Ok, where to start. I recently got a 2004 s-type 4.2. Beautiful white color with cream on the inside..

Well I've had the car a little less than a month. And its been in the shop for the last 12... count them 12 days.
Now this car just tripped 60k. it was at 58.5k when I got it.
I had the under tray replaced, Something dealing with the heat (it was leaking coolant) got the car back and on the way home the a/c was blowing hot air. Now "carmax" is trying get that fixed and have had it for 12 days. They finally told me today that they sent it to the Jaguar shop to have it repaired.

Sad thing is I was looking forward to showing her off for my brother's wedding this weekend. But it looks like I'll be driving the loaner car the put me in.

Well that's it. I feel a little better. I'll update with pic once I get my baby back home.

 

Well, there's always an upside, which is all of this work is being done by Carmax. I had a transmission problem with my 04 XJ8 I bought from Carmax. They couldn't even diagnose the problem and in the end I took it to my normal dealer. $650 later all was good and CM paid out in a couple of weeks.

Sure made me feel good about going with CarMax.

- Tim

 

I see you live in Durham....

Flying Circus English Cars off the Durham Freeway at Briggs Avenue is a very good independent service shop for Jaguars once your warranty with Carmax runs its course. You may want to stop in and introduce yourself the next time you're over in that area. Our 2005 S-Type is now beyond its factory warranty and I plan to use Flying Circus for any major repairs that may arise if I can't perform them myself....

 

Yeah that really seems to be a problem with Jaguars.. They're always fine when you don't need them, but broken when you do. I can recall quite a few occasions when my Jag decided to die the night of a date or a party and I have to borrow my brother's Benz.

 

On the up side, all the down time does keep them out of the elements!

 

Thanks for the feedback, Joh yes I actually will have the people from Flying Circus look the car over once Carmax is done with it. Their charge is very reasonable and I hear they do great work. So now, I have them on speed dial. LOL

thanks again

 

Hello Cat family,
Got my car back yesterday 9-16-09. Let's see had the water valve control assembly fixed (apparently the control valve shorted and was stuck open allowing coolant to flow when the a/c was on), well it doesn't stop there. Carmax could not get the a/c to work so they sent it to Leigh Jag to replace the a/c control module/resistor.

So I get to Carmax start her up and WHAM!!! Low Coolant lights on. I like wtf.. I'm a little less then pleased when I walk back into the service area and the fella helping me said well I sat in the car for min and everything seemed fine. I had him go out with me and the light was off. I told him let me drive it home see and lets see what happens. Low and behold it comes back on while driving home.

So I look to see if in fact the levels were low and YES they were. I'm wondering if its leaking or if they just didn't top it off correctly. At any rate I'll have them investigate it. Hopefully it will not take another month for them to fix it.

If you were in my situation would any of you just add coolant and see what happens?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks for reading.

 

I'd try topping off the coolant before taking it back, it may just have been an airlock working it's way out and dropping the level.

Can you still see coolant in the expansion tank?

 

I could still see the coolant. however it was very low. I just topped it off. So I'm hoping that will take care of the problem. At least now I can closely monitor it.

thanks for the feedback.

 

Make sure you use only the red/orange long-life coolant that meets the specs for M97B44D. If your coolant jug meets those specs, it will be printed on either the front or back label. Using coolant other than that which meets M97B44D specs can cause gelling and other problems in your radiator. That can turn into an expensive fix....

You don't have to use Jaguar coolant ($45 a jug at our local dealer's parts department), but you do want to use coolant that meets the necessary specs. You can find it at any chain auto parts store or Wal-Mart for a third or less of what Jaguar wants for their "genuine" stuff....

 

Replacing the coolant tank historically requires a refilling a couple of times. Same thing happened to us. After twice, problem solved. As I recall, it's hard to get the air out of the system.

Eric

 

thanks Jon89.

 

Thanks everyone. Very helpful info.

 

Hey Jon89, Thanks for mentioing the Flying Circus shop is good for jags. I work in Durham and when I need some work on the Jag , I
will look them up.

 

So the cooling system had to vent as well.

 

LOL. NICE Norri.

 

Mine did the coolant thing for a while after I replaced the expansion tank. Resolved itself once all of the fluid got through the system.

 

I do believe Jaguars can sense when their owner has never owned a Jaguar before.

Seems to be a demonic hazing ritual the car will put you through.

Problem after problem....fix after fix. Headache after headache.

But they sure are pretty... assuming you haven't drove it off a cliff yet out of frustration.

Get used to it!

 

Scottie,

Maybe the trick is to get an old Jag beater first then part it out. After that, get the Jag you really want and hopefully the new one will sense you aren't a Jaguar virgin.

Mike