So, I had my '01 XK8 into Jaguar for an oil change and mentioned I had some vibration in the steering wheel. The service advisor said he'd have the mechanic check it out. About 45 minutes later he comes to the visitor waiting area with a list of things that were needed:
Lower Front Control Arm Bushings, Front Upper Ball Joints, Front Spring Mount, Spring Assister and a power steering feed hose. Total: $3777.86.

I told him that I would get back to him. Then I went to a guy who specializes in Jaguars not far from my home and asked him to check the suspension. Turns out I needed to have the wheels balanced. Total: $58.00 The control arms, ball joints, etc. were fine. Yikes! The dealership was about to rip me off big time. I'm wondering if I should file a complaint with someone about this or just never go back to the dealership again...or both.

 

File a report with the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce, if the Chamber takes those reports. Unethical business practices, and downright stealing, should be exposed to the widest possible extent.

 

Good idea. Actually, I was even thinking about the FL Attorney General. I'm stunned that they were going to try and take me for that much money. And if they would do it to me...

 

The attorney general and as many other places as are available. Possibly there is a list of good and bad dealers and independents in your area on the internet, and putting the information on this forum gives it wide circulation also.

 

Imagine that--a dealer coming up with a humongous quote for things you didn't really need!

My experience with using the dealer for other make cars I have owned has been mixed. They quote "book" prices (based on published estimates of the hours needed for a particular repair) but try to crank the work out in half the time. Worse, the service writers generally get paid or promoted based on how much extra work they can sign up (we had a friend who had been a mechanic for Honda/Acura and they "promoted" him to service advisor, and he told us what goes on).

I have always had consistently better experiences from the local independent types of places.

Doug

 

Took my '02 in to the dealer 2 days before the factory extended warranty expired for wheel vibration (new ContiSports). Their answer was tire balance, nothing wrong with the suspension.

Never been able to eliminate that vibration after wheels measured true and 3 balance efforts, 2 of which were Hunter force balance.

Works both ways, I guess.

 

I think it has something to do with how much the dealer gets back from the manufacturer for warranty work. With my BMW and Corvette, there were times where I swear the dealer was doing all sorts of extra "under warranty" work that was not really needed (e.g., trans replacement on the BMW) and it always seemed suspicious to me.

Doug

 

did anyone think to ask and be shown whats wrong and why they were recommending. and just because the other guy didnt recommend it doesnt meen he's right either. most likly the upper front shock mounts on your car are bad. the mount compresses a thick foam bushing that degrades with more time than mileage.
there are 2 ways to ck. the bushing is visible around the nut for the upper shock mount and if its off center and cracked its bad. also shine a flashlight up into the upper mount area above the front springs and see if theyre cracking and collapsed or getting there. I just did 4 sets in the last 2 wks on 01-03's and everyone of them were shot and totally collapsed witch drops the front about 3/4" and brings the neg camber in too far. and the last 2 i recommended they get shocks at the same time since they were leaking and it was no addditional labor. both agreed..Ive gotten lots of XK's in for this over the years that other shop trying to align them couldnt and recommended all kinds of stuff like springs, offset camber bolts etc...
maybe before you condemn the diag you should ask to be shown why they recommended.........then you can decide. I never ever have a problem showing someone why I recommend a repair and even prefer it

 

Brutal,

I would appreciate following up with your comments if you don't mind.

My only objective is to get a rock solid ride that I had with a 110k mile '00 XK8 with new Michelins and a dealer rebuilt front end. My '02 with 46k miles and 6k mile ContiSports is not nearly as good.

When I bought the car last September the previous owner installed the new ContiSports and had the front end aligned as part of the deal. Hunter printed alignment results within specs. Have had 70 mph steering wheel vibration that 3 balance efforts, including 2 that were Hunter Force Balance, have not affected. While we did not use a dial micrometer to measure the wheels, none vary any noticeable amount by eye when mounted on the balance machine.

My best efforts at measuring ride height with a carpenter's level and square is 15 1/8" on each side. I believe the curb spec is 15 3/4". While the top shock bolts are not exactly centered, they are to the outside of the adjustment range, there is no noticeable tearing or other distortion from the top side. Too late, too old to climb up to the bottom side.

When I took it to the dealer that had serviced it for the PO for 3 years, the invoice stated that there was nothing wrong with the front end. The Tech verbally added ' . . . replace the ContiSports with Michelins'.

Any comments would be appreciated. Yes, I know, you do not have a crystal ball.

 

well the reason I brought the upper mount issue up is its a commonly missed issue. And I dont like the way alot of people align either. And 03 and stypes have different alignment specs after alot of complaining o Jag that their specs wear out the inside of front tires due to insufficent toe in. They changed them increasing toe in. The old compared to the new show the old really toed out in the red from where they should be..The old specs are still in alot of machines and then too alot of techs dont know to select the correct specs. Also the 04 and up XJ8 has the same issue but no updated specs. Everytime I do a XJ 04^ I end up toeing the cars into the red for too much toe in. But my alignments dont wear the insides. If more tech would align all cars like Mercedes recommends on their cars theyde have more accurate alignments for each individual car...Mercedes recommends installing a "Pressor bar" inbetween the front tires to push out on the tire(toe out) this simulates whats your tires do when you drive down the road.. The road tries to push out the tires when driving and the more play you have in the suspension the more they toe out and the more you have to toe in with a static setting on the alignment machine. Basically I adjust the toe in then push out on the inside of the tire at the same time(or youll push the steering wheel offcenter) if it doesnt go into the middle or goes too far toed out I give it more toe in to comphensate for suspension play...
This doesnt meen this is your issue but a good proper alignment does alot. If you have bushing, tie rod, ball joint play, etc they too will let the tire move around (shimmy on the road). I got caught with a friend of mines XK8 on the same issue after I replaced all his bushings and upper mount. There was still a shimmy (although less than to start) and after balancing and another alignment that I tried a different setting didnt work. I even tightened the preload slightly on the rack. I had checked all upper bushing and couldnt get movement, however I decided to replace the upper a arm bushings since they had rust staining around them and this can be caused by metal to metal contact...sure enough when I pulled out the upper a arm bushing they where collapsed and bad..after I replaced those the front end was tight and no more shimmy....You may not have these issue, but like I always say. Its like going to the Doctor to try to fix a illness. Lets try this and see if it works, its not always a bullseye the first time but multiple attempts...at least we dont bury our patients..

 

Brutal,
I checked the upper shock mounts based on your instructions. The appear to be fine. Also, the wheel balance that was done dramatically reduced the steering wheel vibration. The folks who did the balance did say the front tires were uneven on the inside. When they showed me, I could feel an uneven wear as I ran my hand down the inside of the tire. So maybe I do have some suspension issues. Still, I'm not sure I want to go back to that dealership for the diagnosis. Maybe I'll try another dealership. Thanks for the info. I'll report back afterwards.

 

Sorry it took so long to get this figured out. Haven't had much time lately. Anyway, I stopped at Alpine Jaguar in Ft Lauderdale yesterday and had the car checked out. They said I needed to flush the brake system and replace the lower control arm bushings. Everything else was "in great shape." So, it has been checked now by two dealerships, one jag independent and one tire/suspension place. The two dealerships agree on lower control arm bushings but the first dealer had a long list of front end stuff the second dealer didn't find. I'm back to thinking dealer #1 is trying to bump revenue in a somewhat unethical manner.

 

Chazaroo, once that inside tire edge has been feathered like that, no getting around it until you change tires. Mine is exactly like yours. Now, I just keep it from going any farther by requesting an alignment every 3-4 months, where as brutal suggests, almost toed in out of spec. It has helped a great deal on the inside wear. It is no more torn up than it was about 15,000 miles ago. Status quo is my best bet from now on (until new tires are needed)

I've also had alot of the suspension parts replaced as brutal has mentioned in his posts. Upper shock mounts, lower shock bushing, and all 4 control arm bushings on each side. I have a slight vibration at high speeds in the steering wheel as well. I'm guessing it needs another tire balancing to eliminate it again, plus the installer informed me of a damaged wheel before these tires got mounted (can't remember if it was front or rear since they goofed and put one of the staggered wheels on the wrong end initially). Its barely noticable, but there.

The first dealer may be relying on a 'sweeping' front end bushing and suspension parts replacement, as perhaps in his experience, a bushing here or there may not fix the outlying symptom, which is difficult to diagnose. Knowing these mounts and bushings will wear/crack/degrade sooner than later anyway from his experience (and I concur), if he can convince you to replace a multitude of these parts, he'll be more likely able to improve your ride... and you won't return unhappy and throwing one part at it at a time, which will cost you more in labor in the long run. I'm sure that is the method to the madness in this case.

 

Matt,
It could be that's what dealer number one was doing. But I'd still rather replace things as needed than spend a bunch of dough (in this economy) on stuff that isn't actually necessary. Paying $550 to dealer number two sounds more palatable than $3700 and change to dealer number one.

 

I understand chaz, big difference and the risk vs reward may be acceptable. I hope it works out for you.