Looking for a local independent shop to work on the green beast so I stopped at one the other day and asked for a price quote on the four year service for my 2015 XJL and I thought you guys and gals would find this interesting. I was quoted a price of $57.25 apiece for the HVAC seat filters for the car and a total of $114.50 for two. That was just the parts price quote and not the labor to install. I can buy the same part for $17.68 apiece on Ebay delivered to the house. It is stuff like this that I find entertaining and why the public thinks most auto dealers and repair shops are a bunch of crooks.

 

MV Rider, I hear you. I asked a local tranny shop to do a fluid change on my 2012 XJ. he said that it would be $250, but I needed to provide the fluid and the filter as he was not able to get them. I am thinking I am going to buy the specialty tools and just do it myself. I know it is not that hard to do a tranny fluid change and will make it so the next fluid change is going to be just the cost of the fluid and pan.

 

Thermo, go for it! Changing out the pan and fluid is really not difficult at all.

 

XJ8JR, the one thing that I would like to see if I can find is a pan that may handle an extra quart or two of fluid. This would help to keep the fluid temps down and in theory atleast, make the tranny last longer. I have done some looking, but so far, I have not found a pan with extra capacity. Kinda like I would love to find a metal pan. I found one, but it actually took away a quart of fluid, which is going against what I am wanting. So, if you know where I can get a high capacity pan for a 6hp28 tranny, I would appreciate it.

 

For the 6 speed ZF people have used Lincoln Navigator pans. They are metal but I don't know about the fluid capacity changes?
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They're "crooks" because it'll cost a more to have the work done by them than it would if you bought the parts and did it yourself?

Is a business owner obligated to provide an item or service in the least expensive way possible? And, if he doesn't, he's disparaged as "a crook"?

If you're shopping for a new Jag and get four prices on the same car at four different dealers, is the lowest price dealer 'honest' and the three higher priced dealers "crooks"?

I object !

Cheers
DD

 

Perhaps crook is too strong a word to use but in some ways I think assuming someone is stupid and trying to take advantage of them in the manner I described is worse.The bad thing about doing something like this in today's atmosphere is that you can get a lot of free advertising that you do not want. I will not name the shop that tried to play me for a sucker because as a retired army officer I do not play the game that way but it is here in Raleigh, NC. and I will leave it at that. I will say that it is a stupid business practice.

 

Then why use it?

I can go to the market and buy a nice steak for $15.00 and cook it myself

Or I can go to a nice steakhouse and pay $49.00 for a steak dinner

Am I stupid?

Does the steakhouse think I'm stupid?

If I buy the $49.00 dinner, has the steakhouse taken advantage of me?


Too true. In the auto repair business a happy customer will usually tell 1-3 people about his experience. An unhappy customer will generally tell 6-8 people.


Pricing yourself out of the market is never a good business practice

What are other shops charging for the filters? Did you make a couple calls? What does the dealer charge?

Is the shop in question busy, with all service bays full? If so, he's doing something right, even if you feel your intelligence has been insulted. At the end of the day it comes down to whatever the market will bear, just like any other business.

If the shop is struggling for business then there are probably a lot of customers who feel the work is poor or too expensive. Or both.

A good shop will pay attention to pricing strategy but some don't. Typically simple services and parts are priced very low and heavier/complicated services repairs much higher....ending up with an overall effective strategy. But, if a shop is really good, or really specialized, it can charge more with few complaints. I've never heard of a shop becoming successful by selling all parts and services at the absolute cheapest possible price. And it's accepted that, no mater what, there will always be a few customers who feel victimized or cheated.

Sorry about jumping all over this. But I spent 30 years in the business and the willingness to people to equate high priced with dishonest has always touched a nerve with me.

Cheers
DD

 

I agree that Jaguar parts pricing is terrible. It isn’t necessarily the shop that is ripping you off, it’s Jaguar. An independent shop generally gets ~20%-30% discount on all parts, so they do make money on parts. If they are really shrewd, they will know all the equivalent OEM or Landrover part numbers but still charge you for the Jag part price.

However Jaguar-supplied seat filters are around that price ($40). They should cost only $2, but Jaguar sets the price much higher. That’s why I am a member of this forum, to find out how to keep my Jag running well as economically as possible.

BTW if you get the ones without filter material supposedly they won’t ever require replacement again. I think it’s Motorcraft FS-106. They just act as a physical barrier to protect the fan.

 

I appreciate you spent 30 years in the buisness but there is high priced and then there is gouging. I could care less what these guys think they can charge for this filter but I am not going to pay it. I spent 36 years in the Army as an officer and I am amazed at the civilians who think all we did was run around in the woods and yelled bang bang. I have been responsible for maintaining main battle tanks and I can assure you they are a lot more complicated to maintain than any car ever made so I am not going to play games with somebody like this.

 

The OP was strictly talking about the price of the part, not about the cost of having someone else change the part. Which is why your steak/restaurant analogy won't work. If a franchised restaurant was willing to actually sell you a raw steak to take home with you, due to the way they probably do inventory and accouting, they probably would charge you the same amount as if you sat down in their restaurant and they cooked it for you. If the local shop charged the same amount for the part whether you installed it or they installed, you probably wouldn't hear the same complaint. No, they are charging significantly more for just the part, without any labor charge included.

That being said, it is possible that the local dealer uses a supplier that is more expensive than what the OP can find in other locations. In my current location, the local guy I use gets his parts from the Jaguar dealer. He does good work, so I just buy my parts elsewhere, and bring the parts to him for installation.

 

As soon as I see the word CROOK in a post, I know it's not going to go well. This thread has deteriorated more rapidly than most of its ilk to disparage Jaguar, Jaguar dealers, independents and anyone who is even trying to make a living selling parts.

It's tedious, repetitive and becoming insulting.

ENOUGH - THREAD CLOSED

Graham