REPORT: Quality problems afflicting Jaguar XF

Few would argue that the Jaguar XF is a great looking car and those who have driven it admire its dynamic characteristics. Unfortunately, as soon as you get in and press the start button, you can't help but wonder if the disastrous quality reputation that British cars have seemingly carefully nurtured for decades will afflict this car as well. The gear selector knob that rises out of the center console and the vents that roll over to expose themselves seem like bits that are destined to fail in time.

If the results seen by Automobile Magazine and respondents to TrueDelta's Car Reliability Survey are any indication, those fears are likely to come true. Automobile's long-term XF has been afflicted by a litany of issues ranging from faulty window regulators and bad rear axles to a failed power steering system. TrueDelta surveys owners and has found the XF requires far more trips to the dealer than competing models such as the BMW 5 Series, Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. While the other models range from 33 to 97 dealer visits per year for every 100 cars, XF owners ended up back in the service bay 141 annually per 100 cars. Hopefully these are just first year production glitches, but this sort of news does not inspire confidence. Thanks for the tip, Leo!

[Sources: Automobile, TrueDelta]