Phil E

Mixed feelings.

During my search for a Jaguar XJR I stumbled across AKC who had just taken delivery of 4 cars imported from Japan. I'd heard that Japanese imports were worth considering based on stringent servicing requirements and the fact they were clean cars with little or no corrosion issues. I was dubious about purchasing a car from 150 miles away following a less than memorable experience when buying a used car in the south east. I rang Adam who was very convincing regarding his experience and history of dealing with imports of Jaguars in particular and I arranged to go and take a look at the cars on offer. AKC had an impressive stock of cars and I found a very nice looking XJR. I decided to purchase the car and left a £1000 deposit and arranged to pick up the car the following week. I'd looked the car over as comprehensively as I could and noticed one of the tyres was deflated. Adam agreed to get it fixed. We took the car for a test drive and the car drove very well. I managed to negotiate a £500 discount in the purchase price but still felt the car was overpriced. However I liked the car and decided I'd have it complete with what I consider a standard 6 month warranty. I informed Adam that as I could not get under the car to check the underneath I would take it to a Jaguar specialist where i have my cars serviced for it to be checked out. The day after I picked the car up I noticed the tyre that was supposed to be repaired was again deflated. I took the car to a local tyre fitting station where a screw was removed and the tyre repaired at my cost. A few days later I took the car to my Jag specialist and got the car up in the air for a visual check. Whilst the underneath of the car was very clean it was discovered several of the suspension joints were badly worn and the brake pads were extremely worn with the rear ones nearly down to the metal and the discs requiring replacing. I obtained 2 quotes for both genuine parts and aftermarket parts. The technician suggested these were at the worst MOT failures and at the best critical advisories. The MOT certificate issued on the day I purchased the car showed no advisories. I rang Adam after emailing him the technical report and quotes and he suggested I take the car back to him and he would put anything right that was deemed to be an MOT failure. I said the car was unfit to be driven on the road because of the brake pads and I would book it in at a local service station to get the pads replaced, the discs and suspension joints checked. Their view was that the brake pads should have been an MOT failure but the discs were OK and the suspension joints were subjective from an MOT perspective. I paid for the replacement brake pads and informed Adam who suggested he would reimburse me with £100 which i have regretfully never received. A couple of weeks later I was driving down to the south coast for a family holiday when the engine management light came on and the car went into restricted performance. I took the car for a diagnostic check at a local service centre and an air intake fault was identified. The technician removed the air filter element which was completely black and choked up. He blew the air filter out with an air line replaced it and cleared the fault codes. On the way home the same thing happened. I messaged Adam who was on holiday and he told me get the car fixed under warranty. I rang the warranty company who agreed it should be booked into a Jaguar specialist. After having the air filter element changed the car was found to have a faulty air flow valve fitted (one from a Toyota). This was changed and as of today the car has been running nicely for 3 days with no problems. So why am I telling you this? Well whilst I have to take some accountability for my experience and I could have requested an AA inspection I would have expected a better level of pre-sales service on the car. On the other hand Adam did offer to take the car back and check it over although due to the state of the brakes and the distance involved I chose to cover the cost of some of the repairs myself. I certainly never found Adam to be aggressive or rude in any way. Assuming the warranty company cover the cost of the engine mgt issues hopefully a line can be drawn under the experience of the last few weeks. My advice to anyone purchasing a used car from AKC or anywhere else for that matter is unless you're something of an authority in what you're buying arrange a professional inspection whilst remembering there are risks in purchasing a used car. Overall I believe I have a lovely car which was pretty well unmarked when i bought it apart from normal alloy wheel scuffs and dents. I've since had the alloys refurbished and the car is now a real head turner. By the way I still think it was a bit overpriced but I'm sure you'd disagree.