I've been searching the forum for an answer to my problem, but found nothing definitive. I did learn that all roads dealing with Jag convertible tops lead to Steve thejagwrangler, so I reached out to him directly. Below is my question and his response. Hope it's helpful to others. If anyone else has experience with this problem, would love to hear from you.

Question:
Wren my top begins the unlatching, or latching phase of opening/closing, there is a painful groaning noise. With the vehicle new to me, I brought it to the Jag dealer for an inspection. They said the latches need to be replaced, to the tune of about $3,000!
I read a post on the forum from a member who said grease solved the problem, but there was no further input from anyone else. Local mechanics I spoke to said that as long as you have them out, you might as well replace them. The best price I have found on parts is about $1,300 and I’ll still need to have someone install them.
The car is 9 years old with 37,000 miles, and it seems that only one person on the forum has addressed this, so I’m trying to chase it down.

Steve's Response:It certainly would not hurt to spray a little light lube on the latches. If you remove the header trim panel you can lube the other moving parts too. It is though likely a problem with the convertible top latch motor assembly. Removal and installation is on page 2786 and 2787 of the service manual and can be downloaded from here: http://jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepa...XKworkshop.pdf .

I would recommend getting a used one to save money, since these really do not fail all that often.

Here is a used unit currently on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/16477846711...YAAOSwvPdgWssi

 

My 07 has groaned since I bought the car 8 years ago. I figured it was normal, and it still works after all these years.

 

Tried the lube approach before pursuing replacing.
Removed upper trim panel, wd40 and grease on each latch assembly. No more groaning, just normal noise of working assembly.

 

Hey all the latch will not release, what do I do to release the top latch ?