2002 A/T 2.5 115k miles

(Please refer to the attached picture for my concern)

After putting off car repair for several months, I decided to take my X-type in to have it professionally diagnosed. I was advised that the transfer case needed to be replaced, and I was given an option between a factory rebuilt or a good used one. I chose the used one since it's at least $700 cheaper. I picked up the car yesterday, and it appears to be running better. Question: Based on the picture taken, does it appear that the work (t/c replacement) was actually performed? Also, is there suppose to be a joint between the driveshaft and the t/c itself?

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

 

I don't see how we're supposed to be able to tell if it has been replaced without a "before" pic as well.

The TC in your picture certainly looks cleaner than I would expect if it were your original, although it could just be how clean you keep the undercarriage in general...

The union between TC and driveshaft in the pic look completely normal to me.

 

Maybe someone has more experience at this then I do (ya think?) but when my transfer case had to be replaced (under third party warranty) the dealer told me that there was no such thing as a factory rebuilt TC. He said the third party would only pay for a used one and he did not recommend it, since we had no way of knowing how old it was or what kind of shape it was in (what is a "good used one?). He said most of the time all they did was clean off the housing and maybe repaint it but you had no way of knowing what shape it was inside or how many miles it had on it. In fact he said they would not provide any warranty on the installation at all. I finally got him to lower the price of a brand new fully warranted OEM TC to the point that I paid only $600 out of my pocket and the third party warranty service picked up the rest of the charges (what they were going to pay for the used one). I seem to remember someone on here told me that there were outfits that offered rebuilt TC's but they were not rebuilt by Jaguar. That being said, I would take a rebuilt over a used one any day.

 

Fortunately, the owner included a 90-day/3k miles warranty parts and labor. It would've been 1-yr/12k miles had I decided to go with the dealer part. There has been a big improvement, although a faint, high-pitch noise is noticeable between 20-30 mph. I just hope it's normal to have that little bit of noise on a 10-yr old car with over 100k miles. If not, I guess I got what I paid for. Thanks again for the insight.