MJG50

That's great, thanks again Halfpenny, I've seen new, supposedly genuine JLR diffs on eBay for £575 but they are for the 2.2 litre - I'm pretty sure the diff is the same for all XFs apart from the XFR with the e-diff. I can see why I'm leaning towards mainstream stuff these days though! Talking of diffs and Jags, I remember about 20 years ago selling an X300 XJ6 that was about 7 years old at the time and the guy who bought it reckoned his mechanic said the diff was leaking but he ran that car for another 5 or 6 years/30,000 miles without doing anything about the diff before rust got the better of it. Total diff failure on the XF seems quite common though so I won't be driving this one very far before it's sorted.

Thanks Halfpenny, I've used the same workshops for nearly 30 years but quite a few of their mechanics have retired over the years so I'm not sure I'd trust a diff job with the younger ones! It's good to hear it's not technically a difficult job though. Is there a risk of losing the smoothness of the power delivery by fitting a replacement diff?

Thanks for your help Halfpenny, it does seem quite a common problem with Jags but it's the first one I've had with this issue. I've seen a few used diffs for about £300 but how much would the labour be to fit it and would it need a diff specialist to fit it? It probably is worth risking a used diff - there is a legal case between Dana Axle and JLR in connection with diff seals made from 2013 and 2016 so if I can get a pre-2013 diff to fit it might be ok. That said, I've heard that the early XF also suffered with diffs but I've never had any trouble with 2008 and 2009 XFs

I've bought a 2015 X250 Jaguar XF 3.0D S from BCA that had an advisory for a rear differential fluid leak on its first MoT in 2018 at 15,000 miles. I phoned the Jaguar dealer that serviced the car from new before buying it and a new seal was fitted by the Jaguar dealer in 2018 and I assumed the problem was fully resolved. However, I took the car in for a pre-sale PDi & service today at 40,000 miles and was told there is a noise coming from the differential and that rear diff pinion seal is moist. The noise is very slight and I can only hear it from the passenger seat, it just sounds like the air conditioning fan is on at a very low setting speed. The car still drives 100% fine.I've read lots of horror stories online about XF rear diffs failing and it costing a fortune to replace them. I've found a transmission/differential specialist not too far away and I was thinking they should be able change the diff oil and put a new seal on. However, if the diff is already making a noise is it already damaged to an extent that a diff oil change won't improve things?Also, I've heard that changing the diff oil and seal involves rebalancing the diff and this is a tricky job and that the diff won't be as smooth afterwards. In the very worst case scenario, if the diff fails in the 6 month CRA period, I have seen a few second hand diffs on eBay for around £250 - how much would it cost to get a used diff fitted and is it possible to fit a used diff without losing the smoothness of power delivery associated with the XF? I've read online that it can cost several thousand pounds to replace the diff but as I say there are always quite a few used diffs on eBay and I can't imagine that the labour would be thousands of pounds at an independent garage. I've never had any diff problems with Jags before but I've had a quick look online and it seems diff issues are relatively common with XF s and S-types.

Sorry if this is off topic but my father who's over 70 has been waiting 8 months for his driver's licence to be renewed. I know it's a long shot but just wondered if anyone on here has a contact at the DVLA to help. He had to send off his renewal, he couldn't do it online as he doesn't have a current passport and isn't intending to travel abroad anymore.

In the old days when I had a showroom, most stock was all machine polished before sale at minimal cost. In more recent times I haven't bothered. I'm considering getting stock machine polished from now on but have no idea of the current going rate - how much is a reasonable price to pay to do the whole car?

I've recently started using V Check in addition to HPi, mainly to check if the cars have been sold undeclared at salvage auctions in the past - it is quite alarming how there seems to be quite a few high value ex auction vehicles that are now on Auto Trader at dealerships, having previously suffered from extensive undeclared accident damage. Given that HPi is recognised by the public as the industry flag bearer, I've been HPi-ing cars as well as V Checking them to give the buyers peace of mind the car has been HPi'd but am I right in assuming that anything that comes up on HPi will also come up on V Check so that the HPi check in addition is a bit of a waste of time and money?

Its taking a while to get the Corsa looked at again as the workshops I use are all ridiculously busy at the moment. I've had a look at it again today and it doesn't seem to misfire until the engine is warm and the hotter the engine is, the more often it misfires. I'm no Corsa expert (as no doubt you can tell! ) but is it possible that misfire could be caused by a timing chain issue or even a head gasket issue? As far as I can tell, the timing chain doesn't rattle at start up and the head gasket is ok but I did once have a Jag with a misfire and that was caused by a stuck injector that lead to a head gasket failure. I doubt it's the case here but just trying to consider all possibilities before embarking on the game of parts darts! It's a bit frustrating as I've done nearly 200 miles in the car and it drives 100% apart from the misfire at idle.

Many thanks, I didn't even know it was possible to get a coil pack that cheap! It's not throwing up an EML so I don't think there will be any fault codes?

Yes I must admit about 25 years ago I didn't realise you can drop your provisional bid - basically I bid on what I thought was an ex lease 1 owner Merc. My provisional bid was declined but an hour later I was told the trader had accepted it!! I was like, what the trader?? I thought it's direct from Leaseplan but it was actually bought from a Leaseplan line from a different BCA a few weeks earlier and re-entered! This was years before BCA did online bidding so it was much harder to keep track of which cars were be offered where and how many times they've been through before, unless you attended every sale in person. So I naturally thought there must be a problem with it and said I don't want it and they said that's fine we can take you off it as it was a provisional bid. Typically, some other dealer bought the car and sold it for £2k more within a couple of weeks!

You're right there BHM! It always amazes me how fussy buyers are when looking at car, checking every single detail, previous work carried out etc etc yet once they take on ownership they usually run them into the ground with very little maintenance and very little care for the car. I've occasionally seen cars I've sold to fussy buyers a few months down the line and I could never believe the state they were in! One particularly fussy 3 year old BMW buyer (the car, not the buyer) had managed to wreck it within a few months with almost every panel scuffed and she was mega fussy when buying it. I've just found this video which points to changing the coil pack but having said that, I still doubt my problem is the coil pack as the car still runs 100% fine under load once on the move. That clicking noise he describes above is quite similar to mine so I guess it's worth me having the coil pack looked at and if it looks rough, I'll get a new one. Some people reckon it could be the rocker cover housing - I'm not sure if this is likely though? As you say BHM, if all else fails I maybe better just selling it cheap and declaring the misfire at idle - in the past, I've got rid of PXs with the odd niggle at the block but maybe in future I should do a brutally honest video description. I remember there was a bloke on here who did long videos showing every fault. The sort of buyers I get would normally be put off by the slightest imperfection but at least a brutal video would weed out any fussers from viewing the car.

I've finally got the EVAP purge valve replaced today and unfortunately the slight misfire at idle is still there! I don't think it's the coil pack as it still drives fine under load but I guess it's worth me getting the coil pack looked at - if there are signs of corrosion to it I'll get it replaced. The bolts on the engine as shown in the YouTube video above are pretty rusty so it is possible the coil pack is corroded too. I've checked the service history and the last owner who traded it in had new spark plugs fitted just being trading in so this was probably done to try and cure this problem. As far as I can see, the oil filler and dipstick are seated fine. It it isn't the coil pack, I may have to sell it as it is, declaring the misfire.

Thanks for the replies, I'll take another trip out in it as a passenger to check again. It did feel as though it was coming from the windscreen but it is highly unlikely the windscreen is moving. There isn't any wind noise or leaks and the car drives 100% fine and is very smooth over speed bumps. I have had the odd car with a creaking side window and I found that lowering the window slightly helped greatly but I'm pretty sure it's not coming from a side window on this one. I'll try to get the door checked out.

Not exactly the biggest problem I've ever had with a car but I've got a Jaguar XF and when I'm a passenger I can hear a creak coming from the passenger's side of the windscreen. It's not noticeable when driving it. I've heard that using a silicon spray underneath the windscreen rubbers can help. Has anyone ever tried this with any success and if so, which brand of silicon spray did they use? I've stopped buying an JLR product with a pan roof as everyone I've come across has had an awful lot of creaking that copious amounts of silicon spray, grease and Vaseline didn't cure (Insert joke about buying copious amounts of Vaseline! )

I've always HPi'd everything I buy but I've recently come across vcheck.uk that also checks if the car has ever been offered at a salvage auction with unrecorded damage. I just wondered if anyone on here uses this service as it is quite scary that some high value cars are being resold as HPi clear after a massive crash. Most of the cars I buy are 1 owner so there's no way they could have ever been sold at a salvage auction - it is possible they could have received unrecorded damage repairs but it would be impossible to find out as they'd never have been sold at a salvage auction, they'd just have been repaired by the sole owner from new. It's got me thinking though that it maybe worth checking out more than 1 owner high value cars on vcheck in future.

Thanks for the advice, it's very true that a sensible customer shouldn't be concerned but I've had people put off perfectly good cars because of the slightest detail so ideally I'd like to get this sorted as it is so blindingly obvious that it's a mistake given no car can have two totally different mileages on the same day. I'll give the MoT centre a call, hopefully they will be helpful in sending out an invoice! GDPR seems to be a great excuse for being no help whatsoever though......either that or the current situation!

I'm pretty sure it's not possible to view prior to the sale at BCA - it never has been since March 2020. Manheim were offering slots to view cars a few months ago but I'm not sure this is still available as they have been re-opening a few selected sites on sale days over a trial period. The easiest way to find out is to give BCA customer services a call.

I've recently bought a car which failed its first MoT in 2018 and passed it on the same day after new tyres. In the morning, the MoT tester put the mileage as 25k and in the afternoon when it passed he put 21k! I've emailed motreplacement@dvsa.gov.uk advising them that the 21k was incorrect and fairly obviously one of the mileages entered is wrong as no car can be on 25k and 21k on the same day! All the other MoTs are correct as is the service history, it's a 1 owner with a print out of a full service history from the supplying main dealer. I assumed it would be clearcut to get this resolved as these sort of issues with HPI NMR are swiftly taken off if it's an incorrect entry by a garage or previous owner. However, understandably HPI can't help as the DVSA have to remove the incorrect mileage themselves. I've just got this reply from the DVSA: Following your request to amend the vehicle record, we are unable to amend the record at this time, the evidence provided was not sufficient or robust to warrant the change that you have requested. In order for us to consider making this change in the future, please resubmit ALL of your request once you have further evidence. Evidence accepted can be: emissions record invoice service record job sheet Please blank out any personal information on these documents; This evidence must contain vehicle registration and/or VIN date matching the date of test completion (+/- 1 day) mileage They need to show what the mileage should be, and show the same date as the MOT test. Note we do not accept MOT certificates as proof of mileage. Please note the service record supplied (dated 29/11/18) is not within the above criteria. This evidence must relate to the vehicle that the request is being made and must be from the date that the MOT test was conducted. (+/- 1 day) If you do not send the right evidence, DVSA will be unable to make the amendments as requested. Further guidance and evidence requirements can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/correcting-mot-certificate-mistakes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As expected from dealing with any tax payer funded institution, this is of no help to me! I'd have thought it was pretty obvious one of the mileages is incorrect as both entries were made on the same day. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on how to resolve this - all I have is the service history which I've already submitted and the last MoT certificate from 2020. Will contacting the garage that did the MoT with the wrong mileage help? Are they able to delete the wrong mileage themselves? If anyone has a sympathetic contact at the DVSA it would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

You can request the delivery driver to call you an hour before arrival to make sure you are available.

Last one I bought a couple of weeks ago from Blackbushe took 6 days - I don't think they are taking any longer than normal generally. My record is 11 days from Bedford in 2017.

Thanks for your help justina3, much appreciated. One last question, can I just double check this is the right part? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302256182199?epid=14034592235&hash=item465fdf53b7:g:ssgAAOSw4CFYzRLi

Thanks again, oddly enough it's got a lot worse today. It sounds awful pulling away from idle as though it's going to pack up! I'm not sure I fancy driving 10 miles to my normal mechanic so I might get it done locally. I bet they'll say its the coils but I'll them it's the EVAP purge valve. Do you know if it's ok to disconnect this valve to check the noise isn't there before fitting a new one? I know some people seem to do well on Corsas but I think they are best avoided, especially when we can't hear them runnning at auction.

Many thanks - the only car I've had that needed a new coil pack was a S-type Jag and that was losing power alarmingly on the motorway whereas this Corsa drives absolutely fine when on the move so I agree it doesn't seem like coils. Am I right in thinking this YouTube video explains the evap system problem?

Exactly, they are using so called anti-COVID measures to stop us giving the cars a half decent inspection. I read that we wouldn't be allowed to inspect the interiors. It's mad that we can go to nightclubs, Wembley, Wimbledon & Silverstone in large groups but we can't take a colleague to Manheim! I've had enough trouble over the years looking at cars at Manheim & BCA way before last year - I've had the odd bonnet slammed down by the staff within a second of opening it! It does seem crazy that we get bollocked by grumpy auction drivers for having a very quick look at the interiors. The trouble is they can get away with it as apart from the odd small privately owned auction, there's not much choice apart from the big two. We do seem stuck between a rock and a hard place now - it is still a massive gamble buying online with wildly inconsistent grading but personally even if BCA and Manheim open up all their sales again (which I'm sure they never will!) I couldn't be doing with all their pointless rules and regulations. Off topic, but I can't bothered with pubs or restaurants anymore either! This constant atmosphere of being potentially told off when you are the paying customer makes me only go to places I really need to go to these days. I am just surprised as to why Manheim are opening at all - I'm sure someone on here with good contacts at the auctions will know why but to me it seems very strange as Manheim don't have anything to gain by opening up. It certainly seems as though the small re-opening has been designed to fail. I'm not surprised there are still lots of 'tickets' left!

Many thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. The last owner did have a new set of plugs fitted before trading in. The cheque is in the post 'It's me' but unfortunately I think the postman is self-isolating I've done some more research and if the coil pack goes it seems to make a clicking noise and I wouldn't call what I have as a clicking noise. The only cars I've ever had with a very noticeable A/C compressor are Rover 75s when they were about 3 years old - they all seemed to have a very noticeable knock when the a/c cuts in. This Corsa does this knock a lot though as you can see in the YouTube video and it behaves exactly the same if the a/c is on or switched off. The misfire hasn't triggered the EML so I don't think there would be any fault codes. I'll get the oil filter checked, as far as I can tell the dipstick is fine. I've done my first ever YouTube video - hopefully it shows what I'm talking about, the engine moves slightly when this misfire occurs and the revs drop slightly. I'd say the misfire happens quite a lot when idling now, roughly at 10/18/22/31/34/43/50/57 seconds and 1min 06 seconds on the video.