Long-term update: Our Jaguar XK finally gets its eyes fixed

The last generation of the Jaguar had a massive factory problem. One of several electronic control modules on the HID headlights used to keep shorting out in some way or the other every time there was some sort of power surge, such as when your battery dies or sometimes even randomly, maybe once every two years. This used to cause the auto-levelling function to go stupid, making the headlights point permanently downwards even though they are perfectly working fine otherwise (while flashing a warning light in your gauge cluster permanently as well). Oddly enough, the warning light was for the turning-headlights feature, which also stops working obviously. The first time it happened, the dealer made us change one entire headlight — for Dhs 7000. Then it happened again.

That time it was narrowed down to a Dhs 1900 “headlight control module” (or because Jaguar decided to offer the faulty part separately due to regular complaints from every XK owner on the planet). And that fizzed out too, after two years like clockwork.

This time, we took the car in on a service offer for Dhs 129, about a year ago. After some back and forth, a technician finally said he can disable the turning-headlights feature and make them fixed headlights, like on a base model. Apparently he wasn’t allowed to rig the headlights like this before due to the typical replace-not-repair policy, but they now had the go-ahead.

So after another Dhs 1263 later, the headlights are not a headache any more, and I can live without the lights-turning-with-the-steering feature. More recently, we also slapped on some new tyres on those massive 20-inch alloys for Dhs 2500. And changed a front-seat pull handle for Dhs 300.

The bright side of all this is that the dealer always has some offer or the other for oil changes on older models, sometimes even free, so we’ve barely spent on basic maintenance over the last few years and offsets the cost of repairs. And it still looks like a million dollars while getting more respect on the road than brand new cookie-cutter Mercs and Bimmers.

Original Mileage When Bought: 99,150 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 118,500 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 14.7 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 1,563
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 2,629

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Bought: Dhs 45,435

Read all Jaguar XK long-term updates