TomC

Hi all, A few weeks ago I purchased my sixth Jaguar an XF. It's a 2008, premium luxury, 2.7 diesel which has covered a little over 100k miles. I noticed it had some minor issues and was able to negotiate the price down a little to £3800 which I was quite happy with given the overall condition of the car. I've sorted some of the smaller and easier issues. I've touched up some paint, sanded a scratch out of the leather steering wheel and refinished using some leather paint which came out better than I expected. The silver plastic part of the dash had warped on the passenger side and didn't line up with the centre section, this was resolved by removing both sections and using washers to align the two sections. I've removed the driver's door card and wrapped the two electric window cables which knock against each other in some felt tape which cured the door rattle, I was surprised to see that where some cars have a foam sleeve around the cables which often perishes, my 2008 car had no trace of any foam ever having been there. In the few weeks that I've been driving it the rear registration plate bulbs have both blown, I've replaced them both with LED units. There are still some remaining issues. The front passenger door occasionally fills with water - I need to locate and clear the drain holes. The interior light occasionally comes on of its own accord so I need to clean the connections on the circuit board. The only problem so far which I can't rectify myself is the smell of diesel in the cabin. I noticed the strong smell when viewing the car so was aware there was an issue which would need rectifying. My initial thoughts not knowing much about XF's were that it was likely an exhaust leak somewhere before the DPF/cats. A bit of internet reading suggested it might also be the diesel powered auxiliary heater, but the smell is occasionally present when the engine is up to temperature and the car has been driven for a while. The ambient temperatures are quite low at this time of year but the smell seems to be present regardless of conditions so I'm leaning back towards it being an exhaust leak. Further internet reading suggests that there is a flexible section of the exhaust which is a common point of failure, I suspect this is probably the wisest starting point to investigate. The car briefly displayed an amber DPF full warning the other day. I was just embarking on a long journey fortunately, so put the car in sport and kept the rev's reasonably high for about twenty minutes. The warning disappeared within the first ten minutes and hasn't reoccurred. I'm based just outside Coventry and will be looking for a good independent Jaguar specialist. I've dealt with the local Jaguar main dealer here many years ago and found them to be excellent, but they're probably a bit pricey to maintain a now 14 year old car with diminishing value, lovely as it is. If anybody has any recommendations they'd be welcome. I used to use CFS in Coventry to work on my E-type many moons ago but I suspect being a classic Jaguar specialist they aren't the best suited for modern, diesel Jag's - unless somebody knows otherwise. I'm considering some precautionary/routine maintenance ahead of schedule, just for piece of mind as I'll be covering a lot of miles in the car later this year. Oil and filter change, belt condition check, I'm considering having the transmission oil changed as I'd guess it's never been done and it can't hurt. Are there any other things at this stage that I should be considering for a 14 year old, 100k mile 2.7d? All of the small issues seem to be common problems with easy solutions and the general overall condition of the vehicle is a testament to the previous owner(s), so I don't mind spending a bit within reason to keep it a great example.