[PaulCP]

Now into the 3rd week of ownership & approaching 2000 very satisfying miles with one minor irritation.

In heavy rain water seems to get locked in the corner of the front windows obscuring a clear view through the door mirrors and the door mirrors are seem to retain spray and dirt. When using the washers water from the sweep also quickly covers the drivers side window rather than carrying on up over the roof.

This seems to me to be an aerodynamic design fault. I had similar door mirror issues with a Volvo a few years back and they must have been apparent to Volvo since a redesigned door mirror was later introduced which resolved the problem.

 

[pekem]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I am sure others have made reference to this but personally I have not been troubled.

 

[hydrajaws]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I spoke to Ian Callum at this years motor show and having only had my XF a short while he asked me what I thought of the Car so far.Very pleased so far I replied except for one thing(at that time) and I mentioned this very problem of the great dam of water being swept up the screen when the washers are activated and then spilling over the windscreen pillar to end up on the side window and obliterating the view in the mirror.He told me that he was driving an XF himself and agreed with me that it was an irritatation and that hopefully that a solution would be found.I very nerviously suggested to the great man that possibly by retiming the pump so that water was delivered on the downstroke of the wipers this would ease the problem.

Sometimes I wonder if Pekem has the same model as the rest of us as he does not recognise some of the problems that plague most of us!!

 

[PaulCP]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I think that the degree of irritation on things like this depends on what your daily commute is. I cover 700 miles most weeks mainly on dual carriageways & i guess that the problem is worse when you use the washers at speed. I just have to wipe the side window down every evening when i get home.

I have found that a quick dab on the washer button minimises the problem. I may try a quick diy solution this weekend & will let you know the outcome

I

 

[pekem]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I think that the degree of irritation on things like this depends on what your daily commute is. I cover 700 miles most weeks mainly on dual carriageways & i guess that the problem is worse when you use the washers at speed. I just have to wipe the side window down every evening when i get home.

I have found that a quick dab on the washer button minimises the problem. I may try a quick diy solution this weekend & will let you know the outcome

I

I wonder if a solution, perhaps in the short term, would be to apply a rain repellant product on the window surfaces. I did that to mine and as I have said earlier, I am not really troubled by the problem that you experience.

 

[sodgob]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I have used rain-ex from new on all my glass & never experienced a problem

 

[daven2505]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I have had the same problem & ive put rain x on the windows & it does not work. I have also noticed that when it does rain the water channels off the bottom of the mirror right in the middle of the mirror housing & then gets sucked onto the window adding to the amout of water on the glass. Maybe the people at Jaguar should remould the mirror housing so water channels off the end so it falls away from the car like most other cars ive used but I suppose that would be asking too much as this car is lacking in so many other functions they might as well start again.

There are also spy photos on some sites of the XFR in death valley without a fuel filler door so even the Jag test drivers are have problems opening the door & filling up.
If they are having problems than????????????????????????????????????????????

Its a shame but this is a poor car & I would advise all to stay well clear.

 

[andrewll]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I realise it must be impossible when you have been the guy that got the lemon/friday/duff diff car, to be positive, but the majority of people on this and other forums seem to be pretty happy with their purchase.
I dont think I have owned a car yet (in 40 years of car ownership) that didnt have flaws/quirks or simply irritations. The two that have come closest are my XF, the XK I owned previously and my final Alfa 164 V6(of 4 - the previous 3 were a nightmare but what a car!) .
I cant say that the water/mirror thing really bothers me per se - yes I agree that there is more rain on the side window than one would really like but I havent found it to be too much of a problem. I do tend to make sure the car is cleaned pretty much as soon as it gets dirty so not much chance for the grime to dry on but it certainly hasnt been a problem to me during journeys of say 200 miles in continuous rain.

 

[rclifford]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

Some of you guys must have a different car, at 90ph on the moterway in rain, the mirrors are completely obscured by rain run off, its bloody dangerous not annoying. At least at night the headlights are so crap you wont be travelling so fast and need the mirrors

 

[Jules]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

Haven't seen rain for over 11 months. My suggestion, move to Dubai.

 

[craig]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

They need to sort this issue and fast as 1) its annoying 2) it can be dangerous and most of all 3) they are planning a convertible and I for one wouldnt want a face full of vortexing screenwash!

 

[AV8TOR]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

I agree with Craig that there is a safety issue here. The water obscures the view of the offside mirror making it very difficult, almost impossible, to use it properly,on motorways and dual carriageways when checking before overtaking.

 

[andrewll]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

Some of you guys must have a different car, at 90ph on the moterway in rain, the mirrors are completely obscured by rain run off, its bloody dangerous not annoying. At least at night the headlights are so crap you wont be travelling so fast and need the mirrors

I cant understand why it seems to be such a problem for some but not for others?
i have spent most of the weekend charging around the motorways of the midlands in all that heavy rain and at speeds similar to that quoted above and while I agree there is some rain that channels along the side window it did not obscure the mirror, so I am really confused.
Could position of the seat position/mirror angle be having an effect. I have my seat well back and dont really consider it a problem let alone dangerous, but could imagine that drivers who have their seat further forward might have more of a problem with the water obscuring the mirror.? :?

 

[pekem]

Re: Aerodynamic design flaw?

Some of you guys must have a different car, at 90ph on the moterway in rain, the mirrors are completely obscured by rain run off, its bloody dangerous not annoying. At least at night the headlights are so crap you wont be travelling so fast and need the mirrors

I cant understand why it seems to be such a problem for some but not for others?
i have spent most of the weekend charging around the motorways of the midlands in all that heavy rain and at speeds similar to that quoted above and while I agree there is some rain that channels along the side window it did not obscure the mirror, so I am really confused.
Could position of the seat position/mirror angle be having an effect. I have my seat well back and dont really consider it a problem let alone dangerous, but could imagine that drivers who have their seat further forward might have more of a problem with the water obscuring the mirror.? :?

This occured to me as a reason but then I remembered that when my wife drives the car, yes, I know it is a quaint notion to some, the seat positioning and so on changes and still the issue doesn't arise. If it did I know it would be mentioned

 

[Puma Guy]

I am looking to buy an XF and, as I currently live near a US base in Germany, was able to test drive as US-Spec' V8. Of course this was not a Diesel S but I wanted to see how the ride felt and test out the controls, seating position and switches etc. I was suitably impressed compared with my usual BMWs but the only minor irritation was that when I wanted to spray a small amount of ‘screen wash before using the wipers, a big splurge of ‘screen wash was delivered.

I tried several times to lightly touch the wiper control but each time it delivered at least a second or two’s worth of wash. In the winter this is not an issue but on a nice clean car in good weather this would irritate. I know this is only a minor irritation but these things can get on your nerves with time. Is this just an issue with US-spec’ cars or do they all do this?

 

[pekem]

Re: SCREEN WASH DELUGE?

Did you discuss it with the dealer when you took the demonstrator back :?:
I have no complaints about the washer operation on my car

 

[Puma Guy]

Re: SCREEN WASH DELUGE?

I did mention it to the dealer but he didn't offer much of an explanation.

On your XF can you give your screen a quick dab of screen wash or does it chuck out a lot each go?

 

[pekem]

Re: SCREEN WASH DELUGE?

To be honest I haven't noticed in 13000 miles if it will respond in the way you wish.
This may be to do with the auto wipe system reducing the need for the washers, I don't know. It also may be that the technology associated with delivering the water through the jets embedded in the wipers needs more than would be the case if a conventional system was used. In a conventional system isn't so that the supply pipes are always full and a simple press on the button would allow a quick jet to be delivered. When the pipes are embedded in the wipers as they are on the XF it might be that the water drains back more, or perhaps they are fully discharged and the system would demand more than a "quick dab". I really don't know :?

 

[Puma Guy]

Re: SCREEN WASH DELUGE?

Thanks for letting me know that you don't see it as an issue; I haven't seen it raised as a problem by anyone else ether. I assume that when you pull the lever to wash the screen the spray lasts for as long as you pull the lever, i.e. a quick pull produces a short spray. Perhaps there was a fault with the one I tried, as no matter how briefly I pulled the lever I still got a 1-2 second spray. The dealer did suggest it may be a software issue.

 

[penultimateblack]

Re: SCREEN WASH DELUGE?

The headlight power washers spray fluid on every fourth operation of the screen washers when the lights are on. This can be source of irritation when they are not required.