Hi there, I'm new to this forum, so go gentle on me!

I'm a bit lost with where to turn to with this issue, so hoping I might get some helpful suggestions here.

In February this year, I bought a 2018 manual F-Type with 23,000 miles on the clock from Inchcape Jaguar in Guildford, so it is fully approved used and comes with a 12 month warranty etc.

By the end of July this year, I could tell while driving the car that the clutch did not feel right, it was slipping under certain conditions, during acceleration, also the anti stall feature has stopped working. I therefore booked it into my local dealership, Beadles, in North West London to be checked over, I hoped under warranty. I had done approx. 3,000 miles in the car and owned it for approx 6 months at this time. About four hours after dropping the car off, Beadles Jaguar came back to me confirming that a new clutch was required, along with a flywheel, this was not a massive surprise. However, they also took it upon themselves to inspect the rest of the vehicle and told me I urgently needed new front and rear brake pads and discs as well as a service, the proposed works came to £6,362. I was mortified and I told them I wasn't going to pay for this work, so they didn't carry it out. As the car was drivable, we agreed I was going to take it back to where I bought it and have an argument with them about whether they were going to fix it for me under warranty.

I took it to Guildford that afternoon, where to be fair they were waiting for me, with a courtesy car and said they would look at my vehicle as a matter of urgency, sadly this is where the story becomes very frustrating and I no longer know who to believe.

Jaguar Guildford are maintaining that there is nothing wrong with the car. They claim they can't find/diagnose the issue with the clutch and that the service was done before I bought my car, but just hadn't been uploaded to the Jaguar central system properly, so Beadles Jaguar couldn't see it had been done. More shockingly they are claiming Beadles Jaguar have exaggerated the problem with the brakes, because they make a lot of money out of these kind of repairs and they don't actually need replacing at the moment, so I shouldn't be worried about these.

I am now totally stuck - one of these Jaguar dealerships is clearly lying, either I was sold a car that wasn't fit for purpose by Guildford Jaguar, or Beadles Jaguar in North West London are trying to sell repairs to innocent customers that simply aren't required. I have completely lost trust in the Jaguar brand as a result of this, as I have no idea what to believe. I don't want to go and get my car back knowing the problem hasn't been fixed, but they are refusing to do any more with it.

This is my first (and currently last) Jag, so never had any issues like this before. Where would you guys go next with this?

 

Since you've experienced the clutch issue, I'd get it addressed one way (dealer) or another while you have warranty coverage. I'm not automatically convinced that the flywheel would be a problem, and I'm very dubious on the brake work. While the original owner might have abused the brakes - 23k miles just isn't much. For reference, I replaced my pads at 30k+ (preemptively) with Porterfields and the rotors were fine.

Your second dealer, Guildford, seems to more straight-forward, so I'd lean that direction first. Tell them you've (again) had the clutch slip and see where that gets you. BTW, even if the original clutch was replaced at some point, that does not rule out a current problem. There were different versions of the clutch over the years and not all were great. (From what I've seen, the current version is fine.) If you get nowhere with them, you might have to go back to the first dealer and only authorize the warranty work.

I expect your selling dealer can confirm the date of last regular service. On a resale, that's typically done - and, if so, you're good until Feb.

 

You should be easily able to see how much pad life is left on the front and rear pads. Have the dealer saying you don't need them done show you how much is left if you are unsure.

 

How about taking it to an independent shop - not telling them anything about the drama to this point - and see what they say needs fixing.

 

Take care of your clutch issue take care of it asap while is new and have warranty.

Pads are easy, you can stick your phone into the wheel where the caliber is and take a picture of all 4 pads, I am sure we can give you our opinion on the pad life.

 

I would not at all be surprised if a wear item like the clutch is not covered under a warranty.

 

Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions.

I actually stopped by an independent Jaguar specialist in North London on my way home this evening and talked it all through with the owner. He was fantastically re-assuring and is going to look at the car for me next week for free initially to help conclude what actually needs doing. He has 35 jags himself, which was re-assuring.

As he’s also based North West London, he was saying he’s seen countless cars come from Beadles where they have tried to get customers to pay for unnecessary repairs, so I am less worried about the breaks thanks that and the comments above.

He said he’s happy to help contact the selling dealership regarding the clutch, if we can diagnose it properly, so fingers crossed I can get this resolved in the remaining warranty period. Worst case he said he can put a new clutch in, for considerably less than Jaguar have quoted.

I will post some pictures of the breaks in the meantime when I get the car back on Saturday.

I must say I can’t wait to get rid of the diesel Evoque courtesy car!

 

Even though Jaguar has so far produced 4 generations of clutch to fix the "wear" problems?

 

As others mentioned, the brakes you can check yourself, both how much is left on the pads and the condition of the rotors. That's something I would have looked at when buying the car, just like checking the condition of the tires. Both easily address, it would just change what price I would pay for the car. Even if they do need replacing, there's no reason to have a dealer do that, and how much it costs will depend on your choice of rotors/pads.

As for the clutch, that likely wouldn't be covered under warranty unless the used warranty specifically said it covers wear items like that. I have seen people replacing the flywheel when doing a clutch since the whole thing is already apart the extra cost is minimal and something the flywheel can get damaged by a worn clutch. However, if you say you felt the problem and one dealer can't find the problem, then what changed? Did someone adjust something? A bit suspicious.

One last item, the 2018's came with 5 years of free maintenance, so if its within that window, they shouldn't have tried to charge you anything for the standard maintenance. Unless that was only a US thing and they didn't do that everywhere.

 

Obviously you yourself know there is a clutch problem and it doesn’t matter who tells you otherwise ,you still know there is a problem there. It is well known weak spot on the car. One dealer agrees , the original seller says nothing wrong.
There is no way you can trust your original seller as they are just try to sucker you out past your warranty period and not spend the money. Make sure you have it well documented in writing that you have an issue so at least you have some come back if you choose to do nothing.
I wouldn’t worry about the brakes , yes they may be trying to scam you but you have bigger fish to fry

 

So a slight update, Jaguar have offered to pay for 80% of my clutch. Do we think this is a decent offer from them, bearing in mind the car is four years old? I'm inclinded to go for it, as it's obviously going to be a lot better to drive, and hopefully really attractive from a resale perspective to have a new clutch and flywheel installed.

 

Assuming the "latest and greatest" design? I would do that.

 

I mean they're ordering it in, as it's not a part they stock, so one would assume it is, I should probably check the specifics though.

 

Yes, go for the 80% and then it’s done !

 

80% is certainly decent and I would take it if its just a worn clutch. However, if they open it up and it an actual failure, not just wear, the warranty should cover 100% of it. I had this on another brand where the clutch spring broke, so it was considered a failure and covered under warranty.

 

I love the way they say the pads and discs are heavily worn, lipped and heavily scored pmsl, theres no scoring on those discs at all
and you cant see a lip.
As a side not which independant have you been to in north London

 

Hi Timbo - I'm actually going to take the car tomorrow, I only popped in as I was roughly passing last week. It's Ultimate Cats in Edgware, Paul who runs it seems very knowledgeable/genuine, I'll report back with his findings and my thoughts.

 

Hi Josh, keeps us informed, ive been trying to find somewhere localish myself.
I live in Ruislip so not a million miles away