Yeah, was quoted at 75$ to change the little amber peanut bulb in the headlight from Stevinson Jaguar in Littleton CO last week. I declined the service, and asked for a part number and price. Bulb itself costs $3.75. Anybody else had the same issue?

 

Heh heh, I had to change a headlight bulb on my daughter's car not long ago. Forty minutes later I was all done reinstalling the battery, the air cleaner housing, and the overflow bottle....and had sliced only two of my fingers open along the way.

I wouldn't pay $75 to have it done....but I'd sure understand why someone might want charge that much !

Back in my prior life at dealerships we tried to install as many bulbs as possible on a no charge basis....thinking it was good PR. At least half the time, though, it was quite a bit more involved that one would think. I had to abandon the idea.

Not sure how hard the task is on your particular model.

$75 sounds like it might be the 'minimum shop charge' at a Jag dealer....what with labor rates way over $100/hour these days. Just a guess.

Cheers
DD

 

It's not the dollars.

It is the amount of time involved, and the dollars is only a
proxy for that.

Last year a woman appeared at a Jaguar dealer parts department,
and while the parts counterman was installing the remote fob
battery for her, he had to endure her loud and repetitive moaning
about how much more Jaguar charged for the same battery that
could be had from the drug store.

She had brought the battery in from the drugstore.

 

Yes.

At every kind of business owned or managed by every kind of Jaguar owner.

 

As old as I am you'd think I'd be accustomed to the gall of some people. But I'm not.

Cheers
DD

 

To change the bulb you have to take the headlamp units out. It tells you how in the manual, but it seems that there is a bit of stuffing around. I have bought 2 blue/white lights and was going to change them myself but it looks like a bit of a production to do it, so they are sitting in my glovebox until the next service and I'll get Jag to do it. $75 sounds a little high to me, but I'd pay it in a flash to change both of mine.

 

In that case, the $75 quote probably also includes a provision
for liability.

Change a bulb for free, scratch the headlamp or break a piece
of plastic and all of a sudden the 'profit' from the $3.75 bulb
evaporates.

Even at $75, one mistake and it's possibly a several hundred
dollar headlight that the dealer has to cough up. Plus loaner
vehicle.

On the other hand, if an owner pulls out the headlight and drops
it on the driveway shattering it into shards of plastic ... not really
a problem for the dealer.

 

Yeah, received a similar quote for side markers on a '04 XJ-R. Over a $100 each. Purchased them locally for $40 something and snapped them into place me self.
Depends on your state of mind and wallet at the time.
Happy Trails......

 

theyre a pain, be happy you dont have a HID fitted jaguar that requires pulling the bumper to pull the headlight to replace a burner! what more amazing is how little the tech gets for replacing the bulb when the dealer get $75.

 

Doug,
Two things: always wear gloves and ask daughter to get a boy friend!

$75 not too bad considering you will get a 'free' car wash too! ..............friend of mine took their Kia in for 60K service last week;$ 800!

Cheers. Adrian

 

So change it yourself and time how long it takes. Compare the amount of time to the dealer's hourly shop rate. Probably not too bad of a deal.

 

i say pay the 75 bucks and then you have the ability to bitch and moan if its not done right.... if you do it and screw something up... HOLY MACEROLE... its gonna be alot more then 75 bucks man..

 

Open up an Indie shop.. I will be glad to support it brother!!! We need more Jag indie shops.... we have a total of NONE around me.

 

I built a 2400sqft shop behind the house 2 years ago to play with my toys, friends and family, and training a new helper. Grandkids make great helpers and she already wants to make her 4 wheelers faster(against her mothers wishes) So I do a little here and there

 

I wanna be your neighbor!
Can I please, can I, can I ??? ;-)

 

Yep.

One Jaguar tech I know and like charges $50/hour as an indy.

Says he makes more money stumbling across the yard to the
shop than working at the dealer and factoring in two hours
of commuting round-trip.

Unfortunately, he's no where close by.

 

I'm a little confused by this whole post. Changing any bulb in the headlight assembly on '11 XKR was really easy, actually easier than on my previous '12 F-150. Yes, there is one bolt that you have to get to from the tire well, but you don't have to even remove the tire to get to it. Even disconnecting the line running to the lens sprayer was easily done in a matter of seconds. $75 is seriously overpriced, though I've seen numerous times on this site people paying thousands over what something should cost because of the Jag tax so it doesn't actually surprise me at all.

 

I think helpful posts like this should be archived somewhere. When I read a post like this, that's a "how to", I copy and paste it to a "How To" notes section of my XK's folder. That is, if it pertains to my make, yr and model.
Happy Motoring....

 

I don't consider myself mechanically inclined, however, after googling the procedure and viewing a Youtube video, I changed the same bulb on the passenger side in about 10 minutes, start to finish. I just changed a bulb in my daughter's Audi A4 headlight and it took me 40 minutes, plus I have a few cuts and scrapes on my hand from the process.

 

Someone must pay it...just not well informed consumers.