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Welcome to the club, Colin. The first question I will ask is the mileage and the service record. Your car is 10 years old and should have had a cambelt change at either 10 years or 105k miles. You should also check the age of the battery, as Jaguars have a lot of electrical equipment and batteries usually last about 5 years. The engine in your XF is the same one as I have in my s type, and it is a very good engine, well engineered, and designed as a joint venture between Ford and Peugeot plus some other input from other automotive companies. One of the issues with diesel engines is that the fuel system is quite a complicated one, with Exhaust Gas Recirculation valves, [EGR] which sometimes stick, and a Diesel Particulate Filter [DPF] which sometime gets full. Having said that, neither of those parts can cause a problem if you treat the engine and the fuel system correctly. You should always use Premium Fuel. I use Shell V Power -- a good fuel and a Shell Petrol station 500 yards away! I also occasionally use an additive to keep theEGR vales and the DPF clean [Millers Diesel Eco Plus]. If you do a lot of short runs, you should also do a longer run once a month or so which will regenerate the DPF -- just about 20 minutes keeping the revs about the level for 45 mph. If your car can be locked in a gear -- 3rd or 4th that will help. The engine will get hot and the particulates in the filter will be burnt off, and the DPF will be good as new. On a good note, I doo a lot of shorter runs but have never had a problem with the DPF filter and I have had my car for 5 years. This is a long post, but the best advice is to enjoy your car, after all, it is a Jaguar! Regards, Peter.

Hi James, and welcome to the club. When buying any used car in general, always try to get one towards the end of its production run when some faults have been ironed out. I have always bought from a main dealer,where possible, as they keep the best cars to sell themselves and send the rest to auction. A main dealer will give you a warranty [as will some other large dealers] and there will also be as service history. Jaguars are quality cars but like anything mechanical or electrical things can go wrong. Trevor has pointed out most of the issues. The XF is a very good car, and I do know of drivers who have found it a better car than the BMW. Regards, Peter.