Been enjoying my V6S since taking delivery in mid-August last year.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife was driving when the engine temp warning light came on. She immediately pulled over and we got the car transported to the dealer.

When I was finally able to get in touch with the service department (they 'lost' my car for a couple of days...) they told me that they'd found water in the engine oil and that Jaguar UK had asked them to pull the head gasket and run series of pressure tests.

Long and short is I've been told that due to a factory manufacturing error, the entire engine assembly is shot and needs to be replaced.

I'm really looking for some advice here – I'm intensely uncomfortable with the idea of having to replace the engine on a car that's less than six months old with fewer than 4,000 km / 2,500 miles on the clock. Surely it's going to affect the resale value? That aside, I've already been without my F-Type for two weeks, and they're unable to tell me how long it will take to ship, fit and test the new engine. All the while I'm losing money through depreciation/insurance costs.

Any help? What would you guys do?

Thanks.

 

Thats VERY concerning. I hope (at the very least) they have given you a car to drive, that is satisfactory to you, in the meanwhile.

I would first ask THEM what your options are. If you agree with the answer I would put that in writing to them. If you don’t agree, I would write a stringent letter to them outlining your concerns, potential damages and desires for resolution.

I don’t know the laws there but you should contact the appropriate agency to find out your rights.

“Losing” your car for a few days? Unbelievable. I certainly would want a report in writing, specifically, as to what happened to your car and what Jaguar’s plans are.

Please keep us informed on this very unfortunate problem.

 

Very disturbing news. New engines from my experience in the past is normally about a month. I have heard faster, but typically for a out of country I would expect about a month+.

The good news is if this is what the dealer said and not a one off issue then Jaguar does know and the issue will probably be resolved on the new engine. However I am going to say that is not as Jaguar would rather put out a TSB to fix the problem then replace everyone's engine. I feel if this was not a one off we would have heard a lot more people already with this problem. Why I don't feel its a manufacture defect and just a one off.

No resale should be loss as its treated like any other repair under warranty.

The dealer does not know when the engine will get here, so yes they will not be able to give you a date until they have the part in their facility.

I know it sucks not having a car you are paying for, but hang in there. Keep us posted on the final say. Remember to stay calm with the dealer. They are probably close to in the dark as much as you are.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Had a call from the head of the service department today, and to be fair he couldn't have been more sympathetic – as apexhunter said, they're still kind of in the dark with this, and they are genuinely trying to help.

Less impressed with Jaguar Customer Care – I've had a standard email response from them promising to get back to me 'within three working days'.

For the last week I've been rocking a LR2, which to be honest I don't mind, but the wife doesn't like...the local dealer has promised to replace this with a 'premium' loaner tomorrow, so we'll see what that brings...

Anyway, the nice chap from the dealer's service department said that he won't have any news for me until Monday, so I'll wait until then (quick tip for customer-facing folk – we don't mind waiting, as long as we know how long we're likely to have to wait...) before updating here.

Thanks again for the concern and advice and I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy your F-Types, you lucky sods...

 

I would be concerned about resale value, especially if you plan to keep the car a long time. It won't be numbers matching!

 

Agreed. Unfortunately, Jaguar is not required to do any more than fix the car under warranty, and they (or your insurance) won't cover lost resale value due to this, an accident, or any other event.

This is precisely why I prefer to lease these higher-end cars. Your resale is predetermined and protected. My last car, a Maserati QP, lost value at a shocking rate. When I turned it in at the end of the lease, its residual lease value was $20k higher than the actual value. Glad to have leased it!

Best of luck.. let them fix it and move forward. You don't really have any other option!

 

Funny thing is some years ago I deliberately bought a car with a replaced engine as I reckoned it would last longer overall. It did. Real bargain.

Still, tough to be the owner having this happen. Really unlucky.

 

I know how frustrating this is, a new car back at the job for warranty repair and being unable to enjoy it. I am sure Jaguar will make it right and you will have no further issues with the engine.

 

That might hurt resale 50 years from now when there is a few on the road and someone is trying to fix one up, but nothing today.

And with documentation showing Jaguar replaced the engine, I seriously don't see any hurt here.

 

Typically the 'original engine' issue is only with cars that share virtually identical engines with more common low-performance vehicles. Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes, etc. sometimes carry a premium in value if the orignal factory built engine is still installed and was not replaced by something that spent the last 50 years in a taxi or dump truck.

Cars that feature unique engines like our Jags have no parallel concerns.

 

Thanks again for the comments guys. The dealer continues to be as helpful as he can, and they swapped out the LR2 for an XF today so at least I'm back in a Jag. A Jaguar tech is coming to take a look at the engine on Monday (they have their hot weather testing facility here, which is why, I guess, they have engineers on the ground) so I'll update this if and when I find out exactly what the problem was/is.

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the up date. We ARE interested as we all have (or will have) the same type of machine!!

Let us know if there is anything else we can do (or ask our dealers).

Sounds like you have a good loan car now (hope your wife is OK with it) and they are handling it.

The proof is in the future so keep us UTD.

Best regards,

Scott

 

Holly crap. I freaked out when I had to get my infotainment module removed from my new XKR and shipped to NJ for reprogramming. I would not be very happy about this. I hope this is not a common problem with all V6S F-types. I wish you well and hopr Jaguar makes things right for you.

 

The engine on my 2012 XKR blew up. I asked corporate to refund my lease payments for the 2 months it was down, AND THEY DID! Try to ask for your insurance for the time it was down and whatever it cost you in time with payments. Maybe they will doit for you....

 

I had a 740 BMW that had the engine replaced due to a manufactures issue.
Because it was a known problem up to 1995 the cars with the replaced engine were always a higher resale then the ones without.

I assure you that if this is a problem across the board with these engines, whether the issue is resolved or not, 2014 models with replaced engines will always sell for more then ones without.

****Sorry, not sure why this posted as a quote****

 

Still no F-Type, although the replacement engine was apparently shipped out from the UK a week last Thursday and was due to clear customs here today (given the relatively quick delivery, I'm guessing it was air-freighted).

I've been promised an update tomorrow, and am hoping (against hope?) to get my car back by the end of the week – by which time I'll have been without it for a full month.

I did get a courtesy call from the dealer last week basically telling me that he had no news for me other than what I already knew, but he did say that they were giving me a three year service contract (worth just under US$5,000) as a gesture of goodwill.

Still none-the-wiser as to the actual cause of the problem, other than that it was related to the head gasket assembly and that both the dealer and Jaguar Middle East say they've not come across it in any other vehicles. So hopefully I was just my one-off bad luck.

Will report back when I hear more!

 

The last time I recall Jaguar having large scale serious engine issues with a new model was with the XK8 in the Nikasil era of the late 1990's.

Their solution was to replace all affected engines and to 're-manufacture' the failed engines.

This warranty replacement didn't affect the resale value of the cars and, if anything, helped them in the used car market.

On balance, if I was in your situation, I'd prefer replacement with a new factory built engine than have a major rebuild carried out locally by the dealer.

The only suspicious thing I can see in your report of events is the speed at which Jaguar decided to offer a replacement. It suggests they may be concerned that it's indicative of a possible design fault and want the engine back to strip down and inspect at the Bridgnorth engine plant or Daventry test facility.

Graham

 

Excellent point Graham. I’m sure your right about the engine testing. Just makes all the sense in the world.

Thanks to Yeller for keeping us all UTD as it is a very important topic to say the least.

 

Updates??

 

Before I moved to the US I lived in Daventry and had no idea Jag had any presence in town. Where in Daventry is the test facility Graham? Is that at the Ford parts complex there?

Chris