First off being a Corvette owner for the majority of my adult life has made me accustomed to incompetent service techs. But what happened this week just blew my mind. I took my XJL in for its annual service and had them look at at the sticking center console lid. Bad mistake in the process of replacing the latch they scratched by center console lid.They also replaced the wiper blades. We had heavy rains here this past week and the new blades streak and drag leaving black marks on my windshield and now the right arms will not go all the way down. I now have to move it manually after using the wipers.

Service Advisor is giving me the run around send pics and tell me he as to talk to.his service manager. Giving them until monday then will open a case with Jaguar NA.

Had the car for 3 weeks and already dealing with this is very disappointing.

 

That is a real bummer. As it appears, Jaguar services can be hit and miss. I used to get GREAT service from one of the local dealers until I purchased my new XJL from an other dealer. When I took it in for the first service, the writer looked it up on his PC and announced with discernable contempt;

"You did not purchase this car from us!!!"

The service that followed was terrible in quality and they even failed to wash my car on return, which is a standard procedure. I had a talk with the Manager who made all kinds of apologies but, I have not returned to the same dealer and have no plans to. Too bad the next one requires me to drive at least an hour further.

Hope you stand up to them and get your car squared away.

Albert

 

Being a fellow Corvette ('09 Coupe) owner, and a new owner of of an '11 XJL, I can appreciate your frustration, although so far the service I've received on both have been acceptable, if not outstanding. I usually document my concerns/desires in print before arriving, and do my best to communicate with the service personnel when I arrive as scheduled.

 

I bought one of my Jags from the Jaguar of Tampa and the other from the dealer in
St. Pete. Try the one in St. Pete. Never had a problem there.

 

Any service department that does not welcome service and warranty work for cars sold out of another dealership does not truly understand the service department business model. A dollar of service revenue is a dollar of service revenue and it should not matter where it came from. Parts and service revenue are completely independent of vehicle sales revenue. They are also a bigger and more lasting contributor to the bottom line.

 

Absolutely true.

I've always been stunned by the "you didn't buy it here" remarks. This goes back decades and decades when cars sales were everything and service and parts operations were considered a step-child. There was (often very overt) resentment towards customers who bought elsewhere and that mentality, amazingly, lives on even today.

Nowadays a savvy dealer knows repeat business is everything. In terms of advertsing it costs seven times more to get a new customer into a dealership than it does to *keep* an existing customer.

And, when it comes to repeat buyers, "Sales department sells the first car. Service department sells the rest".

Well, that's how it's *supposed* to be, at least.

Why-o-why dealerships keep making the same mistakes decade after decade is beyond me. I was in that game 30 years. Now that I'm out I will never go back.

Cheers
DD

 

And sometimes the service department can sell the first car ... at that dealer.

The remark by the service advisor could very well have not reflected the intent of the dealership as a whole. The problem is that this would indicate that he was not very well trained. And training is the responsibility of the business.

One of the local BMW dealers cold calls *anyone*. If you try to buy a $1 part the parts guy ... whoops, "parts consultant", dressed in suit and tie and seated at a desk no less, insists on name, address, phone number for a CASH sale. Last time, he got a fake name and he knew it. Next time, we'll be having words.

 

This is why the service manager's office should always be located within listening distance from the service reception area



And training often includes un-learning was has been taught at a previous dealership.

Service advisors have a huge impact on overall satisfaction with the dealership and the product. Shockingly, though, they often get the least amount of training, guidance, and support.

I could write a book.....

Cheers
DD

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but I hate the fact that people accept the "oddities" excuse. A vehicle needs to deal with street and highway stress and also should be fairly reliable when you need it to be. The workmanship should be there through all phases of vehicle construction. It seems that Jaguar needs to do some *** kicking in their assembly plants. I love these cars, but they are not up to snuff when it comes to reliability. Obviously, Jaguar does not have the same philosophy as other major car companies in regards to keeping their customer base. I am new to the brand, and so far I would be hard pressed to confidently purchase another. The much maligned X-Type has been the most reliable vehicle I have had in years, but the newer XF is hard to keep on the road for longer than a few months at a time. We recently added a '05 VDP to chauffeur our son around in and it has been down more than it has been running. Granted, it is already almost nine years old, but some of the issues we have had on it should not be happening on a car with less than 60k on the odometer The dealerships charge ludicrous labor fees. Extended warranties are a must with these cars (as they are with all luxury cars) since the repair bill can easily outweigh the value of the car. OK just had to get that off my chest since i had to ride the rail and bus system today instead of taking my Jag