2015 Jaguar XF : ZF-8 automatic transmission fails at just 50,000 km

The recommendation is to have the entire transmission replaced as a flush or a rebuild won't work. The cost of a new transmission is prohibitively expensive.

BHPian sri32 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I own a 2015 Jaguar XF 2.2 L with 50k Km on the Odo. Serviced by Jaguar less than 2K km ago and given a clean chit.

It was running fine till then, with no warning lights or noticeable issues when driving, such as gears slipping or any weird noises during shifts.

But all of a sudden last week, it refused to start or even crank one evening.

Had the car towed and after inspection, the Jaguar SA says the likely reason is a transmission oil cooler failure which has allowed coolant to mix with the transmission oil, causing the transmission to fail completely and also blow a fuse in the process which was the reason the car wouldn't start.

The recommendation is to have the entire transmission replaced as a flush or a rebuild won't work. The cost of a new transmission is prohibitively expensive.

Doing my research online, this does not seem to be a common issue with the Jaguar, which has the solid ZF8 transmission. Even failures of the oil cooler (more common) don't seem to be something that commonly causes a complete transmission failure in the car, especially in less than 2k Km after being inspected and serviced at the dealership.

Any advice on how to proceed with handling the issue and getting the car back on the road? Unsure if there is a possibility of a rebuild I did look up used transmissions from Europe which are reasonably priced, but coding the TCM to the car maybe a challenge.

Also, any possibility of writing to JLR and trying to hold them accountable in some way for the uncommon issue (especially at 5k Kms) or their negligence in spotting any symptoms?

Thank You.

PS: First time posting here, apologies for any errors in structuring the post.

Here's what GTO had to share regarding this matter:

You need to take the car out to a competent independent garage for getting a second opinion, and seeing if the gearbox is repairable or not. Authorised dealer workshops never repair - they only replace.

Worst case, if it indeed needs replacement, be open to finding a used gearbox from a salvaged XF. But that's the problem with buying a low-volume model. Salvage XFs won't be as commonly available as say, popular sedans from Mercedes & BMW. You'll have to dig deeper.

Please keep this thread updated as it will help others.

Meanwhile, here's what BHPian ajmat had to say:

This was a common fault and happens due to corrosion. It used to happen to a lot of Mercedes C classes. Ideally, this should have been detected when traces of oil appeared in the coolant. If detected earlier, the cooling matrix could have been replaced in time.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.