Hi, I live in Baltimore. I was on an unexpected family emergency for 6 month in Germany taking care of my mother. I got home July 2nd and knew my Jag is going to be in bad shape while sitting for so long.

As I tried to drive her again, the back wheels were completely looked. I had her towed to my Jag Technician. He says the Calipers, Brake Pads, Arm Bushings, etc has to be replaced.

Does anybody know how much this might cost?

They are saying that they have to take apart the whole back of the car to get to the calipers, etc to replace all. Their labor includes a total of almost 20 hrs. This also includes replacing the front discs and pads, rotating of tires and an oil change.

I am a female. Don't want to be taken advantage of due to my limited car knowledge.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think that sounds high. Someone else will chime in, but for outboard brakes swapping out the arm bushings might make the job easier.

20 hours seems super steep.

I would have expected 10 hours for the caliper change. Add a little more for the arms and everything else on your list and I think you'd have yourself a deal.

I would love to see an estimate breakdown. What I suspect is happening is that he's adding up all of the labor hours for each activity instead of discounting the labor hours for common work. Getting to those calipers makes the rest of the rear restoration work much faster.

I would wait for the next few responders.

By the way, I don't think there's anything unusual about the XJS that would require using a "Jag Expert".

 

I agree. It sounds like he is charging you by each job individually instead of lumping them together. This is common practice for some shops. Ask for a deal as 20 hours seem steep. Heck I can do it faster in my driveway and I don't have a lift.
Hopefully someone will know a mech in area.

 

Thank you so much for responding.

I have attached a cut and paste of the estimate. I do believe they made a mistake and added 4 extra hours into the job. Their hourly rate is $110. Isn't that too high?

Should I bring her to Meineke or some place like that?

Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

 

Wow $4000 for brakes. You could bring est to other shops and ask for quote if car is undrivable.

 

1. He wants $110 for an oil change. That's crazy. Even for Mobil1 synthetic, that would be high.
2. Did you ask him to detail the car (for $225?)? Usually garages don't do details...well. And certainly not for $225.
3. The material prices are exorbitantly high, but perhaps that's the going rate for garages. They do have to make money. I'm not sure most garages would charge significantly less.

It does start to make sense after that. He wants 10 hours at $110/hour for the caliper change. For two of them, it's probably "book rate", which means that's what most shops would charge.

He is charging you for front pads and rotors as well. You did not mention that.

He also wants to replace the trailing arm bushes. Also not mentioned. The labor rate seems right...not sure how much help having the calipers off is. I would think its worth at least an hour per side?

What's strange is that he's charging you 10 hours for rear calipers but there's no material charge....unless he confused front with back, in which case he's charging you $440 for nothing?

If you take out the detail, and ask about the front rotors and brakes, you could save $665 in labor. Ask for some kind of break on the rear bushings and maybe he can scratch off another $135 getting you to $800 off.

On parts, I'm afraid all you can do is ask if you'd be allowed to provide your own parts. It'll save you probably half. Yes, that much, but it'll probably render any warranty you have at the shop null.

Does this help?

 

Vee, thanks for the quick reply.

1. Yeah, that is crazy high about the oil change. I did not even notice that because I was so focused on the 10 hrs on the bottom.
2. Yes, it needs to be detailed. And he has a guy at his shop who does the detailing. Is $225 to much???
3. Yeah, the labor rate is ridiculous.

I did mention further up about front disc and pads and the arm bushings. I guess I should have been a bit more clear on explaining. Sorry about that.

Thank you so much! This totally helps. You are awesome.

 

$225 is probably the going rate for a detail, inside and out. Make sure you get the clay bar treatment. If not, you can have someone take care of that later.

$110/hour is what the Jaguar dealer charges. I think $90 is closer to average with $75 being the low end.

Again, no reason to pay any premium for special garages. These are straight up common parts to change. Shop around.

Lastly, after everything else he's gonna get you for, I would have thrown in the oil change for free.