Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe??

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Tue 10 Sep 2013 22:23
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - ikonhair

Hi, im new so hope someody can help.
I have a jaguar 2.2D 62 reg which has just had its 1st service on 12,000 miles.

On Saturday i was driving and the car lost all power, sterring and breaking and a warning came on the dashboard, something about restricted power. At the time i was doing 70 mph on a dual carrigage way, very scary. I rang Jaguar and they sent out an AA van. The technician came but couldnt find anything wrong, reset the warning light and told me just to be careful. I drove for another 45mins fine then it went again on the M62 doing 75mph, very very scary as i was overtaking a wagon at the time. I managed to get the car to the hard shoulder and turned it off and took some deep breathes. I decided that i wasnt sitting on the hard shoulder and made it to Manchester as it was only 10 more miles. Parked the car for the night and following day. Went to the car on Monday and it drove fine for 3 hours then went again. But i made it home back to the North East. Rang Jaguar breakdown again and the sent a technician out, not AA. He hooked it up to his computer and told me the fuel filter was blocked and that it was a common fault in my area and blamed the fuel in the North East ??.

I took it in this morning to my local Jaguar dealership (Stratstone). I had a chat with the service manager. He said it was a known problem and Jaguar were aware of it and were working on a fix, but, at the moment there is no permanent fix other than to change the fuel filet regularly. Ive thought about it all day to be honest and rang my insurance. I wanted to know how i stood driving a car that had a known manufactors fault that at some point the car will loose power, sterring and brakes and could quite easily cause an accident. The insurance guy said that it would be a very grey area as it would be down to me to keep it in a road worthy state. He stated that each accident would be treated on there own merit. Hmmm so am i covered or not??

Anyway, when Stratstone rang to say that the car was ready for collection as the fuel filter had been changed i told them i didnt feel safe driving a car with known issues. He rang me back, Jaguar have now offered me next years service free of charge and if i dont take the hire car back that i would be charged for it as the Jaguar is ready for collection.

I feel less that safe in the car now having 2 near accidents.Let down by the AA for a less than helpful, just turn the light of breakdown service. I feel let down by Jaguar for letting me take the car with a known problem. Im not sure how to feel about the conversation with the insurance company. I feel Jaguar are trying to palm safety of on a "good will service" next year.

Am i being over cautious? Is there a "known" problem if the North East with diesel, or is it a Jaguar problem?

Any advice really welcome.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 10 Sep 2013 23:13
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Graham567

I am assuming that they didn't replace the fuel filter at the service.If so then it means the car should be able to do at least 10,000 miles before the filter needs replacing again and before the fault happens again.

I would take the car back and see how it goes.Take it easy for the first few hundred miles until you trust the car again.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 10 Sep 2013 23:24
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - ikonhair

Thank you for the reply.

Apparently the fuel filter isnt included in the 1st service but is the 2nd.

The dealership said this morning that it could be between 4000 and 10,000 miles before it goes again. Just worried that they didnt sound convinced that it would last till the next service.

We had planned to drive to Turkey next April, they advised to change the filter before setting off.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 10 Sep 2013 23:54
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - elekie&a/c doctor

It is not just Jaguar that have diesel filter problems,all makes seem to be affected.Take a look here www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244792/Cold-weat...l

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 00:02
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - ikonhair

Hmmm that article was from December 2012. Is that still relevant now 10 months later?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 07:41
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - jc2

I have a diesel;I ALWAYS use supermarket fuel(Asda & Tesco) and my filter has been changed once in 95,000 miles.It runs perfectly.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 12:24
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Bromptonaut

Hmmm that article was from December 2012. Is that still relevant now 10 months later?

The DM article refers to a winter problem. Either water contamination or lack of the correct additive for winter + extreme (for UK) cold. Result is restricted flow of fuel.

Sounds as though OP's Jag has a problem with filter itself leading to similar issue. Does googling the subject turn up a more detailed explanation? All four PSA Diesels I've owned over last 20 years catch water in filter and have instructions for draining it at service time.

If it was my car I'd take it back but drive with caution until I was satisfied problem was solved.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 12:45
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Ben 10

Why is there this issue with fuel from a supermarket or normal petrol station? They get their supplies from the same depots. So it's all the same quality. I had a visit around the West London Oil Terminal recently and there were fuel tankers from the supermarkets as well as the big boys filling up and parked up at the same outlets.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 12:51
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - unthrottled

I wanted to know how i stood driving a car that had a known manufactors fault that at some point the car will loose power, sterring and brakes and could quite easily cause an accident.

Would you like some more eggs to put in your pudding?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 13:48
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - ikonhair

Why the need to be so flippant about it? The car could quite easily have caused a multple pile up the other day??

The Jaguar dealership have replaced the filter but still say there is an ongoing issue that so time in the next 4,000 to 10,000 it will happen again. I think my calling the insurance company was a valid question as it is my obligation to keep it road worthy at all times.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 14:16
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - unthrottled

The car could quite easily have caused a multple pile up the other day??

Exageration doesn't enhance your (justified) gripe about the fuel filter problem.

There are numerous problems that could cause a car to lose total power. A good driver shouldn't be sailing so close to the wind that a loss of power leads to a catastrophic accident.

Your brakes and steering will still function if the engine loses power-although they may become very heavy.

Keeping a vehicle 'roadworthy' doesn't necesarily equate to it being reliable!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 15:42
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - ikonhair

I was in total control doing 70 mph on the M62 going up 1 of the long hills near Saddleworth Moor over taking a long line of wagons in the crawler lane. If you have drove this road you will know that the wagons are virtually bumper to bumper on the crawler lane. I did loose all power all sterring and full brakes.

To say i was exagerating is so annoying to say the least.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 15:56
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - skidpan

I did loose all power all sterring and full brakes.

If the engine stops the steering will still work but it will become heavy. The brakes will have enough vacuum in them for several normal applications, after that they will still work but need a much harder press.

The brakes and steering do not simply stop working.

The only cars I know of that totally lost steering and brakes once the engine stopped were 60's and 70's Citroens (and Maseratis). For some reason very few people thought it a good idea and no other manufacturer copied them.

Strange as it might appear I have a car with no power steering and no servo assistance on the brakes. I do not crash every time I drive it.

Anyway, if you were going up hill why did you need brakes, simply coast onto the hard shoulder.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 18:24
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Ben 10

I had a Mk2 Focus with electronic PAS. The alternator packed up and the power loss as the battery drained was almost instant. Comes out of the blue, and the steering was exceptionally heavy. I was on an A road and able to coast to the kerb. If I'd been in lane 2 or 3 of the motorway, I think it would have been an accident waiting to happen. Totally get what the OP experienced. Too many armchair experts on here ready to ridicule and give their views when they haven't probably experienced the same thing.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 19:36
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - unthrottled

I suffered a similar problem on the M62 (albeit not that stretch) due to water ingress into a wiring loom. Engine lost all power. It wasn't a pleasant experience but hardly life threatening. Simply put the hazards on to alert other drivers to the fact that there was a problem with my vehicle, then switched them off and indicated left. Once other drivers realise you've lost power they are invariably very accomodating in letting you get to the hard shoulder.

Steering became heavy once I dipped the clutch but not remotely unmanageable. Brakes had ample vacuum reserve to come safely to a halt.

You're quite right to be cross about the recurring problem with the filter though.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 11 Sep 2013 23:14
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Ben 10

My situation was at night, so I lost lights and hazards. If it had been on a motorway...........

I was thinking about getting an XF myself. This is something I will bring up with the dealer. Also there has been problems with low impacts deploying the pedestrian safety equipment, which costs a lot to reset, apparently.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 12 Sep 2013 00:06
Jaguar XF 2.2D - Is it safe?? - Avant

"The alternator packed up and the power loss as the battery drained was almost instant."

In the old days if the dynamo or alternator gave up, you could at least get home as long as you didn't have all the gadgets on. Maybe one of our tech experts could enlighten me as to why we now have instant power loss?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance