Mleskovar,

Hi- you are mistaken when you state that Jaguar approved Castol with UV dye is 1/2 of the price I quoted which was $12-$13 a quart from a dealership.

Yes, while you can buy Mobil 1 or other synthetic brands for a much lower price, the Castrol oil with dye specified by Jaguar is in the price range I quoted and in general can only be bought at a Jaguar dealer.

The other brand synthetic oils are probably fine but while my car is still under warranty, I have used and will continue to use the Castrol oil that is specified by Jaguar. I really think that spending an extra few bucks per oil change is worth it to have the insurance that a dealer can never say that any problems that can develop are attributed to the oil as not being specified by Jaguar.

I would like to know where you have found the specific oil as specified by Jaguar to be 1/2 the price that I quoted.Thank you.

 

I should have been more precise. Equivalent oil. Even Castrol sells it outside of Jaguar dealers. Unless Castrol made an oil spec'd only for Jaguars which would be real risky for Jaguar considering there are not Jag dealers everywhere. And UV dye? Is your car leaking oil? Every oil has a specification and all you need to do is find a manufacturer with the equivalent spec. That being said, I've been wrong before Mobile1 has an excellent reputation and can be bought for $5.50 a quart. Less on sales.

 

Mleskovar,

I am glad that you clarified your comment by stating that you can find EQUIVALENT oil for 1/2 the price as I quoted.

And yes, providing the oil you find has the same specs as Castrol Jaguar sold oil are the same you are good to go.But.....this is the problem......finding an oil with the same specs as required by Jaguar. And no.......my car has no problems with leaks but this issue has been discussed MANY times on various forums and the consensus is that should you develop an engine problem related to oil, then Jaguar can deny the warranty claim if they see that you have been using an oil which does not meet the Jaguar specs.

I for one do not like to gamble and there are many Jaguar owners who feel that overpaying for an oil change is good insurance should you develop a warranty issue down the road if your car is still under warranty.

Look......you bought an expensive car with expensive service related costs. Does it really pay to skimp on oil changes and use an oil that does not meet the Jaguar specs? There are many of us who believe that this is not a wise move. However, if you find another brand of synthetic oil which meets the Jaguar specs then by all means you should use it and keep receipts.

 

Shouldn't be a problem as the oil specs are published by Jaguar. Warranty? Jaguar included all fluid additions and changes during my 5 year warranty. What year is your car?

 

MLeskovar,

My car is a 2015 XF 3.0 SC AWD. No maintenance included except that they covered the first oil change for free. I believe that they started the free maintenance for like 5 years or so in MY 2016 and up.

 

I believe you want the X250 forum. I see where you've been posting there about your oil. Also after reading a bit about Jaguar and oil recommendations it appears they like to keep it a mystery for some unknown reason. I still have years left on my included service but when that time arrives .... if I don't upgrade to a newer Jag by then .... I would be OK with a $135 oil change. I certainly won't follow the "once a year" recommendation since I only drive about 5k miles/year and instead have my oil analyzed for properties. My days of DIY oil changes are done but I still think I do a better job than someone else and I like to poke around the engine looking for leaks/weeps and such. Any independents in your area?

 

Mleskovar,

Yes, there are a few indy's in my area (well kind of they are all about a 45 minute drive) but when I contacted them they gave me more or less the same price quote as the dealer so I went to the dealer.

You see the indy's that I spoke with did not have the Mighty Vac equipment as dealers do to extract the old oil. Now.......there is an ordinary drain plug on the XF but to access it one needs to remove the undercarriage cover which as I am told has about 15 screws that need to come out and then be replaced after the oil is changed. I don't know why many of the indy's don't invest in a vacuum and vacuum the old oil out like the dealers do. Doing it the old fashioned way causes much more labor to the price of an overall oil service. I think that the vacuum pumps can be purchased for $100 or less and that any indy who works on these cars should have one. I am also told that to replace the filter is no big deal and can be easily accessed from the top of the engine bay. You are right tho. My days of getting under cars are pretty much over. Thanks for notifying me about the forum. I will change this. I appreciate you pointing this out.

 

In CT, about $110.

 

Jaguar told me that they clean out the fuel injection system ie mine at 19000 miles because a lot of gas has ethanol which gums up injectors. They claim it is better to pay 200 bucks for the cleanout than 2500 bucks for new injectors. I don't have the energy to argue. they also replaced the differential hypoid oil which is supposed to be a special type which needs replacing. Again, I cant argue the point as I am not an auto tech. But, the cars runs beautifully and has been overall troublefree so far.

 

Just had one done in Tyler tx,.......2017 XF Supercharged V6,.......$130.00. 7.5 quarts 0/20 castrol synthetic & filter. Oil level check is non functional though. Any suggestions?

 

Correct procedure is to wait 15 minutes after engine is warmed up and off before checking. You can also check it before engine has been startedwarmed up.... push start/stop button without putting foot on brake and bring up the menu.

 

Many dealerships add a can of BG44K (fuel system and injector cleaner) to the fuel as part of their Jag service protocol, and that is odds on to be what you are paying $200 for. Simply buy a can yourself ($20 US???) instead.
As for oil, I have never used the special Castrol Unobtainium dyed brew in either my XFR or F-Type (exact same engine as the X260 V6 petrol), instead I have used the correct spec Aussie brand oil, either Penrite or Nulon, at a tiny fraction of the cost of what a JLR dealership would charge me for the Castrol brew.
In the F-Type I have diverged slightly from the recommended 0W-20 and instead I use 5W-20 as I live in a hot climate (40+ C the next few days here!) so 5W is plenty runny enough and the engine doesn't need 0W which is really meant for a cold climate. Also, 5W-20 is readily available here whilst 0W-20 is very hard to find (and costs a heap more!).
As for cost, I have always DIYed the oil and filter changes on both the XFR and F-Type and saved a bundle.
The oil I get on special at around $35 for 5 litres so call it $50 for a 7.25 litre fill, and the oil filters I get from Rock Auto for around $30 each, so my total cost for an oil and filter change is around $80 AU (= around $60 US at the moment).

 

I spent 55 oil Mobil 1 plus oil filter K&n

 

A dealership in Michigan asked $200 for oil change, 2016 XF Prestige 35t AWD.

 

I asked the other day what makes an oil change so expensive at the dealer versus others. They said they vacuum out the residual oil sitting in the pan. Hmmm.

 

You can do it yourself. I bought a vacuum pump on amazon for 80 bucks - the oil, the filter and the tool to remove the filter was still less than they wanted to change the oil once. The vacuum pump will beused over and over. Now I just pay for 8 qts of oil and the filter.

 

Yes, doing an oil and filter change on Ingenium engined XFs (and XEs) is very easy if you use an oil pump to get the old oil out via the dipstick tube (I use a PELA made in N Carolina), because the oil filter is accessed from the top of the engine. So there's no need to get under the car at all and no need to take off the undershield (which is fixed in place with 20 odd bolts!).
So the dealer who tried to justify his high price by claiming that "vacuuming residual oil from the oil pan" was something special was actually admitting that he was doing it the easy way.
I think oil and filter changes are seen by Jaguar dealerships as a profit center in their own right and the price they charge bears no relation to the actual work performed.

 

A 30-month old thread revival... Charging... Clear!

My mailbox just rcvd a nice color Jaguar postcard offering a $150 oil change!

Interesting in that my next "free annual/16k mile" oil change is exactly 6 months/8,000 miles away..

Now, why would a 20,000 mile oil need changing so soon?
(Longevity of timing chain guides is a major reason, right?)

I could not find any retailer that sells Castrol's 51.5122 0w-20 Professional Edge E.. The "Professional E" designation being the market differentiator.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/castrol-edge-professional.230037/post-3622402

Also can't find if that distinction includes something to help protect those chain guides over the years.

If so, then only using the dealer-only oil is appropriate IMHO.

Not trying to convince any self-wrencher from DIY, just adding research to the thread.

Blackstone will get a sample of my 16k oil in November and I'll post their findings here.

At 43k miles, my 3.0L is young enough to yield a good, stable baseline of metal wear figures for us to discuss.

After my 60k/5year EliteCare ends, that $150 Coupon seems quite reasonable if the Blackstone report looks good this Fall.

 

Castrol Edge Professional E 0w-20 to Jaguar spec 51.5122 is available in the UK from a few specialist oil retailers. It is very expensive at £12.50 per liter (about $16.50 per US Quart) and I do wonder if it actually differs from the regular Castrol Edge 0w-20. I suspect it doesn't and that it's just a money making scheme cooked up by Jaguar and Castrol. Nevertheless I've gritted my teeth and paid for the Jag spec stuff when doing my own oil changes so as not to jeopardize the warranty - it's still way cheaper than getting a dealer to do it and I know it's done right with the correct oil.