Cadillac and Jaguar

[Jan Olsson]

Hi all!

A couple of months ago I purchased a 2005 Jaguar Super V8 (supercharged with 396 hp). I was planning on buying a STS-V but they are really rare and the banks here in Sweden are under the illusion that cars sold in Sweden are a safer bet than foreign sold cars, in other words they refuse to give a car loan if the car isn’t sold by an authorized Swedish dealer, as if they don’t scam (I know, that’s a real laugh). If you’re not planning on buying a car with cash from outside of Sweden then you’ll have a very limited amount of STS-Vs left. There were only 3 registered here in Sweden and only 1 of them for sale. Anyway I was looking for a reliable car with reasonable spare parts prices that I could work on myself with a little more power. BMWs, Audis and other European “luxury” cars weren’t an option. I wanted something with style, comfort, nice interior and feel. Still have the STS in the family, I gave it to my wife

I found this Jaguar with “only” 80k miles on the odometer and decided to buy it. Since a couple of years ago we have a customer buy law that gives the consumer the right to have a defect rectified in four different ways (very simplified) so I wasn’t overly concerned about buying a used car from a dealership. The 4 ways are:

1. Get the item repaired
2. Get another working item
3. Get money back
4. Cancel the whole deal

One great thing is that if a problem occurs within 6 months of the purchase then it is considered as if that fault was present at the delivery. This law applies to the whole EU area and also applies to used cars in some extent (it depends on price and expected condition for the price, mileage and so on) but the Swedish stealerships acts like this law still do not apply to them. In the times before this customer buy law was applied customers had to prove that the car dealer had done something wrong. For instance if the car stereo wasn’t working the customer had to prove that the car wasn’t sold in that condition. The dealerships plays unaware of the new law because they know that the customers will have to file a complaint, pay layers and wait before the case comes to a trial and that can take time because the Swedish courts handle cases like this as low priority cases. So effectively I’m at their mercy.

Sorry for the long rant but I had to give you some background information. Anyway, the Jaguar looks nice, runs great and has only minor defects/issues that I’m planning to fix this winter, after the dealership fix the exhaust system that is…. I have almost always done any work on my cars myself. I don’t change tires on rims and balance them myself, that’s for the tire shop, and I don’t do undercoatings myself but that’s about it. Why fix problems covered by a law myself if I can get it fixed for free? The only downside is that I must have it corrected at the dealership that sold the car to me.

I didn’t have to wait for long before the first problems showed. I blew a radiator hose and the whole cooling system emptied. Then I had the Jaguar towed to the dealership. They found that it was only a hose and replaced and refilled without cost (but it went on my insurance not from the dealerships pockets), they also replaced a defect wiper motor and wiper blades to no cost. I complained about them taking 5 weeks to fix it but they just gave me a lot of drivel about holidays, etc. I also complained about the exhaust sound. The so cold experts from their sales department were of course stating that it sounded just as it is supposed to do. The same experts that don’t even know what car they have sold to me. They insist telling me that I have a Jaguar XJR. I always tell them that I have a Super V8…. (It says so on the trunk retards). Anyway, the exhaust sound was getting worse and finally I had a hole melted in my left wheel well from the leaking exhaust. The dealer of course stated that it didn’t indicate a problem just because there were a whole…. I talked to their service department that previously stated that they have checked the car thoroughly and told them that it took me about 10 seconds to find out what was wrong with the exhaust system and now the car sits at the dealership. When they do answer my calls (they do not of course answer e-mails or text messages) I can never get a straight answer about anything, just a lot of promises. Not even from the boss who always says that he’ll investigate and get back to me. If it wasn’t for the time and money involved I would file a lawsuit right now. Unfortunately it is illegal to burn their company down to the ground, which would be a lot quicker and equally satisfying.

Funny that people wonder why I insist to work on my cars myself…I do have faith in my Jaguar and believe that it was a good buy even if it isn’t up to Cadillac standards. Everything seems solid and works well except from some minor stuff. It is a typical European car in one aspect though. Europeans are more concerned about looks and feel than actually make something that will last

[Jan Olsson]

Forgot to mention that my next little project is to do brakes, wheelbearings and an O2 sensor on the STS before this winter. Will drive it this winter and get the Jaguar treated with undercoating on the steel parts for the next winter.

[winterset]

Sometimes, even with a warranty, it is best to use your skills to locate the problem. It can backfire, as they will see that you are knowledgeable, and claim that you caused the problem. In the case of the exhaust leak, you could say when i was checking the air at the rear tire, i smelled exhaust gasses coming from here. Kind of lead them to the fault....

Also, yes there is your law, but i guess there is no part that says they have to make the repair convenient for you and the dealer takes advantage of this.

[Jan Olsson]

One thing that really strikes me as odd is how a company can ruin their own reputation voluntarily like that. It seems naive of them to believe that no one will ever hear about their customer treatment. I know that I tell everyone I can think of about how that company acts against me. I guess that 95% of their vehicles sold are new cars and then of course they will fix every little problem with a big smile since they know that either the owners insurance or the auto maker are paying for it and make the majority of their customers happy.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Good luck w the Dealer & repairs. Glad you are enjoying the Jaguar regardless.

[James Woods]

It's amazing how things work in different parts of the world. Thanks for the info. A law like that for problems with vehicles would drastically change the U.S.A. Car market.

Good luck with jaguar . I've always liked the classic timeless look of the car. Especially the body lines and to me it's a stout side and low look.

[BodybyFisher]

Jan situations like this are why I do my owe work, most of the time they evade warranty repairs. My wife had a bad stabilizer link under warranty, it was loud on bumps. I TOLD them what the problem was. The tech took it for a ride and couldnt "replicate" the noise, I took a ride with him and pointed it out....they came back with, that is normal, huh? I took it home, bought the link installed it in an hour on my back, bam, noise gone. I have soo many dealer service and mechanic stories its definately not an honorable field.

[Jan Olsson]

I always do all work on my cars by myself normally except from replacing tires and do undercoating jobs. It’s therapeutic, saves money, is fun most of the time and I’ll know how and what was done. I’m no stranger to easy and quite qualified work on cars but this time was different. Since I have to travel 80 miles/ day just to get to my work and back home and have a wife who works as a nurse with working hours 24/7 and a little 4-year old girl, I tried a different approach. I thought that since I’m new to Jaguars and had the law on my side and I also have an insurance that covers most of the cost for work and parts let the dealer and other shops do the work!

It is funny, but the thought of someone fixing my Jaguar is ok, but the thought of someone else putting their hands of my Cadillac is not. I guess it is my under conscious way to tell me that I should get back to Cadillac

[BodybyFisher]

Sounds about right! The problem is that maintaining and repairing the Northstar requires specific experience and tools and unless the mechanic specializes in it and has service manuals, this forum the results could be scary.

For instance, mechanics I speak with think changing the starter is hard, its not. Overheating can be difficult to diagnose, think bolt with a hole in it. Dumping the tablets into the tank can clog the radiator, heater core and bolt with a hole in it.. so many things to consider

[Jan Olsson]

Just a little follow-up on my Jaguar

I honestly don't know where all the time goes sometimes. Early mornings, long commute, trying to keep healthy with exercise (a fairly ambitious project if you ask me) and a 5 year old daughter keeps me occupied. Not to mention my Jaguar which has been sitting since June because both the catalytic converters has melted down...I have found a used cat and tried an aftermarket one that did not fit and I just can't seem to get in touch with the company who sold it to me to get my money back. A new one is $1500! I always do most of the work myself but since I had an insurance I happily left the Jag at the service department just to discover that they won't pay for that. So now my options are few. I guess I'll have to pay for a new cat and sell the darn thing as quickly as possible before something else happens.

Every thing that has broken on just 10000 miles:

Rear mufflers rotted through on the upside and they gave up on me after just a couple of hundred miles of driving. I guess spirited driving makes defects show themselves... The dealer took care of a couple of new ones and also replaced the left rear inner screen and rear bumper plastics because it melted down.

Headlight washer nozzle flew away. Just a tiny piece of plastic but you have to buy it with the hoses attached. About $200, no way I will pay that.

Wiper motor (insurance company took that part)

Micro-switch for the automatic transmission failed which made it impossible to get out of P-gear. Doesn't sell separately, you'll have to change the entire shifting gear with console (my insurance covered that, about $1000

SRS-sensor gave up, another 300$ that the insurance refused to pay. Since it is not a Cadillac it can't be diagnosed without an external code-reader. And, surprise surprise a generic code reader can't do that.

Now the catalytic converters, as mentioned before, are melted down.

It also has a transmission noise coming from the rear... The car has about 90k on it!

My 2002 Cadillac STS has over 170k miles and it is just minor things at reasonable prices to deal with. This weekend I'll change the AIR-pump and everything will be fine again. THAT is a dependable car.