My vote for Worst LRNA Dealer

[Eric Siepmann]

Noticed the wiper thread in the tech thing and just wanted to share some royal Dealer BS with everyone. (didn't want to hijack it) I am now convinced all dealers are worse than politicians - whores for money and crooked as a country road.

I had my truck in the dealer yesterday to get an oil change. The service rep comped me for the last time they raped me.

Here's what they said:
1. Water pump is leaking needs to be replaced
2. front main seal leaking needs to be replaced
3. Head Gaskets look like they will begin to go , might as well replace them with new ones.
4. Rear main seal is leaking, need to replace.

I politely say change the oil and if it wasn't that much trouble to wash the truck.

Show up and they implore me to get the work done. They say they want to remove the engine, strip it to a a near short block, fix the rear main, heads and water pump, and then re-bolt the bad boy back into the truck. And get this, they wanted 3,600 dollars. Yes three thousand six hundred dollars (the rep gave me a coupon that took about 400 off the price, how sweet of them!)

So I say nope. I'll need to get a second opinion from an old family friend who has been wrenching at his own place for 30 years. The rep seems insulted. Well our Master Tech is rarely wrong.
OK. I tell him. When I checked it that the pump looked fine and there was no anti-freeze. Now this dealer hasn't tried to get me before. In fact they were pleasant to deal with. So, since I am just starting to get back into wrenching on my truck, I get a little nervous. This is after all my second largest hobby and money pit after my house.

Take the truck to my friend to console my nerves.

Here's what is really wrong with my truck:

The rear main seal leaks a tiny bit. Yup No big pressing issue. Nothing I couldn't remedy with about 5000 gallons of premium oil that the 3,600 will buy me.

The water pump was bone dry with no play in the bearings. Just like it was before. It looks new. (Truck has 11k on it) Belts and pulley are fresh. The main seal in the front isn't leaking. There was some oil spilled from the change. Once we sprayed a little degreaser on the block, the leak disappeared. (wasn't there when I checked the engine prior to bringing in it either) May have a slight valve cover leak. The Head gaskets show no sign of any leaks. There is no anti freeze anywhere. I'd have noticed that right away. And the seep hole in the pump they told me was leaking was bone dry. Car has never overheated nor had any major engine issues that would even remotely indicate a need to remove the block.

So if you think you're dealers bad...... ;)

EwS

The only good news out of this whole thing is that this has prompted me to get back into fixing my own vehicles like I did when I was working my way through college and knowing how to fix problems trailside.

[chrisvonc]

With only 11K on the truck, you dont have a warranty on that?

All that should be covered under the LR warranty. Tell them to cram the $3600 up their ass and do the work for $0.

[sherpamike]

The warranty is exactly where my LR dealership went wrong....

I bought my 90 back in August from the dealership. To be fair, I was very impressed with the people, and the whole process I went through, in the sales department. My trouble started about month and a half later. I was home for the weekend and the rover was about due for its 82,500 mile servicing. That service consists of mainly an oil change and the inspection of some hoses and belts and such. Up to that point the rover had a perfect service record and I didn't want to mess up the record over a simple 82,500 mile service.

Well I dropped the rover off and when I returned in the afternoon they had found three "catastrophic" problems that would require 2 days of labor and something like $2,100. I cannot remember exactly what they claimed was wrong, but it was something to the gist of a leak in the intake manifold, leaking swivel seals, and a problem with the rear driveshaft. When I heard this I was thinking, "I just bought this truck from you guys a little over a month ago, it hasn't gone anywhere (it mainly just sat in the dorm parking lot), and I haven't even taken it wheeling yet." The service manager said not to worry because the warranty on the truck would cover it. Then I informed him that I just bought the truck from them, and there was no warranty on it because it was over 7 yrs old and 75k (In fact, when I bought it I was told I could only put a LR warranty on the drivetrain, but it wasn't really necessary because of the great shape the truck was in).

Anyway, I turned them down on their wonderful offer to service my rover and I took the truck over to an Independent Land Rover Shop. There, a LR certified technician took me all over the truck showing me that everything was in pristine shape, and some of the parts that the dealership wanted to replace were even close to new (driveshaft).

From what I gather the dealership just wanted to fraud LRNA for some warranty money. In any event, I will never take my rover back to that dealership. If anyone is looking for good rover service in North Carolina I highly recommend Rover Club House in Durham.

-Mike

[Eric Siepmann]

I bought the truck used two years ago. So even it was certified (bought it before they could certify it. They did after the fact), the two year time frame has already elapsed.

I am never bringing it back to a shop that advocates removing an engine to repair a rear main. The service manual clearly states that the tranny should be dropped. And the waterpump could have been serviced independent of the rear main for less hours than what the dealer quoted to do in one job with the engine removed.

No way in hell I am going back to that dealer ever again. I will however be attending their fully paid off road dates this summer. They had a great caterer last time. That'll show them. Rat Bastards.

[Abrooks]

Remember that the service advisors are commission based . . .

No, I'm not joking.

[rover4x4]

I 2nd the rover clubhouse they are excellent.

[Eric Siepmann]

You know I heard that from someone else. I always wondered about that. They always did come across as having a pitch, but I thought it was them towing the LRNA line and projecting that upper crust lifestyle behavior the brand seems to evolving into. In the very least I thought they were paid well on a straight salary. How else could you deal with annoying and pretentious people all day. Some jackass was raising holy hell because the consultant couldn't find him a range rover while his POS freelander was getting repaired.

EwS

[wicks]

That's some rotten cabbage for sure.

[Berty]

Someone has to pay for the hot receptionist, coffee, swish showroom & lifestyle advisors (salesmen). It's usually the mugs who use the service centre or Land Rovers Warranty system :mad

Brett

[OCD90]

Upon receipt of my used 40K mi '97 SW, I took it to the dealer to reinforce my purchase decision...had an oil change, and asked for an inspection...among other things, the guy told me the head gasket was leaking, and that I needed to do it soon. He also indicated that the front pads were metal to metal, and the rears ha 5K miles left. He said that I should get it all done ASAP, and that the serious leaking would soon make my driveway a hazard, not to mention ruin the engine.

Here's the punchline...10K miles later, never a drop of oil on the pavement, no headgasket issues at all...front pads lasted for 7,000 more miles, and upon replacement, the guy told me I have at least 15-20 thousand miles left on the rear.

So...pretty much...I'll never be going back to the local dealer...as I knew in advance, but confirmed through their lack of either honesty or skill.

[Ragland]

What I find so stupid is the dealer's logic in screwing someone who is a long-term owner of a Land Rover. These are borderline cult vehicles, and the owners treat them more like boats or planes when it comes time for maintenance.

It's like I told my friend, in what increment of $1000 do you want to do service. I knew this going into the deal 5 years ago, so don't take every cheap shot with a false cry of 'this needs replacement'. Sooner or later I'll be back for the real thing. The question will be who I go to for the work.

It's truly ashame most makers never really devise true customer satisfaction assurance. I guess they see us as a captive audience.