I posted above that I usually check parts prices at the dealer before looking for alternative sources and this seems to have attracted a combination of scorn, incredulity and even hostility. I do this to ball park the options. Sometimes a part is so low cost, it's not worth going elsewhere; sometimes it's so terrifyingly expensive that I'll work hard to find an alternative source. If I don't even know the Jaguar price, I can't make a comparison and an informed judgement.

The handle was an example where it wasn't worth my time going elsewhere for a 5 UKP part. At the opposite end of the scale, the tweeter housing which has similar plastic tabs is a staggering 230 UKP and I did a repair until I sourced a used part.

Repairing Jaguars used to be my living but for many years now it's just been my hobby. For me, the car has to be right - everything working and parts used either OE or equivalent standard. Before they began pressing panels for the aluminium bodies models, Jaguar hadn't manufactured any parts for years so it's often worth finding their suppliers. For example, the AC filter is manufactured by micronAir and this can be obtained at considerably lower cost from other outlets.

Graham

 

Sorry to see you leave the thread. But I can't see any place that anyone is saying what you are saying they are saying. Nobody, AFAICS, is saying 'never fix anything, never repair a part'. Of course it is stupid to buy a new glove box for almost $3,000 when you can fix it yourself for peanuts. Look at all the threads on fixing the duckbill issue - none of them say 'take it to the dealer and let them rip out your dash and charge you a thousand dollars for labour'. They all say 'here's how I fixed it'. The forum is chock full of threads like this, and, again AFAIK, not a single thread that advocates always replacing every failed part with a brand new part sources only from an authorised dealer.

 

It's not even that this works just for low-cost parts. Sometimes the authorised dealership's price for major parts can be cheaper too, so it always makes sense, IMO, to check the dealer price. I follow a YT thread where a guy buys old but interesting cars and them renovates them. Recently he worked on a Bentley Continental GT. It needed a lot of parts, including new front wings (are these what you guys call fenders? Or are fenders 'bumpers' - I never know this). He sourced the replacement wings off eBay. Later he discovered that genuine Bentley parts, from a Bentley AD, actually cost significantly less than the eBay-sourced parts. So I am with you - check the dealer prices. Then check as many other places as you can (if the cost of the part warrants it). Then buy where the value seems highest.

No idea why your comments earlier sparked such a round of negative responses, What you said just seems like common sense to me.