One thing about dealerships is they should really work on building positive relationships with their clients; it makes good business sense, if for any other reason than to avoid embarrassing public postings on the net from disgruntled customers - better for them better for Jaguar.

I’ve had the unfortunate experience recently of going into a dealership in Toronto for my 112k (70K for US readers) inspection at an agreed price of $119.95. The reason it was so cheap was that all the work (belts, oil, etc) was done before; just for warranty purposes I had them inspect the car. It was expected that this would take 1 hour, but unfortunately the dealership found the transmission shifter cable needed to be adjusted and so the car was in the shop for 1½ hours – I waited there so I know exactly how long it was. Now they want to charge me an extra $119.95 for adjusting the cable since they claim it takes 1 hour to adjust the cable. It should also be noted that my car was in the shop 10 months ago for replacing the valves in the transmission and a year earlier for having the transmission rebuilt, all covered under my extended warranty. I responded to them with the fact that my car’s transmission was just serviced and I was told that Jaguar warranties all work done for 1 year or 20,000km which ever comes first and so this adjustment should be covered under warranty. The response is that the shifter cable stretches and it is reasonable that in 10 months it would have stretched needing the adjustment and this is not covered under warranty. Can anyone tell me if that is a reasonable assumption? I think it is more likely that the cable was not adjusted properly 10 months ago. Also does anyone know the shop time needed to adjust the transmission cable? I think it was a few minutes since the car is already on the hoist for the inspection.

 

For starters, the cable does not "stretch". Whoever did the work on the tranny 10 months ago did not tighten the bolt that holds the cable enough. Common problem, and I'm surprised that after the tranny is replaced the dumbass who did it wouldn't tighten it. I would bitch and complain until someone pays for this NONSENSE. This should've been recalled in the first place, or at least a TSB so that the ***********s can do this while it's in for service.

 

Did you have a problem with the shifter/trans? Did they estimate this supposed repair prior tocompleting it? If they did, did you authorize the repair and additional charge?

 

Watch it, yopu likely to be flamed about saying that even though its true

 

[sm=badbadbad.gif]Flamed? JAJAJA! All those who dare flame this all-mighty mod will have their posts edited to "All hail Bigdreams05"! LMAO!

 

Sounds like you have a case of "not a nice dealer syndrome" it happens to many jaguar owners but fortunately they all aren't like this. Shoot at least you could have a mercedes which is even worse!

If you didn't sign a paper saying fix me and they didn't tell you how long or how much it would cost, the fee is for them to eat not you! Don't let them do it to ya...

 

Thanks bigdreams05,

The dealership is generally really great and includes some fabulous expertise, but you’re right obviously this is an issue that should be taken-care-of by the dealership; at really no cost to them to adjust a cable (since my car was already on the hoist) it is baffling to understand whathehopes to accomplish pursuing this. A no cost gesture of good will is the cheapest form of advertisement, leaving only kind memories of the nice dealership and for low price of nothing – compare that to going after the customer for considerably more than the agreed amount. However, the service manager is new, extremely aggressive, spouting “wanting payment for services rendered� kind of rhetoric, and not caring as to the consequences to the dealership for his actions. I could mention the dealership name, but this is a great dealershipaside from this misguided service manager, I want him to have an opportunity to resolve this – if it doesn’t work out I’ll take up with the owner. I told the service manager I would ask the reasonableness of his position, hence the posting to this board.
RudyF6, the amount of the service was discussed ahead of time. The adjustment and cost to the shifter cable was not.

 

I am sure they didnt just adjust the cable without telling you it needed adjusted first. If they did, you dint authorize it.
Trans cables can stretch to be clear about this. The time for adjusting the cable, whether it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours, is irrelevant. The techs work on a flat rate system. Therefore if the book says changing engine pays 12 hours, you get paid 12 hours whether it takes 2 hours or 20 hours.

The main question is, did someone come to you and say, trans cable is out of whack. You want us to fix?
If you said fix it, live with the bill. If they just fixed it, without consent then they need to eat it. Pretty simple scenario.

Let us know how it goes.

Also, changing the shift solenoids would not require adjustment of cable on last visit.

 

From the sounds of it fjt they fixed the cable and than let him know about it after the fact...

Canman if they didn't say anything and you didn't agree nor sign anything they eat the cost not you...they are supposed to get approval not just go ahead and fix stuff...

 

Service manager should be interested in doing the right thing for all. Car, customer and dealer. A good service manager will always balance the three.

 

Shoot i had a service tech and he was looking out for me within SE's guidelines...so there you have helping me, dealer and jag.

 

Thanks FactoryJaguarTech,

To answer your questionabout being notified as to the adjustment needed and cost, I’ll give you some history first to put this into the correct light:

I took my X-Type on a long drive from Toronto to LA, and on the way back my transfercase failed. Fortunately, it was just outside Salt Lake City and they repaired it. When I got back to Toronto, the transfercase was leaking, and the DSC Failure was showing in the message window. This dealership fixed the transfercase, and temporarily fixed the DSC. A few months later the transmission was failing and the dealership felt it was the hoses leaking when flexing and dropping the internal oil pressure… they charged me $600 to replace them. Of course this did not fix the transmission, it was turned out to be the transmission itself and they had it rebuilt … I never got my $600 back, but was promised a discount on all future service at 20% in compensation. Then the DSC error came back and they decided it was the battery…. it wasn’t and that cost me $300…. it turned out to be the rear propshafts, so they left me a credit of $220 in compensation. Also following the transmission rebuild, my alignment was considerably out, the dealership felt it could not be adjusted to Jaguar specs due to manufacturing problems with the X-Type (meanwhile my tires, and suspension, bearings are suffering), it turned out that their machine was the problem and taking my car to another dealership who fixed the alignment proved this… my dealership had to pay for this service also. So this brings us back to the 112K service that was to be done under that $220 credit, and also include some parts I ordered (bonnet release handle, and trunk actuator springs that broke since they are made from plastic). This was the understanding coming in for servicing, and that this would exhaust my credit with them.

My dealership got a new Service Manager recently who was not involved in my credit, but was involved with the alignment issue. He was very aggressive about the alignment and I think labeling me as a problem customer. So when the other dealership confirmed that I was right and fixed the alignment, it was somewhat embarrassing for him. So after I left the dealership - paying nothing and expecting to exhaust my credit - I then got an e-mail notifying me that I have to pay $200 for the work done and parts that are now ready for me to pick up. I think this all has to do with the Service Manager who maybe smarting a bit from the alignment issue and still feeling I’m a problem customer that doesn’t deserve the credit. Also I still have issues about the my steering wheel vibration, the damaged tires from the poor alignment have been replaced but still the vibration continues, I want this dealership to fix the problem since it started during this whole alignment issue (I replaced the tires at my expense too).

So that is a quick synopsis of the history to put things in perspective. No I was not told that the cable needed to be adjusted, or agree to the cost of doing so. I was aware that the car was taking longer than the hour originally agreed, but there was no discussion or agreement that any of this would cost me. Oh one more thing, I have recently tallied all the servicing expenses of my 2002 X-Type, and am nearing the $30,000 mark, most covered under warranty, (about $5000 out of my pocket). This dealership should be grateful for the business, and consider this when demanding more from one of their loyal customers.

 

Sounds like fun! Good to hear your still happy with all those happenings. Most people have flipped their lids on much minor problems. Sucks when more people are pulled into the loop (i.e. the new manager dude)

 

how about this for customer service. i have a guy who works for me who has an older acura tl, has i think close to 80k miles. took car in for a recall visit for tranny , got car back a day later, tranny goes out, he bought car used maybe 8 months ago. long story short, said here's the keys to a new acura while we sort this out. 3 days later no cost rebuilt tranny, plus a one year warranty. read me NO COST. he does all his maintenance through his dealer, 8 months worth of driving and they comp the entire tab! i thinks it's an 02

 

Many people have stated that using the local jag dealer for maintenance they treat you better but that is nice of that dealer!

 

We were looking at this car as a viable competitor against the X-type at purchasing time. The auto-trans issue is fairly common on the '02s and prior. Not so many people are as fortunate as your colleague, I assure you that much from my time reading on their forums.

 

If they did not give you an estimate for repair for the cable adjustment or advise you of the problem ahead of time, then they can't charge you for the service.