Old Peter

Hi Amanda, I used to have to go to a lot of places and I agree that Sheffield is not the same as the drive over to Glossop or Stocksbridge from where we lived in Derbyshire -- driving over the moors meant I usually carried a spade, a blanket and a large piece of carpet in the boot. I was quite mystified when I came to work in the Midlands as to why some people used to put chains on their Range Rovers when there was a mere 3 inches of snow on the ground. The Rear wheel drive on the XF is well managed by the DSC, and the weight of the car itself does mean that it handles well in bad weather. Prior to my S Type which had less than 50k on the clock when we bought it I had an all wheel drive X Type [which was carjacked] and I find that driven properly the S type hold the road very well, and will its successor, which you have got. Regards, Peter.

Hi Andrew, and Welcome to the Club. The Road Fund Licence is a factor in costs in any performance car. Being a pensioner it certainly affected my choice -- my S Type 2.7 diesel costs £285 as against over £450 or so for the 4.2 litre petrol. There are several XK owners who will give you some good advice. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the club, Amanda. The Jaguar experience is quite unique. After 30 years of company cars and a beautiful Rover Sterling, which I had for 12 years [like your Frontera] we bought our first Jaguar. The salesman sad you will never drive another brand of car. He was so right! Our S type is a great car to drive, and only a year younger than your XF --- Indigo Blue is a great colour! And I wouldn't worry too much about the Yorkshire winters, either. I worked in Sheffield for 12 years and only got snowed in once. You will enjoy your car, Regards, Peter.

Hi Phil, My X Type headlights usually had to be supplemented by my fog/driving lights. It could be that the lens's need cleaning or the other solution could be a change of bulb to those bright ones. The terra clean I has made a tremendous difference, even to my newish engine. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the club, Ian. I have tried on my S type, without success, although I have done some jiggling around with the brightness and contrast, Regards, Peter.

Hi John, Hope your new life in Italy will be absolutely fantastic. The Italians will see that we build nicer cars in the UK! I have not been to Italy since 1950 while they were rebuilding most of it! But the train ride from Dieppe to Rome was brilliant. Regards, Peter.

I have just avoided the pensioner curfew and have been drinking Burton on Trent water with hops infused. The Jaguar has so many electronic devices in it that when the battery is failing it does fail quite quickly and the computer tells the car to shut down unnecessary services which are electrically controlled.. It looks like you will be buying a new battery. Regards, Peter.

She works in the chippy at the football end of Springfield Road in Glasgow.

Welcome to the Club, Barry. Hope you enjoy the sun as much as you will enjoy the car! Regards, Peter.

Northern delicacies, and black pudding [called pigs pudding in the Black country -- made from pigs blood and secret ingredients] is delicious especially with bacon, and Wet Nelly is left over fruit cake place in a dish with a splash or three of whisky or sherry on it, and weighted down and fed every day for a week until it has soaked up the drink, then it is able to be eaten. Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Rob. What Jaguar do to improve engine performance does seem a mystery to me, top. There are some members who have had that 2.2 diesel remapped and feel that the money spend has been worthwhile. Meanwhile, enjoy the Jaguar experience. Regards, Peter.

Hi Trevor, When you are a pensioner officially you are also entitled to be obnoxious when confronted with idiots, too. You will officially be allowed to take you time over decisions. I had a letter from the DWP telling me I was getting a 25p a week increase in my pension, which will be 20p after tax, and I still have not decided how to spend it. Regards, Peter.

That's good Graham. I have noted the number. Peter.

Swift Cover came with a good recommendation, Paul, which is one of the reasons I went with them. Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Bryan. Experiences are meant to be shared --- so useful. The later S types did get more than a facelift in some respects, but the S Type is still a great car. Regards Peter.

Hi paul and welcome to the Club. I found Adrian Flux expensive when I tried for a quote after my car was stolen. I went to Compare the market.com and got a quote £300 less than my then insurer with Swift Cover. Regards, Peter.

Do they make Black Pudding and Wet Nelly in Minehead, Trevor?

The experts will correct me, Trevor, if [and I probably am] wrong, but I think that,while both perform a similar function, the turbocharger uses exhaust gases to push air into the engine, and the supercharger is a mechanical unit that does the same but with more power. The Merlin engine used on the Spitfire and Lancaster were supercharged, but I think that turbochargers were used more in diesel engines. Regards, Peter.

Welcome to the Club, Phillip. Your car looks great. Sometime my s type diesel frightens me when the second turbocharger cuts in when accelerating --- God knows how I would feel like with the supercharger! Regards, Peter.

Hi Andy, There was a post on the 6th May 2014 by Richard, who has designed car mats for his XF. He uses the Growler logo with good effect. It could be worth looking at as it might capture your imagination. Peter.

I replaced the dynamo on a Triumph Herald in 1968. That was quite easy. Since then jobs like that have been avoided -- having a company car for 30 years helped somewhat. Peter.

When you buy a used Jaguar [or indeed any luxury car] it is often worth while looking up the standard specifications for the model you are buying. The price range of a new model often covers about £25k to have all the optional extras fitted, and it will surprise you to see what your car could have had. For instance, my SE could have had Jaguar voice and TV on the touchscreen display, which is also an optional extra. Often however, you will find that models towards the end of the production run are given a few optional extras free to use up some of the bits they do not want to keep in storage. Peter.

HI Tomas, When you said your location was Newport I thought it might be one of the 3 in the UK ---- Never thought of the Newport in Virginia [i think]. What I do know about the US Newport is that I had lunch in the Officers' Mess there quite a few years ago in August and the air conditioning had broken down. Too hot for me! Regards, Peter.

Hi Kevin, Have you used the memory setting for the seat? I am clutching at straws for a solution. Peter.

Hi Stephen. I think that I would write to the toll operators, as they should have designed one that would work on all models of car. I think I would have the same problem on my S Type, if it was worth my while in getting one for the M6 Toll. Regards, Peter.