2008 Jaguar XJ Complaint Log

My wife and I are drivers with 50+ years of driving experience each, with clean driving records. Recently two incidents occurred while driving my 2008 Jaguar XJ that frightened us, where we have been left with no feasible explanation. There were no messages, warning lamps, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The first incident occurred in early December, 2022, with mileage of approximately 66,500 miles. On a cold evening, after traveling 2.5 miles, I was entering my garage with the brakes applied when the engine revved up and lurched forward uncontrollably, striking a vehicle in front of me. I applied brake pressure as hard as possible, but the car would not stop. If it wasn’t for this vehicle, I would have gone through the back of the garage. The force of this incident caused damage to the vehicle that was struck, as well as front-end damage to the Jaguar, with the hood ornament flying off the car. It scared me because I know my foot was not on the gas and had no idea why the engine revved up so quickly and flew forward with such force. The second incident occurred on January 7, 2023, on a cold afternoon. My wife was driving the 2008 XJ Jaguar and I was a passenger. We were pulling out of a mall parking lot, approaching a stop light where a vehicle was at a standstill in front of us. When nearly stopped, the engine suddenly revved up and the car jolted forward with such force that even with my wife ‘standing’ on the brake, the car slammed into the vehicle in front of us. If it wasn’t for that vehicle, we would have ended up in the middle of a very busy intersection with oncoming traffic. The driver in the vehicle behind us said he heard the engine roar as the car sprung forward. I do not have a police report as this accident occurred out-of-state. Two repair shops have not been able to duplicate the situation.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 JAGUAR XJ. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ABS LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SHAKE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT ALL OF THE CONTROL ARMS WERE RUSTED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE CONTROL ARMS AND ABS BRAKE MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 83,000. UPDATED 8/21/15*CN UPDATED 10/3/2017*CN

WE WAS SITTING AT A STOP LIGHT WAITING ON THE LIGHT TO CHANGE TO GREEN TO GO. BEFORE THE LIGHT COULD CHANGE WE WAS STRUCK FROM BEHIND BY ANOTHER VEHICLE WHICH WAS HIT BY A TRUCK GOING 45 MPH. I HIT MY HEAD ON THE DASH AND NO AIR BAG DEPLOYED NOT MINES OR MY PARTNER THE DRIVER. I ASKED JAGUAR OF HILTON HEAD TO TEST MY AIRBAGS HE SAID NO NEED TO TEST THEM IF WE WERE SITTING STILL THE AIRBAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY. I JUST GOT MY VEHICLE BACK AND THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE KEEPS COMING ON. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH THIS AIRBAG. *TR

AS I WAS GOING DOWN A SLOPPING STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 30-35 MPH, I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES TO SLOW DECLINE BUT CAR SURGED FORWARD, IMMEDIATELY GAINING SPEED UP TO 58 MPH. WHEN I LEVELED OUT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TO SIDE OF ROAD BY TAPPING ON THE BRAKES UNTIL I CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. SECOND INCIDENT HAPPENED TWO DAYS LATER. WHILE STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN WAITING TO TURN LEFT, CAR ACCELERATED FORWARD GOING FROM 0 TO APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH BARELY MISSING CAR COMING AT ME FROM THE LEFT. WAS IN MIDDLE OF THE ROAD BEFORE I KNEW IT. STOPPED CAR AS BEFORE, LIGHT REPEATED TAPS ON BRAKES. CAR IS AT JAGUAR DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION. *TR

2008 JAGUAR XJL CONSUMER STATED VEHICLE LOST CRUISE CONTROL. *BF THE CONSUMER STATED A WARNING THAT READ "CRUISE UNAVAILABLE PARK BRAKE DEFAULT" ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD. THE CONSUMER STATED HE PULLED OVER TO READ THE OWNERS MANUAL AND IT STATED THE PARK BRAKE DEFAULT COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. ALSO LOOSING CRUISE CONTROL AT 70 MPH WITH SOMEONE ON YOUR BUMPER COULD CAUSE A SERIOUS PROBLEM. WHEN THE CONSUMER TRIED TO PUT THE TRANSMISSION INTO DRIVE, IT WOULDN'T MOVE. IT WAS LOCKED IN PARK. THE CONSUMER TRIED AGAIN AND THE TRANSMISSION MOVED INTO DRIVE GEAR. THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THEY REPLACED THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH AND THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH AND HOPED THAT WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM; BUT IT DIDN'T. THE CONSUMER WENT BACK TO THE DEALER, AND WAS TOLD HE WOULD HAVE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE UNTIL THE WARNING LIGHT CAME BACK ON. THE WARNING LIGHT ALWAYS CAME ON DURING THE TIME THE DEALER WAS CLOSED. *JB

THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW. MY JAGUAR XJ HAS ELECTROCHOMATIC MIRRORS AND THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO LIGHTEN AND DARKEN WITH THE REFLECTION OF LIGHTS. AT NIGHT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE OUT OF MY MIRRORS. ONCE WHEN I WAS DRIVING A CAR'S LIGHTS WERE SHINING IN MY REAR VIEW MIRROR AND IT DARKENED THE MIRROR SO MUCH THAT I ALMOST SWERVED INTO A BICYCLIST. THIS IS A DANGER TO MYSELF AND OTHER PEOPLE. WHEN I REPORTED IT TO JAGUAR THEY SAID THEY WERE AWARE OF THIS, HAD OTHER PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT IT AND COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. THEY TOLD ME TO SPEAK TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIPS RESPONSE WAS TO TURN IT OFF COMPLETELY. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION BECAUSE IF SOMEONE'S LIGHT REFLECTS IN THE MIRROR THERE IS NO WAY TO ADJUST IT SO THE LIGHT WILL NOT SHINE IN MY EYES AND ALSO BE ABLE TO SEE THE ROAD IN THE MIRROR. *TR