Jaguar XE – The Worst New Car I’ve Had -Ever!

I’ve been fortunate enough to drive company cars over the last 25 years. I say fortunate, the tax man takes a chunk out of you as big as if you’d been paid the value of the car in salary but thats a grumble for another post. Anyway, done 30,000+ miles a year, every year, for as long as I can remember. Most have been Audis but a couple of Vauxhalls and one BMW. Apart from a few minor niggles, all performed admirably, generally good service from the various dealership networks and never letting me down apart from maybe a couple of punctures.

Then in 2015 Jaguar launched the XE. All new, built in Birmingham, policy of employing ex-servicemen, rave reviews and something a bit different. So I ordered one and on 9th October 2015 I took delivery of a brand new Jaguar XE R-Sport 2.0 diesel in Ammonite Grey. Initial impressions were good and for a couple of days I enjoyed it but it has all been downhill from there both with the car and the dealership network. Problems have ranged form minor annoyances to a new engine and 3 turbo chargers, the two main dealers I have dealt with in Swansea and Reading don’t appear to give a monkey’s and frankly neither do Jaguar UK.

I may go into more detail of some of the problems in other posts but in summary:

• The auto engine start/stop (when stopped at lights etc) function stopped working after a few weeks. Jaguar have been unable, or more likely unwilling, to fix it after 3 years and 84,000 miles. Probably a simple thing like the system reading the voltage to be too low or something, jeeze, if Dacia can get this right surely Jaguar can.
• The traffic function on the SatNav is actually dangerous – 7 button presses to see traffic detail. No clue as to where “Avoid” will take you or how much time it will save. If I’d developed the system and then had a look at what a £150 TomTom could do I’d have sacked myself!
• Little mudguard things in front of the rear wheels come loose and hang off. Took them off in the end an put them in the boot. Mentioned it at a couple of services but Jaguar did nothing
• The folding rear seat actuation is a joke, a couple of old Morris Minor choke cables that keep unattaching themselves from the roof of the boot. I guess they gave the designers the day off and gave the accountants a crack at it. Has anyone at Jaguar actually lowered themselves to look at the mechanisms BMW/Audi/Mercedes use for this?
• When the air temperature is below about 4C the windows just randomly steam up while driving along. For those that were around, a bit like driving a car in the 60’s and 70’s
• Random “incorrect diesel exhaust fluid quality detected”, or sometimes “incorrect diesel exhaust fluid dosing detected”. This then limits you to no restarts after 500 miles or so until you get it seen to, charming!! Usually just needs a reset but some owners have reported that the injectors need changing or that the tank sensor was faulty. Fortunately my car went back after 3 visits from Jaguar Assist to reset, I could take any more pain at the dealership!
• ABS system sometimes doesn’t initialise. This is apparently due to water ingress in the hub and a fix is available (they basically drill a hole in your hubs) but the fault causes all connected systems not to work ie autonomous emergency braking, emergency brake assist, forward alert, electronic stability control, dynamic modes, cruise control, auto handbrake release and, of course, the ABS. At least you get some pretty lights on the dashboard.
• In November last year the car suddenly went into limp mode. Turned out the turbo charger had failed big time at 64,000 miles, parts inhaled by the engine so the whole lot needed replacing under warranty, new turbo and new engine. This was actually handled pretty well, car was recovered to Stratstone Jaguar in Swansea and I had a free 3.0l Jag XF courtesy car, all sorted very efficiently by Jaguar Assist
• Some time after the engine replacement got an check engine light, due a service so booked it in to Lancaster Jaguar in Reading

• Prior to the service the air conditioning packed up
• Got a call from the dealership to say they had found a problem while investigating the CEL, all a bit vague. Long and short of it, after much backwards and forwards and pressing for information, turns out there were still bits of the original turbo charger in the intake system, namely the spindle bolt, which had now knackered the new turbo charger
• Now this isn’t a warranty job anymore because it isn’t Jaguar UK’s fault, it is the fault of an independent dealer. Lancaster Reading took over a week to get any response out of Stratstone Swansea who denied all knowledge or responsibility.
• The whole saga was complicated by the fact that Lancaster Jaguar Reading service department only answer the phone 50% of the time and if you leave a message, either with a seemingly live person or on the answer phone, it doesn’t get to the person you are trying to reach.
• Eventually Jaguar UK told them just to fix it but it still took 5 weeks with NO courtesy car
• When I did pick the car up, arriving a little later than arranged I was told the car was just being dried. No it’s not I said, it’s in the car park filthier than it’s ever been and covered in bird shit! Unbelievable.

So, 5 weeks I was without a car through the direct actions and incompetence of a Jaguar main dealer, having to fund a replacement vehicle myself. No apology, no acknowledgement or acceptance of responsibilty, even Jaguar UK refused point blank to talk directly with with me despite several emails. Just downright bloody awful and look at the state it came back in when it was eventually fixed! I will never touch another Jaguar if you paid me and Jaguar Landrover are now very firmly crossed off the company’s car list.

Please leave any comments or personal experiences below.

Thanks.