I own a 2003 Model XKR purchased from new in United Kingdom and exported it to Malaysia where I reside now.

My vehicle's latest (4th) gearbox was replaced under Jaguar CAWR in May 2008 and showed the exact same defects that the previous three gearboxes had.

ALL FOUR (4) gearboxes installed into the car have shown the exact "squawking/ooking" noise during 'kick-down'. In addition to the "squawking/ooking" noise during kick-down, this 'new' gearbox also now exhibits problems of lurching and rough noisy gearshifts.

Two warrantee replacements had been carried out under the car's own natural 3 year warrantee given from date of purchase (in 2005 and in 2006 respectively); and then another replacement carried out under CAWR after more than a year's battling with Jaguar to do the right thing.

After my 2nd replacement gearbox failed, I was momentarily relieved when Jaguar finally backed down from their illegal and unethical stand that "the gearbox was replaced under the vehicles original warrantee, therefore said gearbox does not carry its own warrantee; any warrantee covering that this gearbox ended when the vehicles natural three (3) year warrantee expired".

I had to legally threaten before a 3rd gearbox replacement (i.e. vehicle's third gearbox) was done under Jaguar C.A.W.R.

Now I am being told under no uncertain terms by Jaguar that the JAGUAR C.A.W.R. replacement transmission/gearbox would constitute the final replacement under warrantee irrespective of whether the 'new' gearbox fails or not because it was no longer economically viable for Jaguar to continue replacing said part. This was not acceptable and after much argument Jaguar gave me a letter rendering a 6 months warrantee on the latest replacement gearbox. Despite, their letter and the fact that not even 3 months after the warrantee replacement I had wrote in to say that my gearbox had failed again, Jaguar still maintains their attitude which is to ignore my claim. To make matters worse, Jaguar now canvass that all the gearboxes were in fact never defective; they stated that the "warrantee replacements should not be taken as an admittance of a defect but rather only as a good-will gesture"?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

UK's AutoCar Magazine published an article where a similar situation was suffered by an Audi owner. The ruling as stated by AutoCar Magazine's article which referred to a court ruling that "a gearbox should last the lifetime of the car" which was determined to be at least 6 years. The Audi owner recieved a brand new car as a result of his going public with the info and embarrassing Audi's reputation. I wonder if I will have to resort to the same?

I plead one final time, Mr. Ratan Tata (Jaguar Cars Ltd.) please help restore my faith in Jaguar...

SAJAC41R333A32903

 

Ouch, what a horror story! It is SO unfair to buy a very expensive car that can potentially give so much joy to the owner.................and then have it spoiled by this kind of bad luck! Is this a known issue with 2003 models? I had thought that the newer trannys were supposedly a pretty big improvement. It is incredible that you would experience the same issue time after time after time!
Good luck,
Brian

 

I find it very hard to believe all four could fail, unless they were replacing with substandard parts. Something else must be contributing.

 

Yeah I find that very hard to believe as well. Short of racing uphill towing a boat and bouncing off the rev limiter the whole time, there is really no reason 4 gearboxes should have failed. That's remarkable. Your luck is worse than mine.

 

Interesting wake up call for me.

I have had a similar noise in my 2003 XK8 coupe and was about to zero in on JagtechOhio. This seems to be almost a lower frequency chirp that occurs on kick down of the automatic transmission and I believe plain hard acceleration (have not verified that part). Sport mode or not it is the same story but does noise does not occur if shifting manually. This is not a tire chirp. I thought it was transmission bands needing adjustment but that made no sense with normal shifting in manual mode.

Do I proceed directly to dealer before certified warranty expires on drive train?

I'm afraid my automatic transmission experience is minimal.

Steven (1avguy)

 

I don't have any experience with the six speed. Here is all I know, courtesy of BRUTAL:

02-15-2009, 04:53 PM
BRUTAL
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SUGAR LAND TEXAS
Posts: 1,243



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

there are bulletins for ZF slamming in gear, reflash and clear addatations and an additive for 1X use for noise. I would do both and since you had a new pan which is the filter, you got a good drain and refill. I would push these issues and I dont remember but I though you said you have sellect edition which if memory serves me does cover these bulletins. and if not get a new trans under select if these dont fix your problem cause you have an issue with clutch apply and pressures. But as with many issue these days I/O 100111000 are alot of the issue and fixes......Im speaking computer software issues here
__________________
JAGUAR MASTER TECH
ASE MASTER TECH
NO I DONT HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL

 

I think this means go to dealer, pitch a bitch to get it fixed under certified warranty and don't be surprised if it is a software adjustment.

Thanks!

By the way JagtechOhio intuition regarding interaction of throttle with FI as opposed to brake with cams proves to match observations and I am so glad. Simpler the better.

Thanks again!
Steven (1avguy)

 

Hi Guys,

Give it 21 days and come back. Either I'll have something to praise Jaguar about, or you'll be able to read a very interesting post of how bad things really have deteriorated over the last 6 years in owning this car. I mean I do not want to rubbish Jaguar, after all I bought into the brand myself on three occasions one XJ 3.2 (1995), one XK8 (2002) and then I upgraded to this XKR in 2003. But the rubbish I have had to endure is just not British!

In the last 20 years of I've also owned a Porsche 993 C4 & SLK 230 Kompressor (1999), Mercedes Benz SL 55 AMG (2004), Porsche 968 Clubsport (1995), Mercedes Benz CLK 320 (2001), BMW 528iSE (1998), Ferrari F355 (1997), Jeep Cherokee 4.0 (1996), BMW 323 Coupe (1994), BMW 328iSE (1994), Mercedes Benz SL 320 (1992), Toyota MR2 (1991), BMW 520 (1990), Mitsubishi Lancer 2.5 (1988), Volvo 940GL (1986).

None have given me this kind of headache. I mean, there was an occasion in Slough, Berkshire (UK) where a bike had grazed the side of my Merc SLK230 Kompressor. The door was resprayed and did not match the rest of the car. My complaint was met with no less than 5 persons from Mercedes all standing around my car saying that they do not see what my problem was. When a photograph was sent to germany, the factory sent a paint specialist with some electronic device to measure paint difference (wow I never even knew that there was such a thing?!?!?!). Anyway the gadjet immediately saw the problem and the factory authorized a new spray job that worked out fine... could have been easier if they'd just be honest, now we have machines that do that I guess.

BMW sold a 7 series to my mom and the car would whine in the wind at certain angles against the car. No one believed it despite hearing it clearly, so another device was brought in to measure in car -dB, that proved to be correct and they replaced her with a brand new car immediately.

I read the slogan "jaguar client's strive for excellence"... well, something has gone wrong, for sure, for sure.

6 years and my car has been in the garage for 2½ years and no improvements, but huge bills... come back in 3 weeks and we'll see the reaction from Jaguar Cars Limited to my last plea letter sent yesterday.

 

Hi there JagTechOhio,

Yeah, I have had the car in so many times to Jaguar Dealers here in Malaysia and in Singapore.

They did everything they could (initially thinking that the sound was a result of air leakage in the gearbox). Then referred to the Jaguar Dealer internal memos titled "the ZF Gearbox trouble shooting guide".

Jaguar got two technicians from UK via Jaguar Land Rover South East Asia Regional HQ. The Jag techi's came out and checked the problem. They then arranged for all the warrantee replacements (after much arguing and legal threatening). The ZF 6HP26 gearbox and its variants used for the XK's are built and supplied "as-is". A gearbox failure on these models means means total replacement, period. Any modifications or attempts to "re-condition" the gearbox could quite frankly breach the manufacturers advise for use and could render the ZF part of the warrantee null and void.

Jaguar tried everything in the book to avoid a warrantee replacement but they also technically failed to show any improvement with the problem. They changed software programs, flushed the transmission oil, changed the gearbox mounting, etc.; you name it, they did it to the tune of 2½ years in the workshop over the last 6 years I owned the car.

That's why 3 warrantee replacements over the original gearbox that came with the car in the first place = 4 gearboxes.

1Aveguy, if you're having problems with chirping/ooking/squawking noises, you better get on to the warrantee. Mine happens even with manual mode (down shifting gears). If you have any resistance, quote my chassis number if you need. There are a few of us that have experienced this issue including lurching and noisy metallic noise downshifts (usually in car parks when one is driving slowly).

What about constant rattling from rear suspension area - light knocking over bumpy roads - its just non stop. I had this from the day i bought the car and its got worse over the years; not one Jaguar dealership has been able to identify and remedy the problem.

Similarly with the Xenon lights flickering - 6 new batteries after 6 years and they're still flickering.

Squeaking seats anyone?

Squeaking suspension anyone?

Rough idle with engine ticking and knocking anyone?

 

Hey there White STR,

Its a performance car... but I've only driven to a max of 145mph on a highway a few times. Having my two size 6 girlfriends as passengers is probably the biggest stress my XKR has had, let alone towing anything...

 

I am sorry to hear you are having such issues. You sound like you have more paitience than me. Jaguar has to get this fixed! Wow, is all I have to say.

 

Greetings Mr. Felix,

Yes, I would have expected that all external factors had been considered in your case: my post of BRUTAL'S synopsis was intended to answer 1avguy's inquiry.

Sorry to read of your travails, and I'm sure the legal foundation of your arguments are as sound as your abilities to communicate them. Best wishes for a satisfactory resolution.

 

dafelix,

Thanks for the heads up, i started new post on headlamp issue.

So far less than thirty days with mine, other problems have not been an issue.

I believe you may need to check out the karma thing. Swap a size twelve for those two size sixes. Did they share a seat or did you get one to ride in the trunk or is there story regarding limberness or amputation we do not want to hear on line? We all know the back seat is for briefcase, maybe the dog, but not 3Z's.

Regards,
Steven (1AVguy)

 

Hey Avguy, if your car is making a chirp/whoop sound when shifting under moderate to hard acceleration get to the dealership and have the problem well documented before the warranty is over. I went through the whole process of the additive to resolve the problem and then onto a new transmission and radiator. Thankfully I had the complaint well documented and warranty covered a new transmission and radiator at the cost of around $15,000.00 CDN .
dave

 

Ouch!

I will go in monday. My certified select edition warranty runs through October so I don't have a lot of time to find the bugs. Any other heads up for issues to watch out for would be great.

I just got it back after a week of arguing over headrests and rear 1/4 window trim. Want to at least get a complete list together.

Thanks again to all for the warnings.

Regards,
Steven (1avguy)

 

If you're using the classic seat design, watch for squeaky plastic seat cowlings (they rub together and cause incessant squeaking). Jaguar solution (spray lubricant) is not acceptable as the squeaking will return with a vengeance). Nothing solves this problem accept changing the seats or throwing out the plastic seat hinge covers (this was the final solution presented to me - so now I have beautiful car with ugly exposed hinges, but at least I don't get driven barmy by the squeaking... still waiting for Jaguar to replace my seats on this one... been waiting 6 years (plus 15 visits to the workshop) and finally they threw my plastic hinges out the window and told me my seats don't squeak anymore... luckily my the problem was not the main seat or that would have been thrown out wholesale and I'd have to sit on the floor or the back seat... (great for really tall guys, but I'm only 5'9".

Throttle body is another issue.

Steering column electric adjustment (easy entry) goes on the blink often.

Check all your front end suspension bushings.

Fuel pump.

Expansion Tank.

Rear Anti-roll bar links and bushings.

Rear suspension bushings.

All sensors pack-in with regularity (e.g. o2 sensor, damper sensors, CATS system, ABS sensors, DSC sensor and related pendulum.

Roof lining and trim can wrinkle or peel.

Wheel bearings.

Wheel logos fall off if you're in hot climate (plastic cracks). Same with wheel arches.

Check your engine for knocking or ticking (camshaft guides, tappets, etc.).

Engine belts and mounting bushes.

The list goes on, but these have been the usual issues with my car despite having only clocked 63,000 delicate miles - obviously I am being fleeced but the day of reckoning is drawing near for Jaguar.

 

dafelix,

Thanks for the check list, i want to exploit any warranteed items while I have the opportunity. I did pick up an after market warranty for the engine and drive train but sometimes they are about as fun to deal with on a standard basis as what I hope was an unusual lack of support from the manufacturer.

I have had a bit of round and round with the dealer trying to get a straight answer when asked which if desired repairs would be covered under warranty. They would not commit to anything without investigation by technician with a charge for technician services, to be credited against repair if not covered. We each dug our heels in, however, it came out that the diagnostic fee of $125 covered any problems I could list on the work order with the guarantee of identification of cause, even if not repaired. It was an intense week of interplay but the items I would expect to be covered were as well as several where it was "might as well ask".

I still have a few isssues to work on where I need to get the team going here:

1. attempt to pull trim around rear 1/4 glass back close to glass (these seem to pull away on coupes) was not successful and trim has ripples where they rried to heat it to reform the trim back against the window.
2. Sun visor mirror door springs are there but something has fallen out where they do not stay closed.
3. wind noise from top of wind shield. They siliconed perimeter seal but there is still wind noise.

I did have a heart to heart with service manager and either was fed a line pretty well or that the issues are with Jag as a manufacturer. Their claim was what is covered and what is not covered varies greatly from day to day from Jag corporate as well as varying based on how the question/failure is presented. This seemed somewhat consistant but did not hold water when I had the service bulletin number in my hand for one of the repairs given to me by another dealer as a courtesy.

Even though they are a pain. They did deliver on more of the issues than I originally expected and the last message I got from the service manager indicated they were aware the trim was not fixed and they would have the body shop see what they could do.

It was a far cry however from experience with the BMW we bought the week before (also used, certified, etc.) there was an outcry of embarrasment on their part of how could they miss a windshield air leak on the certification inspection with promise to resolve on next service visit as well as $50 coupon for service visit once we are in the period where we have to pay for service. I wonder if that has anything to do with how much less than original sticker I paid for my used Jag and the lack in drop in value on the BMW. Yes I do understand there is more of a youth market for old BMW's as hot rodding is a little easier, etc. but what a difference in customer care.

I am still under 35,000 miles but need to make this one last. Very appreciative for sharing your experience.

Regards,
Steven (1avguy)

 

Dave (brdave),

Did the additive solve the problem temporarily then noise came back or did it continue to make noise. Any details of how/when noise returned would be good background if it did provide only temporary solution.

Thanks again!
Steven (1avguy)

 

Hi Steve,

Not a problem with the check list buddy. A note about the sun visor mirror... there is a little spring that tends to fall out of place rendering the visor mirror cover loose and unable to retain itself closed/opened. I have had two replacement of the entire sun visor due to this spring "going missing" ... hmmmmm, one would have thought that a little spriing like that would be easily replaced, but of course Jaguar will take the route of hey why bother doing that, lets just change the whole sun visor part instead.

Jaguar is a shady outfit and Ratan Tata really needs to get his act together or he will suffer as Ford did when owning the marque. yes you're right about Mercedes and BMW being better after sales care and honesty about warrantee or parts replacement needs.

Jaguar recently asked me to change my entire axle because the right hand side flange seal was slightly leaking. An outside repairer almost fell off his chair when I told him what Jaguar said. The flange seal is like $120.00 and the axle is like $8,000.00... yah, sure of course Jag would prefer me change the whole axle instead of merely the affected part. Jaguar's excuse? They told me that if they changed my seal, it would not guarantee a good job done especially since I am a "particular customer", so better to change the whole axle "to avoid disappointment". UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

NO WONDER JAGUAR IS LOSING MARKET SHARE TO BMW AND MERCEDES. Ratan hopes that the new models will spark sales and interest... Ratan, let me tell you something - Jaguar cars have always been beautiful and attracted buyers, the loss of market share is in the after sales attitudes that lets the whole marque down.

Build reliable cars, be honest and take care of your clients and the rest will follow. All the history and all the reverence of the marque will amount to nothing if things carry on the way they are, if I were the Queen of England, I would withdraw my royal appointment to Jaguar pending a serious change in reliability and customer care attitude, but I guess the Queen being who she is would never be treated like the rest of us "plebeians".

Felix

 

According to the service manager they must use the additive before they can proceed with any other work. I was told that the additive can only be used once. If that did not resolve the issue, only then they could attempt to get authorization to replace the transmission under warranty. It really did not take long for the sound to return, probably less than 1000 miles. The Jaguar dealer here has always been excellent and they got authorization to do the work, even after the warranty had officially expired. Luckily for me the problem was clearly documented with them prior to the warranty expiration.
Good Luck
dave