Posted 26th March 2001

Thought I would let you know about my dealings with Land Rover UK and
the numerous faults with my 300's Tdi Discovery. My Discovery has a full
service history(first 47,000 miles at franchised L/R dealerships).It has
presently done 97,000 miles and it was registered on August 1994 on a "M"
plate.

The first fault I experienced was the water ingress to the rear load
area. I visited my nearest Land Rover Franchised dealership "James Edwards
Chester" a member of the service department viewed my vehicle only to state
" I've never heard of this fault before but book it in and I am sure we will
be able to sort it out".I was then quoted a rough guide to the price of this
service as in the region of £60-£70 as "water leeks are hard to find", I
declined the offer and made further enquiries at a local garage. I was then
dually shown the Land Rover bulletin re water ingress and how to repair the
fault by a non franchised dealer. I repaired the fault myself with a £3.99
tube of silicone sealer.

The second fault I experienced was the peeling dashboard. I called
Land Rover Customer Services and was advised to take my vehicle to my
nearest dealer for assessment - James Edwards, Chester. Upon attending the
dealership all details of my vehicle were taken and the fault examined. The
assistant stated he would call me with Land Rovers decision. He did however
state that as my vehicle did not have a full Land Rover Service history it
would be unlikely that they would meet the cost of replacing the dashboard,
it was a case as to whether Land Rover UK find you to be a "sound
investment".
A week later I was advised that Land Rover would not meet any of the
cost of a repair/replacement. Considering what had been said and what I had
seen on the BBC Watch Dog programme I wrote to Land Rover with every
intention of taking them to the small claims court as they had openly
admitted it was a manufacturing fault that they would repair FOC.
A week later I was contacted by James Edwards Land Rover and they
acknowledged that Land Rover UK had now granted authority to have the
dashboard replaced FOC. There was no apology or explanation as to why the
quick change of authority.
I attended James Edwards Land Rover where they fitted the new
dashboard. Upon my wife returning home with the vehicle I examined the
dashboard to find that new damage had been caused to the radio fascia, the
radio did not work and all the dashboard controls were wired up wrongly
(volume down worked the rear fog lights). My wife returned to James Edwards
only to be informed "we do not touch the dashboard controls and the damage
to the radio fascia was there before, as stated on the job sheet" . My wife
pointed out that there was a small crack on the radio fascia before but now
there were two separate large cracks, this was confirmed on the job sheet
which stated "crack".
The assistant Manager Mr Love was called who went on to explain that
Land Rover have a policy that they "accept no responsibility or liability if
any damage is caused to a vehicle in their possession". My wife requested to
see a copy of this policy which Mr Love spent 10 minutes searching for all
to no avail. He resorted to a blatant lie stating he would post a copy.
To date the policy document has not been received and upon liaising
with Land Rover UK they state that this policy does not exist but as James
Edwards is a franchised dealership they have no authority over them. The
dashboard controls were repaired by a James Edwards mechanic who accepted
responsibility for the fault after three visits. There was never any apology
and in respect of the damage to the radio fascia Mr Warke the dealer
principle at James Edwards refuses to partake in any further correspondence.
Land Rover Customer Services state my case is with James Edwards not them.

The third fault I have experienced is in respect of the timing belt
misalignment fault. I have found that when I had my vehicle serviced at
97,000 miles the timing belt had 5mm worn away at the front, the belt was
ridding up on the tensioner pulley and the timing cover was also worn by the
crankshaft. . I had the repair kit fitted at a cost of £68.74 which repaired
the fault. I enquired with Land Rover UK as to compensation for the kit as
numerous Discovery owners had kits FOC and whole repairs when belts had
snapped FOC. I was advised by a message on my answer phone that "as far as
Land Rover are concerned, on the information that we have at the moment
there will be no compensation". Further enquires with Land Rover UK showed
that as the timing belt was replaced at 60,000 miles they were of the
opinion that there was no fault.
I have since made enquiries and found that my vehicles VIN was
listed affected. I also found that as my vehicle covered high mileage in the
first 2.5 years it had the first timing belt replaced on October 1997. Land
Rover only acknowledged there was a fault on March 1998 and released
technical bulletins to its franchised dealers, a full 6 months after my
timing belt was replaced. I then took the affected belt and pulleys to James
Edwards Land Rover Chester who stated my vehicle is affected and I require
the repair kit to be fitted. I have now passed all this evidence to Mr Bob
Dover at Land Rover UK and I am now awaiting an acknowledgement.

The long and short of it is I like my Discovery very much but
unfortunately as far as the build quality there is non. In respect of my
personal experiences of the Land Rover Customer Services they will pass the
blame on to the Franchised dealers but in turn the Franchised dealers will
pass the blame on to Land Rover UK. Its a catch 22 situation that I feel
they put you into in an effort to get you to give up. Land Rover UK will not
accept responsibility for poor service or build quality, and as far as James
Edwards Land Rover a franchised dealership they have they have the same
quality of service as Land Rovers build quality,NON.

I feel very strongly about the lack of service and assistance
from Land Rover UK and as such I would be most grateful if you would publish
my comments on your Webb page.