Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find an independent Jaguar mechanic in the Auckland area (preferably the Northshore area). I am looking for someone to service my car which is a 1997 Jaguar XK8 and to undertake any maintainance work as required. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

 

Ken-Stout Motors is very by-the-book, but gets the job done at a premium price.

The previous owner of my MkVIIM had some mechanical work done by a shop in Birkenhead - done alright, slightly rough (scratching of the paint around nuts and bolts etc). I wouldn't go back to them unless I was planning on a paint job shortly after the mechanical work.

Best Jag Specialist I know is in Onehunga on Princes St. PM me if you want his address.

 

I had my XJS 1990 serviced by Ken Stout before moving to Tauranga. Yes a bit pricey but they always did an excellent job. Even considering driving up for the day for them to service it in the future.
Richard

 

My BEST experience with any mechanic thus far has been Jaguar Spares in Takanini on Spartan Rd - they had parts in stock and collected my car from Ken Stout - AFTER I left my car up at Ken Stouts for nearly a month with no work done because they didn't know what was wrong with it... No such problems with these guys. Car came back with a slightly greasy drivers seat and steering wheel being the only downside, and some water stains on the paint which I assume must be from Ken Stout's because they only store cars outside and has happened before.

I reckon these guys are the best - there's an old guy covered in grease who works on the cars and a young guy called Jeremy who does all the calls and arrangements etc. Young guy is very easy to deal with. He drives Jags - which is always good when you see your mechanic driving a car like yours.

 

Hi there,

TheToyShop

The Toy Shop in Grey Lynn are Jag, Range Rover and Austin Martin specialists.

I've had work done then before and they are great, really nice people to deal with and beat the price from the main dealer and KSM (KSM are excellent though).

They even washed my car last time, nice touch

 

I can thoroughly recommend NOT using Jag Specialists in Manukau. George used to work on my XJ6 years ago and he was good, but he appears to be past it now. I took him my XJR a few months ago to get the tensioners done:

• He estimated $1500-2000 for the job (which I didn't believe but he used to be dodgy on estimates but pretty OK for final price)
• It took him 2 weeks, vs his estimate of 1 week and KS's of 3 days
• He also refilled the transmission (which I'd asked him to) and did a raft of other odds and sods that took his fancy (and which I didn't ask for).
• He then tried to charge me $10,000 for the work. After an argument we settled on $5300 (KS had estimated $4-4.5K+GST for the tensioners, so that's probably close to their price for tensioners + trans)
• I got less than 10km before the fan belt dropped off
• Once he'd fixed that (1 week), it got another 30km before a bodgy temporary fix on the radiator bleed hose fell off. He put a slightly less bodgy temporary fix on it.
• I then noticed temporary fixes on a couple of the other hose couplings he'd removed and broken. I've since replaced the hoses myself (which in one case involved digging what I think was hotmelt out of the inlet).
• I'm now, 6 months later, replacing the cam cover seals (myself) because they're leaking oil into the plug wells. And now I've pulled the covers I'm not surprised they're leaking. There's RTV all over the place, I suspect he didn't replace the seals last time, just glooped up the old ones.

I won't be back (and I'm now wondering how long before something more serious he's touched drops off)

Dave

 

Hi All,

For those looking for options in Auckland, I recently used Beacham Jaguar in Auckland to install some high flow catalytic converters. I was very happy with the service I received from them.

They heavily discounted some initial exploratory work where we found that I had supplied them with incorrect parts - even though it was not their fault at all.

The final job was a success and done at a reasonable price. They supplied an X-type as a courtesy car so I could carry on life as normal while the work was done.

I quizzed the mechanic on the process for changing the oil in my 'sealed for life' transmission and was satisfied he knows the correct process - so I would confidently go back to them for that and other jobs.

Their website is here: Beacham Jaguar - Independant Dealer & Classic Restoration & Custom Car Experts

 

Guys,

I was killed by the rates at Shorters, who couldn't change my 06' XJ Sovereign radio to NZ frequencies, and charged me $120 for doing squat.

I then found a European repair shop in Grey Lynn called The Toy Shop, and booked and was there within the hour.

While I had a coffee across the road, the used the exact same computer logged into the exact database that dealers use (i.e. Shorters), and had the radio setup for all the kiwi frequencies within about 20 mins. They also set up the GPS as Shorters managed to reset it to miles instead of k's.

Jobs done, excellent friendly service, all up - $100.

I'm never going anywhere else!

Home | The Toy Shop | European Automotive Specialists | Servicing and Parts

 

Do not use the toy shop if you value you cars welfair!
Thay are dangerously useless ! Thay cut wires to try and stop fault codes reaching the computer rather than to fix the fault !it fryed my computer It cost nealy 40k for my car to have a new wireing harness and computer fitted by archabalds to repair the damage the toy shop caused!archabalds would not work on the now damaged loom replacement was imenint! Luckerly it was motoring insurance work !
Not my cost ! The car was off the road for 9 monthes,
The car wos orderd to go to them buy the cheep scate insurance company , il bet thay will never do that again ! In the end the fault was a simple fix , replace the throttle position senser unbelievable , steer clear of these Indian idiots!