Be aware that the leapers on S-types do have sort of a fault in their construction. The wire rope that attaches the movable portion to the spring assembly is not of good quality. Mine failed, luckily in my own driveway, when the car was about 4-5 years old. I substituted stainless wire rather than using carbon steel as Jag did. The parts guy at my former dealer told me that leapers were a hot selling item, and not due to theft or vandalism.

Your dealer gets no points for how they handled the matter, but are probably not a fault for breaking it.

I encourage you to pursue them on the other matters.

 

In a word, potential. There aren't that many entities willing to invest in a auto shop/dealership that specializes in one or two brands of second-hand cars here. Also the population probably isn't big enough to attract start-ups who compete in the Jaguar realm. Berkshire is a go-to spot for many, many Jaguar owners in the Greater Toronto Area, even just for parts. Berkshire can at least identify the older models; not all new car (Jaguar) dealers can.

But the sort of customer service we've read about in this thread must not persist, else Berkshire won't either.

 

I have tried many times to get prices for spare parts from Birkshire Motors. You will be very very lucky to get a reply. You are always promised a return call, but it never happens.

Try asking for the price of a secondhand coil for an XJ6 1995. "why that will be $300 dollars" WHAT? "well the're $600 dollars new, don't ya know". Prices quoted are extortionately high for what is a very limited market. Most older Jags are owned by folk who cannot pay new prices for tired second, third hand old stuff.

This attitude that anything with "Jag" attached to it is worth gold is rubbish.
When I hear a stupid high price quoted for an old part, I ask "is it gold plated" cause your price seems to refer it is. Why pay $150 for a new EGR valve when you can source a new OE one for $20 from the UK. The same for many parts.

There are not enough Jaguar owners in the GTA and places like Birkshire should realize this before they end up with no customers at all.

 

Is there an alternative place that would sell one for less that $300? How about the forum sponsors?


Unfortunately that is also true of just about any other exotic or semi exotic. Anybody with a GM plastic fantastic will tell you about the 'Corvette tax'.

 

The vehicle came towed in from Supreme Auto. All panels under the hood were removed and thrown in the back seat with the bolts and clips on the seat. The transmission link was disconnected because Supreme Auto could not figure out how to get the vehicle out of park and put it into neutral to push the car. The E.C.M was out of the vehicle, the center counsel and the wiring was all apart in the gearshift area.

Your mechanic George Clark told me that he had been working on the vehicle and could not figure out what was happening.

We used our Auto logic computer and there was no communication to the E.C.M. in your vehicle. Therefore, the E.C.M. had to be replaced in order for it to communicate with all the sensors on the engine with our computer to get codes.

Without the engine computer working, no facility would be able to diagnose and fix this problem.

We checked in the trunk and Supreme Auto had a booster battery with cables hooked up and the trunk was a mess. The car battery was not working. We installed a used battery to do our test.

We traced all the wiring from the E.C.M to the main fuse box under the hood.

Your vehicle had more than one problem, that is why your mechanic could not fix it. We found an ECM for you which got the vehicle cranking but not starting. Then we checked the wiring in the connections that usually cause the problem.

You brought the other vehicle in and we compared all the voltages on the ECM wiring with your car and the other car. Problems were found on three wires. The wires were repaired to get the correct voltage to the ECM, in order for the ECM to function and communicate voltages to all other engine sensors to fix the problem.

The wiring diagrams that were available did not match your car, that’s why we had to take that route.

This kind of work is tedious and when there is more than one problem unfortunately it takes time to fix. Bill the Service manager explained the problem in detail and the cost to repair the vehicle. You gave your go ahead.

Supreme Auto was kept up-to-date of the progress. If this was an easy fix your mechanic would have fixed it.

After the service, you received a complimentary full detail of your vehicle inside, at no charge and a wash and vacuum as the vehicle was filthy. When the mechanic showed you the hood cat he told you it was rusted out and corroded. Bill also mentioned this as well.

You did not want a new leaper installed so we told you that we would fix it for you. You never came back.

You did not ask for the E.C.M back, we would have been more than happy to give it to you. As for the A/C if you look at your invoice there is a note stating that you’re a/c is blowing hot air RT vent with other items that were needed on the vehicle.

We went out of our way to save you money to find a used E.C.M. which was not easy to locate. The cost was $450.00 and not $500 as stated in your email. Your bill was $3,191.00 + HST $414.83 for a total of $3605.83.

When you came to pick up the vehicle you did not dispute your bill and you were more than happy to pay as it fixed the problem, which you knew the cost of the repairs.

The reason the trunk was not neatly packed up was because we did not know if the booster cable and used battery belonged to you or Supreme Auto. We have no reason to take your brake pads and rotors, and they certainly were not misplaced.

We suggest you check with Supreme Auto. You were given a courtesy car at no charge.

Last you have missed a part of the story where you left your wallet behind at our facility.

You were called back within 5 minutes and notified. If we were dishonest like you are suggesting, why would we have called you to give you your wallet back?

We have been in business for over 23 years and have a good reputation.

Anyone who reads this story can clearly judge for themselves. Thank you.

Regards,
Birkshire Management

 

Birkshire,

Thank you for taking the time to sign up and respond.

 

thank you for the reply also, but I was not called by the service manager until the car was ready and then informed of the cost, I never gave any go ahead based on a call from Bill, that is total bs. I headed up to your shop immediately when he told me it was ready, I never disputed the bill as I found it would be pointless as I am not educated enough in auto mechanics to discuss it intelligently.
your clarification on the messy trunk now makes sense, but that was a minor issue, the broken leaper to me was a **** off and no one notified me of that, trust me, I noticed it in the coffee cup holder when I got in the car and then went to you immediately when I noticed it, yes you said to come in Friday and you would fix it, but I live in ajax and drive and time wasn't worth it as I figured out how to fix it myself.
the rotors just become a he said she said, bottom line they were not there.


Also George from Supreme was NOT kept up to date of the progress and had no idea I even had my car back, I was there with him when he called you a few days after I had my car back when he discussed all these issues with you, so that is very inaccurate of you to say. I will print your response and show it to him on Friday, as you are basically calling him a liar.


I also never suggested once that Birkshire was dishonest I simply told my story and let people make up there own minds, I even went as far as to say I am not suggesting anyone not use your facility, so don't put words in my mouth, and yes your wife called me back that Saturday when I brought the second car in for testing as I did leave my wallet there (thank you to her), and yes I did get a courtesy car for 3 days (big whoop).


you stated "After the service, you received a complimentary full detail of your vehicle inside" <--- like hell I did, I saw the service manager he directed me to you, I paid you got the key and had to ask where the second key was form Bill, I then went to the car when I noticed the broken leaper, spoke to you once more and left, no detailed inspection took place, that too is bs.


All In all I am happy you repaired the car, but if you look at the big picture would you have been completely happy if you were the customer, I doubt it.


There are a lot of mistruths in your response and my guess is your people are telling you one thing and I understand you are choosing to believe them. There was also a big disconnect between you and supreme


Cheers, Dave

 

after writing my response and thinking about it a bit, I came to a quick conclusion


Birkshire is Perfect


not once did you admit any fault, show a bit of humility or regret, you were 100% spot on, the model for all businesses to strive for


I mean geez you had at least five other cars with leapers on them in the used car lot, and quite a few s-types you could have swapped my leaper for


if you had of said in hindsight we should have fixed that and we apologize, that would go a long way, but nope you were perfect


a little remorse or we could have handled it differently probably would have went a long way to members of this forum, it speaks volumes of your attitude and inability to address a customers concerns ... cause your perfect


sorry for the tone but wow

 

Birkshire is Perfect...... yeah in your dreams Birkshire

 

The tone of the Berkshire reply certainly doesnt encourage me to be a customer for either vehicle purchase or vehicle service. Admitedly I am some distance from them anyhow but have often perused thier listings and have considered them to be a likely source for the Jaguar I will eventually own. Not so sure now.

 

Interesting, yes, because this changes the legal landscape significantly.

If the original mechanic sublet the car to Birkshire for repairs then HE (your original mechanic) is Birkshire's customer, not you ! And, that being the case, Birkshire should've gotten a signature from your original mechanic.

But, then, apparently, the relationship between the three of you changed....and you grabbed the ball (so to speak) from your original mechanic and began dealing with Birkshire directly?

Oh well. This reply is wayyyy late and all the water has already passed under the bridge.


Cheers
DD

 

Never overly keen on these type of threads on the forum, as they can, and usually do get out of hand.

The OP has had his say using around 1/4 of his entire post count total to date to do so.
I see the dealer in question has had his say too.

This forum is not to be used for a public slanging match which is exactly where it's headed, topic closed!