I know many will say it was just a car, and that it can be fixed, but part of the added frustration for me is that no one else quite understands what this car has meant to me and how much work I've put into her. The amount of time I spent reading about Jaguar maintenance has only been surpassed by the time I've spent immersing myself in Jaguar pop culture whenever I could find it. I replaced the throttle body myself last year, I personally restored those leather seats, I made myself a removable hood ornament, and I even replaced the fading badges on the rear of the car. This wasn't just a ride to me, it was a passion project that brought me a lot of joy.
The cost to replace or repair the transmission on my car is substantial, and short of my engine dying, it is one of the most expensive jobs I could possibly have done. To add insult to injury, there are no local shops able to perform the repair, and I'd have to ship my car to Calgary just to get the work done. Any way I slice it at the moment, it doesn't make a lot of economic sense to pour added thousands into a vehicle that I'm not sure I can trust anymore. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
As foolish as it seems, trying to figure out my options yesterday made me physically sick. As the reality of the situation became clearer with each phone call, I only felt an increasing amount of shock that I could lose my car like this. I loved this car. In less than 3 years I've built some incredible memories around it, and shared it with those close to me. While it doesn't compare to the loss of loved ones, I have distinct memories of first sharing this car with my Grandma and my friend Dave, which made it a memento of my time with them. My car actually made me feel connected to them after they each passed because the memory was so clear.
Weddings, reunions, funerals, work, road trips, and daily errands were complimented by trips in the Jag. Because of that, it was never a show piece, it was my daily driver and a source of a lot of pride. People could see the care and appreciation I had for it, and the compliments were not only an ego boost, but were confirmation that my efforts were never unnoticed. And as if I need to make the point clearer, there was this website. A source of inspiration, motivation, and a connection to thousands of readers each month who shared an affinity for their vehicles like I always have. It's with the end of my Jag, so to comes the likely end of this online journey.
I'm not really sure what's going to come of this to be honest. I'm borrowing a vehicle for a couple weeks, and after that time I'll make up my mind with a level head about what to do with the car. I don't really know how else to sum up this whole experience, but in a couple of words, it sucks.
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=( any symptoms before the fault? Anything for me to watch out?
ReplyDeleteI suppose the only real indicator before the fail was the car stopped idling in reverse, and I had to give it gas to get it going backwards. The gear later slipped a few times, but it I didn't think much of it as it didn't throw codes and just seemed like it was because of the cold weather. The kicker though is that these signs appeared only a couple days before, and the most apparent gear slipping happened the day of, and I received a code immediately with the gear box fault.
ReplyDeleteYou could try to get a low mileage used one installed. That's what I did. It did cost $2700 in all, but a lot less than rebuilt. Too much money invested to just let it go.
ReplyDeleteIt is something I'll be looking at, although I don't want to buy used without some form of warranty. I went through 2 used throttle bodies that failed shortly after I installed them before I had to buy a new one anyway just to get one that actually worked properly. Sadly, the cheaper options available are still quite costly.
ReplyDeleteWould try not to quit. It's a fine car, if not a series 1 though. I've understood there should be plenty of second hand boxes out there. Jaguar was not the only one using zf, which btw recommends oil change after 120k. I have not changed mine either and 167k on the clock. Planning to do so. One guy changed his after 250k and the oil was like new. depends on so many things... Did tensioners last summer and found cracks. Happy with the car despite missing the ambiance of the old ones...
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