@ the dealership

I am writing this post at the coffee table of the RAC, Jaguar dealership in Rotterdam. I am waiting for the mechanic to replace the rubber seal of the sunroof. But let’s go back to the first days of my Jaguar ownership.
Last week I responded to an add on the interweb. I made an appointment with the seller on a Friday evening, after work. He lived near Middelburg, which is in the south west corner of the county. The Daimler was parked outside and after a handshake we drove off. The only thing I know about cars, is what I feel when I drive it, so for me it has little use to look under the bonnet. And she drove great. She was quick on the motorway, the brakes responded well, just a little pull to the right and the steering was light. He already wrote to me, that she idled a bit to high and the aircon was not working.

I tested the sunroof, power windows and other important stuff. The clock, of course, was not working. Also the interior was in need of some TLC. The paintwork looked to be in good condition. Only some rust on the edge of the rear window, a well known spot. So a deal was made. Four days later I picked her up. On the way home, I started playing with the other onboard features, like the power adjustable steering wheel. That only moved downwards, not upwards. Very annoying to find out when driving. Also some of the memory functions are not working. So probably some modules have broken down. But driving her home was great. It is such a comfortable, but also powerful car to drive.

The day after I bought the Daimler, I took her to visit a client in Antwerp, which was a 100 km drive. All went well. It was a beautiful morning and I drove with the steering wheel in the lowest position and sunroof open. It was a great trip in my just acquired Jag. Also the trip home went well. I got into a traffic jam for the Dutch border, but no overheating or other problems. The next day, I went to the same client and expected to have the same driving experience, but she didn’t run as smooth as the previous day. Just after I crossed the Belgium border, I felt a hiccup, so I stopped at a gas station and popped the hood. When I checked the coolant, I noticed that the fluid in the expansion tank was cold. So was the radiator. The engine was warm, but not hot. It was a cold morning, so I decided to drive to Rotterdam, to a Jaguar dealership.

I stopped twice, to prevent overheating, check under the hood and to get some coffee. Nothing special happened, so later that morning I arrived at the RAC in Rotterdam. The welcome was very friendly, especially considering it was my first visit and my Jag is an old one. A mechanic took a look at the car and we decided to leave it for closer inspection. Since the APK (annual mandatory inspection) was due in two month, I decided to have them do that as well.

Well, they did. First of all, the coolant problem was the thermostat. As it usually is. The APK was a little more complicated. The injection system did not work as it should, causing bad idling and high emissions. They started by replacing spark plugs, the spark coils and later on also the throttle body housing and exhaust sensors. The head gasket was replaced, because it was leaking oil. Aircon was filled and the sunroof drains were cleaned. After six weeks and a lot of money, she was back on the road again.
Since then, nothing has happened. She runs great and is a little bit more thirsty then I expected (compared to my ’89 Continental). I really like driving it. Only the sunroof kept leaking, so now the seal is being replaced.