Adjusting Bonnet Panel Gaps

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Hi all,

My car is almost 1 year old and about to be booked in for its first service (which I think is just an oil/filter change and an inspection of everything else).

I’ve had no problems with the car at all but the panel gap between the bonnet and front bumper on the right hand side is not right. Is it worth asking the garage to look at it under warranty? Is it something I can do? Or is it something best just left as it is.

It’s an annoyance and I know with such a huge single piece bonnet the alignment can’t be easy - anyone done theirs or got theirs sorted by a dealer?

Grateful for any tips as ever!

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The front end panel alignment is a known issue.

There are a few videos showing how you can make some adjustments yourself. I've tried this and it didn't resolve the issue. Here's a link.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIb--7UF4kI&ab_channel=SkrrtGarage

Best to get it sorted within 1 year from manufacture as Jaguar informed me that panel alignment would not be covered after this period even though there is a 3 year manufacturer's warranty.

I've attached the Jaguar technical bulletin 'Front End Panel Alignment'.
 

Attachments

Thanks RPSN, think I will leave it to the Dealers to rectify under warranty as it looks very time consuming even for them!

Tech Bulletin very useful as it proves they accept it as a problem area. I will mention it to them if needed, although they should be able to find it easily enough on topix.
 
No probs 👍

Yes, much better to leave the dealership sort it out.

Make sure you bring it to their attention before your car is 12 months old as they won't cover panel misalignment after this period. I've had this information officially from the Jaguar Land Rover Customer Experience Centre.
 
RPSN said:
Make sure you bring it to their attention before your car is 12 months old as they won't cover panel misalignment after this period. I've had this information officially from the Jaguar Land Rover Customer Experience Centre.
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Will do!
 
Agree with RPSN, leave it to the dealer. Harwood sort out a misalignment for me at the first service. Credit where credit due thet did a really good job. Phil
 
Fez said:
Agree with RPSN, leave it to the dealer. Harwood sort out a misalignment for me at the first service. Credit where credit due thet did a really good job. Phil
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Can I ask which Harwood dealer it was please?
 
Ask for Enriki service manager. When you arrive she will take photo,s of your car. This protects you and them from any discussion over condition of outside including wheels and inside. Then on pick ask Enriki to walk round the car with you to check all is good. Phil.
 
Fez said:
Ask for Enriki service manager. When you arrive she will take photo,s of your car. This protects you and them from any discussion over condition of outside including wheels and inside. Then on pick ask Enriki to walk round the car with you to check all is good. Phil.
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That’s very helpful thanks Phil, I’ll try and book in with them but due to work commitments I may have to book closer to home, unless I can leave it with them the night before or make some other arrangements. Will post how I get on!
 
Fez said:
Ask for Enriki service manager. When you arrive she will take photo,s of your car. This protects you and them from any discussion over condition of outside including wheels and inside. Then on pick ask Enriki to walk round the car with you to check all is good. Phil.
Click to expand...


Spoke to Enriki and booked in for early March, will let you know how it goes! Thanks again for the lead.
 
Update: Car serviced today at Harwoods Chichester and they had a go at correcting the alignment. It’s not perfect by any means but it is a bit better than it was. Strange that all the other gaps around the car are fine. Their master tech was surprised that the technical bulletin was still active from 2013 and has never been addressed, relying on customer complaints instead.

Looks to me like they’ve just lifted the bonnet a bit at the back but I may be doing them a disservice. Can’t decide whether it’s worth chasing to get it better or just live with it, it doesn’t affect the car at all. Thoughts?

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GusA said:
Update: Car serviced today at Harwoods Chichester and they had a go at correcting the alignment. It’s not perfect by any means but it is a bit better than it was. Strange that all the other gaps around the car are fine. Their master tech was surprised that the technical bulletin was still active from 2013 and has never been addressed, relying on customer complaints instead.

Looks to me like they’ve just lifted the bonnet a bit at the back but I may be doing them a disservice. Can’t decide whether it’s worth chasing to get it better or just live with it, it doesn’t affect the car at all. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


The alignment between the front bumper panel and bonnet is much better than it was and is easily acceptable. You should also check the gap between the front of the bonnet and bumper panel (in between the headlamps) to ensure it is equal and flush.

The panel alignment has not been achieved by just lifting the bonnet at the rear or the front. The front bumper panel has been realigned as per the Jaguar Technical Bulletin I provided earlier so you would indeed be doing a disservice to Harwoods Chicester by thinking any different.
 
RPSN said:
GusA said:
Update: Car serviced today at Harwoods Chichester and they had a go at correcting the alignment. It’s not perfect by any means but it is a bit better than it was. Strange that all the other gaps around the car are fine. Their master tech was surprised that the technical bulletin was still active from 2013 and has never been addressed, relying on customer complaints instead.

Looks to me like they’ve just lifted the bonnet a bit at the back but I may be doing them a disservice. Can’t decide whether it’s worth chasing to get it better or just live with it, it doesn’t affect the car at all. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


The alignment between the front bumper and bonnet is much better than it was and is easily acceptable. You should also check the gap between the front of the bonnet and bumper panel (in between the headlamps) to ensure it is equal and flush.

The panel alignment has not been achieved by just lifting the bonnet at the rear or the front. The front bumper has been realigned as per the Jaguar Technical Bulletin I provided earlier so you would indeed be doing a disservice to Harwoods Chicester by thinking any different.
Click to expand...


The gaps at the front of the bonnet/headlights are ok and they look as they did before. That was why I thought it would be very difficult to get it much better at just the area on the rear right of the bonnet. They have definitely improved the fit between the bonnet and front bumper but the gap between the bonnet and the panel behind the front wheel has grown to 8-9mm which is bigger than it was and why it looked a bit like the rear of the bonnet had been lifted. In truth I can see they did a lot more as the rear panel has been moved forwards slightly so it now aligns at the bottom.

The tech bulletin doesn’t really give them enough time to fettle it anymore, think they’re given a total of around 1:40 which doesn’t seem like a lot.
 
Comparing your original photo with your most recent ones, the gap between the bonnet and front right rocker cover panel (behind the wheel) doesn’t look much different? Perhaps in the flesh it does?

As you can see from the bulletin, to get the panels correctly aligned involves a fair bit of work which allows considerably more time than 1.4 hours.

If you’re not satisfied then take it back to Harwoods before your car is outside of the Jaguar ‘1 year from manufacture’ panel alignment policy.
 
RPSN said:
Comparing your original photo with your most recent ones, the gap between the bonnet and front right rocker cover panel (behind the wheel) doesn’t look much different? Perhaps in the flesh it does?

As you can see from the bulletin, to get the panels correctly aligned involves a fair bit of work which allows considerably more time than 1.4 hours.

If you’re not satisfied then take it back to Harwoods before your car is outside of the Jaguar ‘1 year from manufacture’ panel alignment policy.
Click to expand...

The gap has increased by about 2mm from 6 before to 8-9mm now, the photos don’t really show it that well. I can take it back to Harwoods of course but I’m not sure what else they can do to make it better. They’ve followed the tech bulletin and adjusted everything as well as they can so taking it back is unlikely to make much difference. I guess I just have to accept it as a bit of character as most people probably don’t even notice it.

I imagine there are far worse ones out there so I’ll just get in and enjoy the car! And thanks for your help providing the bulletin, they were surprised it still applied to my MY20 car!
 
The front end panel alignment on mine (where the bonnet meets the bumper panel near the wheel) is worse than yours but to the untrained eye it’s hardly noticeable. These cars sure have plenty of character and I've learnt to live with this.

Glad the bulletin helped 👍
 
For what it's worth, believe Harwoods have done their best within the limits of what's achievable. Enjoy the car...
 
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