Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

Below is a warning to all potential Landrover owners, don't do it.



An open letter to the CEO of Landrover Canada and interested parties.

A debacle. This is the only way I can describe my dealings with Landrover of Edmonton, operated by Go auto. Quite an analogy really as I have not really 'gone' anywhere for the last two weeks as my Rangerover has failed (again) and I have had the joy of zipping around in the equivalent hire vehicle, a Kia Soul.

Having purchased a 3yr old Rangerover, locally owned and operated with a full service history and a relatively average 80,000km on the clock, I thought I had ticked all the boxes, I even purchased the 3yr extra warranty from Landrover to ensure against the eventual breakdowns. I say eventual as I am not so naive to believe the mechanical reputation of Landrover has improved so significantly of late to warrant complete peace of mind. What I did not expect though is to receive such poor service, bordering on the fraudulent from a luxury (and I use that word loosely) manufacturer.

The latest problem occurred after a major service (all OK), an engine warning light (nothing to worry about, that will be $80 please) and then a dump of oil on my garage floor of Exxon proportions, accompanied by a now flashing warning light, clearly irked that it had been ignored first time around. There had been roughly 4 weeks between all these. Having contacted my dealer and been told, as usual, that no, we cannot look at it for 3 days, no we have no loaner cars, and no we cannot provide you with a hire vehicle you will have to do it yourself, I resigned myself to the inevitable bill that was to follow. This is where though I think enough really is enough.

Over the following 2 weeks of negotiations, where the repair bill ranged between $3,300 and $1800 I discovered something very interesting. Not only had all these problems manifested themselves following this major service, when they should have been noted, one of the parts failed was replaced in March of 2009 under warranty, yet the warranty from Landrover expired in January of this year?! Now this got me to thinking, have I been deliberately sabotaged? Has the dealership fraudulently doctored records to claim service bills from Landrover when clearly they were not entitled to do so? or, are the owners, operators and technicians at Edmonton Landrover so inept, incompetent and ignorant that they are simply negligent? This is too close to call.

I have more, lots more, I've not mentioned the spark plugs at all!! I am writing at this point to, prompt some kind of response, receive some assurance from those at Go auto that this will be investigated and to garner interest/support from the media to highlight issues with this dealership and the brand in general. I would be interested to hear from any of the magazines that may wish to print my story exclusively.

Yours (me) a soon to be Nissan owner.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

Rae, what's the point of posting this?

All manufacturers vehicles have issues at some point, and the quality of service and care by dealers varies - I don't see how LR is any different. :confused:

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

i disagree, if you go by the consumer reports and various reviews you will see some manufacturers year on year top the tables with almost 100% satisfaction, lexus and subaru for example, others not so much.
the main purpose is to highlight this particular dealership in edmonton, and that should some think landrover have improved from there less than auspicious past regarding service and reliability, well they haven't.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

This is a good place for a rant/service announcement. Rant away.

Did you tell them you were a cop and that you'll all be watching them?

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

More to the point, Cops in AB must make good wages to afford a blimmin' Range Rover!;)

Sorry to hear about your woes. I worked at LR for a couple of years after Ford bought 'em out. It's of little use to you, but the quality of the new RR (BMW designed) is streets ahead of the old (P38A) design. Sadly, LR's build quality prior to Ford and post Ford has continued to leave a lot to be desired. I'd never buy one.

Interestingly, the North American car company nearest to LR in ethos and product range is Jeep. Their build quality is worse if that were possible. Perhaps it's a utilitarian SUV thing?

I leave you with a final thought: At least it's not a Toyota!

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

nope, i don't like to bring that into it at all, i would have thought the situation bad enough but then again what do i know.
i can see the point rich is making, i should imagine everyone has been done at some point by someone. i am a bit of a car nut though and owned a vehicle from just about every manufacturer, nissan, toyota and honda are the only ones i never had any trouble with, car or dealer, so they do exist in my experience.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

Surf the 1000's of vehicle related forums and I bet you could find similar posts and sentiment about every single manufacturer, and most dealerships too. Some are isolated incidents, some are indicative of underlying trends and problems.

FWIW, I had terrible problems with a new Subaru 18mths or so ago (replaced engine, turbo, 3x stereo, repainted, engine warning light issues etc). Subaru North America were a PITA to deal with, the local dealer was pretty supportive, but the whole experience left a pretty bitter taste - certainly not the near 100% satisfaction the consumer reports might like you to believe.

I purchased a new Mercedes a couple of weeks ago, and it's already needed a new auxiliary battery - shit happens, and unless there's a wealth of similar evidence such as that which you posted about LR and Go Auto, I don't think a poorly composed rant is an opinion I'd consider to be much use in isolation.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

hmm yes, was considering one, went to the edmonton motor show at the weekend can't say i like any of them, toyota switchgear is like something from the ELC.
i can't afford it, champagne taste brown beer budget, i just wanted to own one for a year, experience and all that, it will be going soon for a nissan pathfinder. incidently mine is the newer one with the bmw 4.4 v8 engine, and thats where i have had all the problems?!!(just for steve!)

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

well thank you for your observations on my 'poorly composed rant' once again after just a couple of posts a thread descends to this. is it not possible just for once for someone to post something that may be of benefit to someone? i remember now why i have not bothered posting anything on here for 2mths. can't be bothered replying to anything else you post.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

Sorry if I've upset you rae, but having spent months trying to resolve issues relating to poor customer service and countless warranty issues (ultimately getting the vehicle replaced), I really don't believe what you wrote will achieve much.

My experience is that you need to document everything methodically, remove the emotion and provide a clear expectation for resolution, whether that means a replacement vehicle, some $ compensation or whatever. Once you introduce words like fraud, sabotage and negligence you need to substantiate why you believe this is the case with some facts. I worked my way up the food chain to the Customer Service Manager for NA, and it wasn't until I got to that level of authority that things started to happen - you need to be speaking directly with someone that can make decisions, and the reality is that an open letter to the CEO is really unlikely to get a positive response or tangible action.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

Did you buy a RR to go under cover as a drug dealer?

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

you've not upset me, i'm just fed up with arguing with LR, i don't need to get into it on here with regard to my english language skills (or lack of them)

i have documented everything. i don't expect it to achieve anything, thats why i have not asked for a resolution, i don't want anything to do with them anymore, the objective is simply to publicize my experience in the hope others may avoid it.

the letter is deliberately ambiguous in points as i want a reaction and investigation by them getting back in touch with me instead of ignoring me.

i have already had 2 phone calls from LR North America in New Jersey so it has produced a tangible response so far.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

;)

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

I reckon it's true - admit it, it's the real reason you haven't posted any poorly composed rants about spiders or coffee purchasing.

Re: Of Rangerovers and sparkplugs.
 

I hope you have some success rae. Have an attitude that you do want things resolved though. Offer them a resolution that you think is fair and achievable given the circumstances and inconvenience you've experienced, and take it from there.

I was told on numerous occasions by Subaru's customer service hotline that the policy was to repair, and not replace vehicles. Having not had access to the car for more than a handful of days over several months, I kept pushing for replacement, until I learned that the policy was flexible, and each case was determined on merit. It took over a dozen calls, hours on hold, much frustration, and several weeks to get to that point. I can understand your pain, but don't let them grind you down. There'll be a resolution at some point, so make sure it's something you're happy with, rather than washing your hands of it and ending up out of pocket.

Best of luck.