I do most of my own work, but on occasion, I have the dealer do some work whether it's because it's just not feasibly in the home garage or I just don't have the time to monkey with things.....So, here goes an interesting story:

Take my 04 VDP to dealer with an weird 5-6-5 shift problem, starts to shift then reverts, only at higher RPMs and under load. Local dealer resets adaptions checks the intake elbow for tightness at the throttle body per ZF bulletins FOC because they just did a fluid change and tells me that if problem persists I'll likely need a new transmission, but everything seems fine.

A few days later, I take the car out of town and experience the problem again. I then drop it off at the dealer in that town with the copy of the service write up. They reset adaptions again and tell me that if the problem persists I'll need a new throttle body. Pick it up and the problem occurs again within just a few miles....and of course that's also within me handing over a nice chunk of change for their 'trouble' I go immediately back, the tech tries to read codes and says there are none...he's not sure what's going on but wants to replace the throttle body. I tell him that I need to get some lunch and think about my course of action. While at lunch, 8 trillion things go through my mind and I conclude that there simply must be an air leak somewhere past the MAF...so I remove the intake elbow in the cafe parking lot to inspect for cracks/pinholes etc....while loosening the MAF side clamp, I notice a warping in the elbow....and a very small pebble drops out when I pull the elbow off... I quickly wipe down the mating surfaces and reattach the elbow with the MAF side clamp just a little **** eyed to hold the warped section tight and go for a drive......perfect....and I seriously ran the car through the paces as well. Ordered a new elbow with my local shop, will be in Friday and I'll use a can of BG Throttle body cleaner and give her a new air filter as well just for good measure and peace of mind.

2 Jaguar certified gold technicians-0
Jackass me with a physics degree and a beer-1

When I told the second dealer I'd like my money back since they didn't actually properly diagnose and fix what turned out to be a very simple problem, I was told to pound sand. I managed to lay hands on the personal cell number of the owner of the dealership and he told me to pound sand as well.....CC told me they'd have the cash back in my account in 48 hrs based on my recorded statement.

 

Don't blame ya for being angry.

I ran across this with quite a few techs over the years. Too often they don't wanna do a little bit of digging or investigating.

Cheers
DD

 

Typical... "but there's no codes, we can't find any problem."

Sounds like the dealership that replaced my aux coolant pump when the thermostat housing was broken and the engine wouldn't warm up in the winter. "The computer says the heater core temperature is low..." well no $hit, the engine coolant temperature is low too!

 

Well, good mechanics are hard to come by. We should be thankful for the techs that hang on the forum and help us for free.

 

and yet Im far from perfect too. If we could all go right to and solve the problem the first time right away in our chosen professions. We would be millionaires. I can personally think of a few issues in my personal life concerning lawyers, and Doctors @ $300+ and hour. Oh but wait those are "PRACTICES" WHERE THEY PRACTICE...
Like Red Adair used to say. If you think hiring a professional is expensive for a job, wait till you hire a amature"
I get PM's all the time from people here that went to amatures and got repairs that cost way more than they should have if they even got fixed. Dealers don't hire perfect people that get it right EVERY TIME. But we try. Those people do not exist

 

HihisIII,

Congratulations and thanks for posting!

A little thought can make a sad day brim with Rainbows, many suffer the indignity of the unknowing, you challenged the situation and you overcame the issue!

I always suspect something may be easier to fix than following the advice I'm sometimes given, especially when you pay big bucks for it!

Well Done and keep the Faith, You,ve got it HihisIII

Regards, Stu

Ps, I liked and agreed with all the comments on this posting, thanks to you all

 

I think that whenever I read these kinds of posts it always starts with somebody going in cold to a dealer. Only when there is a problem. Usually a BIG problem. So the result of such a visit does not surprise me at all.

A dealer wants to be YOUR dealer, not A dealer. When I started buying Jaguars I found the best dealer in my area and I made it a point to get to know them. After nearly 10 years, they know me and my cars very well. They understand I am an enthusiast, not just an owner. The techs will talk me thru how to do things myself. I have even had them give me parts out of their personal stash for free.

I guess I am saying I believe the dealer experience is related to the effort you put into it. My 2 cents.

 

Definitely agree. There are good and bad in every profession and everyone makes mistakes. When I told the first tech what I'd found he literally did a face palm...couldn't believe it had been that simple. He's a damn good mechanic and his oversight was just one of those things. He was graceful about it and offered to reset all the pertinent adaptions FOC. I told him I'd take him up after the new elbow comes in and I throw it on. And having those like yourself on this board is an invaluable resource! thanks for everything you do for this board!

 

Any tips on the BG throttle body cleaner? My parts guy just gave me a can. Just follow the on can directions or are there any specific tricks I should know???

 

I totally agree with all the comments above.......

My experience, albeit with an Audi dealer for my now 6 year old A6 has been excellent.

I've given them probably around 90% plus of my business for service / parts / warranty and bodyshop as well as accessories.

I've made it my business to get to know the service writers, the service manager, parts manager and parts staff as well as the guys at the bodyshop......I'm on first name terms with them, know of their families, hobbies etc etc.

They know me, my family and that I'm a car enthusiast, not just another owner......they know how I treat my car and what I expect / demand from them.

Suffice to say we have a really good relationship.

I've had parts for free, many parts usually discounted, always get a great loaner car, short waiting times and mostly no quibble warranty where others do not.

This is NOT a reflection on others, simply how I deal with my dealership.

Its a symbiotic relationship.....we both get something out of it and it works well.

 

I'm very familiar with my local dealership, the one that tried to diagnose first. The parts guys all know me and usually get me set up with pricing near online pricing if they have the lattitude. The GM of the dealership is an awesome guy and the dude in charge of the loaners is great as well. I chat with him for a few minutes, he's happy I always bring them back clean and gas tank full so i get my choice of whatever he has when I need a loaner.

 

Well this has been interesting and I agree with all that's been said. I feel that most of us on this forum feel that being a Jaguar owner means that we all understand the car's long history also includes an inordinate amount of repairs. But we still persevere because the car is fun to work on especially when we ourselves can do the work.

Having this forum and Youtube gives us the knowledge and tools we need to sometimes have on hand before going to a workshop.

I avoid the dealer as much as I can and develop a relationship with the specialty shops in the city. I have two that I deal with and have often without hesitation, present any info I can before I let anyone start work on my car. Even gave a diagram showing the underbody points where the car should be lifted by the hoist.

I also like to have the ability to stand and observe the repair process in spite of those "Due to Insurance" signs some shops display. I mean that I do respect certain distances while they work on the car but the repairman knows that I'm there waiting for any comments he or I may make.

Always get some knowledge and research before you fork out one red cent for anything and now with the internet, how can you lose. Wish I had it back in the day of trying to repair my XKE's back in the 70's.

Chris

 

Thank you guys,

This thread and the others who contributed have given sound appreciation of and respect to what we all wish for and that has given me impetus for another post, thank you, I am always learning here and good luck to you all.

Stu