Hey folks,

I brought in my car last week for a NYS inspection and to fix a persistent P106 code. The dealer gave me a $1300 quote and advised me the repair would be completed within the week after parts arrived.

By the middle of the week, they called and said the replacement part was faulty and an additional part had to be ordered and installed. No additional money. I was informed the new part would be installed by Thursday.

I received no communication until this morning. They called and said that during testing, the car developed a coolant leak and that I would be responsible for paying the additional parts.

I don't want to have to pay for this additional repair and I am relatively certain there wasn't an existing issue with the coolant. The same dealer replaced the coolant reservoir a few months ago under warranty and stated in writing there wasn't a leak.

Do I have any legal precedent that I can argue to not pay these additional repair costs?

2011 XJ, 75K miles 2 months off CPO warranty.

TLDR:: Car broke while in dealer care. Who is responsible?

 

If the part was broken by the mechanic hand tool slipping and breaking a plastic pipe and that caused it, then, morally, yes. In my opinion. If a pipe happened to break in another area entirely then I would say no. I'm not sure legally what you can do. I have always just paid for things like that to get my car back. If I suspect something wrong, I never go back. Some places, they can put what they call, a mechanics lien, on your car, and you have to go to court to "prove" they've done wrong. That kind of proof is not easy to come by. Usually my car is more valuable to me than that. Alternatively you can tell them to stop right there and pay them what they say you owe and take it to another shop. Let the new shop fix whatever they broke.

Some shops will rip you off especially if they think you have money. I ran into a scam years ago. My first brand new car I ever bought. Traveling from California to back east I stopped in to a gas station. When I came out the attendant told me my shocks were leaking. I looked under and saw a puddle under them. I told him thanks and I'll get it looked at where I'm going. The car had 700 miles on it I'm pretty sure he sprayed a little oil on them to try to fool me. Later on I heard a news story about that very thing. Those schocks lasted many years after that incident.

I'm not saying yours isn't broken but just illustrating the point that people will try to rip you off. Another favorite story of mine is when they take your car for a test ride and start showing off to their buddies and wreck it. Sometimes the kids working in the shop will do that just moving it in and out of the garage.

 

I'd be interested in what part they had to replace twice and did it's installation require moving or taking off of any of the cooling system components. Who knows they may have broken more than one thing.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. The tech that did the work isn't in today so I'm expecting a response on this tomorrow. They don't even know yet which parts are leaking.

I plan on asking what parts were replaced and specifically which parts are leaking.

The problem with this dealer (or all of them) is how vague they are when servicing the car. I going to have them show me tomorrow, and if possible, getting the broken parts.

 

Well, the reason their tightlipped is because some people will come in for an oil change and then try to blame them when the transmission starts slipping the next day. Both parties are capable of trying to cheat the other. My cousin worked at Wal Mart for a while when they had the moneyback guarantee no questions asked. She told me of a guy that came in and bought a new pair of shoes. Wal Mart had been carrying that style for about 6 years at the time. A couple days later he brought in a pair exactly the same but the sole was wore through. Obviously a very old pair. She still gave him his money back.

 

So after a little study on your error code, it seems your issue is with not being able to pass the state emissions inspection, am I correct? If so then this is an emissions issue and should be covered , IMHO, under the 8 year 80,000 mile federal emissions warranty

 

2011 XJ....is it on the original water pump? If yes, chances are it HAS got a coolant leak. What sid they say needs replacement?

 

It doesn't sound like that uncommon of an occurrence, You took it in for an emissions problem, they fixed it and when testing they see a coolant leak and told you about it. Would you rather they didn't tell you about it and you cracked the block in a couple days? A new motor is a lot more expensive than a water pump or plastic pipe.

That's the kind of person a shop hates to see, one that blames them for brakes squealing when all they did is put a plug in a tire.

Have them show you what part they did and what is leaking. If they're close, then maybe you have a point maybe not.

I always tell the guy behind the counter to look around and let me know what else he see's. I'd rather get it fixed or at least know about it.

 

At 75,000 miles I can pretty much guarantee it's on it's second pump. Mine lasted 41,000 miles the longest I've seen on over 100 cafax's I looked at. He should be able to get Jaguar to cover the emissions which I think he said was $1,300.

 

Yes please post back about the water pump. It's a known problem and some people have had it replaced several times. Even better if you can post what part number it was replaced with so we can see if it's the latest version.

You may just need a new one and be sure and replace the plastic coolant tubes when it's done (front and rear). You are in there anyway.
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