So, should I turn on Blast for a few Reviews? Local Eurogarage here in Ft Lauderdale.

Nice clean shop, so I figured I try them out on something I couldn't do. Went in to have tires swapped on, and an alignment. Alignment's almost finished, and the mechanic trots over to tell me he "was just checking codes and found one".

That's interesting, because there were no codes coming in (or for the last month -- I check). "What's up", sez I. Well, this guy just discovered that my fan wasn't working. Was working when I brought it in, I'm thinking. Show me, I ask.

Sure enough, the fan isn't turning. Well, they're about to close on Friday, so we agree to leave the car on the alignment machine and I'll stop back Monday. I go home, pull out the documentation, and note that the fan uses an 80Amp megafuse. Either the fan controller is bad, or it's getting no power. The fan is PWM signal controlled from the ECU. Then I check the price for a fan from jag: $1500...plus labor, of course.

Monday first thing, I come in, thank them very much and pull out the car. "Do you want us to schedule the fan?", sys the service adviser. "No, thanks, I'll handle it" -- I wanted to see if the fan was really a problem before I made some noise.

10 minutes after I get get home, watching the temp all the way, I've metered the 80A megafuse and it's blown. Since megafuses don't blow at random, I figure all it took was to short the power lead (conveniently located out of sight at the base of the fan assembly) to ground for a second, and wow, there's a "fan circuit 0480 code" and a $1800+ job for the shop. BTW, I watched them put on a wheel with an air wrench (I stopped them from doing all four that way and made them blow the cobwebs off their torque wrench), and when I asked for a printout from the alignment machine I was told the printer was broken. And my 6 month old AGM was at a State of Charge of 7% because they left the live key in the car all the time.

They charge $200+ an hour. Keystone Kops all the way, it seemed. Or more likely Jack Sparrow.

So, should I ream them or not? With Porsches, LR's, Jags, Bentleys and Mercedes, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's heard, "Hey, you know what we found? Glad we saw it -- could have been a real problem..." Lots of old folks around here...

Oh, and the fan is working just fine.

 

Mess 'em up best you can. ******** shouldn't have businesses.

 

Glad you are savvy enough to catch it and if it were me I would ask for a refund on the alignment if they cannot provide the printed results. Beyond that, again if it were me, I would be careful in this never-ending litigious Country.

 

It's hard to get good help these days....seriously, the industry's having a difficult time. Main dealers up here, just a few hours from you charge $200 per hour as well and easier to resolve issues like this, they've got too much to loose.

I'd ask for the refund and reimbursement for the fuse, if they give you a hard time, lay out the reasons why you're right and they aren't to their shop manager and dispute the charge if credit card. And then make a point of NOT recommending them as much as you can.

 

Considering most of the Jaguar repairs shops near me are just about all located in FT LD, can you possibly inform me of who the guilty party is? Please feel free in IM me. It would be much appreciated.

 

PM Sent

 

It’s in the first post, Eurocharged.

EDIT: Corrected, apologies, read it twice and still not correct...have got to stop reading things on a tiny iPhone

 

No, it EuroGarage.

 

Actually, it's neither. There's a few euro-focused indy's around here.

But a knowledgeable opinion isn't proof, so I'll refrain from naming them.

After all, I'm accusing them of fraud. Our only real protection is the knowledge we've developed about our cars.

I privately blasted them to the shop manager. Got a long apology and a convoluted attempt to justify why a working fan would blow an 80A fuse all by itself just when it happened to be in the shop....

EDIT: If you live in southeast Florida, and think you'll ever want a shop in Ft lauderdale, PM me and I'll name them. But if you're not from here, naming them doesn't help. Cheers.

 

I miss my JLR Indy back in LA. Since the OP hasnt named the clowns yet, I will name a shop that does it right, every time, over decades and many Jags and Land Rovers....Yorks and Lancs in Chatsworth.

 

Thanks -- personal reference from a X150 owner means a lot.

If anyone has a recommendation for a shop in the Ft Lauderdale/Boca area, I'd be interested. Thanks

 

Some shops are outstanding.
I have a 'regular' mechanic buddy who has a shop with a Google rating of 5.0 Now THAT'S a good feat nowadays. Totally trustworthy, and he will even show customers a way to fix stuff themselves instead of charging for a simple fix.
Anyway, he won't work on any Jaguar since I had him change out one A/C line on my X100 eight years ago. He quoted me two hours and it took him over six hours. He still only charged me for the two though.

 

If you purchase one, stop back and I'll advise. Cheers

 

I have a local shop that specializes in VW, Audi and Porsche from all eras. He’ll work on other stuff too, but that’s the specialization.

I recommend them to anyone looking for a non-dealer positive experience with any euro cars. I had a friend with a 81 928 Euro get a clutch replacement and they messed it up mid job and called him. The shop owner bought all new factory parts, provided receipts, and fixed it all right, took a little off the initial price for inconvenience and gave a coupon for discounted future service. **** happens and the shop made it right and 9 years and 30k later the job is still great. He took a real bath on that job but probably made a dozen customers over time from referrals.

What I’m getting at is that it’s not just what a shop does when things go right, it’s what it does when stuff goes away. The euro shop I’m referring to is in a rural area and it’sa metal building. It’s clean and you see gorgeous cars there but it’s not impressive. He’ll give you a tour though and it’sa but like Tyrell’s Workshop on YouTube; just good talented people doing good work. Mostly master techs that left the dealers…like the owner.

Go to car shows and see who recommends who. Other enthusiasts are the best recommendations like you see on here .

 

So, you found a blown fuse, replaced it and everything is fine ... for now!
Before you jump to conclusions, (bad, bad shop, mechanic, cheat, robber, etc.), consider the possibility of an intermittent fault.
Your jaguar is a 2007 with how many miles?
Has the radiator fan been replaced previously?
The bearings in the fan are essentially skateboard bearings with a predictable lifespan.
My experience with this fan motor failure is that it was not catastrophic.
Rather is worked intermittently, binding a bit, working on and off.
A failing fan motor could contribute to a fuse blowing.
When the fuse is replaced, the fan may continue to work for a while.
Further, the fuse may have failed due a poor connection at the fuse terminal causing elevated temperature on the element.

So, let's wait and see if the problem recurs. If so, please re-post.

Meanwhile, let's not jump to conclusions.

 

Bill, thanks very much but no conclusions jumped to. A week later, the fan is humming along just fine.

Been fixing cars and motorcycles for 55 years, so careful diagnostics and procedures mean I rarely jump to conclusions.

The fan is the only thing on the circuit with the fuse. The fuse was properly mounted, as was my replacement. If I get a real fan failure, or the replacement 80A megafuse blows, it'll throw an instant code and I'll post that I was wrong. I suspect a year from now it'll be turning just fine.

These are the guys whose first conversation about my car was to tell me my 6 year old Michelin PS4's were "suffering from dry rot". When I told him to read me the date on the tires he backed off. I sat in the waiting room listening to the "service advisor" talk a young woman into a very expensive repair "because it could be a big problem later".

Most service managers today are comped on profits. Many techs are comped on piecework, getting a much lower hourly rate while the customer is charged on book rate. It's a system that sometimes results in very creative shop diagnostics, and doing the job the fastest way possible. Whether repair recommendations move from reasonable caution to taking advantage of naive customers is about the dynamics of each shop.

I read codes before I take my cars in for this exact reason. Everyone should. This one had no codes before the tech "discovered" mine.

And, this is not to slam the 99% of techs who try to do an honest job. It's a tough business with a lot of top-down pressures.

The good news is that one of the Members recommended what he experienced as an honest shop here in Ft Lauderdale.

Best, Panthera

 

Good advice -- thanks.

 

Competent precautions noted. Your considered response is appreciated.

best regards,
Bill

 

Did one of our members mention the recommended honest shop on our forum or was it as a PM? I for one would always want to hear of a reputable shop for our cars in the FT LD or Boca area. Thanks all.

 

that's backwards, i do my research and due diligence ahead of time, it would be nice to know who they are so i wont waste my time considering them, also if i find a local jaguar for sale i would possibly use them for inspection, so knowing who they are now is very beneficial to me. what's the point of this post if you are going to be too scared to tell us who they are?, letting us know only protects us