To change the coolant hose under the S/C, $875 - Not too bad...


Trans flush/maintenance, $1000 - OMG. He says these are performed at 150K intervals.


What do you guys think?

 

$1,000 to change the tranny fluid? good grief.
The kit, even going with the good stuff is only $250 IIRC. That's fluid, pan/filter and new bolts.
I'd seriously find an indy shop that knows jags.

 

Vinny,

The dealership should certainly do the jobs right and give you the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, they will stand behind their work.

But with a little research, preparation and shopping around, you can probably do both jobs yourself and invest part of what you would save in labor costs in a few new tools for your shop!

Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

Cheers,

Don

 

For real man. Sorry, I know from experience what a pain it can be to do some of the maintenance on these cars. But honestly, it's a pain on ANY car...lol...if anyone told me they charge $1,000 for trans. fluid change and another $875 for changing a hose I would slap myself in the face to make sure I wasn't having a nightmare.

 

For sure. It is pretty much all labor (high priced labor). I have done the tranny fluid replacement myself and it is straightforward, really. Lots of threads with pics on how to do it. But, the dealer will hook up the computer, clear the TCM adaptations and perform the TCM adaptation drive cycle which may or may not help depending what kinds of symptoms you currently have with the tranny (shifting patterns). Is that worth $750 (excluding the tranny sump, oil and pan bolts from the 1K$)? For me, personally, no.

I have not replaced the cooland hose mentioned here. I cannot imagine (personally) paying someone to replace one hose for that kind of money. Granted it may be tedious but I would suspect it would be well within a do-it-yourselfer's realm.

 

Plus, you can do the job yourself, then take it the dealership for them to recalibrate the TCM if needed. That would only set you back the diagnostic fee of $170. Way Better than $1000 for them to drain, fill and recalibrate. How long does the job take anyways? Must be at least five hours to get anywhere near the 1k figure they are quoting.

 

The coolant hose job was quoted at 7 hours, he didn't answer my email on the tranny flush..LOL

 

The US dealer price of $875 = £536

The average UK Jaguar main agent will be charging around £100 per hour. So 7 hours means a £700 bill, plus our sales tax (VAT) at 20%. So the final bill for a UK resident on that basis would be £840. However, I believe US tax is different, so the £700 labour charge = $1141 plus whatever tax the State levies on car maintenance.

So it looks like your US dealer is charging a reasonable price !!

 

Fraser,

Your calculations and conclusion depend on the assumption that U.K. dealer prices are, for some mysterious reason, "reasonable" by default. :-)

I admit that, like others, I've often felt that dealer service and parts prices were extortionary, but I do understand that dealerships must constantly invest in new tools, computer test systems and software updates, training for their service technicians, cash tied up in parts inventories, and other costs of doing business, so I try not to judge them too harshly as long as they provide superb service. And as far as service and parts prices go, Jaguar is certainly no worse than any other luxury brand.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Don

Indeed the labour rates of all luxury marques dealers are generally considered extortionate here in the UK, but £50-60 an hour is normal everywhere with maintenance shops. The main agent in Wilsmlow near Manchester has a scheme for cars over 3 years old whereby one gets 25% off the labour charge, and 10% off parts. No courtesy car though. This isn't a bad deal, but of course even 10% of Jaguar spares prices can still be a lot. My local indie will fit used parts and also aftermarket new parts like brake discs and pads, and some of the other stuff that is around, so it works out cheaper.

However, even with this, running a Jaguar here in the UK is not cheap, what with petrol at £1.30 a litre, diesel even more at £1.36

 

Still, it sounds as though the agent is reaching out to owners of older cars. That's good.

Which reminds me of another significant cost dealer service departments bear, and that is Liability Insurance.... Independents are vulnerable too, but probably do not carry the same limits as the dealership since they, presumably, have less to lose short of bankruptcy.

And now for a more pleasant thought: Aren't we all grateful for the online communities such as this one where information, knowledge and experience can be shared freely? As someone recently posted on one of the Jaguar Forums, "To share knowledge is to save money."

Cheers,

Don

 

Yes, absolutely. I love this forum !!

 

Indeed!

Dealership overhead costs are very high, and for many reasons.

Until about 6 years ago I spent 30 years working in dealership service and parts departments, 23 of them in management positions.

The last dealer I worked for had a medium sized service department---about 35 service employees, 700 or so cars in-n-out per month. On average it cost $6500/day to simply 'open the shop door' each morning....and that didn't include pay for 18-20 techs.

It is't an easy life. I'm glad I'm no longer living it.

Cheers
DD

 

Me too. I had a great drive today in the cat. She will surely open up after 3000rpms...I don't miss my Vette at all!!!