Complaining to Jag main dealer

[MikeM]

Thanks all.
Confirmed my thoughts that’s it’s prob not worth the effort.
Lost faith in jag dealers to be honest. I’ve had dealings with 3 different ones in the last year, and they’ve all been bad in their own way.

Are other brands like Porsche any better?

Don’t think the Brand matters it’s the individual dealer that makes the difference. Been using Dick Lovett for Porsche and Mini for many years and have great service, although some other Porsche owners have had poor experiences elsewhere. Also heard of a number of complaints re JLR dealers. I have three JLR dealers near to me, the furthest is Melksham which is also a DL site, was planning to use them for service unless you tell me that that’s the one that serviced your car

[shatnersbassoon]

Thanks all.
Confirmed my thoughts that’s it’s prob not worth the effort.
Lost faith in jag dealers to be honest. I’ve had dealings with 3 different ones in the last year, and they’ve all been bad in their own way.

Are other brands like Porsche any better?

Don’t think the Brand matters it’s the individual dealer that makes the difference. Been using Dick Lovett for Porsche and Mini for many years and have great service, although some other Porsche owners have had poor experiences elsewhere. Also heard of a number of complaints re JLR dealers. I have three JLR dealers near to me, the furthest is Melksham which is also a DL site, was planning to use them for service unless you tell me that that’s the one that serviced your car

The 3 I've used in the last year are:

Sytner Bristol which was where I bought the car.
Shortly after picking the car up I had an engine warning light which turned out to be an O2 sensor. They wanted the car in for the day but didn't have any courtesy cars so I had to organise time off work/lifts back and forth to Bristol etc. They didn't start looking at the car until 4pm and then discovered they didn't have the part so the car wouldn't be ready till the next day. The work was carried out under warranty, so nothing to pay. But they did keep me waiting for over an hour to pick up it the next day.

A couple of weeks later I had an engine warning light again. Diagnosed by jag assist as an O2 sensor. The same sensor that Sytner replaced.
Booked in to DL Melksham this time as it's my closest dealer. They couldn't look at the car for a couple of months, but ultimately diagnosed that Sytner had replaced the wrong O2 sensor.

I used Grange in Swindon for a service and the wheel alignment. Melksham were about £400 more expensive for the same service compared to Grange, and could see the car within a couple of weeks, and could do it before our Swiss trip.
They were actually decent to deal with until I realised they don't own a torque wrench.

On the way back from getting an independent specialist to tighten up my nuts yesterday, I did pop in to Swindon Porsche to have a look.
They seemed a bit more friendly and efficient that the Jag dealers I've experienced so far.

[shatnersbassoon]

Fair rant, but be proactive!

Definitely worth letting the dealer and JLR customer relations know. I think it is a responsible move to flag it up.

I have had excellent work carried out (not without the odd fubar) because I put the effort in to forge a relationship with the dealer, so if/when and if things did go belly-up, I had extra leverage, and yes, it worked.
I rejected my first F-Type new F and got it replaced with a newly built one, just like that, not to mention other warranty works.

If you don't bother doing anything, they certainly won't be motivated to at least investigate it.
I would do it, a) for the personal satisfaction and b) to hopefully stop another customer having the same issue!

Phone call or two away, no brainer to me.

As you say, maybe worth letting them know to hopefully stop it happening to someone else.
I'm sure most Jag drivers would notice something like that before it the steering failed, but I guess it could still cause some serious stability issues.

[Tel]

If it's any consolation, back in 2015, there was a safety recall to address....yes, you guessed it....track rod end lock nuts not tightened to the specified torque.
And that's from the factory.

Mistakes happen, we're all human, your experience is inexcusable, that's why IMO it's even more important to flag with JLR.

[Jaguandy]

Shatner, as you're in the area, try Mike Allen Services near Swindon Station. They've been excellent for me over many Jaguar years. Just not as pretty as main dealers.

[shatnersbassoon]

Shatner, as you're in the area, try Mike Allen Services near Swindon Station. They've been excellent for me over many Jaguar years. Just not as pretty as main dealers.

Actually, they were the ones who tightened everything back up yesterday.
I’ve always used them in the past, they’re always great, but since this car has a FSH, I was just using the dealers for servicing and warranty work.

[Ratboiler]

As a matter of interest my wife's Merc needed a 4 wheel check when we noticed one tyre wearing more than the rest. I took it to a local garage who advised they could only do a 2 wheel check and I should take the car to Kwickfit who did have the facilities and if the car was within tolerance there would be no charge.
I booked the car into Kwickfit who checked it and advised it was within tolerance, issued me the paperwork for each wheel and charged zero.
On the cars next service the Merc garage confirmed what Kwickfit had said all was OK.

[shatnersbassoon]

As a matter of interest my wife's Merc needed a 4 wheel check when we noticed one tyre wearing more than the rest. I took it to a local garage who advised they could only do a 2 wheel check and I should take the car to Kwickfit who did have the facilities and if the car was within tolerance there would be no charge.
I booked the car into Kwickfit who checked it and advised it was within tolerance, issued me the paperwork for each wheel and charged zero.
On the cars next service the Merc garage confirmed what Kwickfit had said all was OK.

I've always avoided Kwikfit after a bad experience when they drained the oil and then realised they didn't have any replacement oil.
That was 25 years ago though in an old MR2, so they're probably a lot better these days.

Funny how one bad experience with a brand can change your opinion of it for a long time though.

[scm]

Funny how one bad experience with a brand can change your opinion of it for a long time though.

My independent's motto is "it take years to build a reputation and minutes to lose it".

[Jaguandy]

Same with Halfords. I've never taken any of my cars there because of a poor reputation. This year I ferried someone else's car there for some work they'd booked and was very impressed with the service and knowledge there. The tech I dealt with was superb, dealt with a tricky problem, not one of the expected yoofs with only basic knowledge.