Land Rover Owners Experience
Posted by Jon on July 30, 1998 at 20:32:26:
For those considering buying a Land Rover Discovery please consider this.
In 1997 I took delivery of a brand new Discovery TDI SE7. Since the very first day I have had problems and so far the car has been back to the dealer 7 times, it would be more but it takes 6 weeks to get the car booked in. Usually they have it for 3 days.
The dealer I bought the car from and who have done most of the warrantee work is Lance Dixon Land Rover in Melbourne Australia who I would have to say are the most incompetent and unreliable dealer I have had the miss fortune to encounter. The sales staff are un helpful and the service staff, especially the service manager are a total waste of time.
Having been messed around by the dealer and not having the problems fixed I wrote to Rover Australia. David Dean then Rover customer services manager drove the car or so I was told. I cannot confirm this as Mr. Dean has not seen fit to respond to my letter. After waiting 2 months I wrote to Rover UK customer services and also to the managing director of Land Rover UK. The International Helpdesk Executive, Cynthia Hanlon wrote back basically saying that this was a local problem. It now seems that Rover Australia and UK take no responsibility for the vehicles they supply.
IN SHORT, IF YOU BUY A LAND ROVER YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. SO FROM MY EXPERIENCE I WOULD HAVE TO SAY BUY A TOYOTA........
So far the items replaced from new have been.
1) gearbox at 20000klm's
2) Numerous switches and globes.
3) Fan Belt 5 times.
4) All Pulleys
5) Total fan assembly.
6) Alarm remote control 3 times.
7) Alarm receiver unit twice.
8) Door lock mechanism once.
9) Window winder motor once.
10) Cruise control twice.
11) Fuel lifter pump once.
Items Repaired so far.
1) Dash board has been removed twice to fix creaks and rattles. So far all have come back. Including new ones.
2) Breaks have been machined and pads replaces with grooves cut to cure squealing. Squealing has disappeared but now the
breaks are spongy and not as powerful as before.
3) Recall for an Air Bag problem.
4) Drivers seat removed and reinstalled 3 times due to broken springs and creaks.
5) Rubber boots around gear and low range levers have been reinstalled 3 times.
6) Instrument shroud retighten 3 times.
7) Rear seat bolts retighten.
8) All door's have dropped and gaps are uneven.
9) Drivers door creaks.
10) Steering wheel re centered twice.
11) Complete fuel system removed and cleaned.
Current problems.
1) Power steering is vague and judders.
2) First gear is hard to select and second jumps back when engaged, these are the same symptoms as with
the first gearbox.
3) Breaks are very spongy and the car is slow to stop.
4) Cruise control drops speed.
5) Interior noise is 8 decibels more than most as measured by a dB meter.
6) Drivers window clicks when going down.
7) Drivers door creaks.
8) Numerous creaks and rattles from dash board.
9) Power loss of up to 20 percent, this has been an intermittent problem from new.
10) Fan belt is very noisy.
11) Car is very jerky when accelerating.
12) Fuel economy has increased from 11 to 14 liters per 100 klm's.
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