Go for a Jaguar XF 2.2 diesel from 2011 on with its oil level spot on, since the 2.7 and 3.0 V6 diesels carry a serious known fault where a crankshaft bearing spins and the crank snaps.
4 known faults, 2 rated high severity in our database; owners report 37.5 mpg, 89% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
Found a Jaguar XF for sale? Check the advert before you go and see it
Paste the Jaguar XF advert and we read it against its known faults, the MOT history and the DVLA record, then tell you what to ask the seller and what to look at on the day. Free, about a minute, no card.
Check a Jaguar XF advert (free) →An X250 with the 2.2 diesel from 2011 on is the safer XF, because it's the only diesel of that era the known crankshaft fault doesn't name. It isn't trouble-free, though: owners have reported the particulate filter failing to regenerate properly, sending extra diesel into the sump until the oil level climbed high enough for the engine to surge on its own. Buy one with the oil at the right level, not above the maximum mark.
The 2.7 and 3.0 V6 diesels carry a serious known fault: a crankshaft bearing can spin and the crank can snap, wrecking the engine with no warning light first. Several owners have had V6 diesel engines fail outright, one on a 2015 3.0 at just 35,000 miles. Very early cars could also suffer a run of electrical faults, especially pre-production examples used at dealer launches.
The XF sold from 2015 on doesn't give you an obvious safe pick either. That crankshaft fault runs to 2019 on the 3.0 V6 diesel, so it covers these cars too, and owners of the 2.0 diesel have reported balancer shaft trouble at about 7,000 miles, a stretched timing chain and a replacement engine. Other owners of the newer car have had software faults keep it at the dealer for weeks, and two had water leaking into a footwell.
If it's the newer car you're after, the 2.0 diesel of 2016 to 2019 has a serious known fault of its own: cut-short DPF regenerations thin its oil with fuel, which wears the rear timing chain early. Only buy one with oil change receipts every 10,000 miles. Two Sportbrake owners have also reported the air suspension sinking unevenly, with one corner dropping after being parked overnight, so check the car sits level before you hand over any money.
The 2.2 diesel is the lesser risk, since neither V6 engine fault names it, but it has its own weak spot. Owners have reported it surging or ignoring the throttle at around 20,000 miles after unfinished filter regenerations diluted the oil, and two owners had it stall from a standstill, with the stop-start system then showing a fault. One 2013 car suffered such bad lag that the dealer ended up replacing the engine, so check it pulls cleanly.
Avoid the 2.7 and 3.0 V6 diesels unless you're prepared for the crankshaft risk, which can end with the engine seizing on the move. The 3.0 also has a known fault where the secondary turbo's actuator sticks and drops the car into Restricted Performance mode, and a failed sensor in its particulate filter can force it into limp mode. A JLR extended warranty has been reported to exclude crankshaft failures on these engines as a design fault, so don't count on cover bailing you out.
The V6 diesels are belt-driven. The 3.0's belt is due at 112,000 miles or 7 years, yet two owners' belts let go before that mileage, at 100,000 and 106,000 miles, one with the valves hitting the pistons, so ask for the receipt for the last change. Petrol XFs barely feature in owners' reports: one 5.0 V8's head gasket failed after a coolant pipe gave way and one XFR needed an injector at 30,000 miles, too little to call them safe or risky.
On cars made up to March 2010, the transmission locked itself in Drive on 70 of them by May of that year, and modified parts went on under complaint. On the ZF 8-speed, one report says hesitation has been cured by adjusting or reprogramming the accelerator pedal sensor. The rear differential is the other drivetrain worry, with owners reporting noisy diffs at 30,000 and 120,000 miles and leaks, one from a seal at 22,000 miles on a 2014 car.
Listen hard on a V6 diesel: a knock from low down in the engine is the crankshaft fault's warning sign, and there's no dashboard light to back it up. On the test drive, accelerate hard to see if a Restricted Performance message appears, and look for particulate filter warnings. On a 2.2, check the oil isn't above the maximum, since diesel in the sump pushes the level up.
Walk round the doors carefully. Sodden sound deadening inside them has rusted the skins from the inside out, and one owner first spotted it as what looked like paint blisters in the centre of a door, on a 2012 car at 18,000 miles. Check around the chrome strip on the boot lid for rust too, and look at the windscreen edges, which have delaminated after about four years on some cars.
Ask whether the pop-up pedestrian bonnet has ever fired; owners have set it off hitting a dog or crossing speed humps. Make sure the bonnet shuts and latches properly, as one 64-reg Sportbrake's bonnet flew open over a pothole, apparently after a bodged repair to its catch. At the back, rear pads and discs can last only 20,000 miles or so because they're soft to suit the electric parking brake, so factor them in if they're worn.
Try every electric item, from the parking brake (watch for a Cannot Apply Park Brake message) to the air conditioning, windows and locks. Then ask for proof the recall work was done: fuel leaking from the injector return pipe on cars built 2011 to 2013, side airbag sensors wired the wrong way round on 2013 to 2015 cars, a loose alternator cable that risked fire on late 2014 cars, and a fuel feed hose that could come off and stop the engine on 2015 and 2016 cars.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
An X250 is worth buying as a 2.2 diesel from 2011 on, as long as its oil isn't overfilled with diesel from failed filter regenerations. That's the engine that doesn't carry the crankshaft fault hanging over the 2.7 and 3.0 V6 diesels, and it's a frugal diesel as well. The Sportbrake estate (2012 to 2015) comes with the same 2.2 and 3.0 diesels, so the same checks apply.
The V6 diesels are where the big failures sit. The crankshaft bearing fault can seize the engine without warning, and the secondary turbo actuator on the 3.0 sticks between 60,000 and 100,000 miles. One 2010 3.0 diesel developed a tapping noise after a service and turned out to have failed big ends, and a V6 diesel's cambelt snapped on two owners' cars, at 100,000 and 106,000 miles.
Around the rest of the car, door rust, rear differential noise and leaks, and short-lived rear brakes all turn up in several owners' reports. Early cars carry extra risk: very early ones could suffer assorted electrical faults, and 70 of those made up to March 2010 had gearboxes that jammed in Drive. Owners have also reported battery drain, spurious brake pad warnings and air conditioning failures.
Look underneath and at the wheels, too. On 2008 to 2015 saloons and 2012 to 2015 Sportbrakes, a clunk from the rear under braking with a nearly full tank comes from fuel sloshing, and a baffle in the tank cured it. One owner's 20-inch alloys cracked seven times, and another had 20-inch tyres split round the sidewall, so check them closely on any car wearing that size.
Real-world economy on this generation: Jaguar XF 35.5 mpg, Jaguar XF Sportbrake 41.1 mpg, Jaguar XF 45.1 mpg.
Only buy an X260 diesel with the paperwork to back up its engine, because both diesels carry a serious known fault. On the 2.0 Ingenium diesel of 2016 to 2019, particulate filter burns that keep getting cut short let fuel thin the oil, and that wears the rear timing chain early, and a stretched chain can then wreck the engine. The 3.0 V6 diesel still has the crankshaft bearing fault carried over from the older car.
On a 2.0 diesel, ask for oil changes every 10,000 miles rather than the longer official schedule, and listen from a cold start for a few seconds of clatter from behind the engine. A service reminder showing up long before it's due is another sign of diluted oil. Owners have reported a stretched chain on a 2016 car and a replacement engine on a 2016/65 2.0d, and one 2017 car had its engine out at about 7,000 miles for balancer shaft trouble.
Petrol X260s appear in only a few owners' reports and none describes an engine failure, which is too little to call them safe either way. Across the range, software has been the bigger nuisance: one 2018 Portfolio spent just over four weeks off the road in its first ten weeks, and a failed infotainment update left a 2017 Si4 with no phone, radio or reliable satnav. Two 2017 cars let water into a footwell, one through the nearside A-pillar.
On a Sportbrake, check it sits level after standing, since two owners had the air suspension settle unevenly, one with the offside rear dropping overnight. Rear brakes have worn out early too: a 2017 car needed new pads and discs by 11,400 miles, and a 2016 2.0 diesel needed new discs at 21,000. Ask for proof the recall for excess CO2 on 2.0 Ingenium cars built 2015 to 2018 has been done, plus the fuel pipe fix on 2016 and 2017 model year V6 diesels.
Real-world economy on this generation: Jaguar XF 45.1 mpg, Jaguar XF Sportbrake 37.7 mpg.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Jaguar XF advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 37.5 mpg across the Jaguar XF engines with data, about 89% of the official figure, from 1,938 submissions.
Jaguar XF Real MPG by engine →The cabin's the big draw: it feels bespoke and luxurious rather than off the shelf, and the car's very quiet and refined. The ride's comfortable too, and on the newer car the suspension strikes a neat balance between comfort and handling on British roads, so it doesn't feel like you've traded one for the other.
The Sportbrake is an attractive, capable family estate, and its flat load floor makes loading it easy. Tyres can last well, too: one owner of a 3.0 V6 supercharged petrol was still on the original set at 24,000 miles, with 3mm of tread left, and couldn't be happier with the car.
Go for a Jaguar XF 2.2 diesel from 2011 on with its oil level spot on, since the 2.7 and 3.0 V6 diesels carry a serious known fault where a crankshaft bearing spins and the crank snaps. Our database holds 4 known Jaguar XF faults, 2 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
An X250 with the 2.2 diesel from 2011 on is the safer XF, because it's the only diesel of that era the known crankshaft fault doesn't name. On the fault record the X260 (2015 on) carries 1 known fault against 3 on the X250 (2007 to 2015). Each generation's section above gives the detail. Jaguar XF faults by generation.
Listen hard on a V6 diesel: a knock from low down in the engine is the crankshaft fault's warning sign, and there's no dashboard light to back it up. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Jaguar XF fault before you travel.
Owners report 37.5 mpg on average, about 89% of the official figure, from 1,938 submissions. Chain (2.0 INGENIUM): no fixed replacement interval, so budget for it if the history does not show it done. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Jaguar XF Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Jaguar XF buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 162 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
CarAdCheck is not affiliated with Honest John or Volkswagen Financial Services. What happened to Honest John, and where each feature lives now.
The Jaguar XF is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
Looking at a Jaguar XF right now? Check the advert before you go and see it.