Jaguar Ireland is to recall some 200 of its top-of-the-range cars because of a gear-box problem that can result in the car reversing instead of going forward.
The alert, which has resulted in the recall of 68,000 cars world-wide, was triggered when four customers reported their automatic cars slipping into reverse when they had selected "drive".
The problem relates to ZF six-speed automatic gear box vehicles, which includes S-Type saloons, XJ saloons and SQ sports cars built before June 2003. The cars are worth over €70,000.
A spokesman for Jaguar Ireland said three specific conditions had to occur before the problem could be triggered.There had to be a low transmission fluid level, usually indicating a leak; the car needed to have defaulted into "limp home" mode, which allows the motorist to drive home at a low speed; and the gear-box fault light on the dashboard display must be illuminated.
"If all these three conditions occur and the customer selects drive, then the gear box could go into reverse," the spokesman said.
There had been no reports of accidents involving cars bought in the State, he said, and although the fault had just been discovered the chance of a serious accident was remote.
"You're starting from a stationary position so there isn't a huge amount of danger, unless you're parked on the edge of a cliff," he said.
In most cases there should be ample time for the driver to realise the mistake and stop the car. Jaguar Ireland intends to check all cars that could be affected by the problem.
"We are in the process of preparing letters for all our customers that may be affected so we can clear up this problem," he said.
The repair work involved reprogramming the gear box, but it was not expected that customers would be deprived of their cars for long.
