Hi. A main dealer has quoted me over £1100 for cam chain tensioners, pulleys sprockets etc. PLUS 10 hours fitting charge. Do you think this is reasonable?
(I am still under the table).

 

I'm not surprised. The parts cost will be retail for OE Jaguar parts and the labour looks to be sufficient to discourage you from accepting or to make them a reasonable profit if you do.

A main dealer would not be my first choice for extensive mechanical work on a fourteen year old Jaguar. The dealer network is geared up to sales and support of current models. Their direct knowledge of older models fades as time passes because the average owner doesn't use them for routine maintenance or major repairs.

A number of independents provide this service for the majority of owners who either can't or don't wish to do their own maintenance. These are often ex-dealer, Jaguar trained techs with an excellent knowledge of the older models because they are dealing with them all the time. Overheads are considerably lower because they don't have costly branded showrooms to support and nothing stops them from using alternative parts sources. Consequently the work is of an excellent standard but at significantly lower cost than the main dealer.

Of course, if you really want to save money, the answer is to do it yourself as many members before you have done.

Graham

 

What Graham said..
" cam chain tensioners, pulleys sprockets etc." Although not sure about pulleys and sprockets but a complete 'kit' on ebay UK sells for 400 pounds ish (chains tensioners guides with gaskets).

Maybe if you asked on here for a good mechanic in your area. I have a similar year car for many years and have never seen a Jag Dealership or even thought about going to find one.

 

Do you know these people?

English Mobile Mechanics, Marbella, Costa del Sol, Spain - Car mechanics in Spain

I have no direct knowledge but put their contact details on my phone for emergencies when I was touring down in your area last summer.

Looking at their website, they clearly handle plenty of prestige vehicles including Jaguars. Could be worth a call.

Graham

 

you should watch "the garage" o turbo channel,it is all about this garage and its run by a jock and the only thing is he has a quick turnover of staff but most of the seem very qualified as to the particular cares,ie fer.jag. rolls. porsche,lambo

 

ukdude,where in spain are you?

 

Forum sponsor, S N G Barratt sent us their Spring 2014 Newsletter to give to attendees at our recent UK Forum Meeting in Glasgow.

This extract from the newsletter on V8 Timing Chain Kits gives a good comparison of how savings can be made between using a full OE Jaguar kit and an aftermarket equivalent (see the first two items):




Wherever you eventually choose to source parts for this upgrade, buying in the UK and shipping to Spain is likely to be lower cost than buying in Spain.

Graham

 

+1 on trying SNG Barratt for the items you need.............an excellent vendor and sponsor of this forum.

I'll +1 on "English mobile mechanics" too..........I also have watched Jock in "The garage".....really quite entertaining at times, but they do seem to know their stuff in your locale

 

I just bought the seal that goes from the air intake to the throttle body from them. They were well priced! Their free paper catalog as well as the PDF version on their website (same thing) are quite nice and way easier to navigate than many parts diagrams for these cars.

When I did the secondary tensioners in my XKR, I bought the parts from a ford dealer. It was quite reasonable.

 

Side note, here is a post by TheCoupe about this:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...22/#post452632

Sunroad Ford was who I bought through. I can't double check the parts numbers right now, but I'll check at home tonight what I bought to the letter that fit on my 2000 XKR. It's been 16k miles since the swap, so the parts can't be that wrong .

 

Between Taberno and Albox - Arizona-country!

 

That would be a great help! Many thanks.

 

I just looked in my file and can verify that I did buy the exact part numbers in the referenced post. I even saved the boxes! They work great!!! I paid $118 for the tensioners and $5 for the bolts (and shipping for all was $9). That was February of 2011.

I also bought valve cover gasket set from RockAuto, a Felpro VS50724R set for a 2001 Lincoln LS 3.9L, for $45 shipped.