Leo

Your care and attention certainly shows, and the 92,000 miles look more like 9,000! I do love to see this kind of enthusiasm!

It does look a bit more grey than mine, now that you mention it. Since it is now in the valet shop I assume it will be ready within 24 hours: One more sleep to go? If you can sleep!

Hi David, and welcome to the Club. How do you come to have two S Types, and which models are they?

Hi Paul, from a new member since your last visit. Very sorry to hear of your illness, something that I can relate to having undergone chemotherapy myself last year, but great that you are back again!

Hi Joanne, and welcome to the Club. Does the XF come with it then? If I had a Sportbrake I would be buying: It looks great! The dogs look lovely too: We have a Leonberger, but she doesn't get to go in my XK: We have a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso for that!

Hi Ronnie, and welcome to the Club. I know exactly how you feel: I felt like that two and a half years ago, when I bought my XK. The smile is still on my face all this time later. What colour is it? Mine is Indigo Blue, and yours looks similar, though it is not easy to tell from the photo. I look forward to hearing more when you pick it up!

Hi John, and welcome to the Club. I know exactly how you feel in loving your Jaguar: They are infectious, and once you have one you soon become hooked! Enjoy both your car and the Club!

Many more sleeps before it arrives?

I did the same as Joe: It was very easy.

Let us know how you get on: I will be interested to hear!

Ah right: I assume that when you go to the websites and enter the vehicle details, it will come up with a USB stick for yours where it came up with a disc for mine.

Thanks Peter. I will try to recall exactly where I bought the disc: I have checked through my emails, but failed to find it so far...

No, though I did have a spring bar before that. The trapezium stabiliser works on a very clever principle which effectively makes the system work as if the tow ball is about a foot closer to the rear axle of the tow vehicle. It also has friction pads in the ball part of the hitch, and overall was far more effective than the spring bar. I have just tried to find the one I used, but gather that they are no longer in production: not because there was anything wrong with them, but for type approval reasons or something like that. As you know I have misgivings, but I do hope it works out to your satisfaction.

Hi Tracy, welcome to the Club! Which XF have you bought? I had the XF3.0D S Portfolio and absolutely loved everything about it! I only sold when I retired, and my needs changed. I don't know how long you have had your XF, but for me the smile remained on my face, and I still smile when I think about it. As for Satnav updates, buying from a Jaguar dealer is predictably expensive, and I used one (for the XK) which I bought on the internet. It appeared to be the official disc, but I am not sure whether it was genuine at the price. It certainly worked without any problems. I am not sure that we are allowed to give specific details of the supplier under forum rules, given the possible issues involved.

I am not so sure that your battery will have fully recovered in the time it takes to drive 50 miles, especially if it was with lights and/or wipers on. I would be inclined to plug it in to a CTEK battery conditioner or similar, preferably for 24 hours. This will recondition the battery if required, and in any event will show the state of charge. Low charge in the battery can throw up all kinds of electrical issues. Your problem arose after leaving the car standing for four weeks, so it is most likely to be battery related.

I had Vredstein Sessantas on my XF3.0D S, and found them superb both in wet and dry. My XK came with new Continentals which are absolutely fine, but I don't think they are quite as good as the Vredsteins. Vredsteins tend to be quite reasonably priced for quality tyres, but maybe wear a bit more quickly: Soft grippy rubber never can last as long as a harder compound.

My Cherokee was a good many years ago, so your model will no doubt be later than mine. I was using a geometric (trapezium) stabiliser which was great on my previous Range Rover, and the later Nissan Patrol. How does the rear overhang on the XK8 compare with that on your Cherokee? 4WDs are often good for towing because the wheels are nearer the corners, to give good approach and departure angles off road. The good old Defender 90 is a perfect example.

Thanks Luis, I was not aware of this! The side ones do look exactly like repeater lights.

Are those not indicators, rather than simple reflectors? If you have painted over them, what have you done to make sure that they still serve their intended purpose? I know that you can remove the orange glass and replace with clear glass and orange bulbs, but from your photos and description that does not appear to be what you have done.

Hi Peter, In the case of the Jeep Cherokee, on paper it looked to be a good towcar, and I fully expected it to tow very well. I think that the problem lay in the length of the rear overhang. Articulated lorries tow with the hitch directly above the rear axle, and the nearer the tow hitch is to the rear axle, the better a vehicle tows. In the case of the XK8, the hitch is going to be a long way behind the rear axle, and that fact in itself is going to make it a poor choice for towing. There is a danger of compromising the lines and the handling of one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and then finding it unsuitable for towing anything more than one of those trailers you can buy at Halfords.

You are going to need to cut holes in the bodywork, and weld on steel to the chassis to provide a suitable fixing point. You will also need to beef up the rear springs and shock absorbers, which will ruin the handling when not towing. The tow ball will have to be set very high in relation to the height of the XK8 if the caravan is to be reasonably level. Picturing this in my mind's eye is not pleasant..... Having done all of that, you may still find the tail wagging the dog. I had a Jeep Cherokee 4.0L which was downright dangerous as a tow car, due to snaking developing at anything over 50mph. I thought I was going to turn over once when it started a violent snake going downhill at 55mph: I had to accelerate out of it, which meant going up to 70mph. I was taking a huge risk doing that, but had no option. I sold the Cherokee before my next towing trip, and bought a Nissan Patrol LWB. The weight was right, the geometry was right, and it was a superb tow vehicle. This taught me how vitally important it is to have the correct car/caravan combination: Not only my own life, but lives of my family depended on it, to say nothing of the safety of other road users.

That is not exactly what I intended, but I would never advise against any of those: All great choices!

It seems to me that the DPF problem is talked about a very great deal, but we hear of very few actual cases where it becomes a real issue. When I had the XF3.0D S I was pretty paranoid about it, but even though my daily commute was a stop start 7 miles, and long runs came only every couple of months or so, I never had any actual problem. I did love the car, but sold it when I retired because I was going to be doing even less miles, and was worried about the DPF. So I am just like so many others who view the issue with great concern, but I suspect that we are all much more concerned than we need to be. I don't regret it though: I bought an XK150 instead, and it is totally impossible for me to regret doing that!

Welcome to the club Max, from a fellow newbie! Which XF are you getting? I had a 2009 XF3.0D S Portfolio which I loved: It performed brilliantly, and had the best sound system I have ever heard in a car!

I had an XF 3.0D S on which the TPMS constantly played up: Not important, but really irritating. No faults to report on the XK in over two years: One of the many reasons why I love it!