Any updates? Hoping that it isn't terminal.

 

Nothing's terminal until the skeleton melts into a puddle. Course, COST may be a concern...

 

I picked it up today. $1950 for a water pump and a couple of pieces of pipe.

 

Crikey - Just ordered parts for my 4.2 XK and the water pump + thermostat + housing + assembly + gasket with shipping (2 orders) totaled around 230. Waiting on estimate from an independent shop for install. Hope they don't read this!

 

 

So strawberry vaseline then.

 

 

They laid some pipe alright.

But you know that's what this country has come to, its a grand a day for a plumber in just about any city.
Inflation is through the roof in all trades. The auto industry is hurting really really bad on top of all that, and they make most of their money on service.
As perverse as this sounds, you just subsidized some rich guy leasing a Jaguar.

 

Taking an older Jaguar to get serviced at the dealer is not financially prudent decision.

 

How’s the car now? Is it stable from a running perspective (safe to drive)? If so, money well spent. You’ll get the car to your specs with patience.

Best!

 

Not much choice in some cases/areas.... I'm lucky to live around 3 dealers and 3-4 Euro indys. I've heard from friends with XKs that some of the Indys don't even want to work on them and they were either turned away or given crazy high prices. One dealer around here said they will work on cars back to 1997 (for now) so at least I have an (expensive) option for a while

With my water pump, my dealer quoted $1450. $700 was labor, $750 was parts. I bought the parts from other Jag dealers online for about $300. I intended to do it myself but chickened out after I read about the outlet tube. Brought it to the dealer with the Jag parts so I saved about $400 that way. Same warranty on the parts too.

So Rev Sam, that's an option if you have the time to wait for the parts...

 

Correction - had to cancel parts orders as the indy shop won't use outside parts - even if jaaaag originals. So looks like I'll be at their mercy too - please pass the strawberry Vaseline.

 

I went to a place like that... ONCE (with a different car).
They never got any more business from me.

 

agreed. There's no reason, from a customer perspective to do business with them. They merely need to warrant their labor and not the part. Years ago I brought a car in for repair to an indy. They bought the part from an adjoining auto parts store. 400% markup on the part.

 

Its not just the markup, everyone needs to make boat payment, even mechanics, its about the grotesque inefficiency of it all- $2k for a water pump. They rebuild entire engines for less than that, and that's a lot more work.
I just had the water pump and timing belt changed on my toyota- it was $600 all in. And the Jag pump is only $100 more. Also I think the Toyota is more work due to access.

 

Exactly. I was recovering from some quite a bit of surgery and the starter on my A8 crapped out; Two indy shops wanted MORE THAN THE DEALER. I ended up going with a shop renowned for vintage Porsches that said bring the part and we'll do it for $500. They did a great job, and the overall outlay was half anywhere else. Starter was $150.

When I do side automotive work, I don't mark up the parts, but I do not warranty them either. If it's a bad job on the labor, absolutely, if I damage it on install, I buy a new part of equivalent quality or better and eat the cost. When I provide the parts for the job, I charge $50 an hour for the service; so me shopping around, providing the best priced good/better/best parts options and presenting it to the customer has usually been absolutely worth it for them. I get discounts at a lot of parts houses better than they can get, and with the parts research labor job, I often end up saving them double or triple the difference in lower parts costs; and if a part fails, I will submit the warranty and not charge them for the part the next go around. I only charge since time ain't free.

Don't pay crazy markup. Go elsewhere.

 

Dealers and Independents can be either crappy or good.

Being an independent doesn't mean a better or worse experience than a dealer.

When I bought my Jaguar the dealer had a service department that I was happy with.

When another company bought the Jaguar dealer and moved it away a lot of the people working there did not go to the new Jaguar location.

Instead they went to work with the place that bought the old Jaguar dealer building.

I still take my Jaguar to the same location and the same service manager and mechanic.

The people working at a location matter more than the brand name on the building.

 

That EXACT thing happened to my car on a flatbed. I don't think you scratch paint, you scratch that lip on the bottom of the nose. But mine's not in great shape from my long drive (lots of chips in the nose) so it really didn't matter to me.

 

Regarding loading our cars on flatbed tow trucks; it was my bad luck to experience it on Thursday of this week the following is what happened.

1. Last week I noticed a low coolant level notice on startup. It disappeared after the car was warmed up. I hooked up the Torque app to my OBD reader so I could watch the coolant temp. It never got out of the normal range during normal usage of about 50 miles rt. I added 500ml of pure water to the reservoir after arriving home and letting the car cool; no more low coolant level warning. Just to be on the safe side, I had my dealer pickup the XKR. They found a "seeping" coolant hose and replaced it while changing the oil and inspecting the car.

2. On Thursday of this week I noticed the low coolant level light on again. This time I poured in one liter of purified water, hooked up the OBD and Torque app again and went on my merry way. Pulled up at a stop light after about 5-6 miles and lots of steam started emanating from the bonnet. Immediately checked the temp which was at 197degrees f. pulled over and called the dealer within 3 blocks. The dealer said to use AAA for the tow as they would get there faster than the Jaguar contractor. Called AAA, insisted on a flatbed tow truck. He got there within 20 minutes. We discussed potential scraping of the splitter. He suggested I pull the car up on the flatbed while he observed. We did that and there was no issue and no issue when I pulled the car off the flatbed at the dealer.

3. What happened is a coolant pipe (tube) between the SC and the engine had started to fail and the water pump began leaking simultaneously. End result - all plastic pipes and water pump are being replaced under the extended service policy which is also covering the towing charge that was in excess of the AAA coverage.

 

My first flatbed for the XK. Ugh won't start. turned out to be a bad battery cable.
There actually is a difference when attempting to tow on a flatbed with our cars. I have just gone through your exact experience, driving, low-coolant warning, steam rising from the engine bay, AAA making numerous calls for a flatbed (holiday weekend and on a Sunday). Water pump and outlet manifold pipe, except that my outlet pipe was not covered under my CPO warranty until I voiced my displeasure with national HQ customer service rep. They intervened with the dealer and brokered a 50% 'goodwill' discount. This was my second flatbed tow to the dealer in 6 months. The other occurred in December and the car would not start, do to get the car into neutral with a dead car, you must access the release for the tranny in the armrest, you need a allen wrench. The tow driver and I did not know this about the car, so of course the rear wheels were locked. Using the front tow hook, he had plastic skid plates which he slid under all four wheels to move the car forward without leaving flat spots on the tires. The front also was raised enough not to scrape the nose spoiler when it got to the bed. The dealer of course had the know-how to place the car in neutral getting it off the truck. Lessons learned by living.