Feedback on XJS Seminar 30th January 2010

[dhdove]

FEEDBACK

Any Forum members who attended this seminar yesterday please post your feedback here. If you are new to the Bulletin Board and have visited the Forum as a result of your attendance please do use this opprtunity to make your first post

We are keen that the XJS Seminar reflects the needs of the forum membership so please feel free to praise those parts you thought useful and to highlight other areas that you feel merit inclusion. Do bear in mind that in an already busy day if something new goes in something else will have to give!

Best Wishes
Tony

[stuart27]

Tony

I found the day very useful.

It was my first XJS seminar and it pretty much covered my needs.

My only suggestion is that it might be worth considering splitting the XJS seminar into specific groups...i,e

V12 and V6 cars
Coupe and convertible
Pre and post facelift cars

Again, the day was very useful, and it was interesting to hear about the V6 cars for example, but I think it would be really good to have break out technical sessions on the above subjects perhaps...so that these can be covered in more detail. Common areas could obviously be combined, but separate sessions would be a lot better on specific topics.

One minor criticism is that I felt there was too much put on David Marks shoulders during the day and it would have been better to have some different presenters. A full day is a lot for one person...although David did a fantatic job...perhaps Nigel and others should have done the more historical / model overview focused sessions?

Perhaps it would have been good to have an XJS on the stage rather than the new XJ (Lovely as it was!)...which could have been used as a "live" presentation focus? Some of the overheads used in the presentation were a bit difficult to see and it would have been better if David had an actual car beside him to show where some of the parts / problems were.

Otherwise....a most informative and enjoyable day. Highly recommended

Stuart B Brady

[keithbaker]

Hi, Tony

I thoroughly enjoyed the day (not least the opportunity of a 300 mile round trip with the roof down!) As well as the "official imput" it was also good to chat with other owners about various issues.

Constructive criticism? Well, if I compare it to the one I attended a few years ago, there was less varity this time round. Last time Nigel gave a talk on the history of the car, we were able to look underneath the club's recently purchased XJS, and there was a very enjoyable talk about the advertisements and media coverage of the car throughout its' life.

This time round virtually the whole day fell on David's shoulders, and he did a brilliant job of helping me to understand (to some degree) how the various parts worked (and failed), and what could be done about it. For some, I'm sure, this will have proved to be invaluable, but as I lack the experience. confidence & time to tackle the majority of the issues, it was more "interesting" than practically useful for me.

Given the popularity of these seminars (for the XJS in particular) perhaps there is now a market for two levels of event - one for people like me who want to enjoy the whole XJS experience (including the history etc) with a basic session from someone like David on what to look out for in terms of "getting it fixed" by a third party, and another for those clever so-and-sos (of whom I am very envious) who can actually do the fixing themselves.

Please note that despite the remarks above it was still a great day!

Finally, I cannot sign off without saying that the trip would have been worthwhile just for the catering

Regards,

Keith.

[Neville]

I thought it was a really useful Seminar. David provided a great deal of information and many tips on what to look for if your car is not performing at its best or for that matter at all.

I was hoping to get useful information from the day and was not disappointed. I will definitely attend again.

Regards to all

NevB

[steveww]

I enjoyed the day very much, lots of useful information and excellent catering.

As others have suggested I think it could be split in to two seminars, one about the history, development etc. and buying guide; what to look out for. The other would be more technical on how to actually diagnose and fix the common problems. Have an XJS there up on a ramp would be most useful.

For the technical part a section on what tools are needed would be useful.

One the whole David did an excellent job and I am sure he was exhausted after talking all day. One little point though, a number of times he mentioned the need to accurately determine TDC with out actually explaining how this is done. Fortunately I already know how to do this but I am not sure that this is true for all.

It would also be nice to provide a hand out with some of the useful hints and tips David gave us, rather than having to make hasty notes throughout the seminar.

Finally it was great to see so many XJS there on the day and put some faces to names. I am looking forwards to the next one.

[ptjs1]

It was great to see so many of you on Saturday and to meet some of you in person for the first time. I hope you all enjoyed the day and found it both interesting & insightful. I thought David Marks did a great job. However, I do sometimes think that it’s lucky that we already own XJSs as some of his potential horror stories of subframe and windscreen frame corrosion may put off many a potential purchaser!

It’s really good that some of you have already put down your thoughts here on the Bulletin Board as to how these seminars could be improved and developed in the future. It’s really important that we decide how best they should be structured for future sessions so, if you haven’t already done so, do please post your views and opinions, good or bad. I suspect it’s easier to put down your thoughts more fully online rather than in paper format, so please take the opportunity to give us your input.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the session, I would be very grateful if you could please remember to go in and check your vehicle details in the register as unfortunately there are a significant number of incomplete or incorrect entries. Even if you think your entry is complete and correct, please just humour me and go and check! Thank you. If you have any problems finding the correct info for your car, just drop me a line or ring me.

Paul Sinnott

PS If any of you do buy that unused XJS on ebay at £50,000, please tell me and I’ll feature it in the mag!

[Brakebuster]

....only if you put up half the funds.......




BB

[AJT]

Excellent day all round

I attended the same event seven years ago just after I first purchased my current XJS and I feel that this event did not contain the same variety as before.

I remember Nigel talking separately about the history plus we went into the workshops at the rear and were able to look under the various models that were suspended up on the numerous ramps where the Dealer technicians are trained, also there was a presentation on brochures etc

As others have mentioned it seemed that David Marks copped for the whole lot and although his presentation and knowledge is superb it would have been nice to have a change of content.

Also how about holding these events out of the winter months, which would have encouraged more owners to attend with their own vehicles?

Finally a big thanks to the Red XJS convertible owner who provided his jump leads and battery to get my car (not my XJS I may add) started after I stupidly left the side lights on all day - I will say hello at this years Coventry Festival of Motoring

[dhdove]

Dear All

My own thoughts echo those already expressed........

I used to really enjoy Andrew Swift's witty and informative tour through XJS marketing and memorabilia over the years.
Nigel's former in-depth look at the development of the XJS, its design and models as production proceeded was both informative and entertaining.
I do think that the technical seminar should be split between the six and twelve cylinder models - this creates the time needed for the above two items.
In addition I think that an all-day Seminar consisting of wholly technical talk is hard going - whilst it is great to get coverage of all aspects you cannot cover everything in detail, so perhaps less is more?
One other minor point. The slides on the visual presentation could do with an update as the quality was poor in some cases by todays standards. I know that Dave Marks probably has better things to do whilst spannering away than take piccys, but over a period of time I'm sure a new library could be developed - perhaps this is something that the BB could help with?

Unfortunately the ramp facility was provided at Browns Lane - I don't think there is a similar facility at Castle Bromwich though I'm sure someone will know if there is.

Re the new XJ on display in the lecture theatre, I think we must remember that we are the guests of Jaguar Cars. There were the two XJS's from the JDHT to examine.

I put some of the points above to Nigel at lunchtime on the day and he said that the profile of those people attending over the years had changed. Now there are few people looking to buy a car ( one only that day) and attendees wanted to concentrate on the technical side.
However he said that the Club was open to feedback from members and would amend the Seminar programme if there was a demand.

Finally, I always enjoy the lunch as well!

I would suggest that Paul and I feedback in line with the consensus expressed above in this thread.

Any other thoughts?

Regards
Tony