Link???

 

I did have my headlight covers detailed at the same time as the rest of the car but the guy said the scratches/chips are too deep to be just polished out. Also I think the guy was (probably rightly) a little scared of using a machine polisher on plastic too.

I was wondering if you guys know of any clear filler I could use to fill small chips in clear plastic invisibly. I was guessing that maybe carefully applied plastic cement or clear celulose-based laquer might work but am scared to just try random things incase it just makes it look a lot worse.

I have a similar question for the windshield actually, I have a few small chips in that too but the windshield repair company I went to says they are too small to fill, the filler would just fall out.

All this might sound very **** but I enjoy both driving my car and entering it into club Jaguar club concours events where I have already lost points (and trophy places) just because of the unrepaired chips in the headlight covers & windshield.

 

Most do polish up pretty well. Used to be only us guys in aviation knew anthing about polishing acrylic. Now there are all sorts of tools and polishes for it. I do the ones on our other cars (Jeep and Lexus) each time I wash them. Chrysler seems to have made the worst lenses and in fact I wonder at times why the DOT didn't recall the damn things or at least set some standard for sustained clarity. Most older Mopar headlights are opaque and the owners must be just as dense for not doing anything about it. Anyone live in a state like PA where yearly inspections would site that? Bet MOT in the UK would.

I have seen XK glass on ebay for less than $100. There is one on there right now for about $75.

 

You know I'm still waiting for an answer on my original question about who at Ford or Jaguar made the decision to use such cheap gauges and gauge systems in an $80,000 car. From what I read on here it must have been Ford. I would just like to know if the *** still works in the business. Would love to have a quiet conversation with him or her.

 

Several members responded to your offensive post, yet you still want to push it. I'd suggest discussing it with members in your particular car's forum where you might find responses more to your liking.

 

Schoolboy error, sorry!

The Cars (and Men) That Can Revive Jaguar and Land Rover

 

If the new XR (2016 or 2017) will double in price which would be about $180,00 to $220,000 in price points, our classic XK/XKR's should hold future value quite well.

I was pleased to read this article.

 

That is what I thought the article said when I first read it but what they actually say is that the price differential between the XK and F Type will double so I guess they will go up $10-$20K.

 

Actually, If I read it correctly, the price difference will double between the F type and the XK. It's aprox 15k difference between the two now so I think they are suggesting it will be more in the 30k price difference range. That's more realistic.
It states that it would clearly be less than an Aston Martin db9 which is starting around 189.000.00.
Jaguar's big plus is that the xk has always been one of the best priced exotic sports cars compaired to Aston, Bentley, and other foreign examples. To price it equal to an Aston, IMO, would loose the biggest selling feature it has going for it.

 

Sorry to repeat your post!! I followed the link and didn't see your response!! Great minds!!

 

Since when did asking questions about the the known quality issues of a marque become "offensive" ? Now I'm told by Sir Bruce H that I should post with my own kind more or less. So a Tata Jaguar is apparently in a different class than a Ford Jaguar. Interesting! Please excuse my apparently obvious attempts at social climbing.

 

Excalibur, I don't think anything you have posted has been "offensive", a word, by the way, that is grossly overused these days. You do , on the other hand, seem a tad angry and intent on hammering your point home in a fashion that may not coincide with the "enthusiast" spirit of this forum. That is not to say that anything negative about our beloved Jags should not be tabled; just that there should be a point to it, other than to whine or complain. Chances are, we all get plenty of that from other sources, so to see it here may not be received well.

I'm a new Jag owner who has benefitted from this forum and the knowledge of long time owners like yourself. The value is immeasurable and much appreciated and I must say, the respectful discord amongst the members is higher than any car forum I've ever been on. That is all.

 

Excalibur, All new cars today have the polyurethane resin headlight covers as opposed to glass. Plastics, carbon fibers etc. are all being used to lower the weight and engineer these cars in a cost effective manner for better safety and performance.

I just added a 2013 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG and a 2014 Nissan GT-R to my stable of cars. I can unequivocally say, my 2013 Jaguar XKR is a superior car. Both of my recent cars are $100K cars fully loaded.

2013 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG:
Same poly resin headlights. Extensive use of plastics on the interior. Has at lease 6 plastic and 2 carbon fiber engine pulleys. Extensive plastic engine bolt on pumps and components.

2014 Nissan GT-R:
Same poly resin headlights. Extensive use of plastics on the interior and much cheaper than Merc or Jag. Extensive use of plastic resin components in the engine bay.

Replacement parts for all cars are high. The Merc is the most expensive, one headlight with ploy resin lens is $2,800.

I can ensure you the Jaguar XK is a very well put together car and is under priced compared to it's competition. Your comments on the Jaguar being made cheap are absurd. Obviously, you have not walked down the street before posting your comment. My 2013 Jaguar XKR, IMO, is my favorite car and is well manufactured compared to other high end cars!

Moving forward, future cars will be manufactured with even more aluminum, poly resins, lightweight materials and engineered components. Aluminum body and structural parts currently are mainly found on high end cars. Soon, all cars will be built using aluminum skin panels and structural parts. All cars make extension use of poly resin interior and engine bay components unless you still live in the 60's.

Ford quality control was the start of the Jaguar brand rebuild. Ford controlled manufactured Jaguar's are much superior to non Ford manufactured Jaguars. The 2010-14 XK Jaguars are the most reliable and best performing XKs built. Ford had no choice but to sell the brand during the financial collapse. Tata since has continued with quality Ford bought to the manufacturing processes at Jaguar and has pumped in mega $s to re-establish the brand. Jaguar is now being recognized is a high end reliable quality automobile.

I personally would rather own a true GT XK rather than the proposed XR in the article. I think the XR will be competing with the XFR. If the XR is built to replace the XK, the XK will become a desirable car for people looking for something sporty but with a little storage space. The XR will not appeal to buyers looking for a sports car/GT. If the XR is built, you can bet it will have even more ploy resin components. The XR with a $20K premium over the current XK should help the XK's hold their value.

 

I'm not sure that a Tata Jaguar is in a different class than a Ford one, so much as they are a reflection of the time when they were made.

The steel cars are bolted together by people whereas the aluminum ones are glued and riveted by robots, so they will, by design, stay tighter for longer.

You have to keep in mind that the x150 was designed under Ford and was already in production before Tata had even made a bid on the company, so the differences are not as much Tata as they are just the progression of technology, engineering and manufacturing.

The plastic tensioners on the early AJV8 was a flub for sure, but so was the BMW VANOS and the Porsche IMS on their early engines in the series. New designs have new problems, which for the most part can be summed up as: seemed like a good idea at the time. The old adage is still true: don't buy the first year of a new car because they haven't worked the kinks out yet. It has gotten better over the years, but from a manufacturing perspective, there is nothing like building 100,000 of something to tell you what is wrong with a design.

The statement about the gauges is interesting. The x100 gauge cluster is a CAN based fully electronic gauge set, which is pretty much the standard to this day so, technically at least, they are no better or worse than other years or makes.

Is it the look of them that you see as cheap?

 

Wow......nice stable of automobiles.....totally awesome.

Current Rides:
2013 Jaguar XKR (Dynamic Pack, Perfermance Exhaust), My favorite ride. Best GT made.
2012 Volvo S80 AWD T6 Platinum, Family car
2013 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG Performance Pack, Premium Pack, Sky Magic Roof etc., Summer roadster
2014 Nissan GT-R, Toy
2005 Chev Silverado 2500HD 4X4, Work truck
2011 Toro Timecutter Zero Turn, Yard work

I bet the Toro is pretty cool too.

 

Great replies to my comments and well taken. There is a short walk between love and hate or maybe between love and disappointment. Here is my take. I have laid hands on each and every of the 50 cars I have owned. I know quality because I have worked on everything from bicycles to 747's. There are plastics today that are far more durable than the metal parts they replace. There is hardly a electro mechanical device made today that is not more reliable and more functional that in the past. That said, the tactile feel and appearance of today's items is missing. In the case of Jaguar, you can't compare the look and feel of a cloisonné hood emblem, a Jaeger or Smiths gauge to what we see today. There is also no reason to put non functioning gauges in a car that are purely cosmetic and are basically just idiot lights, or fluid carrying components that can't be inspected or serviced, then charge $80K to well over $100K for the product. There are people on here that have picked up more magazines than tools and they are welcome but they are not the ones to determine quality. This is especially true if your experience is limited to writing checks for oil changes on 2 year old vehicles. I know full well that knowlegable buyers will use this forum when making decisions that will affect the value of our beloved wheels. I would rather they read both sides not just the sycophantic praise presented in automotive magazines that are afraid a manufacturers won't give them something to test and write about.

 

No glamorous magazine reading on my part. Only hands on unbiased ownership experience. I have no loyalty to brand only innovation and quality. All high end cars have their quirks and problems. The Jaguar is no different. Overall, the Jaguar XK is a fine motor car compared to the rest of the competition.


I don't understand your reference to "idiot lights", "non-functioning gauges", etc. What does this have to do with Jaguar. All of my gauges are functional and I have no idiot lights. If your referring to ploy resin headlights, you are referring to all late model cars with modern HID, adaptive and cornering lights. The modern headlights are superior and more functional than the 1960's sealed beam glass lights you like. Todays Jaguar are so much better than 10 years ago.

 

I'd guess it's a reference to the fact that, in the x100 at least, the oil pressure "gauge" was tied to the oil pressure switch and will show "good" or "bad" rather than an actual pressure.

Similar for the water temp gauge, it would sit in the middle for a fairly large range of temperatures to mask the natural variation. I'd guess that the x150 does the same for water temperature.

I see these things as less a shortcoming of the engineering or of the quality, than an acknowledgement that 99% of the people who buy these cars wouldn't know a good temperature or pressure from a bad one.

What some of us see as useful information about the health of our cars others see as superfluous, or worse yet as intimidating and scary, which leads to unnecessary service investigations when they come in for that oil change and say: "the gauge thingy didn't something funny".

Used to be that no car would ever see 100k miles, so many of the components would never be expected to reach an age where they might actually fail. We ask a lot more of cars than we used to with respect to reliability, maintenance intervals and capability, but we aren't willing to pay so much more for it.

This is far different than an aircraft that is designed for a 30, 40, 50 year service life. Not surprisingly, an aircraft costs an order of magnitude more than a car of similar complexity. Cars also don't have legally mandated inspection nor maintenance that totals 20% of the purchase price. The FAA tells me that after a certain number of hours I HAVE to rebuild the engine, whether it needs it or not. Being stuck by the side of the road is a little different than falling out of the sky and taking a neighborhood with me when I hit the ground.

I will agree on the tactile feedback part. Metal an leather feel far better in the hand than plastic. That said, things like billet aluminum turn signal stalks are the realm of million dollar VWs these days (ok fine, Bugatti).

 

True that aircraft are actually required to to undergo continual inspection but the main reason for higher cost is litigation which touches every component and process. A Cessna 172 designed back in the 50's now sells for $400,000. Development costs where recovered ages ago. A Light Sport Aircraft that was supposed to usher in a new age sells for about $100,000. Have spent most of my life around aircraft but won't go on any longer here. My first contact with bonded aluminum goes back to the Fokker F27. Yes the new processes are great but when someone says that the average buyer of an exotic car today really does not want to be bothered with accurate information it tells me the Gen X'rs and Millenials just want to play the "game of driving" and care little about becoming part of the car. Probably the same with the same types flying drones today. I will let it drop at this point and move on to other things. Thanks for all your feedback.

 

Yes, it's probably best to end the discussion at this point. When you expand your criticism from the Jaguar brand to Jaguar owners, it has the potential for a less tha amicable outcome.