A year ago I bought a 2001 Jaguar XKR from a specialist Jaguar dealer (who shall remain nameless at this point).

I have two problems:

PROBLEM 1.
It had a problem with adaptive radar that did not become apparent until the day of purchase.

They told me it was fixed (which it appeared to be) but I purchased a two-year warranty with the car, which they assured me would cover the part if it broke again and needed a replacement (costing £2,000!).

Well, it's broken again (making a lot of noise), but now they say the warranty wont cover it because it is not completely broken!

PROBLEM 2.
Despite the car doing only 900 dry miles since I bought it and the fact that it is kept dry-stored, the same dealer (who issued the MOT a year ago, when I bought it) now says it needs £900 of welding for a corroded front suspension. There were no relevant advisories warning of this possibility in the MOT and they say it will not pass the MOT now because of this corrosion. They also tell me that this is a common fault on the car which cannot be diagnosed until it suddenly appears.

Can any wiser head please offer me any advice as to what I might do?

Thank you in anticipation (and hope!)

 

The corrosion is behind the front subframe where the top wishbone is connected, it is common and expensive to fix as you have to drop the subframe to do it, so engine supported all of the suspension and steering gets dropped with it.......

can't help you much about the adaptive cruise but it should not make noise, when they go they just don't work, broken is broken partial or not!

 

Welcome to the forum Peter,

Sorry to hear of your woes with the XKR.

You should add details of exactly what is supposedly broken on the adaptive cruise.

Some photos of the corrosion would help get a balanced opinion of whether it is typical. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to say that corrosion rarely appears 'suddenly'.

900 miles in a year is exceptionally low for a UK user. Is there a reason for this?

Graham

 

Anyone have a diagram to show this location? I want to check mine when I have it on the lift this week....thanks in advance

 

See post #6 in this thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...pt-2-a-114932/

Graham

 

If you have full coverage insurance and have a crash due to that part failing, your insurance will repair the car or pay for a new one.

 

Legal opinion needed here.....perhaps a strongly worded letter from an attorney (barrister?) may help. An authorized dealer should be held to a higher standard than a private party, as they hold themselves to be expert factory representitves. You may need a second opinion on that corrosion damage and how long it was there before you sue the dealer. Good luck....I would be furious.

 

Many thanks for this Graham. I am reclaiming the car from the dealer today and will ask to see the corrosion myself.

One thousand miles a year is an average for me in my "toy". I previously had a 1997 XJ8 Sport for eight years and it averaged only 600 per year - never meeting a single rain drop in that time!

 

Many thanks for this.

My concern, apart from the money involved, is that failure of the unit at speed that results in a crash will leave me and my wife injured or dead. This is the point I am trying to get the dealer and insurance company to grasp!

 

Thank you Mike.

I am a lawyer, but I don't specialise in this field.

I shall not let this rest, since the dealer is treating me with disrespect and raising my suspicions that they knew all about these problems when they sold me the car.

As we all know, some dealers (and I fear all insurance companies) will stall, prevaricate and bully to deter people with rightful claims. I don't intend to let them get away with this, if that is the path they have chosen.

Do any other members know of someone with legal experience in this area that I could talk to?

 

Peter,

I don't intend to see this thread move to recommendations for litigation or be used as a soap box for dealer bashing.

The situation seems to be that the exact fault with the adaptive cruise and the work required to resolve it has not been identified. Similarly, the degree of corrosion on the suspension has not been quantified. The estimate could be based on a perception of your ability and willingness to pay rather than a necessity to pass an MoT.

Like you, I would not accept either of these dealer recommendations at face value on a vehicle with such little use since purchase. However. my first thought would be to obtain an independent assessment.

An independent engineers report or examination by a independent Jaguar specialist will give a yardstick by which the dealer recommendations can be measured.

Graham

 

Thank you Graham,

I must say I am a little taken aback by your comments regarding "recommendations for litigation" or "dealer bashing". It was not my intention to do either and I don't believe that this is where the thread was heading.

I got the car back yesterday and took it to another garage for an MOT. It passed with only one advisory (regarding perishing of the front tyres).

The MOT carried out by the Jaguar dealer (who remains nameless) and which has caused my concern from the start of this thread, failed on the corrosion (which was not even mentioned as an advisory when they MOT'd the car and sold it to me a year ago) and had nine other advisories,

This speaks for itself in my opinion.

I am pursuing the problem with the adaptive radar through formal channels.

 

I am glad you passed your MOT but it would be worthwhile checking the area for rust anyway, mine passed an MOT with the huge hole shown in the above linked picture.

 

That's sound advice, many thanks.

 

Peter,

I am pleased to hear the vehicle has now passed an MoT.

From your original post, I misunderstood the dealer was stating it would fail an MoT and not that they had already failed it with further advisories.

The second Testing Station will have seen the advisories as soon as they logged the vehicle details into VOSA at the commencement of the test.

Clearly the second tester did not consider corrosion was sufficiently advanced to warrant failure or the advisories relevant.

Presumably it is the Adaptive Cruise Control Sensor (item 5) which is giving problems?


(click on the image to enlarge it)

Unfortunately this is a programmable unit so attention from a Jaguar Dealer or Independent with similar level diagnostics in unavoidable.

Graham