You're welcome my dear friend

 

Quick update on the car I was looking at. It's been at the Jaguar dealership the last few daysfor a 140 point pre-purchase inspection. Those of you who have been following this thread may remember that the car seemed to be otherwise great shape, but the one issue I was concerned about was the misaligned J-gate (photos attached).

Haven't got the final report, but heard back from the service manager briefly today. He mentioned that the interlock seemed to be clicking constantly, and that they had to order three new parts:

- one of the hinges of the ashtray lid was broken
- the J-gate wouldn't fit back properly, so they're ordering a new one, and
- they're ordering a new shift lever

They don't seem to know what the cause of all of this is, and his initial position was that the j-gate might just be defective. I'll talk to him in more depth tomorrow, but my initial reaction is: WTF? I can't imagine the car left the factory this way, and even if the J-gate coverwas defective, why would all fourcomponents in that general vicinity (e.g., the J-gate cover, the shifter stalk, the ashtray cover, and the interlock) all be in need of replacement?

My only guess is that there was some sort of trauma inflicted in that area. I'm not concerned about the trim needing to be replaced. I just can't understand the underlying cause, and the notion of a factory defect doesn't make sense to me considering it's gone unrectified for 21,000 miles on a one ownerin-warranty car. I'll talk to the service advisor in detail tomorrow, but I'm starting to think that I should pass on this car.

It's dissappointing, since it's exactly the right color and has nearly all of the options I'm looking for. The rest of the car seems to be immaculate. I can't understand what the hell happened in the transmission area, but don't want to risk dealing with long-term damage to the transmission as a result of this. It doesn't seem like it's just a cosmetic issue.

Any thoughts from the members here (especially Dennis, Brutal, FactoryJaguarTech if you're all reading)? Thanks for everyone's input to date.

[IMG]local://upfiles/5932/C8153E3BC1AC4FD085D472E1BFC221B6.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/5932/A51008298B584838885747BE89A59B49.jpg[/IMG]

 

I feel your concern..and rightfully so..But I still say there is nothing to worry about..Someone, or somebodies..maybe a toddler got in there and bumped or stepped on the console and broke things up..I'm sure something domestics such as that..If your stuff gets all fixed up, good as new and shifts perfect..You got newer parts than me and will not have to worry about them wearing out for a long while now...Think Positive and you will enjoy this car like you were meant to.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Dennis! It's very reassuring to hear your perspective. A child stepping in that area and breaking the ashtray and J-gate cover (andlikely the interlock switch)is certainly a more plausible explanation than the one I got from the service advisor. I wonder if the lever itself is also fragile enough to get bent from something like that (or maybe the previous owner bent it after the J-gate trim wouldn't fit properly anymore).

Assuming that was the cause, do you still think that there's negligible risk of damage to actual transmission from something like this? I really don't care about the trim and lever having to be replaced. It's the risk of underlying (hidden) long-term damage I'm wondering about. My local Jaguar dealer told me that it costs about $8,000 to $10,000 to replace a faulty transmission, so it's not an insignificant cost if the transmission fails prematurely down the road, once the remaining warranty has run out.

Thanks again for everything, Dennis. You've been awesome, and I really appreciate it.

Brutal, JaguarFactoryTech, I would really appreciate your persectives on this as well if you're reading this thread.

 

Was the lever bent? What would it take to bend that lever? What ever it was may have also been responsible for the interior piece being out of wack.

I would make an appointment with a body shop and ask to take the car to your mechanic. Have them look at it, they can tell if any work has been done from paint work to a fender being out of alignment. I hate to rain on your parade but something doesn't smell right. I could be coming from left field, but what if the car was hit broad side and some 300lb person flew over the center console. Or maybe just the impact twisted the car in such a way.Don't believe the dealer when they say they didn't know about the problems either - some are very honest, most arent. Ever get in the car and they floor the ac or heat or turn on the radio - immediately they are trying to hide stuff. Let me know how you make out or what you think.

 

Thanks for weighing in, Christo. No worries about raining on my parade - although it took me a while to find it, I'm objective enough to pass on this car if it doesn't pass muster. I'm not in a huge rush to buy, and though I'll be frustrated, I can wait for another one tocome along.

It's a good question about the shift lever. Not having owned one of these cars, I don't know how durable the levers are or how much force it would take to bend them. The Jaguar tech that inspected the car had left for the day, so the service advisor wasn't able to get de-briefed on why the tech had ordered a new lever. I'll talk to him about it in more depth tomorrow. Something doesn't smell quite right to me either, but I'm trying to keep an open mind while I conduct my due diligence.

I thought at first that this might be residual accident damage, but there are no signs that the car's ever been painted. The various manufacturer decals are still affixed to all four of the doors and the b-pillars (body shops rarely go through the effort of replacing these decals if a car's been re-painted, so it's a pretty good tell if they're missing). The stickers in the engine compartment are also still in place, so it doesn't seem the car was hit from the front or the sides.

The car looks to be in immaculate condition inside and out with the exception of this one issue. Dennis' suggestion that a child could have stepped on the J-gate/ashtray/interlock switch is very plausible, but the thing that seems odd is the damaged lever-I would think (hope) the lever itself would be more solid and durable. It's a one owner California car with a clean Carfax history. My understanding is that California law requires that any accident damage over $500 needs to be reported (and consequently gets picked up on Carfax) even if an insurance claim isn't filed for the repairs.

It's very puzzling all in all.I hope to get to the bottom of it tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!

 

Please do Matt I really want to see you do well.

Were you able to find out why the J-Gate surrounds did not fit properly? Were there broken clips? Does the location of the busted ash tray hindge and lifted J-Gate surround correspond as if one smashed into the other?

I have removed my J-Gate surround many times while tweaking my stereo system and it still fits properly, I did pry gentely but still? You know what I mean?

 

The Service Advisor didn't have any more information because the inspection got finished fairly late, and the tech had already left for the day. I'll be sure to ask tomorrow about whether the J-gate and ashtray lid were broken in the same vicinity (that's a great suggestion, thanks!) I'm also going to check carefully for underbody frame damage. On the surface, everything looks fine underneath the car - no leaks, no obvious signs of damage, etc.

One thing I wonder about is whether a minor rear-end collision or sideswiping a curb hard could jar the transmission enough to break the gate and bend the lever? I have no idea - just trying to make sense of the symptoms.

Thanks for the good wishes! I'm looking forward to getting some closure on this one way or the other tomorrow.

 

The only reason I can think of to have the broken parts left unattended to,under warranty, is if the previous owner caused the damage themselves and repair was denied. Can you locate/discuss with the previous owner? That may solve all your concerns.

 

The Shifter mechanism is connected to the Transmission via cables..there is no direct fit on the transmission..and of course, the transmission is bolted directly to the engine..it would take a helluva collision to disarrange all that to affect the shifter and trim bezel along with the ashtray...Like I suspect, a child in a car seat left unattended sat there and played kick ball with the shifter and console out of frustration of being left in the car..I'm only guessing of course, but anything else causing the damage would certainly be evident in the car's handling and external fit and finish appearance.

 

Thanks again everyone. I wish I could talk to the previous owner, but unfortunately this is a one owner lease return that was subsequently sold at a Jaguar corporate auction in December. The only thing I know about the previous owner is that the car was originally registered in Atherton, California (which had the distinction a few years ago of being the most affluent per capita city in the United States).

I receieved an e-mail from the service advisor this morning. Here's what he had to say:

After going over the vehicle I have just a few points.
-The shifter trim and ashtray area all now fit properly, the ashtray door was broken and the trim around the J gate was warped, both have been replaced.
-The shifter itself was replaced for shift interlock solenoid activating when not needed (when in drive).
-We replaced the battery for being cracked at the negative terminal.
-We performed the 3 year/30,000 mile factory service on the vehicle, as discussed there is one more free service at 4 year/40,000 miles that must be completed prior to warranty expiring.
-there are light scratches here and there on the car but the body panels are in good condition and doesn’t show any evidence of collision repair.
-the clear shield installed on the vehicles on the hood, fenders, door edges, door handle, fuel filler. It looks to have been removed from the bumper itself and the bumper has been touched up. This may have been done by Jack as he mentioned some clean up on the wheels were done as well, as of now wheels are free of damage.
-The tires are in good condition
-The brakes are 8mm front and 6mm rear, new is approximately 10mm
-The interior of the car is extremely nice, very little wear, scuffs, marks at all inside car and leather is in excellent condition

Overall the car is in excellent condition and I give it a clean bill of health mechanically.

I'll be calling the service advisor in a few minutes to talk through the inspection in more detail. From his e-mail, it sounds like the shifter may not have been bent, but rather thatit had tobe replaced in order to fix the faulty interlock solenoid(I'll clarify that point with him). The J-gate trim being warped may be just a defect that's occured over time -it's real wood of course, and it's possible it has just dried out and warpedafter being in the California sun for 3 years.

Overall, it gives me more confidence about the car. The rest of it is in near mint-condition. The previous owner had installeda clear bra on the hood,fenders, doors, and mirrors (probably at a cost of close to $700). The effort he/she went to do that for a leased car, along with the excellent condition of the interior leather after 21,000miles tells me a lot about how meticulous the previous owner generally was. The transmission issue just stood out like a sore thumb in contrast. I'm glad Jaguar's service department has given the vehicle a clean bill of health. Once I've had a chance to review the full inspection report, I'll be able to make a decision on whether or not to move forward with it.

It's looking promising again as of right now.

 

That's a helluva response from the dealer..I would sleep well knowing the care and inspection they preformed..go get it now!

 

Like Christo said, it probably was an accident that the trim and J-gate was bent. It is a luxury car, not a rock, so I can understand how things like that would happen. It seemed primarily a cosmetic issue, and you said the car had a clean CarFax report and was given a clean bill of health by Jaguar mechanics. It sounds, well, sound to me. Have you taken it for a test drive? Do so and see how it feels/sounds to you.

Keep in mind Jaguar has been ranked the #1 luxury brand is customer satisfaction for the last two years. I doubt they got that distinction by consistently lying and tricking their customers (or by making or servicing crappy vehicles).

Overall, it sounds like a great car and a great value. I would go for it. I've had my Jaguar X-Type for a little over a month now and every day I like it more and more. Best of luck to you! Let us know what you decide.

 

Happy New Year all!

To close on this thread, after speaking to Jaguar's service department,I've decided to go ahead and buy the car! It passed the rest of the inspection with flying colors - no leaks, no abnormal noises, no evidence of collision damage, no indication of frame damage (let alone any indication that the car was everon a frame alignment checking machine), excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition. The only defect they found is that one of of the wiper blades wasworn andjuddering and needs to be replaced.

Dennis was right about the transmission area. The lever's not directly connected to the transmission, and the service department is confident based on what they saw within the J-gate area that it wouldn't have caused any transmission damage. The broken ashtray and bent trim happened in the same vicinity, leading to speculation that the damage was causedby force of some kind. The wood trim pieces in the X-Type are formed around aluminum templates, so a natural warping of the wood isn't likely. The lever wasn't bent - it needed to be changed to fix the interlock solenoid sincethey come as a single unit.

I feel confident at this point that I've done enough due diligence to move forward with the purchase. It's been somewhat challenging because the car is a thousand miles away.I've had to rely entirely on photos, phone callsand an independent inspection to complete my assessment. That's what I get for insisting on a Jaguar Racing Green car.I've been looking all over the states because the color, option, mileage, and condition combination I wanted is too rare to expect to find locally in a reasonable timeframe. I'll get the paperwork sorted out tomorrow, and hopefully the car will be shipped here within the next7 to 10 days.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and input on this thread. You guys have been amazing. This is a great community, and I'm looking forward to being a regular visitor and contributor here going forward.

All the best for 2009!

 

Awesome news..Be sure to let us know what it's like when you get it in the flesh..Pictures of course too

 

Congratulations on your new X-Type! I genuinely believe, once you get it, you'll love it. Pictures can't quite do it justice.

 

Thanks guys! All of the paperwork was taken care of today, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the transport truck to arrive. I'mhoping to take delivery over the next 10 to 14 days. After all of these years of appreciating the X-Type from afar, I'm looking forward to the ownership experience. It should be a great daily driver, and I'm grateful to have found a high quality car that has nearly everything I wanted after a relatively quick search.

Oh, the last of the parts I ordered for my initial mods arrived today. They'll besitting on my desk until the car gets here, just taunting me.