I drove to the Jaguar dealer in Hartford today, 27 miles one way. Had the oil change with filter for $63.30. I asked them to check the suspension and the cabin filter. The cabin filter was clean, no charge for checking. The suspension is another matter. Both the front and rear swaybar bushings are bad. $618 for the front and $308 for the rear. Other then that the suspension is fine. I find these prices kinda high even for a dealer. What is involved with changing these bushings especially the front as they are double the cost of the front. Thanks

PS: No charge for checking suspension either. The independent around here wanted $100 to check the suspension

 

Adam;

I can't answer your specific question, but I can tell you that the reason you probably did not get charged was because it was already up on the rack for the oil change.

I am almost certain had you just popped in for a look see that would have charged you.

 

Adam, changing out the rear sway bar bushings is probably a 30 minute job. You jack up the back of the car, you undo 4 bolts, this gets you access to both mounts, you pull the old ones off, put the new ones on and tighten down the bolts. Drop the car back down to the ground. Not that big of a deal. As for the front end. It is pretty much the same thing as I recall.

Here is the BUT statement. Finding the new bushings. Check with a company called "Energy Suspension". They do a lot for 4x4 trucks, but they have a lot of options when it comes to cars too. You simply need to measure the diameter of the sway bars and the distance between the bolt holes. From there, you should be able to find something that will work made from polyeurathane which is about as good as it comes for probably about $20 a set ($40 total for your car).

Worst case, you will end up loosening the sway bar from one side of the front end to ensure you don't have any stress on the bar. Then you can do the bar again.

Just to make sure, they are saying the center bushings, not the fasteners on the end of the sway bar? For that kind of money, it almost sounds like they are trying to put new sway bars on your car.

 

I Agree with RickBNA. There are times when a dealer (partially) justifies their higher rates. This is one of those times. You got your oil changed for a MORE than fair price and they checked other systems no charge. You'd be silly to go anywhere else IF those prices are even close to competitive. Sounds like you have a real standup dealer, you should toss him a bone whenever you can to help keep the relationship strong. That doesn't mean to be a chump. Just understand their knowledge of your car is worth a little something extra.

 

Good question they didn't write down on the work order which bushings were bad. He did say the bushings are not press in type, they are encased in metal and bolt to the swaybar, if that is a help.

 

Adam,
The front bushing are real bear to change - I did mine last year when I changed the struts. You need to drop the subframe to get the bushing bolts out. Recommend you do this when your struts are replaced otherwise live with it until you can't stand it. : )

Rears are like Thermo said, real easy and they are not encased in metal(both front and rear) if you don't count the bushing bracket.

 

Adam, what you are describing sounds like how the rears are. Look around and see what you can find from what I recommended. You might laugh at what this is going to cost you and just how easy it is. As for the front bushings, I would want to crawl under my car to do a once over before I committed to anything. Sounds like TonyX has a bit more experience with this than me.

 

My neighbor who is a Ford Mechanic said he is going to change them tomorrow. He got all the bushings at a local auto parts store that happens to carry foreign car parts and had them in stock. He is figures 1/2 labor and for me that would be $150. He didn't say what the bushings cost, only that they weren't too bad. Which is a open ended questions if I ever heard one. But I am OK with this. I've known this guy since he was a kid and he does great work. He took great care of several of my cars.

 

Let me know if he was happy person or not a happy person after he did your front bushings. I suspect he was later, not former.

 

My mechanic took my car around 1:30 PM yesterday to change the bushings on the front and rear swaybars. He got the car back at 6:30 PM. I said how did it go? He said it was a challenge. He charged me $400 including the parts, a lot better than the almost $1000 the dealer wanted. What a difference in the ride of the car, the suspension is now pretty quiet even over some rough road. I have a cream interior, needs some cleaning, but that's OK, it gives me something to do. So other than that repair and brakes last year, I haven't spent that much $$$ on a 8 year old car.

 

400 is still a lot considering new bushings are usually $10-20 for a set, you just have to match up the sway bare diameter specs with the spesc on the new bushings.

they arent that hard to change,,,it is 2 bolts on each bushing. plus the skidplate.

 

Actually the local suspension up here wanted about 700.00 to change them, Adam is a bit limited with mobility and there is no way he can climb under the car so factor that into the price and what we're charged up here and he got it for half price, not too bad. I'd imagine factory replacements too.

 

Yes with my physical disability the price was a bargain. Back in the days when I was not disabled I would have done the job myself. Yes the bushings were factory replacements. Thank you for your insight of my problem.

My son took my car last nite, he is a 2nd degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu, and teaches classes twice a week. His car is on the fritz so he asked to use mine. When he got home he said it drives completely different the suspension is now quiet and it seems to handle better, even thou I always thought the X is a great handling sedan.