Just for you information, I have my own business where among other things I do car repairs. I work on a lot of Mercedes, Infinity's, Audi's, etc... you know the seasoned cars no longer under warranty. I've had the Jaguar dealer do most of the work on my wife's XK8 as it has a warranty.

We love the car, however I'm finding Jaguars are a a breed apart ...British Gremlins! Since owning the car, 9 months now: I replaced two Dunlop tires with new ones (previous owner failed to rotate the tires and the negative camber had worn the inner tread to the cords)... not a warranty item, and under the warranty we've had to have a whole switch panel replaced (Emergency Flasher switch failed),a whole new throttle body installed (sensor went bad), brake switch replaced (cruise control had quit working), new battery block in the boot installed (causing a floating/intermittent ground and the car to just shut down), engine oil leaks repaired (valve cover, center seals, camshaft seals, and spark plug seals), had to have another engine with 51,000 miles on it installed (spun a bearing on the original engine), and had to have two new transmission lines replaced (they developed a leaks just after the engine change and we lost 9 quarts of oil at $59.00 a quart, what are the odds... I pitched a fit until Jag and the warranty company resolved the issue at no cost to us.

I'll never know why the bearing spun as it seems the service techs are unable to actually work on anything. All they know how to do is replace things, so the warranty company provided a low mileage replacement.

I'm in the process of: 1) Installing two new, upgraded steel braided Teflon, convertible top latch hoses (old hose blew off the fitting at the latch). One of your members, Gus, was instrumental with the why and how to permanently resolve this issue with the new hoses. Thanks Gus. By the way the hoses only cost $30.00 more than the OEM hoses which are inferior to say the least. 2) Replacing the front and rear brake discs and pads (once I determine if installing drilled and channeled discs are wise or not)... Still looking for advice here. 3) Fixing a few electrical quirks. 4) Thought I was going to have to replace the rear bearings (discovered top to bottom play), but another member said he was told this was normal by his Jag dealer. Called my Jag dealer, he confirmed this.

But, we still love the car!

 

SLM, you purchased a previously enjoyed vehicle correct?

 

Despite some glitches , it's nice to hear you love your ride which is which is very nice
I hope it serves you well after that

 

Hi,

A couple of things - Jaguar and other mfgrs are moving to a remove/replace strategy as it is a big savings in parts and operations. Far less replacement parts to stock all over the world, just complete replacement units. Far less tech training below the unit level. Factory pays a little extra up front in the warranty period, but makes it back once whole units are replaced at customer cost.

On drilled discs, these are really overkill for a daily driveer, commuter vehicle. They look nicer if you can see them, but will eat pads faster. This was a feature used on race track driven vehicles, but have no technical advantages on a street car.

The spun bearing is unusual. The cam cover oil leaks are normal at approx. 40K/50K miles and beyond. Neoprene cam seals just dry out and fatigue from heat after a while.

 

Welcome to the forum slm.Great intro !