Hi all, I own a 2002 Jaguar XK8 Coupe with 76,000 miles. I have a lengthy list of repairs to get done on this car. I have gotten a couple of quotes here in the Washington, DC area from a mom & pop repair shop as well as a Jaguar specialist. The specialist's prices are only slightly higher so I'll probably take the car there for the repairs. Some of these seem really high to me. The mom & pop shop couldn't quote each of these as they didn't have enough knowledge of the car to estimate the time it would take, so for many of these, I'm going only on the specialists prices.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to save some money on these repairs, given that I cannot repair the car myself? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Prices for Parts & Labor

Left Control Arm Bearings/Bushings (Upper & Lower) - $1,540*
*Not sure if this price is simply for parts & labor on the bushings themselves or a new arm

Cam Cover Gasket (Leaking) - $613
Coolant Bypass Hose - $178
Engine Mounts (Leaking hydrolic fluid) - $474
Rear Engine Seal (Leaking) - $881
Rear Shocks (specifically lower bushings) - $700
Power Steering Coolant Hose - $269

Thanks for any information you can offer. Budget is tight and any way that I could save some money would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Owning a Jaguar is always going to be expensive if you don't do any of the work yourself.

As I'm not in the US, I can't comment on whether the quotes are competitive but two items on your list do jump out at me.

1. Control Arm Bearings/Bushings (Upper & Lower)
I would never just do one side

2. Cam Cover Gasket (Leaking) - $613 and Rear Engine Seal (Leaking) - $881
The labour charges are disproportionate. Cam Cover gaskets are easily changed but the rear engine seal involves some 'heavy engineering'.

Graham

 

KEEP SHOPPING. Jeez, it ain't rocket surgery. I can't imagine where the estimates come from. A few of the guys here on the forum are experienced tech's, I'd like to hear their read on this...

 

These quotes seem high to me at ~$4k total. Some are probably OK (rear engine seal), but others are not (cam cover) based on my admittedly limited experience.

I would definitely stay away from a place that knows so little about the car that they won't quote the labor. They may be honest, competent mechanics, but will run up the bill "learning" on your car.

As Graham says, you either need to have a reasonable amount of discretionary cash or at least be a shade-tree mechanic for these cars.

 

Glad I'm in the UK with lots of Jaguar specialists around. I had all the bushes done on my XKR for less than $1500. Not lower ball joints can be expensive if you buy from Jaguar ($500 ?) as it includes the arm. The bush is available separately but you do need a serios press to get the old ones out. I'd try a few more places

 

Hi there, I believe there are 2 videos in the how to section showing this procedure, as below....

I can't remember but these were done by Sam and he's probably given an indication of price so worth checking out to see and also to check exactly whats involved




Hope it helps

 

Some seem very pricey,not that I know about US prices. Even expensive on Australian prices and that is really saying something..

Just interested to know if they quoted an hourly rate to do this work?