Gents
This one has my head a scratchin...

As you may or may not recall when I got the car it was far from sorted out. When the car was opened up I noticed the tensioners were plastic (dont lecture me for not changing them, I have an after market warranty that covers it). Anyway, I know that isnt good.

Via the title, I was able to track down the owner in Houston who has been insanely nice and accommodating when it comes to information on the car. Today I received in the mail all the service records back to 08/10/00. In 13 years one month of ownership he spent $18,267 in work not including tires. The good news is the tranny has been rebuilt, fuel pump/screen replaced (BOSCH brand it appears), new muffler, motor mounts, idler pulley, AND the tensioners and chains were replaced. BUT they replaced the tensioners with plastic ones. SO what did I miss here? Does this make sense? Why would they do that and not replace with the metal ones? They were replaced in Sept 08, 27k miles ago so when should I be concerned they will fail again?

 

There were 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen tensioners, so I am guessing they used 2nd gen.

 

I have a hard time getting my head round the warranty comment.

Should you be concerned? Definitely, make a plan to change them.

 

simple, I hear the rattle, I take it in, ASC covers it.

 

What's the rate for the Drive Train Plus package I just contacted them for a quote.

 

Actually, the second-generation tensioners were an exceptionally good design. Except for the fact that they were plastic. They should last 60,000 miles. How long do you plan to keep the car?

 

Exactly where do you get your DATA that the tensioners are good for 60 k miles? I have data that indicates it might just be a time function rahter than a mileage function! Numerous postes have reported failed tensioners at 70 to 100 thousand miles and many of us have had 150,ooo miles or more on original tensioners! So, it seems quite arbitrary and counterproductive to state a mileage constraint. nd, by the way, I AM NOT in any way recommending waiting 175,000 miles, or even 60,000 miles to replace plastic tensioners! If you have them, replace them.

 

Alternatively, tensioners let go with no warning, engine is destroyed at best the car is out of service for weeks or possibly the warranty company wipes their hands off it.

 

Planning on having my tensioners inspected tomm. when I have my heater pump diagnosed depending on the time & cost @ a local import shop. I have a associate whose good with Jags just his workload is so heavy it could be months before he could do it lol.

Anyone know the average time frame & cost of tensioner inspection so I'll know if the pillage is taking place lol.

 

My '02 XK8 had 40k miles on it when I bought it in '09. Upon inspection it had the 2nd gen plastic tensioners and both were cracked on the front side that you cannot see without removal so inspection serves no purpose. Removing the valve covers is fully half the effort of replacing the tensioners. The 7 years and 40k miles also speaks to the life of the plastic. A previous '00 XK8 had the tensioners replaced at 43k miles and 81k miles under factory warranty.

The addition of the external spring on this version was to reduce the annoying 'rattle' that customers were complaining about. You are not going to get any warning before failure.

The plastic 2nd generation tensioners can still be found for sale on eBay.

 

If it's too costly time & labor-wise I'll just wait until my associate can get to them, I don't drive it much nor hard anyways. But the heater will be addressed lol.

 

My 1998 XJ8 had 120K miles with plastic tensioners and guides. When I did the head gasket I noticed one of the guides had cracks and decided to replace the tensioners chains and guides since I was already that deep into the car. If your going that deep into it you might as well do the revised water pump and T-stat housing.

 

https://www.ascwarranty.com/asp/customers.asp?ID=100002

Looks like under the drivetrain plus package I'm fairly well covered. Having the car out of service isnt a big deal - I can take the Metro to work and my wife and I usually go places together and she has an Audi.

King Charles - ASC is only sold through dealers

 

It looks like you are, still don't agree with the philosophy but that's me.

 

1. warranty company goes out of business

2. warranty company decides to argue the coverage

3. warranty company covers work but valve job needed and the job is not quite up to snuff

 

is this your personal experience with ASC?

 

No sense in arguing. We're all grownups here, and opinions are like something else we all have. VERY hard to change anyone's opinion.

Me,.......I was LAZY! I was lazy, stupid, and cocky. "I KNOW cars, I know what the tensioner rattle sounds",.......well, it seems that my tinnitus stopped me from hearing it on time, and the chain broke! It broke because the plastic shue came off, and lodged under the chain. Stupid, and cocky,.....but lucky! No damage to the valves, and EASY/CHEAP fix. So why wait?

I was a car dealer in the 90s. My dealerships (I owned two) sold thousands of aftermarket "warranties". My experience with them: (from the customer's complaints).....they LOVE to collect the money, and they do their best to avoid paying!! (as Plums outlined for you!)

You are are grown man with your convictions. I will not try to change your mind. Just don't come back crying like a baby.

 

Like they say in Philly - What if wishes were horses? Would rides be free?

I work in business that measures actual things and not just hopes and wishes. I'm sure you understand that when a customer has a bad experience they are more likely to complain about it from the mountains than when someone does a good job - or even goes out of their way. I've seen it first hand where a business performs flawless 95/100 times and gets 5 bad reviews online or in a forum (warranted or not) and all of a sudden that business is horrible. Therefore, unless you understand the background and relationship I have with the company and you've had a similar experience that would be similar or trump my situation, your opinion and $4 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

https://www.google.com/#q=momentum+jaguar&lrd=lrd - I'd be willing to bet Momentum Jag is better than 2.2/5 stars. They've been selling Jags in Houston for a very, very long time. If they really were only as good as 44% I'd submit to think the dealership wouldnt be around in five years.

 

I would have to base my judgment on more then 9 reviews anyway. But that's just me. And the dealer was willing to correct any misunderstandings in the bad reviews. At least they are proactive so couple points for them on that one.

 

FYI ASC Covered $1400 in repairs today