Does anyone have any good Jag dealer recommendations for the DMV area other than Jaguar Chantilly? I assume these are the same owners as Porsche Chantilly and after reading reviews on that dealership, I am not taking my Porsche their either. If these are the same ownership, I am not taking my XF RSport AWD to that dealership. My CPO warranty is coming to an end in 2022 and I wanted a good dealer to check it out and then I can purchase an aftermarket warranty to continue as I only have 40K on this 2016 XF and have no aspirations about getting rid of her. I haven't looked up the Jaguar Dealer at Tyson's Corners as being located in Gainesville, it may be an option.

Thoughts and comments are welcome...........

Thanks Guys and Girls..............Tom in Gainesville

 

Tom: I suspect you'll hear from folks far more knowledgeable than me. But I bring you greetings from far away Annandale-on-Beltway. My experience is exclusively with beasts 10 or more years old, but these are my observations. They are worth exactly what you paid for them and come from someone in a townhouse without a garage who has to hire out darn near most work:

1) the ownership of the Tysons dealership, unless I've missed a sale, is the same as Chantilly -- part of the Rosenthal group of various dealerships. That doesn't make them better or worse than other dealers, but lest I miss my guess they operate under the same corporate guidance. That said, I have had very good experiences at the Tyson's shop with older cars ('97 XJ6L and '06 VDP). With the '06 VDP bought privately I got prompt service, good diagnosing, free loaners and even some telephone guidance by phone from Warsaw when I had a problem that needed prompt resolution on my return. Yeah, they charge like a Jag dealer. I have also had a good experience at Manhattan Jag.

2) If you are wandering around in the Shenadoah Valley, a friend from the Shenandoah Valley British Car Club with an XF (maybe '13 or '15), speaks very highly of the Roanoke dealer.

3) If what you are after is someone to give the car a very thorough and knowledgeable once-over before exiting a warranty period, you might also consider Top Line Jaguar repair in Newington or Master Auto in Rockville. I've used both and am happy with both. They are Jag-only shops with lots of experience and Jag equipmen/technologyt. I have used both and have been pleased. I may have to take a drive-line problem to Top Line or County Transmission in Vienna if my local mechanic tells me he can't find any other reason for a hum I get in a particular speed range. There's a British car place along US 50 west of Chantilly (name escapes me) and another in Falls Church called London Auto. I have no experience with either.

Ah, the joys of owning a now nearly 20-year-old VDP with a whopping 37k on it!

Good luck.

Eliot Brenner

 

Also interested in which dealer folks have had best luck with.

Just bought an F-Type R, and being relatively close to Chantilly, Tysons, and Bethesda, am curious as to which people recommend bringing their car to during the warranty/free-maintenance period...

 

I can’t speak as a current or former owner of a new Jag. I’m just a guy who buys second hand Jags and goes to a dealer if I need something specialized re diagnosis or repair. Rosenthal owns both Chantilly and Tysons so policies will probably be the same at either location.

I have used Tysons for occasional things on my current X308 (‘03 VDP) and previous X350 (‘06 VDP). I have been quite happy. I’ve gotten loaner cars where needed, pretty fast turn around though parts have to be sent down from NJ, usually overnighted, pleasant folks and not too much upselling with the usual “our tech spotted blah blah blah. They sometimes offer a discount on the labor, but I can’t recall the circumstances, but I recall getting something knocked off the purported rate a few times.

I worked around the corner from Manhattan for years, knew some folks who got work done there and knew a tech who worked there. I got occasional parts from them for the convenience of walking over from my office and they helped me with some research on a vehicle I bought that they’d done all the work on. I don’t recall any really awful stories from the place.

All that thoroughly useless information proffered, I’m most jealous of your new toy.

 

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it! I'll give Tysons a chance next time it needs to be brought in.

If you ever head over to Katie's once it gets warmer, I'd be happy to show you the car you've got some nice Jags yourself though!

 

I've brought my cars into Tyson's and Rockville. My S-Type I brought to Tysons many years back. They did decent work, and charged an arm and a leg. I went to independent mechanics after that as it was much less expensive to service and to fix, especially when I could just order parts from Rock Auto as the Ford/Lincoln LS had many interchangeable parts. I tried a couple of indy mechanics however some were either too busy and still charged about the same as the dealers. I finally found my guy in Kensington, MD, Hasi who owns Prestige Auto Performance. He worked at Manhattan when they were good. The Bethesda/Rockville location, I have to say is not up to par as all of the mechanics left when they were bought out. AutoNation owns them now and anytime I bring work (recalls) they have screwed something else up or have done shoddy work and I have to bring the car back to them to fix and they would mess something else up. Hasi has worked on my S-Type and XF. The S-Type was in the shop probably often because of the low-quality/poor engineered parts and I did a lot of proactive repairs to prevent catastrophic failures. Hasi did quality work and several times when seals/gaskets would leak after the repair he performed the work under warranty. We figured it out finally that the head gasket covers were warped causing the gasket to leak. The XF was brought in twice for major repairs, one for a leaky/bad water pump and I also replaced all of the plastic tubing. the other was for the front steer arm bushing which needed to be replaced. Other than that the XF was really a reliable car needing the oil changes and new performance brakes/rotors. Because the S-Type would throw codes often I got the JLR SDD Software to diagnose and program the cars and often would troubleshoot the car before bringing it in to repair. I bought a 2016 F-Type R last year and only brought it into Hasi to drool over. It has had no issues so far. So if I were to bring my car into a dealer, I would say I would bring it into Tyson's. But for the most part, I will depend on Hasi to do most of the work needed. As Eliotb has mentioned, TopLine has been recommended several times before, I haven't used them as they were not located as conveniently as Prestige Auto Performance, but they seem to have a good strong following with JLR owners.

 

I have used Top Line Jag in Springfield VA. I work remote so walk down the street and camp out at Starbucks for same day type work. Very indy but as soon as you walk in you know they know their stuff. Bought my 99 XJR and had them give it the works shortly after. Would give them a 4 out of 5 stars based on experience at this stage but will continue to go back.

 

I've been considering taking my Jag into an official dealer for the free maintenance period, but after seeing too many horror stories on these forums, I think I'll probably just pony up a bit to go to Top Line or Prestige. Worth it for the peace of mind I think - thanks to everyone

 

woohoo, if you don't mind a bit of a drive, come on down to my place and we can do the oil changes and give the car a once over to make sure all is good and everything is topped up. I am probably a 90 minute drive from you depending on where in NoVa you are. I am about an hour south of Arlington, down in Southern Maryland. Just an offer.

 

Thanks for the kind offer, that's really nice of you!

I'm not able to get down there at the moment, but I have a friend that actually lives in St. Mary's, so the next time I go to visit him maybe I'll ping you and take you up on the offer if available Much appreciated!

 

woohoo, if you are making it down to St. Mary's, you are driving within a 1/4 mile of my house. So, it will be right on your way.