Hello,

Factory warranty is due for expiration in a month on my 2007 Jaguar VDP.
I asked the folks at the dealership where I bought my car from whether I should buy new warranty. They advised not to, as the car, they said, is well built and generally should not have any major problems.

I tend to trust their oppinion, however, exersizing due diligence, I wonder what do experienced Jaguar owners think about buying extended warranty?

As a note, I am a careful driver with mild driving habits, and pretty exact with car's maintenace schedule.

Thank you in advance for replies.

Cornel,

Toronto, Canada.

 

The main question is now long have you had the car ? Has it been OK in that time ?

As the dealer says, these are a well built car, but can suffer from certain "issues", like the air suspension compressor, and one or two other things. The suspension arms have bushes that can and do wear out, but if they do, this will be put down as wear-and-tear, and will not be replaced on warranty. Reason this is an issue is not the service life, which is fairly OK, but the cost of replacements from Jaguar, but the after market seems to have now stepped in on this one with much cheaper parts, at least here in the UK they have.

Have you had to spend money on anything apart from servicing ?

 

Hello, Fraser,

Thanks for your reply!

I haven't yet spent money on repairs, though I only bought the car in March '11.

The argument of the dealership against buying warranty was that the money spend on warranty could be eventually spent on fixing things, if things break. But it could also happen that things won't break.

Aside from the suspension brushes, is there anything I should pay closer attention to in respect of maintenance, monitoring and regular check-ups?

Thank you.

Best,

Cornel

 

One thing to remember is that the warranties are not fixed priced like they might tell you. You can bargain with them. Walk in to any Ford dealer and price their Premium warranty on you Jag and use that as leverage. The Ford warranty is good at the Jag dealer (or almost any repair shop). Any extended warranty is MUCH cheaper while your car is still under original warranty. Soon as it's out, the price jumps.

 

the real question is how long ro you plan on keeping the car?I can tell you now,I have a 2004 vpd loaded and have pics posted and also 2004 xjr pics posted also..I have worked as a jaguar mechanic and do all the work on mine..I can tell you its well worth the warranty....case and point..one comfort ride shock from Jaguar is 1300.00 and the wabco suspension pump is 1600.00 not including labor.Rear end hub replacement is 500 to 600. .spark plug change is about 350 bucks..Your 90k mile tune up is like 1600.00 I can go on..But if you plan on keeping the car for a while its well worth the warranty..

 

Already depressed ? Well, lets have a closer look at this.........

Air spring unit (includes the shock, remember) - $1600 = around £890. OK, well here's a UK supplier of original Jaguar units for around £640 = $1036. Still a lot but not $1600.

Jaguar XJ - X350 - XJR--Steering-Suspension

Air suspension compressor - $1600. I can't believe this one, as I had mine replaced at a UK Jaguar main agent last November with cost of the compressor on service exchange £273 = $442. However, I got 10% off as car is over 4 years old and they have a "club" for owners of older cars. Supplier above has brand new ones for £299 = $484. Fitting by an experienced mechanic - 30 minutes. Don't Jaguar North America supply service exchange compressors ? If they don't buy new from the aftermarket; they are easy to fit.

Rear-end hub - $500-600 = around £310-370. Sounds a lot just for a hub with bearing, but what component is being replaced exactly ? Supplier above has the hub carrier for £100 = $162 The hub itself is a bit of a puzzle as the rear suspension is mostly common with the S-Type so probably the hub is too. This is used on the Ford equivalent to the S-Type in the US, a Lincoln, I believe.

Spark plug change is not a warranty item, but a set of 8 spark plugs at around $10 each gives me $80, so where does the $350 come from? The $350 has to include labour, I would have thought, so labour is $350-80=270. Probably right for a main agent, but don't forget plugs are only due every 70k miles or 7 years, although I would not leave mine in that long in case they seize in.

90k service $1600 = £1175 and also not a warranty item, find a Jaguar specialist to do the maintenance rather than an expensive main dealer. For what it's worth, my 70k service at a main dealer cost £330 before our UK tax at 20%, Yes, it really is that much !! My dealer also gives 25% off the labour for cars over 4 years old as well as the parts reduction. I see the spark plugs were priced at £4.20=$6.80

I think all of us running these cars accept that many of the parts prices are high. They reflect the price of the car when new, but over time, the aftermarket tend to offer parts at lower prices that are the faster movers. So the wear-and-tear items needed regularly tend to be supplied, including the suspension parts as the ball joints do wear out eventually.

 

I have had extended warranties and I have never used the amount I paid for the warranty, but if the tranny or the ABS unit or the ECM gave up or similar, I would come out way ahead. A warranty is just gambling, like the stock market or the dog track (same thing except at the track, at least you can see your dog!).

 

I would not go so far as to call it gambling, but the principle of insurance applies which is - "the many pay for the few" - actually a bit like gambling, I suppose, think of a lottery !

 

If you are going to keep the car....get the warranty. Worth the piece of mind.