I've owned a 2012 XDrive 2.0i Exclusive for a little more than a year. Because I'm pedantic and wanted to ensure trouble-free ownership after MP expired, I went through a substantial number of requests during the last few in-plan miles.
In my experience, the following stands out for me as F25-specific points to note:
- F25s are quite hungry on brake pads, particularly the rears (related to the cruise control and anti-dive setup). Pads are about R3.5k either end, mine went through 3 sets of pads and 1 set of discs within 90k km.
- I had the turbo replaced at 88k km after seeing smoke on cold start-up. No issues after that.
- There is a known issue with the brake pad sensors, they warn too quickly (unrelated to the above I reckon) and sometimes need to be reset.
- My oil cooler failed at 95k km, causing all the oil to leak out into the coolant system. This was covered by a campaign which had just been released when I encountered the issue, please check that the car you're buying has had this work done if you're going with an N20. We got the "stop immediately" warning about 150km from home and had to take a flatbed to the nearest dealer. Was without a car for a week while they flushed the system several times.
- The sunroof rattles a bit when cold, but the effect can be reduced with careful application of felt pads.
- There is a known issue with the steering rack loosening slightly and causing a knocking sound when going over bumps while fully locked to the left, it's reduced when the rack is replaced (like I insisted on with mine) but returns after a while. Luckily this does not result in any other issues, one can live with it.
- All 4 tyres need to be replaced to keep the transfer case from being stressed. 19s are very pricey (around R4.5k/tyre) but the 17s are very reasonable, I've just bought a 225/60/R17 non-RFT set of Bridgestone Dueller HP Sports for R2.5k/tyre fitted.
Even though the list above may seem to be substantiating a negative experience, it's actually not the case. My F25 is even with this list the most all-round capable vehicle I've ever owned, so much so that I'm very keen to change to a 3.0D M-Sport LCI towards next year. The combination of space, ground clearance, dirt road cruising ability, ride comfort, composure and luxury is unbeatable. It's an amazing vehicle!
