It's fair, you're right!

 

So that pretty much puts paid to the knee jerk reactions of all garages being thieves, and banjo music, etc.

 

@solidaxel, we did! When we got her fixed, we drove 500 miles that day, and 900 the next, straight home without a hitch. She purred the whole way home.I was so grateful for that, you have no idea.
Yes, it was indeed fair. The first mechanic quoted 8k thereabouts, but we got lucky and had distant family in the region.

All told we were very lucky indeed. It took a few extra days, but you really don't want someone to rush through a thing like this.
We made the best of it and looking back a week or two, it was worth it. It really was a nice place once we got past the first garage.
Unfortunately, the first garage's towing guy tried to use my bank card to buy an electronic tablet from Barnes and Nobles, but he got caught doing it, so no harm done.
We are safe, happy and still proud owners of a Jag!

 

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I want to say a big Thank You to everyone who posted and a very special Thank You for Jaguar Forums and the community.
I've read much more than I've posted, and the advice, support and camaraderie here is second to none.
These forums played a big role in choosing to purchase my dream car in the first place. I spent a few months reading through them before I took the plunge, and I'm glad I did- it helped me to make an informed decision. I knew exactly what to expect when I made my purchase, including the common downfalls and tips on how to avoid them.

I've been in the spot twice before where I could have purchased my Jag, but walked away because there was no definitive place (for lack of a better term) in which I could learn the specifics of what owning a Jag would entail.
Here I've found a community that shares all of their knowledge, for beginner to professional, including step by step instructions, most with pictures and video- for any variety of issues that could arise.

In this particular incident, all I had access to was the mobile phone version of the site and I was in a panic, and still you all kindly helped me through it.

Thank you all!

 

When my transmission Failure light came on we were on a Christmas trip to see the grand kids BUT we had just left the house (25 miles away) so I was only concerned about making it home without a tow.
The trans failure was the bigest problem I had heard about since the car was new,2000. Looking back that problem has been corrected, so now just the maintaince issues, water bottle, suspension parts, spark plugs .............

This is the best "ecomony" car I have ever owned, and the worst financial decision I have ever made !!!

 

Yes - I've read the same thing. When I first looked into this make and model, it seemed that the trans was a common problem, much like aluminum block engines were for GM's at one point. When I got the vin number, I ran it against the CarFax and it stated that the transmission had been completely replaced, which I thought would make it a safer bet. When we got the error code it took me by complete surprise- but I was even more surprised to learn that the transmission replacement had never occurred.
I got the tensioner replaced first thing (it still had the plastic one on it) and all of the other things that people recommended, and I thought we were good to go, but you just never know.
I'm so glad we found that mechanic- things could always be worse!

 

.............. Tell me about a PLASTIC timing chain, how do I ID this?

 

It's not. It's 4.0 only and is a plastic tensioner. Does not affect the 3.0.