Service Required dashboard message

if you want to keep them in good condition without breaking the bank… you may want to consider it… it is only a matter of time before they will become the victims of their own wizardry… I have faced this scenario with my Xj220… and it was built in 1992… if it wasn’t for the fact that I have been incessantly searching for spares for the car since 2009… I would be facing the same problem as you… I now own one of the very few working ECU and engine management systems for the car which when new were supplied to the Jaguar chosen few dealers for 30000GBP each! If you really are determined to keep your newer Jag for years… I strongly advise that you find a way to acquire a similar system for yours… before you can’t! best wishes Godfrey

No argument from me on that. I completely agree. Obsolescence is built into any modern vehicle. Only speaking for myself, while I enjoy my XF and its a beast, I view it solely as a daily driver and something that is expendable.

What you speak of is exactly what I’ve dealt with on my XJ40. Many parts simply do not exist. As a car person, I get lots of people who ask me what new cars will become classics or which new car they should buy if they want to keep driving it forever. In both situations I answer the same way and say none of them, and then go on to explain how the use of plastics and extensive use of electronics on todays vehicles will make them impossible to fix at some point, and that point will come at a much sooner time than it had in the past.

Not to get off subject, but I predict that in the future, the government will mandate that cars need to get periodic software updates in order for the owner to renew the vehicle registration. At the same time, like any electronic, the manufacturer will stop supporting it after a length of time and will no longer provide updates. Of course, without the update being offered, the car will become undriveable and the owner will be forced to get something newer.

As an anecdote to exactly what you are describing…A man I knew from business connections years ago was proudly showing of his then new Volvo… and was complaining that even though he had had it only a week that he needed to return it to the dealer to replace a faulty part… which subsequently had to be ‘turned on’ by Volvo… I commented at the time… ( this was about 2000 ) that what was he going to do when the manufacturer… ( or your suggestion the government ) decided to turn it off ? A scenario which seems to be becoming all the more likely in tis world of eco lunacy and lack of privacy… we KNOW where you are ! or we know where your vehicle is… so now it won’t start… until you pay us. You no longer are in charge of the products you purchase as the manufacturer and by default the government has pinpoint accuracy on every new vehicle sold… and any other product which has a wifi computer chip in it. If they can find your car… they can find your frig! or toaster, or microwave, or… think of the possibilities… the insurance companies must be salivating at the thought that they can trace almost anything if they wish… The bike you stole you miserable little swine has a chip in it… we know where you are ! Hmmm you have just given me an idea…

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Well, even though it was fixed and runs like a supercharged champ, the fact that it sits low factored into wife’s decision to trade it for a MB GLC 300 suv. Her knees just couldn’t take getting down into and up out of the Jag anymore. And the lack of local Jag dealer help …
Now we are back to having only one Jag. The 95 XJS 6 liter. She doesn’t drive that so it’s all me.

We loved the XF. Very nice car.

Agree with discussion points about the current and future. Versus the old carb’d

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That’s an unexpected turn of events, but you’ve got to keep the wife happy. Hopefully, there is an MB dealership much closer to you.

Its gonna get really quiet without you in this forum, Jim. Now you don’t have a XF and my XF is 1400 miles away while I’m going to school in Miami. I don’t know if there are any other members of this forum that work on their cars.

Thanks Brett.
I think Gary C does. Has 2009 XF super according to his user info, and he posts good info

Gosh! Who could’ve ever guessed a very limited production, hand-built, state-of-the-art “super car” would one day, only a few decades years later, become difficult and expensive to maintain? I’m shocked! SHOCKED, I tell you! This is an outrage! It is absolutely unprecedented in the annals of car-dom! Did nobody at the dealership warn you?

… Really??

Regards,
Ray L.

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Yes but you see I bought the car because I loved it… ever wandered around a car show… and spotted something extraordinary… well I did… and now I own one… and damn the cost. It goes with the territory… if you have to ask the price… you can’t afford it… Damn the torpedoes … full steam ahead! that’s what passion is all about isn’t it ? It is said that love is blind… I’ll never sell it… so accept the costs… and the trials and tribulations… and find it amusing that now that obviously well heeled collectors have discovered it that those of us who bought one when no-one wanted one… are now somehow expected to feel sorry for those who want to satisfy their egos, and are finding that they may have bitten off a bit more than they bargained for… I am not impressed by those who seem to feel that their money can somehow put them in a position to demand whatever they want… and everyone else is expected to acquiesce. My previous comments stand… you want to play… they you have to pay! FWIW they were expensive to maintain when they were new. They just needed less… Today those who have spent years assisting enthusiasts like myself to maintain them are expected to hand over their expertise gained over the years to anyone who asks ( demands ) and provide parts which are in even more limited supply so they can ‘do it themselves’ They’ll learn… some just HAVE to do it hard way… I wonder how many cars will get fried in the process? They MAY save a few $$ in the short run… but provenance is everything with cars like these… and shade tree mechanics don’t elicit a lot of cred, so the wider knowledge that it becomes ‘one of THOSE cars ‘… will come back and bite them. There is already an increasing list of cars that for those ‘in the know’ are no longer ‘collector quality’ and when they do come to market the price realised generally reflects this. Which is why when you see one ‘going cheap’ there is usually a back story to it. A truly exceptional Xj220 … properly professionally maintained with all its history and original parts and pieces supplied when new, and low mileage will sell for upwards of 500.000 GBP … a ratty one is 350.000.