continued from: Nightmare at jaguar (xkr 2003 model) - latest update (PART ONE).

...

In any event, because you were very convincing in your talk with me about making good the damages I have suffered, I took your word and I discharged my solicitors on 20 April 2009 (a letter of discharge dated 20 April 2009 was sent to you by my solicitors). I then provided you with a draft letter of my own which reflected our discussions more precisely (see my draft letter attached) because unfortunately your draft letter was biased in only serving Jaguar's interests by providing for a complete discharge of Jaguar's legal culpability and ignoring my interests completely. Once again it was apparent that all Jaguar and SISMA AUTO SDN BHD is interested to do is wash their hands off their legal responsibilities rather than have any moral/ethical/legal concerns about their client (see your draft letter also attached).

After months of dragging the matter on (some 3 months after my solicitors discharged from their legal proceedings against your company), an undated 'offer' letter was sent to me by on 20 June 2009 (i kept the envelope with the postage stamp date) and its contents proved quite different from what was verbally agreed between us. The offer did not reflect any amount of the damages and losses I have sustained in owning this dud car.

The final deal SISMA AUTPO SDN BHD offered to me in writing was for me to pay the taxes on my car, then add another $125,000.00 in order to receive a 2007 built 2008 model XKR (your showroom car that you have not been able to sell here in Malaysia). Mr. Syed Khalil, your estimate for my car's value at todays market was $150,000.00. So, in essence, if I were to take your deal, I would be required to give you the equivalent of some $494,000.00 or slightly more than £63,000.00 for an out-of-date showroom display car which you only paid around $250,000.00 for (or about £43,000.00).

I know the dealers tax free cost price from the factory (for a brand new 2010 Jaguar XKR) about $250,000.00 or todays equivalent of £43,000.00 (give or take a few hundred pounds) - this was your own admittance to me last year. You were kind enough to provide an alternative choice that if I were to take a 2010 model (2009 built) XKR I would have to add another £10,000.00. Mr. Syed Khalil, what Shylock style policy are you trying to bulldoze me with here? Simple internet browsing shows factually that the RETAIL price difference between the 2009 model 4.2 liter engined XKR to the new 2010 model 5.0 liter engined XKR in UK is only some £2,000.00. Why are you charging me £10,000.00?

Mr. Syed Khalil, may I remind you that Sisma Auto Sdn Bhd has already attempted to cheat me in the past twice. Once in attempting to sell me a 'throttle body' and 'throttle pedal sensor' as two separate billable items when they actually come as one single billable item (I checked with Jaguar Singapore + Jaguar UK and they have questioned your company's quote for two separate items. In the end, when I complained your company sold me the parts as a single billable component which came to much less than the price quoted. That coupled with the initial request from your Mr. Mok in 2003 (when I first imported my car from UK) to fork out RM$40,000.00 as a fee in to qualify my car to be serviced by your company had already left me questioning the integrity of your outfit. When I threatened to go public, your company agreed to service my car as per my right under Jaguar Cars Ltd's worldwide service guarantee. A feeble verbal explanation was given to me that the $40,000.00 fee was SISMA AUTO SDN BHD's policy to deter grey imports. I have brought these matters up and informed PAG's Mr. Danny Hinchin and copied you my emails to which neither your nor your company has issued any letter to me in response. Whilst Mr. Hinchin's response to me as Regional Manager of PAG (whose role to monitor Ford's luxury car brand's interests) was that any problems I have with Sisma Auto Sdn. Bhd. should be remedied directly between Sisma Auto Sdn. Bhd. and myself.

I have done my level best in being patient and understanding, however the recent developments have left me in an untenable situation. The latest 3rd warrantee replaced gearbox is clearly defective but Jaguar will no longer replace the defective part under any warrantee. In so doing, Jaguar have willfully manipulated into a position where i have a car that is useless and has given me no pleasure or value to a "luxury item"!

Mr. Syed Khalil, I pay extra to have Jaguar maintain my car because I believed Jaguar could be trusted and that an authorized Jaguar garage would do a better job. Jaguar belligerently charges more for their labor and parts than if I were to have the work done by an outside garage, yet my car has deteriorated so badly leaving me with huge expenses that have amounted to nothing.

I cannot use my car and i cannot sell my car. To make matters worse, even if my car were in perfect condition, SISMA AUTO SDN BHD is not prepared to accept my car at any reasonable price that would allow me to have any fair residual value on my car. Syed Khalil, according to your estimates, my car is worth $150,000.00 (tax unpaid). The Royal Customs of Malaysia have issued me an estimate of $198,000.00 in due taxes on my car. Thus, you should be offering me at least $348,000.00 for my taxed car that your solicitors claim is a perfect car. I note that your letter to Royal Malaysian Customs shows that your cost for a new XKR imported into Malaysia is $247,000.00 (brand new), without tax. Yet you offer me a deal as described above that secures you profit and puts me further out of pocket without any consideration for my past suffering. I do not even see the so called US$6,000.00 that you claim that Jaguar Cars Ltd. have contributed towards the suffering and damages I have weathered over the last 6 years in owning this dud car.

My car cannot be sold at any reasonable price because it is defective and unfit for the purpose. Jaguar now no longer wishes to entertain me unless I pay for all jobs and/or parts in advance (whether the job/parts be good or no good). I have owned the car for 6 years and have had no pleasure in owning this dud car whatsoever. The money spent on buying the car is a total regret for me. My car has been off-road for almost 3 years. Do you know that 3 years of insurance and road tax on my car comes to more than $85,000.00? May I also add that there has been many many months in addition to the 18 months mentioned earlier in this paragraph that has been wasted in time due to waiting for Jaguar Group to respond to my complaints and/or disputing my claims needlessly when the proof of defect was plain to see. Since the date of my solicitor's "Letter of Demand" my car has been off-road for which I have had to add 'car rental costs' of more than $50,000.00 to the list of expenses attributed the damages and losses I have incurred in the fiasco of owning this defective car. How about the 8 visits to Singapore for a week to remedy faults that your dealership were not able to rectify (at $1,500.00 a day at the Shangri-La, I have all the reciepts to prove the expense against logs of when my car was admitted to Singapore's Jaguar authorized service garage). Not to mention and countless dollars spent on your technicians attempts to fix problems which to date are all still there.

If I had known better, I would never have bought into Jaguar brand. If I had been informed about the Jaguar Dealership Network internal memo for the faulty gearbox, I would have sold the car immediately after the first gearbox replacement. At the time the car would have easily fetched ay least 70% of its recommended on-the-road retail price. You mentioned that the market value for my car today in its current state is $150,000.00 (tax paid). The car was sold in Malaysia (with less options than that which I have fitted to my car) for $1,299,000.00. The value of tax duty due today is $198,000.00. Why don't you do the math properly? If you still maintain that it is a good deal, then all I can say is that you are either mentally unsound or extremely malignant.

Mr. Khalil, I imported my car under special tax waiver scheme to Malaysia as I was granted this tax waiver directly by invitation from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed (Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time) as a one time special incentive to return from UK and offer my skills and expertise to Malaysia. I am unable to transfer this waiver to another car, this was one of the underlying reasons that I was prepared to put up with the torment for so long.

I am able to entertain a part exchange for a tax free car because i was recently appointed as Vice Consul to the Palau Honorary Consulate in Malaysia. Obviously, diplomatic cars are duty wavered. You have failed to recognize this godsend opportunity to Jaguar. I could have my solicitors claim for a replacement car fully registered and taxed in Malaysia (vehicle import duty in Malaysia is 193%). Yet SISMA, PAG and JAGUAR still close ranks further to proceed on the path to disadvantage to the point where the situation is now impossible.

Your final written offer leaves me no better off than if I were to put my car on blocks and buy a brand new XKR from UK and import it myself to Malaysia. Perhaps I should set my current XKR on fire in a public awareness campaign. Maybe you would have me keep my car until I am 85 years old in the hope that my car will achieve the cherished car status of the old E-Type Jaguar Sports? Well my response would be that if my car cannot be repaired, it will surely be regarded as "junk" whether it be today or tomorrow.

I cannot warrant the nonsensical stand by Jaguar Cars Ltd. and its regional representative PAG / Jaguar-Land Rover and its Malaysian Sole Distributor SISMA AUTO SDN BHD that faults/defects are the responsibility of the owner and bad jobs should be accepted as contretemps to further disadvantage the owner. If I had known better, I would never had bought into the Jaguar brand and certainly not nominate this 'dud' car to receive the non-transferable special tax exemption program that I was awarded by the Malaysian Government in 2003.

The distress, misery and anguish suffered over the course of owning this defective car is a burden unfair to any car owner of any brand of car let alone the revered Jaguar. I am writing this letter as a last ditch effort to get Mr. Ratan Tata to intervene and do the right thing. So far I have kept the whole affair under the lid as it is not my intention to ruin Jaguar's reputation. In fact I have gone to great lengths and gone beyond what was a reasonable in order to give Jaguar a chance to redeem themselves properly. However, my actions and goodwill has not been appreciated by Jaguar Cars Ltd., Jaguar Land Rover, PAG and/or SISMA AUTO SDN BHD.

Mr. Syed Khalil, I have heard that Mr. Ratan Tata is a man of integrity and has high morals. I find it highly irregular to say the least that my requests for you to obtain for me the contact or correspondence details for Mr. Ratan Tata and the Managing Director of Jaguar Cars Ltd. (so that I may bring this matter to their attention) was belittled with a reply "neither Mr. Ratan Tata nor the Managing Director of Jaguar Cars Ltd. deals with such minor issues. Should my e-mail letter be kept away from Mr. Tata and I do not get a response directly from him within the next 21 days regarding my problems with Jaguar, I will have no option but to escalate this whole affair and put it into the public domain.

Mr. Syed Khalil, may I state on record that the whole experience with Jaguar Cars Ltd. its regional representative PAG/Jaguar-Land Rover and its Malaysian Sole Distributor SISMA AUTO SDN BHD is a total disappointment. I spent good money and poured more good money after bad with no joy whatsoever. This dud car and the whole fiasco is a 'bane' on my life which has steadily deteriorated over the years through the systematic collaboration of what can only be described as liars and bush leaguers.

I plead one final time, Mr. Ratan Tata (Jaguar Cars Ltd.) please help restore my faith in Jaguar.

Yours faithfully,

Felix Davidson
(Tel: +60 12 226 1816)

cc.

Mr. Ratan Tata - Chairman and owner of Jaguar Cars Ltd. (BY AR REGISTERED POST)
Automobile Association Malaysia (BY AR REGISTERED POST).
Watchdog UK (BY AR REGISTERED POST).
UK Ombudsman for Motor Industry (BY AR REGISTERED POST).


END OF LETTER



NB:

If anyone would like attachments of correspondences or proof of my claims, please contact me as all my complaints are valid and backed up with hard evidence...

If something fair is not done to remedy my problems with Jaguar, I can assure all fans here that I will never buy another Jaguar for as long as I am alive!

 

If all you say is true, they've taken you for quite a ride Felix. Wish you all the best of luck.

 

I got exhausted trying to scan through all the verbiage of this saga. If I understand correctly, you have gotten nothing but grief and runaround from Jaguar but, in the end, you want another Jaguar?

Doug

 

Hmmm..awful experience...But, why don't you just sue? Seems Jaguar just keeps pushing you around. Find the meanest badest ugliest lawyer around and take them to the cleaners.

 

Do you think I would dare put what I said in writing about Jaguar if it weren't true?

I already said that if Jaguar does not satisfy me, I would never buy another Jaguar ever again - in fact I will extend that to refusing to ever sit in a Jaguar ever again.

So i really do not want another Jaguar, however, if they were willing to put the situation right, my faith would be restored.

I think I am being fair... no?

Felix

 

I am not doubting the veracity of your experience. My past (and somewhat similar) experience with BMW is why I will probably never consider another BMW. But my opinion is that you have spent way too much time on the issue--just file the lawsuit and move on.

Doug

 

If you have that much money to spend, I would recommend having a private mechanic at your beck and call. Seems there is thousands on this website, most mechanics make about 5000 dollars a month. You probally would save alot of money and save yourself future hedaches. If you have that kind of cheese why not own your own dealership. My two cents, why waste your time making your self unhappy.

 

It is too bad you are better at writing letters than working on your car. I would not own a Jaguar unless I could do my own mechanical work.

 

I've always found that threats and name dropping are counter-productive. Most times the nice guy gets better results.

 

Dear Everyone,

Yes, the cat is back and he is not happy again!!!

As an update from the last write up I sent my car back to England where some £60k or more (I lost count of the expense at some point because it became too pointless a distress) was spent in fully restoring this testament of why not to buy a Jaguar. The car was fully restored in the end plus I bought another XKR Dynamic to boot. Readers may ask why... Well, to prove a point really, several points in fact:

1) that Singaporean and Malaysian representatives of the Jaguar brand were inept.

2) that I was not looking for a free ride.

3) that when fairly treated, I support a brand that looks after its clients properly.

Let me also add that while restoring the car, I learnt that Jaguar Cars Ltd. were never made aware by their representatives in Malaysia nor Singapore that I was experiencing such a terrible ordeal. Furthermore, while stripping my car down for full restoration works it became apparent my car was "systematically destroyed" for reasons I shall let readers intelligent minds deduce.

Suffice to say SISMA AUTO SDN BHD are no longer "Sole Importers and Distributors" of the Jaguar Marque in Malaysia.

FYI - My poor car left Malaysia in early 2013 and returned sometime in April 2014 fully restored (even a new Engine, New Supercharger, loads of new parts to reflect full restoration to mint condition and upgraded with some enhancements like a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 replacing the old Navi System, A new cooler throaty Aston Martin sounding exhaust system and a complete interior replacement with full connoly quilted leather interior and alcantara roof lining. The car "was pucka" to say the least.

Why the words "was pucka" - further updates shall elucidate in due course...

 

Being nice ended after 2 and a half years of having my Mr. Nice Guy attitude shoved up where the sun don't shine. Pray this never happens to you or we shall see how nice you will end up being...

 

Sue locally,

suphonea that @)#($_# himself, they will settle instead of having to pay a load of money to a lwayer and his hotel expenses etc, they don't want to.

 

 

It's sad when local dealers foul up but I sure wish Jaguar would police them better in advance so they don't!

 

Its sad, you pay top dollar for a nice car and get bad service.