So I have my car in a good transmission shop and I need your guys' advice.

Here were the options for me.

He can get a rebuilt 5HP24 for $3800 from Jasper transmissions, and the shop owner said he's been using this place for over 25 years. Comes with 100,000miles 3-year warranty. With labor, additional parts and fluid, total is $4822. Yikes.

Other option, which will cut the cost in half. He can send my transmission out to a ZF specialist to have the broken drums replaced, and the valve bodies updated. Total cost for that, 18-month warranty, $2285.

I am leaning towards getting a remanufactured one because of the potential for the blown parts damaging other components in my transmission.

I plan to keep this car as long as I can.

But the problem with the reman option that the shop is offering is, is that it's more than half the amount I paid for the car.

So I asked how much Jasper is charging for the transmission. They're charging $3800 and the shop said with additional parts, fluid and labor he'll charge $1100 to put a new transmission in.

That said, it's just up to me to source a cheaper transmission and I need advice on that.

On eBay, there seem to be a ton of remanufactured 5HP24s for around $1500. Are they any good? I tried to look up the companies offering them and there isn't much in the way in terms of reviews about them, and if there were any, they were fairly good.

Can I trust these sources? They offer 18 month unlimited mile warranties etc.

here are the links.

What do you guys think of these places?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ZF5HP...item335924f2eb

I asked these guys if the remanufactured units have the updated A and B drums, and he responded with a yes and that even the valve bodies are updated with the ZF kits.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jagua...item414a29f376

What say you guys? Need some advice quick cuz the job needs to be done within the next couple days. I need a car to get to school!

 

Mate, sorry to hear this especially as it's only weeks into the club. Me, I'd go with ZF Specialist refurb, the recon box will have been there, and the handling charge seems to be added on to lighten your wallet.

I've seen my local trans guy run (ZF factory trained) an M5 BMW gearbox on his testbed after a similar service, impressive.

 

As I mentioned in the thread, I plan on getting a re manufactured, it's just finding the best price/Place

I just want to know if the sources I listed seem like they are good or if anyone has used them.

The "One Stop Transmission" place in AZ has an A- BBB rating, 100% ebay Feedback, and has a couple other positive reviews on another site.

At $1500 for a rebuilt replacement, and the guy responded to my question as to whether the tranny was rebuilt with the updated A-Drum, and he additionally stated that the transmission was also given the ZF Valve body update.

Here's the exact email:

Me:
Dear 1stoptransmission,

Hi there.

Have the remanufactured transmissions been rebuilt with the updated A-Drum and B-drum that's commonly associated with these units?


Thanks,
Chris

Response:
Dear chinny4290,

They are. We also use the ZF valve body update kits.

- 1stoptransmission

They also have a picture of their shop and low and behold, an XJ8 is on one of their lifts.

 

Damn! The trans is already gone?! I have gone through this situation. Be VERY careful of online transmissions. I purchased one and it was absolute hell. It was from a place in AZ called phoenix transmissions on ebay which has since gone out of business. The 'rebuilt' transmission failed in about 6 months from a failed A drum! It was rebuilt with used parts! Forget about the 'warranty', as the company became impossible to contact before it went out of business and I think they are still around under a different name on ebay. I had to have my A drum replaced by my mechanic for $2k. Make sure you dont drive the car as little as possible, as you might be able to get away with a drum replacement if the drum has not broken apart. Check to see if AZ has some special law regarding transmissions, as I find it strange that many transmission 'rebuilders' are located in AZ.

As for my ebay trans, I had to go through my credit card company, and AMEX had a tough time sorting it all out b/c the payment for the trans was through paypal instead of directly with the company.

I hate to be negative, but be very careful. I would hate to have another person go through what I had to go through. My car was off the road for 2 months. It should have only been off the road for only about a week.

Is it possible to go back to the seller you bought the car from for an explanation and possible payment for the trans?

 

The reputation of the places you listed on ebay look pretty good however. Maybe ask the companies detailed questions on something like the part #s they used for the rebuild to see of they have answers and if they seem to be very knowledgeable of these transmissions.

 

I spoke to a guy that works at One Stop Transmission and he sounded confident about his information.

I asked him if he has a ZF 5HP24 and he says he's done plenty of work on them, including BMWs, Audis and Jaguars and I told him I had a Jag.

I also asked if they fully rebuild the transmissions and whether they updated "A drum OR B Drum OR whatever is associated with these units" (I was playing stupid and testing his knowledge) and he confidently said "It's the A Drums that fail on these units and when we rebuild, we rebuild with teh updated ZF valve body unit which also keeps the A drums from failing."

I also asked if he thought it made sense to also replace the torque converter. His response was: "It depends on how the transmission failed. You have to worry about pieces getting into the torque converter which has a clutch plate in it, so it's a draw."

Altogether, he sounded very knowledgeable and when I asked if Jaguar customers frequent them and responded very confidently, "Hmmph, ohhh yesss. People think these transmissions are expensive when they're really not, and they're simple."

But I'm still a little reluctant because of the lack of reviews. BBB says they've been around since 2008 and have an A- score with a total of two complaints. All of the other reviews were mostly positive, with 1 negative. His eBay score is good with great feedback...but I don't try to rely mostly on those.

I spoke to Sports & Collector Car Center in Tempe, AZ hoping this place heard of them, it's a Jaguar independent specialist and he said he buys from his preferred ZF Specialist in Connecticut, and he said they were priced at $3600 which is no different than what Jasper was charging.

His advice was that it's a draw. He asked me what their BBB rating was and I told him his BBB and eBay feedback was really good. And he suggested that I clearly lay out everything and consider the long term costs, for example if I buy from that place in AZ, how their warranties work because they ask to send the old transmission back, and I'd be responsible for shipping and labor and I'd be out of a car for a couple weeks where as the ZF Specialist in Connnecticut would send SCCC in Tempe a replacement instantly and will accept the old one whenever the new one is transplanted. In which case if I failed, they would send one out wherever my car failed, I'd be responsible for part labor and shipping I believe. They also have a better warranty, 3 years, 100,000 miles and will deduct labor using the ALL DATA/MOTORS time guide versus the shop's rate if I read correctly. But again, that's $3600 versus $1500.

So I'm lost as to which option to choose from.

Then the 3rd option would be to buy from a Euro transmission place in North NJ that my old Mercedes specialist recommended. I called and he had them in stock, ready to be delivered and he supplies to the local Jaguar dealer too. Also rebuilt, updated with the new A-Drum and new valve bodies. His price is still a hefty $2600, and his warranty is only 1 year and unlimited mileage and All work is warrantied. But that's the most local option so far. And he's done work before with the guy that has my car right now.

 

Hmmm One Stop does sound pretty decent from your description. Whichever transmission you pursue, make sure your credit card company can help fight on your behalf if something goes wrong. There can be some fine print on some credit card protection policies since the transmission is 'rebuilt' and not brand new. Def make sure the company won't bill you in a way that will make things difficult for the credit card company should an issue arise.

A long warranty is a good bet. My trans was repaired 2 yrs ago. The good thing is these transmissions appear to be reliable except for the A drum (from what I can tell). The updated part is reinforced compared to the original. My mechanic (back in '08) said that the updated part was on national back order and some shops are using used parts or repairing used parts. (He might be making this up however, the guy is pretty arrogant).

The $1500 gamble might be a better bet, b/c if it fails, you may still come out ahead of expensive Jasper unit in terms of cost.

Also, check to see if your car insurance will cover the additional value of your car b/c of the new transmission.

On the bright side, if you bought a BMW 540i, 740i, Audi A8 and a few other cars instead of the Jag, you would probably be in the same failed transmission situation.

 

I used 1 stop in AZ to rebuild the trans on my Cadillac. One of my friends had used them a little over a year ago to do the trans on his Tahoe, he was happy and recommend them. They did a fine job, no complaints.

 

When buying on EBAY always always always go through ebay and use paypal.

Make sure that when you pay using paypal it says you are eligble for buyer protection. Read all of paypal's terms carefully to make sure you are not going to get caught in any of their traps. Play by their rules and you will be fine.

Also use one of your credit cards like amex, visa or mastercard (not your checking account) as the source of funds for paypal. If you get into a dispute and paypal sides with the seller you can then start a new dispute at the credit card company. The money is then yanked from paypal who then yanks it from the seller and gets his attention real fast. Plus the credit card companies seem to have a better system for dealing with disputes.

Another benefit is credit cards have buyer protection features on them. For example Visa has Warranty Manager which doubles the typical warranty associated with a product.

FWIW I've bought a few big ticket items using paypal and they backed me 100% on a boat motor deal that ended up being junk. However paypal let me down on a Propeller I purchased that ended up being junk too. Luckily I had used a credit card as the fund source. At the end of the day I got my money back even though the CC had to force the issue.

Good luck,

Ken Wolkens

 

Dude, you sound like my wife shopping at the mall. She goes to buy a handbag. She sees a nice one at the first place we go to. Then for the next six hours she looks at every handbag in the mall at every store. She debates the merits and faults of all the handbags. Finally, I am ready to shoot myself and thinking "I'll NEVER do this again" and
she then returns to the first place and buys the first one she saw. No disrespect intended, just trying to keep it real.

 

We had the same problem and looked at all our options when our 2001 Xj8 transmission failed. Our car only had 20600 miles when we bought in 2003. Transmission failed a little over 2 month ago. We have always had taken to Jaguar dealer service. We decided to have our existing transmission rebuilt because we have taken very good care of this car and it has not been driven agressively.

See my earlier post on our repair. It is on this forum. Here is the webpage link:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...87#post251587/

Hope this helps.
Jim Lombardi

 

I saw that and I'm considering Eriksson Industries too. Mind I ask how you were able to get it at wholesale price?

 

Hi
That was the price they quoted me when I called them. I never told them that I was a business or a Jaguar owner. They never asked me. Four days later I asked my son (who is a sales manager for major truck dealership) what he thought we should do. My son said (based on his past experiences) that a lot of transmission repair places have been known to misrepresent the actual repair. They come up with a lot higher price after they remove and inspect. They try to charge you for a lot of hard parts in the transmission that were not needed (or charge and do not change the parts). My son also called around his network of other general repair shops and found that most of the reponses had only Erickson as the recommended facilty.
Then he called Erickson for the wholesale price. Then we found out that I was quoted the wholesale when I had called.
Seems like Erickson is giving everyone the wholesale price. Maybe because of the bad economy.

Try calling Erickson for the price and let us know here on the forum.
Jim Lombardi

 

I just called and was quoted $3450. Man, how did you get that lucky?

 

Hi guys.

Just thought I'd update you all on the transmission issue.


I bit the bullet and took the Jasper transmission and despite being the priciest of the options, I explain my reasoning.

Some background information: Jasper is a countrywide renowned rebuilder for engines and transmissions of all sorts, are ZF certified and are even contracted with the US government.

Total amount was $5,288 or something with tax.

Breakdown as is:

Fully rebuilt ZF 5HP24 with fluid, gaskets, all inclusive with a fully rebuilt torque converter - $3650
The shop I took it to charged $1100 to put it in.

The rest was sales tax.

Now I know the cost of the transmission was nearly the cost of the car but with me just recently buying it, selling it and getting another car or another X308 would have me probably end up with the same transmission issue either way so I would've been at a larger loss.

I plan on keeping this car for as long as I can until I graduate college in about 2-3 years. So the reasons why I went with Jasper was the comprehensive warranty and thats what you're paying for.

It is 3 years/100,000 miles and you can take it to any shop, including Jag dealers for any warranty issues and Jasper will cover all parts, gasket and fluids and labor according to the national labor book rating or something.

If it cannot be repaired in-house, Jasper will ship out a new unit no questions asked as long as what needs to be fixed is covered under warranty, minimizing any down time for the car.

I did some heavy research and none of the warranties matched the one Jasper offered.

They were all 12 or 18 month warranties, unlimited mileage and extended warranties cost additional. On top of that, if there was a failure that couldn't be fixed in-house, the unit would have to be sent back to the manufacturer thus probably keeping me out of the car for a couple weeks which I cant do with school.

As for review, it's been about two weeks and 1,500 miles and not a problem.

If anyone is looking for a transmission rebuild and is willing to spend up front, so far I'd rcommend Jasper

Thanks for all the input by everyone and I hope my experience can help others suffering with the ZF 5HP24 issue.

 

Here is my private message to chinny4290 earlier this month. I have been trying to convince Erickson Industries (transmission rebuilder facility) to give our forum members the wholesale price when they need their transmissions rebuilt. I also mention below that in chinny's case (he lives in New Jersey) he might save some money by putting the transmission in the back of a pickup truck and delivering it himself (to Connecticut).

I called Erickson Industries early this morning. I had a conversation with Nat (the owner). I asked them if he could give Jaguar Forum members the wholesale price.

After a lot of discussion, Nat said that he would give a lower price than the retail price if the person wants to have their transmission rebuilt.

This means you would send in your transmission. They will rebuild it and send it back to you. Nat commented by doing it this way, he would not have the problems of his regular customers (repair facilites) calling him and complaining that he is undercutting their business.

I mentioned doing the rebuild for the wholesale sales ($2295). I think he finally agreed (at least I think he did). Please called them again (ask for Nat) and mention that I contacted you today (use my name - Jim Lombardi).

Also ask Nat about shipping costs if you plan to ship the transmission to them. It might be cheaper to bring it yourself to his shop in Connecticut???

If this works out, maybe the rest of the members on the forum can benefit by using Erickson.

 

It sounds like you made the right decision from what I'm reading. Very sound decision making. I have the same problem I think. I will use this thread to help with my problem.

 

To repair my 03 XJR with the Mercedes Benz S600/AMG transmission it will cost me $5940. The torque converter is included with the repair.

 

I continue to be puzzled as to the reasons for the very high costs for rebuilding these transmissions. Something like 2X what a similar job for a US transmission would be. Are there twice as many parts? Are the transmissions twice as hard to get out of and back into the cars? Is the shop rate twice as much as at US transmission places?

I am cynical enough to believe that perhaps it is just soaking the (presumed to be) well-heeled owners.....

But I would like to hear from anyone who as actually worked on these, who could explain the high costs. chinny4290 above was charged $1100 "to put it in." If the shop rate is $100/hr (perhaps a typical rate) that would mean 5.5 hours to get the old tranny out and 5.5 to put the new one back in. Does it really take that long?

 

I was also amazed by the cost to replaced but I ran into a owner of a 2000 XJ8. And he stated that he paid $5000 for a transmission so go figured. Lucky for me the car is paid for!