As much as I love the XF Sportbrake for its class, quality, driving appeal, looks and practicality, there are a couple of really simple flaws that trip up the car and its driver.
Boot functionality is key for an estate, and, unfortunately, the XF loses out to its main rivals for the way the luggage cover operates.
The pull-across cover is clumsy to clip into place, and then when you open the boot it pops diagonally up to make luggage access easier, which is handy, but every single time I’ve done it over the past six months I’ve ended up getting back in the driver’s seat and then realising that the cover is still in the upper position, blocking most of the view to the rear.
And that’s as irritating as the keyless start system that doesn’t also offer keyless entry, so you need the key fob to unlock the car, but then there’s nowhere to put it when you sit down. So the fob is dropped into the centre console, where it stays when you park, at which point you get out of the car, go to lock it and realise the key’s still inside. Others including BMW are as guilty as Jaguar on this score, but it’s still rather annoying.