I'm at 90K now.... Do not have maintenance history on my XJ Supersport. Is there a way of telling if the piping has been changed by looking at them? And where would I look? Thanks

 

Watch these video series

 

If they replaced like for like with OEM parts, you are not going to be able to tell if they have been replaced. If there are any metal pipes, then you would know those aren't original.

 

Unless they do the odd ball thing that I do and write the date & mileage that they're installed with a Sharpie pen or paint stick on the part whenever I install new parts - but nobody does that. It's just a habit that I got into years ago.
...just a thought.
I know that some would consider the practice stupid & useless and that's okay - it may be a useless habit, but one that I don't see a downside to. I can look at the top of my radiator and how many years & miles ago I installed it for example.
But generally (as much of a PITA as it is) looking at the seams of the heater manifold (cross-over) pipe or any other cooling part for signs of coolant seepage is the best way to avoid the catastrophic failure, and replace the part when seepage is seen or coolant is smelled.

The heater manifold and other cooling parts on my wife's XJ lasted a good 10 years & 140k miles with the original parts before I preventatively replaced the parts, and when I did I saw a small amount of seepage at the manifolds seams.
But the car was 2 or 3 years old when we got it - and I made a habit of getting the coolant flushed & filled every 2 or three years, before it ages and gradually gets acidic. I do use the dealership for basic services like that and to keep a "relationship" with the dealership for what it's worth.

 

Awesome, thank you!

 

I am a huge fan of early fluid changes. I just personally changed the coolant, brake fluid, transmission, engine oil, and differential fluids on my 27K-mile 2019 XJL. The engine oil was a year old, but only had 2K miles on it.

The problem with having these fluids "professionally" changed at the dealer or independent shop is the flat-rate pay nonsense. If you don't know, they get paid a certain amount on a job regardless of how long it takes them. If they take too long to do jobs, they not only don't get paid well—they get fired. Asking them to change a 10-year-life coolant every 2–3 years is begging them to play the game of "let's not, and say we did." I have watched so many YouTube video confessions of dealer mechanics saying how they cut corners and many times never do these fluid changes even though you get charged. If they do change the fluid, there's a very good chance they don't do a complete job. For our Jaguars, to do a complete coolant change, they need to drop the belly pan and then remove the plug from the engine block to drain it. There's a lot of coolant that comes out of there after the radiator is drained. They also need to remove the hose from the separate supercharger radiator to get that significant amount of fluid out. Both of those are messy and a lot more work to get to. Draining just the radiator is easy, but a very incomplete drain. When you pull the engine block drain, there's no two ways about it—you’re getting a coolant shower!

At the least, with the coolant you can see the coolant in the reservoir to know if some of it was changed, but imagine how the mechanics know that almost no customer would ever catch them not changing the transmission or differential fluids. There are zero checks and balances.

One time I paid for a brake fluid change as part of a full set of maintenance items at a very well-respected independent mechanic for a used car I had just bought. Some of their work was clearly shoddy, so I decided to go through everything they did myself and redo it. When I bled the brakes, the fluid came out black as night despite being charged $300 for the fluid change. And when I took my Jag in for its annual included service last time, they claimed to change the spark plugs (which they charged Jaguar for) and apparently did the job in less than an hour despite the book time being 4+ hours. There's no chance they did that horrible job so quickly on a V8, but they billed Jag for it. And they claimed to change the batteries in both my key fobs, but they didn't have my second fob.

So, there is 100% possibility of an actual 10% possibility that you were getting those fluid changes you paid for, but I certainly wouldn't bet on it unless I was there to watch them personally doing it. It sucks that this is how it is. The mechanics hate flat rate because it forces them to cut corners, but it is what it is, and that's why I do my own fluid changes.

 

My favorite example of a dealership cutting corners occurred while I was at the parts counter. I noticed a case of some extraneous brand of motor oil sitting on the counter and asked what it was intended for. The parts guy casually said it was what they use when they run out of their bulk Castrol EDGE Professional 0W-20 spec oil. It not only was a totally unfamiliar brand, but it had no reference to the JLR spec. Yup, you have to check what's going on.

 

Yeah, that's terrible. But at least every now and then, they used the correct oil when it was in stock. We also have a 2020 Mercedes that requires a new spec of oil that if you don't use will damage the catalytic converters over time. When I went to buy the oil for the car at the local dealer, they gave me the old spec. I told them that I need the new spec and the parts counter guy said they didn't have that spec at the dealership and the one he gave me is what they use in all the cars. So, in that case, the dealer is never putting the right spec in the newer models. Ugh. I found the right spec online.

 

Well of course you wouldn't - and with all due respect (considering we're strangers) I would never ask you to.
In cases of the generic population you're counter argument may be very reasonable.
On the case-by-case basis, we each have ourselves to answer to for the care of our property.
As such I don't have any of the JLR dealerships I use do any work that I can't see them doing, speak with the mechanic & watch them while they're doing the work, check before (showing the service advisor & sometimes the mechanic) and after (before leaving, to make sure all fasteners, caps & covers, blah blah blah are on) at the dealership.
While I'm waiting, I'm gabbing with the parts counter about the supplies that the mechanic gets for my work, talk about the oil, the coolant, filters & other parts they replace.
And another advantage of the dealerships I use is that they have decent visual access to the repair bays where the work is done, one has more like a fishbowl sort of visibility. I do spend a good bit of the time watching the work being done.
And the relationships I spoke of earlier do have purpose and value. I am surprised that the service advisors remember me by name, but then I do stop in once in a while just to ask a question, which turns into casual conversations when they're not busy, but we do discuss aspects of the vehicles.
On one hand I do prefer to do my own maintenance & repair, but I do have reasons that I have the dealerships do some things sometimes
The only bad experience I've had in the last couple years was a body shop that repaired a dented fender. Checking out before leaving I found a whole slew of errors, missing & wrong fasteners, over-torqued bolts, unsecured panels... and we made sure they corrected them all before leaving, which definitely changed their eagerness to get me to leave a review for them.

But your warning is always good advice for anyone that has service and repair performed by dealerships & independent mechanics alike, more-so in my opinion with indies that are more likely to cut corners & slight customers that any corporate dealership that stands much more to answer for and where the advisors & techs are employees that gain nothing from defrauding Customers.
The only independent Land Rover mechanic I've found worth trusting went back to the U.K. years ago.

And I think we may be drifting off-topic here; sorry about that!

 

That's good that you can watch the mechanics doing the work. It's the only good way to know they are doing the job right. Most shops don't let you watch and won't let you in the shop.

Don't think dealers are better than independents. These videos of mechanic confessions are all working at dealerships, not independents. It's the big impersonal dealerships that are the big problem, not the mom and pop shops that treat their employees better.