Michael

I've had some odd situations when the boot has refused to shut/lock. Just beeps and opens up again. In both cases I had been in the car and started it up and then stepped out of the car while leaving it running to open and shut the boot. I have a feeling that it was something to do with the car losing contact with the key sensor and some quirky security override kicking in. Solution has been to get back in the car, turn it off and then close the boot.

Absolutely. I drive my XF2012 2.2D in the Nordics and it is mandatory to have winter tyres fitted in the winter. All cars have 2 sets of wheels for this reason. The combination of winter tyres and winter mode is excellent. Without winter mode selected the winter tyres tend to spin a little bit when getting going. I think the winter mode only means that the 8 speed automatic gear box pulls away in second gear. It feels a bit sluggish but you get good traction. I can only assume that it would have a similar effect without the winter tyres. We've had so much snow that I kept it permanently in winter mode now for a few weeks and I'm guessing it won't come out of that mode till April!

Does anyone know why the XF2012 2.2D does not have an engine temperature gauge?

My XF2012 2.2D has not shown any signs of bumps from fuel surge. I noted some juddering which was eventually traced to a faulty disc brake which caused the off side rear disc brake to disintegrate. After repair there was some problem on the same wheel with the handbrake locking on but that has now also been fixed. The only other noticeable thing is that when driving at around 30mph it can try to select a gear which is too high to achieve good fuel economy and that can cause some vibration in the cabin from the engine as it labours a little. Not a major issue though and I guess Jag engineers know best.

I think the new look headlights look great and I can confirm that they work very well.

Yes, I was very disappointed when I realised that my XF2012 came without a spare wheel. Instead you get a car tyre pump and some tyre sealant which you need to hope will seal the puncture enough to get you to the nearest garage. I was informed that a spare tyre was available as an option. When I realised my error in missing what I thought was a critical safety spare, I asked to buy one but decided against it when they said it would cost approx €1000 compared to the €150 cost in the option list. Lesson learnt, go through the option list in fine detail before you buy!

Just started another thread about driving Jag XF on snow. My experience is that the car is well balanced and drives well on snow but that is with Nokian winter tyres and using the winter mode. The winter mode makes the car slightly more sluggish but without it there is too much wheel spin even with traction control activated.

The winter mode seems to work well and it performs well on snow and ice provided winter wheels are fitted. That beautiful design is less functional in heavy snow though. Open the boot when it's covered in snow and all that snow falls inside the car!!