Probably, but how much?

It's Mr. Know-less-than-nothing about Jags asking a general question, so please bear with me concerning my lack of knowledge.

My 2000 S-Type was running well. Needs two window regulators, which I'll get to one of these months, but I live in Mexico, about seventy-five miles south of San Diego where I usually take the Jag for repairs. In these parts where I live, though, I must rely on the local economy - mechanics and garages, etc.

As I said, the Jag was running well, and I asked my worker to clean the engine. I wasn't watching him too closely, so I'm not certain what he did. I generally trust him, although sometimes, I'm not too certain.

The morning after he cleaned the engine (yesterday), it would not start. The battery was turning over-and-over and had a strong charge. It just wouldn't start. I tried for several hours on-and-off without draining the battery. My friend said he knew somebody in the small town nearby, and he called him on his cell phone. The guy came in fifteen minutes and hooked a small red computer up at the steering wheel. After a while, he unhooked, and through translation, said something about a "short circuit". He said he would fix it this morning.

He showed up this morning at 10:15, and hooked yet a larger computer to my car somewhere around the steering wheel. It was about the size of a briefcase. He was there for thirty seconds, pushed some buttons or whatever ( I couldn't really see) and said it was fixed.

I was told this he reprogrammed the engine and put the correct key in through the computer for it to start.

He charged me $120.00, which, I think, is high.

Does this sound reasonable or have I been totally ripped off?

Thanks, folks!

Steerforth!~

 

Steerforth, I would have kissed his butt and handed the mechanic a 12 pack of Corona's to boot!!

You sir had used one of your kittys nine lives, meaning you got lucky.

 

I agree with Joycesjag. You paid for him to come to you and fix your car, he probably has a minimum service call charge like most other professions. You might want to get to know this guy iffen you need his services again, and keep that cold 12 pack on hand...

 

It doesn't sound like a bad deal, he made two visits and I assume it was running when he left.
The other option could have been a trailer ride to San Diego.

It would have been interesting to know what he actually did with the magic box.

 

The price worries me a LOT less than what went wrong. I'd want to know!

Suppose the engine washing got water somewhere bad......... you want to know where to avoid or better yet seal up.

 

You'll spend that much having a guy come out to look at a broken garbage disposal :-)


Cheers
DD

 

Jaguar only lists two dealers in Mexico. They are not in your neck of the woods.

If someone has a WDS/PDS/IDS close by, and is willing to make house calls, it would be smart to treat him nice.

As an aside, a problem in the current economic times is that everyone seems to think what they are charged is obscene, but what they themselves charge is a bargain. Even if the quality of the delivered good or service is marginal at best.

To wit, lawyers billing $700/hour, assistants at $500/hour, and faxes extra ... but they go around the bend when presented with the bill at the dealership, their monthly phone bill, etc. $700/hour is $1.5 million a year before padding and the margin between what assistants get billed at and what they get paid.

It even goes as far as corporations like HP and Toyota using free internet monitoring services. How sick is that?

 

Steerforth,

When I read the end of your thread, I was actually thinking $120 was a good deal.

I would take some of the above suggestions and keep this mechanic as a future reference if you need to make contact for any other needed repairs. And, like joycesjag said, keep the 12-pack of Corona's on-hand as an additional thank you.

- Michael

 

I am not clear on this? Did he get the car started?

Your problem sounds like a PATS problem which is the factory anti-theft system. The small red light in the middle of the defroster vent up by the windshield will blink rapidly if the PATS system is tripped. If you have this problem again note what the red light is doing when your are trying to start the car. When your car is off it should blink slowly which indicates it's working.
.
.
.

 

It could have been that the engine simply dried out overnight and would have started anyway, but we'll never know.

I'd do two things

1) don't let anybody 'clean' the engine with anything other than a damp rag

2) Mexico has a large number of wonderful beers that are not exported north. Give your new contact with the computer his choice of those.

 

Maybe Mescal!!!!!

or three fingers !

 

""Thread hack""

I'm going thru a version of what I think is a rip off. Two weeks ago, one pipe in the attic sprung a small leak. I was able to find it and cut a hole in the ceiling to find it. Got a pipe clamp from a hardware store and (they told me it was a temp fix...good for "only a year") got it fixed for now. the leak is about 2" from an elbow and only about 8-10" of pipe would need to be replaced. Easy access, just reach up and fix.
Now for the rip off part...two plumbers each want $400-500 to do the work. ...uhhhhh can you say sticker shock !!!!!
We had a similar situation about 5 years ago and then it was about $150 for the repair.
At least, it's not an emergency....

""End thread hack"" back to your regular programming..

 

Is fixing the ceiling included?

If you could put the clamp on, I'm sure you could fix the pipe yourself.

 

Ceiling fix not included, it's another $150. A drywall company would replace about a sq. ft. of drywall, patch and blend in to the existing popcorn. Yess, I know... This part of the ceiling was reblown several years ago with the other pipe repair.
It's 3/4" galvanized and cutting and threading is just beyond my capabilities.

 

To the OP, if your car is fixed then I would think that $120 for 2 home visits diagnostic and fix is a real bargain.

I'd definitely drive by that guys place and deliver that beer, always handy to have a friendly tech around.

Fixing leaky pipe + ceiling repair $650 all in, almost worth me getting a cheap flight and having a free holiday.

Seriously though, twice in the same location over the years, rather than patch + blend etc, why not have them make that hole into an access trap for the future? Easy to do and won't cause a mess. Plus you could check every so often, chuck in anti-rodent stuff etc.

 

Check with a plumbing supply or one of the big box stores. They have these flexible repair sections with slip connectors on each end. Buddy fixed his frozen pipe at his cabin with one. You just cut out the leaky section and shove the slip connectors over the ends of the pipe. I used them on plastic pipe doing a water heater install. Sounds shaky but they don't leak a drop and no threading.

 

Yes, I did notice the light flashing very rapidly.

Thanks.

S.

 

He sat in the car a couple of minutes. Apparently, he started the car immediately after he got in and hooked up the computer.

 

Thanks for all your input. Okay, you can beat me up. I forgot to tell you that something came up while he was messing around in the car with the computer - the screen said, "oxygen sensors".

According to the mechanic, they need replacing.