For all the good an honest and talented tech can do with a thorough inspection of a vehicle, there's many shops or indivuals that use such opportunities to upsell services or repairs that just aren't required. It just takes one occurrence to put people off and ruin a business once word gets around.

My mother was once upsold a set of rear rotors and pads on a vehicle that 1) had rear drum brakes and 2) had recently had new shoes replaced (by me).

The tech just assumed that she wouldn't know the difference. He just looked at the year of the vehicle and 'guessed' they were due.

The manager of another shop tried to sell me an 'engine oil flush' process at around $200. They claimed that the oil coming out of my car was so thick and full of crud, due to being 'poor quality', that my engine was about to fail. Since they themselves had changed the oil less than six months and 5,000 KM earlier- I asked why they had used such poor quality oil in the first place.

 

This is why if the tech isn't honest, show the customer the issue, or gets a reputation for ripping folks off, he will be fired or the business will fail. Mikey's comments show just that.......Be cool....Mike

 

The motto I always tried to instill was "You can shave a sheep a hundred times but you can skin him only once".

I thought it was a good motto that worked for many years. Eventually, though, it cost me my job. Which, in the final analysis, was a blessing in disguise!


Cheers
DD

 

New owner, great forum, super informative!

 

2000 XK8 = wife's toy. As a DIYer cannot put a value on the extra benefits of taking care of my wife's toy myself. Under $50 for 3 - 5K service.

 

Hi Nick, are brake change pretty straight forward on this car compare to other cars (Japanese and American) are there any special warning or instruction?

 

Yes really. Because dealer. Find yourself a good independent mechanic, then compare the hourly rates.

I'm thankful to be one of motorcarman's closest (second closest?) customers by distance.

 

Can't help since You don't have the year/make in your signature

 

Yeah, I had to search other posts to discover he has a 2005 XK8.

. . . and a little thread hijack.

Pretty normal pad/rotor replacement. The only issue I would bring up is that the bleed valve is not exactly at the top of the caliper. That leaves a little bubble of air in there even after several bleed efforts. Loosen one and remove one of the caliper bolts so that you can tilt the caliper so that the valve is at the top.

 

Sorry..I forgot to put that in..yeah but it's a 2005 Xk8 :-)

Btw how to create a signature??

Gotcha thank's ... I'll need to have the brake swapped by this year probably going for slotted rotors.

 

Hey zidjan

Yes, pads and rotors were very straight forward. No issues at all

Nick

 

Go to 'Edit CP' above then 'Edit Signature'

 

I'll throw my 2 cents worth here. Can't comment on my Jag as I haven't had it long enough for service yet but... Our old Rover/Jag dealer in Colorado charged a tad bit over $100.00 for an oil change. For this price, my oil was changed, my tires were rotated, an undercarriage/brake inspection was done and the diagnostic machine was plugged in and I was supplied with a full report. Granted, this was an exceptional dealership but there are good ones out there. Hopefully now that I reside in Michigan, I can find another dealer like my old one.

 

Actually you live right near my work. It's huge and on Fulton, you can guess what company.

Jaguar on 28th Street in Grand Rapids is meh, but there are some decent non dealer shops. I can't highly enough recommend Euroautowerks in Rockford. I do all my own work, but they're really the only shop I'd trust with my cars. The owner specializes in VW/Audi/Porsche but has many skilled techs in many areas. They're honest and do good work. If they screw something up they own it up and fix it right.

 

Take it to WalMart. $80 bucks and that includes filter and Mobile 1.

 

Bad experience with a box store and don't think I'll return as I prefer "trained" people. Had an oil change and tire rotation done on an Aurora I owned at the time as I had a half price coupon. The service person used an air drive impact wrench on the lugs (seriously over torquing them to the tune of 30 ft lbs too much) and told me that my battery was weak and probably needed replacement. At this point, I was wondering just how dumb he thought I was. Had him get the shop foreman and we had a little discussion. Tires were remounted and torqued with the proper setting on a torque wrench and I asked the mechanic to show the foreman and me the "bad" battery. The person doing the work then proceeded to reopen the hood and start looking for the battery. I let him look for about 30 seconds and then asked him if he knew where the battery on an Aurora was. This is where the foreman told me my tire rotation and oil change were free. Hope I would have a nice day.

The battery for a 96 Aurora is under the rear seat in a vented box......

 

I would never trust a WalMart service center. Too many horror stories of incorrect tire pressure / lug nut torque, wrong fluids used, coolant poured into washer fluid reservoir, etc. You are living dangerously if you choose to take any of your vehicles there....

 

yep, that was 18 years ago and I was trying to save a buck.

 

Friends, there are times when "an experience" is worth the extra cost. Having a fine meal at a fine restaurant is an example. Still, one can throw a couple of filet mignons on the grill, grill some vegetables and open a good bottle of wine at home for a .fraction of the cost of Ruth's Chris. Yes, it is terribly expensive to offer a "luxury experience" at the dealer's shop. No judgement here. But, I personally, do not require espressos, valets or a concierge to get my oil changed. I, like many of you who have posted, find much greater satisfaction and personal fulfilment from my performing a job well done. I have to say "AMEN" to the post that say DIY is the way to go, as I have an emotional attachment to my Jaguar, whereas the dealership does not, so I will do the maintenance with an added level of care. (Afterall, this is an oil change and nothing requiring a Phd.in mechanical engineering!)
Also noteworthy is that ASC Certified mechanics bill per hour based upon "the book" virtually all of them use to determine how long a repair/servicing will take to complete. These estimated repair times are often grossly inflated. This is evidenced by my mechanic friend who bills upwards of 40 hours of labor time per day himself alone! My father-in-law who was a GM at a luxury car dealership for years confirmed this.

 

What he said ^^^. I wouldn't even let someone else wash my car.