[x300] dealer mishaps

X300
1

I called my dealer last week to find out if my refinished wood was
back from Calif. I was told yes and asked if they need the car all
day or could the swap be made while I wait? The service rep said it
would take about an hour to a hour and half so I could wait if I
wanted to. We set up an appt. for Monday at 2:00 PM when I arrived
my service rep was not there and the guy on duty said well your in
the system but you can’t wait it is a three hour job. He asked
could I leave the car if they gave me a loaner. I said not if it is
the Ford F150 you gave me for two days last time. I also told them
as long as they were keeping the car the belt chirp was back and
the climate control smelled like dirt. He offered me a Saab. The
Saab would not start. Finnally my salesman gave me a 2005 S Type to
drive and they said they would deliver the car to my office when
complete around noon. By 3:00 PM I had not heard anything so I
called and was told the car would be ready at 5:00 PM and that it
was too late to deliver to the city but that I could pick it up or
they would deliver it in the morning. So went to pick it up. The
wood replacement job looks like I did it myself, the gaps are all
wrong and not straight and they forgot one piece completely and are
not sure where the missing piece is. As far as the belt chirp they
replaced the belt again and the tech did not notice any odor so he
did nothing. Needless to say I am disgusted and will follow up with
them in the morning. Am I being to demanding? What if they can’t
find the missing piece of wood? In my current mood I think I may
demand new replacement wood. Any thoughts.

jpr iii
2001 xjr–
jpr iii
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2

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

The Mazda dealer I use has been much better than the Jag or
the Mercedes dealers I’ve used. THey don’t have a fancy
waiting area but the fixed the car right the first time and
didn’t screw up more stuff trying to fix it. And they gave
me free coffee when the M-B dealer charged for everything.–
1995 Jaguar XJ6
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3

I brought my Mustang GT to the dealer that sold it to me in Glendale, CA for
some warranty work. I did not have an appointment (which was smart after
what I did!)

The entrance to this dealer only permits ONE WAY ENTERING and exiting (this
detail very apropos later) The service area is DIRECTLY across from the new
car showroom also.

When I arrived there, I was the only service customer to wait on.

The first person at the service desk, dismissed me and said “I’m at lunch,
come back tomorrow” I looked at him incredulously, and said that won’t do,
get me someone to help me.

He summoned over two other service people, that quickly started complaining
about another customer, who apparently spends over 500 USD an invoice, and
who was demanding a rental car. They did not say “Hello”, “Sod Off” or
anything else. I stood there for 3 minutes listening to this crap. Then I
walked away, got in my car and proceeded to do the LARGEST, SMOKIEST BURNOUT
in REVERSE for the 75 FEET of the entrance to the dealer. It was great
because there were A LOT of people (a safe distance from my vehicle) there.

When I got out to the street, I laid another LARGE PATCH of Continental
rubber right in front of the stealership.

Needless to say I won’t be back there, and it felt really good to do that.

The look on everyone’s face was PRICELESS!

Yes I have a temper, but this was pure horse crap.

XJRGUY
1995 XJR
2002 Mustang GT
2002 Kawie Drifter-----Original Message-----
From: owner-x300@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-x300@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of anorak
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 10:43 PM
To: x300@jag-lovers.org
Subject: Re: [x300] dealer mishaps

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

The Mazda dealer I use has been much better than the Jag or
the Mercedes dealers I’ve used. THey don’t have a fancy
waiting area but the fixed the car right the first time and
didn’t screw up more stuff trying to fix it. And they gave
me free coffee when the M-B dealer charged for everything.

1995 Jaguar XJ6
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4

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

Buy the S-Type…–
The original message included these comments:

the climate control smelled like dirt. He offered me a Saab. The
Saab would not start. Finnally my salesman gave me a 2005 S Type to
drive and they said they would deliver the car to my office when
complete around noon. By 3:00 PM I had not heard anything so I

–
2004 S-Type 2.7D Sport, manual.
Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
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5

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

This sounds like you have a shop with a lazy or absent manager, who
does not instill quality in the staff. Not much to be done but
complain and hope for the best, you can’t do much about the shop
attitude. We all know good shops pay as much attention to the
little things as they do the big ones, its all about customer
satisfaction. There are good shops out there.–
Brian Caro
Newport News, VA, United States
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6

There may be good shops out there, but many of us have no choice in the
smaller towns of 1 million people. There is only one jaguar dealership
within a 3 hour drive.

I have gotten great service from the three GM dealerships I had taken my
Pontiac Sunfire too. I must say I was very impressed with the free rental
cars. It turns out warranty repair on my Jaguar means having to pay for the
rental myself. Also the Sunfire comes back cleaner than I left it, my
Jaguar comes back clean on the outside but the interior is stained up with
oil and dirt.

I know it sounds strange, but I am almost glad my car is out of warranty so
I can either do the repairs myself, or take it to my independent jaguar
mechanic.

Bad jaguar dealerships hurt the brand, and the company. My wife wants to
get an SUV. I was thinking of sticking with Ford and going with the Lincoln
navigator, but after comparing Jaguar service to Pontiac, when it comes time
to purchase an SUV it will be the Cadillac Escalade.

Donald Gray-Owen
dgrayowen@hotmail.com
Alberta, Canada
Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign 1992 (XJ40)
Jaguar XJ8 2000 (x308)-----Original Message-----
From: owner-x300@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-x300@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of Brian Caro
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 7:12 AM
To: x300@jag-lovers.org
Subject: Re: [x300] dealer mishaps

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

We all know good shops pay as much attention to the
little things as they do the big ones, its all about customer
satisfaction. There are good shops out there.

7

In reply to a message from Spinola sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

They had a nice S Type R…

jpr iii
2001 xjr–
The original message included these comments:

Buy the S-Type…

–
jpr iii
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8

In reply to a message from Donald sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

There are certainly good shops out there…

San Diego has several Jaguar shops, but the best one I’ve
found is one called Coventry Motors. The 2 head mechanics,
Bill and Trace, really know their stuff.

My dad and I can pretty much diagnose a lot of the problems,
but we have them work on things like our XJ-6 because it’s a
daily driver, and we don’t have the time or ability to get
the parts as quickly and easily as they do. And when we
diagnose a problem on the car and tell my mom to take the
car in and that we think this is the problem, we’re usually
not far off.

For example, my mom wanted to take the XJ-6 in because the
brakes were squealing. My father & I told her that it was
one of 3 things: 1) the pads were shot (they weren’t; they
had been replaced about 3 months before) 2) there was some
dirt & dust on the pads themselves (not unlikely, as the
area we live in has a lot of dust/dirt due to construction,
or 3) the pads needed to have some ‘‘anti-squeal gunk/brake
quiet’’ put on them.

These guys COULD have ripped my mom off and said that the
entire brake line needed to be flushed, new pads needed to
be put in, brake cylinders needed to be rebuilt, the
works…They put brake quiet on, wiped down the discs with
alcohol, and charged her accordingly, telling her exactly
what my father & I suspected, dust & lack of anti-squeal
gunk. Jaguar shops like Coventry are what needs to happen
for all makes and models of cars.–
Sprzout
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9

When you get bad service, the people who are want to hear about it the most
are the folks at Jaguar Cars. They will not let a bunch of complaints pile
up. They have yanked dealerships in the past. Two in Arizona in the last 30
years. (We only had two until about a year ago.)

Mark-----Original Message-----
From: owner-x300@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-x300@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of Donald
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 9:35 AM
To: x300@jag-lovers.org
Subject: RE: [x300] dealer mishaps

There may be good shops out there, but many of us have no choice in the
smaller towns of 1 million people. There is only one jaguar dealership
within a 3 hour drive.

10

In reply to a message from Sprzout sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

Since we are talking good guys, I am lucky to have two good Jag
shopd in my area! (is this unheard of?) The dealer is good,
Checkered Flag Motors in Virginia Beach, and the independent is
good (Just for Jags, same City). They have both corrected very
tricky problems I could not solve both quickly and fairly. Hard to
beat that.–
Brian Caro
Newport News, VA, United States
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11

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

I took my 2003 XJ8 back to the Santa Monica Dealer for agreed
replacement of the passanger front side window. It had been
scarred with a buffing wheel or something in prep. They ordered
the window replacement and called me upon its arrival. I arranged
the date to take the car in driving down from Fresno (200 miles).
A minor problem was exposed with a leak from beneath the dash
dripping from the heater fan housing. Although it subsided, I ask
that it be checked out. Went down the night before and stayed
abourd my boat in Marina del Rey.

Dropped the car off the appointed Tuesday morming and they provided
a S type loaner. Sailed during the day and returned at late
afternoon to find that the car had not been completed due to the
additional effort to track down the leak with the removal of the
dash board. I explained that I had to return to Fresno for
business and they sent me on my way with the loaner and a full tank
of fuel understanding tht I would not return until Friday.

Although I was not happy about the car not being ready, I realized
that I had added to the burden with extra work. I was pleasant,
they were pleasant, apologetic, and accommodative on top of the
numerous fresh brewed gourmet coffees they served. Good dealer so
far.

Even with the numerous BMW problems encountered with my 2002 745
and 2004 545, I was pleasantly insistent to the point that they
purchased back both vehicles. Of course there was that one
instance where BMW USA called on the service survey and I expressed
that the dealer service department must be run by ill-trained
circus monkeys. The dealer service manager called me the next day
irrate that I had made such a comment where upon I explained that
if it were a problem with the car then it was still the service
departments failing, if the BMW required a special German rectum,
they should be able to install the very best German rectum known to
mankind, and it should work flawlessly.

Limited expectations often lead to satisfaction even with
mediocrity.–
C42
Fresno/Ca, United States
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12

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

I find that too often the service writers just are not
car people – this forum is made up of car people – we
are interested in cars and having them ‘right’.

They often do not understand the differences between
the models – and many times are moved around too
often.

My local Nissan dealer is full of salesman not service
writers – The things they think of – I would smile
except I know many people fall for these costly
‘fixes’'.

From ‘tune-ups’ at 30k and $500 to get this ''we always
recomend that you change the calipers with any brake
job after 100k – YES calipers.

When my 95vdp was new it needed a new lower seat squab
(AKA ‘‘the leather’’) they ordered it and installed it.

It did not match the original in addition they damaged
the chrome door sill and the trim between the front and
rear door when they removed the seat! They reordered
both sections and the trim but then bent the seat track
so the seat would not move! This also blew out the
control box!

I kid you not – they cracked the wood on the driver
door and bent another door sill fixing the track and
control box!

Just after that the seat switch went south!

Add that all up plus loaner cars - crazy!–
CSNJ
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13

In reply to a message from jpr iii sent Wed 16 Feb 2005:

Update: I wrote a letter to the Service Manager and copied my
Salesman and the Service Writer about all the problems on my last
visit. In particular I informed them that the wood refinishing was
unacceptable. The Service Manager called and had me bring the car
in on a bright sunny day and had me point out all the problems with
he, the Shop Foreman and the Tech that did the work. They are now
suggesting that a complete NEW wood kit be shipped in from the
factory. Further, offered to valet a loaner car to my home or
office and pick up my car when the new wood comes in. Their best
guess is the backing metal may have gotten distorted (not sure how
white metal could bend without fracturing) and they have no idea
where the lost piece could be. They could not have been nicer or
more proffessional. Assuming that Jaguar concurs the new wood will
be ordered next week and arrive in about 4 weeks. It appears that
the letter really got their attn.–
The original message included these comments:

they would deliver it in the morning. So went to pick it up. The
wood replacement job looks like I did it myself, the gaps are all
wrong and not straight and they forgot one piece completely and are
not sure where the missing piece is. As far as the belt chirp they

–
jpr iii
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