pull it off and start over since the new foam backing will rip away and cannot be scrubbed off like the old deteriorated foam. I think it is worth paying someone a few hundred to do; just make sure it is not a new Jaguar liner! Good luck,
Goose

 

Having headliner problem as well. Went by to see a friend who is an upholsterer. $400 for a new headliner. Problem is (oh perhaps I should mention mine is s a 02 VDP) the liner starts separating from the thin layer of foam and sometimes some of the foam may go with it. One cannot spray an adhesive like 3M to hold it in place in most cases because of the separation. The kit sounds good but I guess the main question like Brutal said if you've teh time and want to be that involved go for it. I think I would rather spend the money for a shop like my friend's to do it and have it looking good by someone who knows what they are doing. Now don't misunderstand..not putting anyone down here. Just my $.02.
Bill

 

WELL LIKE Ive said elsewhere on here, its not just Jaguars, Ive seen issue on ALL makes,. Its the foam that deteriorates, and the foam is there to make it feel/look all soft a cushy. change the material to a clothwithout foam backing, you can do similar texture and look/color. it wont have the foam to seperate again down the road. All foam/platic on ALL cars goes away with time. see all that borwn stuff in your ac vents...yeah that foam insulation for the ductwork seperating too. Plastic, dont look hard at it or itll break too....
I personally like the new Jaguar suede cloth which will be much more long lasting and looks even nicer. And Ill be putting that in my Japaneeeeze Nissan when its headliner comes down more than it already is, and its an 05....Until Jesus comes down and builds cars NONE, no matter what you pay will be perfect....

 

I have a 04 XJ. The headliner started coming down about a year ago. I didn't do anything about it until my sunroof liner peeled completely loose. The uphosterly shop that I do businss with tells me that it happens to all cars that have a foam backed cloth liner. The foam falls apart with time due to heat induced deterriation. It's not the glue. My shop charged me $235 to replace the liner. It involved scrapping off the old foam. It now looks brand new. Hope it lasts at least another 5 years.

 

I asked my dealer how to get the headliner out to be re-upholstered. They gave a downloaded instruction. It has the headliner coming out the back door in a long wheel base and out the rear window on a short wheelbase. My XJ8 is not a XJ8L. Does anyone who has the healiner taken out of a XJ8 know how the shop did it? Will it bend enough to come out the rear door or am I screwed with the rear window glass? I measured and it woud be close at the door within an inch.

 

I took a headliner out of a 1980 XJ6 through the rear door. I had to remove the seats, and also bend it a bit, and the same to go back in. Taking the rear screen out sounds a bit drastic to me, but that is probably where it went in at the factory !

 

Please.

Sure there might be other cars that has headliner sagging down (SAAB comes to mind) but there's no doubt this is an issue that should not be one in a $70K car.
I have a 1995 Porsche 911 and 2003 friggin' Ford (F-350) that have zero headliner issues. I also have had other cars that never had any headliner problems...
Fiat, VW, Ford, Opel, Datsun, Chevy, Porsche, Nissan, Chrysler, Citroen, Renault and Saab are the cars I have owned and only Saab had issues... Needless to say I've had few of some of hose brands and some of them were really old...

I also have a Jag and really like it but it has some stupid problems it shouldn't have.

You don't have to take it out through rear window, mine has been out three times when the headliner was replaced (because of some sunroof draining issues) and it was never taken out through rear window.

 

First, a full disclosure statement - I have NOT done this on an X350, but I am assuming the headliner will be very similar to the X308, which I HAVE done.

When I did the headliner in my 2000 XJ8 (not an L), the instructions I found on the internet said to just fold the liner in half and take it out the back door. They specifically stated it would crease a little, but it would pop back fine. This is exactly what I did, and there was never a detectable crease or line/mark/indentation of any kind in the liner. And I did not take the seats out - I think I just reclined them as far as I could, folded the liner board, and took it out the driver's side passenger door.

And I also want to support what Flying Finn said above about the propensity of the Jag headliner to come loose over other brands. I don't want to get into an argument with anyone who may be a bit touchy about saying less than sugary things about their favorite brand of car, but the Jaguar headliner is simply a POS that should never be put in any car, let alone an expensive one. I am from the dessert southwest where the heat is brutal on foams and plastics, and other brands simply do not have this problem. Yes, I have seen an occasional car with headliner problems, but frankly, they are comparatively rare. Right now I have a 1994 Ford sitting in my driveway with a factory foam back headliner, and the vehicle has NEVER been in a garage - I have owned it since it was new, and it sits in the sun and weather every single day, and the headliner is perfect. 16 years with no headliner problem, compared to a Jaguar that is darned lucky to make it 6 years even if it is kept in ideal conditions! On the Ford, the foam inside the lid of the center console DID deteriorate and crumble, but the headliner foam never has.

The fact is, not all foams are subject to the quck deterioration that we see with the headliners in our Jags. For example, I have about 6 or 8 cheap walkman-type headsets siting around the house, the kind that use simple foam covers on the ear pieces. On two of them, the foam deteriorated and crumbled in a couple of years, just exactly like our headliners do, but the others have never had that problem. It is simply a matter of using a better type of foam.

The best advice I can offer someone who wants to try and prevent the original headliner from failing is to never drive with the windows down - that wind buffeting is very hard on the material. That stock foam backing is going to break down no matter what, but if you drive with the windows down, the material is going to pull loose a lot sooner. Good luck,
Goose

 

Seems to be a common thing on a lot of cars, my Ford did it, and have seen countless Fords, with drawing pins in the roof to hold the headlining up.My Rover was shocking, the whole liner came away. But I think Jaguar, should have had a better liner. It is not a new thing, has been happening for years.

 

Thank you techiom.

 

Mine needs it bad. I own the Black XJR running around the north side of lake Conroe. Thanks,

 

Finally, headliner is coming loose around the visors. Got a quote from a local classic auto custom upholstery shop to change over all of the fabric including the A, B & C pillars to dark charcoal Alcantara for only $275!!! Should have it finished by next Monday. Will let you know how it turns out. Can't wait, myself.

 

Where are you located? I'm on the mobile site and can't see your info.

 

Tampabay area.

 

In the Dallas/Ft. Worth area I can recommend the independent Jaguar shop Jag-Mac Jaguar Texas.com, 2320 Merrill Road, Dallas, TX 75229 (972-241-5747). They glued new headliner material on the headliner shell for my 2002 XJ8L for $350.00. It was a perfect color match and they did a beautiful job. I don't know how long it took them, but I left it first thing in the morning and picked it up at the end of the same day.

 

I had to have the headliner in my 2004 XJ8 replaced about a year ago. I took it to a company that specializes in headliner replacement (Headliner Express) here in Orlando. They said that most of the cars that they need to replace are BMW, Audi or Mercedes with Jaguar about 10% of the time. To remove the headliner, they removed the rear window glass and replaced the material as well as the board. Cost about $900. Probably could have had it done for less. They said the major reason was the heat and humidity here in Florida.

 

I too have the headliner problem. The XJ8 came from Vegas and all four posts have about a square foot of headliner loose. Just enough to make me crazy. Its not noticeable unless its pointed out......but I know it's there!

 

Does anyone know a place with reasonable prices in the DC area?