Never has a dead battery caused us quite so much angst, but luckily we now are aware of the XF's secret compartments. Since the battery was replaced, the Jag has been mostly trouble-free but has still had a few hiccups. The "hood open" light has flashed intermittently, and there were a couple of incidents where the fuel-filler door wouldn't open. There's a manual release in the trunk, but it's a two-man operation, as one person can't pull the release and reach the outside fuel door at the same time.(According to Jaguar, in extremely cold climates, the activator arm of the fuel-filler door can become slightly deformed so it won't open. We are informed that there will be a production change at some point.)
In more encouraging news, we've now changed the XF back to its summer tires, and the vibrations that we felt at certain speeds have completely disappeared. With the return of good weather, we're looking forward to what we hope is a trouble-free summer of driving, because despite its flaws, the engine, transmission, and overall drivability of the XF are first-class, as copy editor Rusty Blackwell reports: "As others have noted, this car is fantastic to drive. Superquick acceleration, gobs of power, clean shifts, subtle but noticeable supercharger whine. The ride is fabulous, too, typical of Jaguar. For example, my wife was driving the other night and didn't slow down for a really nasty railroad crossing in Westland. Result: Nothing. Nothing at all. We simply sailed, cloudlike, over the bumps at 45 mph."
Here's hoping we sail, cloudlike, through the second half of our year with the Jaguar XF.
The Specs
Price: $66,675
Engine: 4.2L supercharged V-8
Power: 420 hp
Torque: 413 lb-ft ...next page >>