OK folks, I promised that I would get the Meridian 380W stereo sorted out with JLR. Some folks thought it was crazy, some thought I should ignore and listen to the engine, and others who had the same problem were, and are still aggressively pursuing a solution.

For those who have lost faith in JLR, I once felt the same. However, I am at this point very happy with the service provided to me by JLR, their Executive Customer Service professional, Regional Engineer, and the men in service at Madison Jaguar (now Jaguar of Morris County). This was a true team effort, and worth the persistence on my end and theirs ultimately. Like insurance companies, never give up. There is a solution to everything. Here goes.

Last Friday Morning I dropped it off at the dealership, and met with the NA technology Engineer. Great guy, and he really and truly cared about the issue that I was having. He sat with me and we went through 8 songs, set at factory settings, and immediately heard the rattles, vibrating and totally unappealing sound to the ears. He didn't mince any words, took detailed notes, was patient, and said...."Yes, I hear exactly what you are talking about". He further stated, I have several ideas on how to fix this, and it will be fixed one way or another.

I left with a confidence in him and my service mgr. and techs at the dealership. I felt that JLR was finally on my side to make me happy. I said take your time, and please don't rush to give it back to me without the fix.

I picked the car up this afternoon (Thursday), and here is the result. "Zero" and I mean "ZERO" distortion, clipping, rattling, or anything else but music that was high/mid/low and sweet to the ears. I hit every single song, including one that was a production sound board base powerhouse, that would drive any system wild. Not a problem!!! Song played well, and the panels handled it like a charm.

The solution was that they took all panels off, including the rear speaker covers. They removed the dynamat, and replaced with fresh new cuts of dynamat. They wrapped it in areas that were obvious, and not so obvious. They also replaced the grills on the speakers in the back.

Folks I didn't have high hopes about the outcomes going in. I did feel that there was a genuine partnership, and hat I was truly a respected customer. I wasn't being "BS'd" at all. The sincerity was evident and they wanted to figure out what was going on.

Picking this up and riding around with it for 1.5 hours, testing every setting, many songs, volumes etc. passed the test beyond my wildest imagination.

JLR, I am a happy customer now with this car, which I was happy with prior to, but satisfied that customers mean something to you, and you will stand behind your brand.

In summary:
1. - Go through the dealership for sure
2. - If not getting the result, go through your regional JLR office
3. - Find the right person, and they will listen to and support you.
4. - There is a solution for the stereo issue, and it is fixed
5. - The sound is very pleasing to the ears.

Now, I have a perfect car in my view, and will get years of happiness out of this.

Hope this helps, and JLR customer service prevailed for me, restoring my faith in them. : icon_pala:

 

Congrats!

 

Madison Jaguar is excellent!

 

Thanks Foosh....been a long journey, and JLR came through with flying colors.

 

I should have also said, "well done," BTW. Your persistence along with diplomacy, no doubt, had a lot to do with both the dealer and JLR being willing to work with you. As they always say, "you catch more bees with honey."

 

Can you tell us what that actually did so we can have our local dealers do it too?

 

really great to hear this solution & congrats.

i'm wondering if this solution can be shared through the jaguar dealer network (as service bulletin) as to save all of us the trial & error? this would be written from the service tech's perspective, as to be understood by other service tech's.

 

Not sure if I responded to this, however here goes.


They removed the panels, speakers, and looked over everything behind these areas, including the back panels.


Removed the original matting that they put in which was old, and not good stuff. This Dynamat dries out if not used, and therefore didn't do the trick the first time. They re-did everything, changed the grills, and in the rear speakers changed out those grills as well.


Sound is dampened a tick, but not badly so. The tweeters on the pillars are the best "high end tweeters" that I have had in any car, and this is the most impressive part of the system, "The Highs" that the tweeters project.


All other theories of the problem, what it is or isn't in my view are "Hypothesis based" theories. The real deal is a rattle is a rattle is a rattle, and Dynamat is the solution.


There are a lot of those who are stating that they don't want the car to go back for panel removals etc. If you don't give JLR the opportunity to fix it (without damaging anything else of course), then how do you expect anything to get fixed? It has to go to the dealer and the tech working it has to be quality focused and good!! I am happy with my entire services team at Madison Jaguar (now Jaguar of Morris County). I was totally trusting that they would do it right, and ....."THEY DID"!


Hope this helps.

 

Hi slojotaa

Great to hear you are please with where you have got to.

My car went in for the 6th attempt at a fix today. Unfortunately in the UK, they made their area service managers all redundant at some point, so unfortunately there is no equivalent the UK of the area manager who has helped you out.

Could I ask a favour please: Do you have an iPhone? Could you download a Free App called Tone Generator and run it through your system. Set the output to between 140-190Hz. This will provide you with the conclusive test of whether they've cleared the issue.

The dealership continues to agree that my car remains unacceptable - by there words, not mine. They concluded today that they need to order a complete new door card which includes the speaker grill module. This is a built to order item and will take a few weeks to arrive.

So my car will be back in for a 7th time in a few weeks.

Really glad to hear you are getting great service in the US.

 

I am happy to do so. Will download this weekend and do the test. As a musician, I can safely say that most of the songs that I have listened to have punch, highs, etc. etc that far surpass what I had before. However, they need to order "Dynamat" that is the higher end, not the entry stuff, and change the grills which did the trick.

Will let you know the test results. I also want you to be happy with this audio issue as we have been "partners in solutions" on this for several months now.

TTY soon.

 

I dropped my 2014 V8 S off this morning at Elmhurst Jaguar in IL. The service advisor said there is no bulletin for the fix and there is not much he can do without a bulletin. He said JLR would not pay for a fix that does not have a bulletin and they will "take a look at it". I dropped it off originally at Naperville Jaguar and he replaced a front speaker which actually now sounds worse than it did when I dropped it off. I am hoping they can do something to my 380W unit. When I arrived this morning to show them the issue his quote was "well, you have the bass turned up too high for a radio talk show". My thought was I dont have it turned up too high for music as I dont want my system sounding like tweety bird. I have a 100K car.. the car should look and sound like a 100K car.. I honestly hate excuses the dealerships make. JLR may have fixed the issue for the original person who wrote this post but I so far have received 2 different excuses from two different dealerships.. Meridian/JLR needs to post a service bulletin for this and make the owners happy.. My daughters 15K Ford Focus has a better sounding system than my 100K Jag does.. Not acceptable in my eyes... If you are reading this, I am sure its not acceptable in your eyes either.

 

There is a service advisory out, just not a Technical Service Bulletin. I have seen the service advisory and its asks the dealer to add padding the cabling behind the door panel. However what you'll find is that is a combination of this and the grill requiring some grommets.

I think it very unlikely they will post a TSB despite multiple reports back into technical. They have more than 20 photos of the testing done to my car.

Don't forget to demo them the problem using the App - Tone Generator - its free. Set to 140Hz-190Hz and booooom - they can't deny anything!

 

I started this post, mainly because I was boiling mad, and upset at the toy that they called speakers! I must admit that the old "what is the base set to" excuse is crap. An engineer in the UK tried this, and the Executive leader in NA said immediately to me....that isn't relevant, a rattle is a rattle. Well it was rattling at 50% base and 50% sub. Today it does not.

I suggest that you reach out to Jaguar NA, and express your feelings, and find a dealer that wants to fix this right for you. No excuses. JLR NA has the fix, details, and was sending all of the notes and findings to Jaguar UK. I pushed for this, and hopefully they carried this out as described to me upon my original request to do so.

The "BS" that your dealer(s) gave you is unacceptable, and I would find another one that suits your need to get this resolved. This is now a "Trust" issue as well for you.

Good Luck

 

A follow up to my earlier post about the dealerships in the US making excuses for the fix on the Meridian 380W unit. I just received a call from the service advisor at Elmhurst Jaguar and he spoke to a technician in the UK about the issue. The tech did give him a fix and said there will be a service bulletin put out on this eventually. They are saying the problem is the speaker wire can touch the back side of the speaker cone and cause issues. In my car they are putting dynamat in and also putting dynamat on the speaker wires. Apparently, the fix will be a re-route of the wires (possible cable extensions to do that) and a speaker grill update. He wasn't to clear on the grill update. I will post what is done with the vehicle after I pick it up next week. They are also removing both side skirts (rocker panels) and re-spraying them as on some vehicles this was not prepped properly and the paint chips off between the rocker and rear body panel. I am happy they are recognizing the issue and taking care of it.

 

Please do update us. I'm not far from Elmhurst and would like to take my Jag in to them if you have success. Thanks!!

 

So glad to hear and really appreciate the positive post, there seems to have been so many negatives.
Great that Jaguar stepped up and that you're issue has been resolved

Thanks for sharing

 

BMCD San Francisco played the 'denial' game. When I left mine in for service and told them about the buzzing hissing centre speaker above the aircon fans they said they couldn't hear it but they would open it and take a look. Upon collection they told me they replaced some rubber parts and couldn't hear any buzzing whatsoever. So I get int he car turn on a podcast and there it is 3200hz distortion bleeding your ears. But they could;t hear it? Very disappointed with their lackluster and cheap approach to this. Sounds like your dealer is one of the good ones.

 

Yes exactly. Really good ones, whom I have a lot of respect for. I would contact JLR NA, and let them know your issue(s). They really do listen. When the rep came to the dealership, it was only he and I.....sitting in my car with an indep. listen. That is where the "beauty"began, as he heard it, dealt with it (along with my dealer), and here I am with a big *** strutting down the highway listening like it should be

 

I have some good news in regards to the ratteling speakers in my 2014 F type V8 S with 380W system. Elmhurst Jaguar did a great job fixing 95% of the issue. I still get a small rattle but nothing like it was before I brought it in there. The service advisor was all over it once he understood the issue and heard it for himself. He followed up with me every other day and advised me of status. Elmhurst Jaguar gets an "A" in my book. They re-routed speaker wires, replaced a sub on the passenger side put different fasteners on the speaker grills and put some dynamat in the doors. He said there will be a "official bulletin" available "in a few months" but didn't ahve an exact date. Anyone needing a fix in the Chicagoland area please go there and they will hook you up.. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the follow-up. Would you mind sharing your service advisors name? Maybe PM me?

How long did they have the car for? Just picked up my R, and not ready to part with it yet, not even for a few days!