Share your most expensive repairs

I have 160000 on my 2011 LR 4 HSE LUX AND JUST FINISHED DOING THE TIMING CHAIN AND NEW WATER PUMP...about $5700 for all parts and labor. Small investment for a great vehicle since it is long paid for. The boys at Matrix Portland have seen this 10-13 MY at over 350,000 miles without real major work.

dlonesty said:

I have 160000 on my 2011 LR 4 HSE LUX AND JUST FINISHED DOING THE TIMING CHAIN AND NEW WATER PUMP...about $5700 for all parts and labor. Small investment for a great vehicle since it is long paid for. The boys at Matrix Portland have seen this 10-13 MY at over 350,000 miles without real major work.

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I assume this repair was maintenance. Correct me if i’m wrong, of course.
That being said, is there a way to avoid that repair? Like, some sort precautionary measures, perhaps?

ktm525 said:

$16k worth of damage in a fender bender lol. That rear quarter panel is expensive and ships from the UK. No aftermarket body panels.View attachment 10180

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Damn Bro, that's crazy $16K. On the brighter side it looks like the tailgate didn't get damaged.
Hell i'd be in a Pick-n-Pull of other wrecking yard with a carbide 4 1/2" wheeled cordless grinder and cut out a quarter panel section larger than what you need by 1". Study and make the proper cuts to fit with NO GAPS a butt joint replacement panel. Tig or Mig welded in a stitching procedure moving around not warping the sheet metal. Time and labor on you, painting to match at a body shop. Hint, use a body shop using the same manufacture of paint that was used on the LR from new as then the dyes will fade evenly over time. You should be $14,000 to $14,500 ahead when all done JMO. That's how i'd resolve it if it were my LR. Almost forgot, this a steel or aluminum bodied LR? Aluminum well a bit harder to Tig vs steel......~~=o&o>.....

ryanjl said:

*** did that guy do to his engine?

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Standard Land Rover service intervals. Engine has 2 quarts of oil in it. Had overheated pretty bad. Timing chains, tensioners and rollers were all just one big chunk of metal. Head was possibly cracked.

Mason Courtney said:

Standard Land Rover service intervals. Engine has 2 quarts of oil in it. Had overheated pretty bad. Timing chains, tensioners and rollers were all just one big chunk of metal. Head was possibly cracked.

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@Mason Courtney

Just curious since you are a working technician. I think the flat rate hours on the timing chains/tensioners/guides is somewhere around 20 hours. Have you been able to work that down significantly through experience, or is that 20 hours wishful thinking on LR's part.

I'm the child of a 35 year GM line tech, so was wondering if the job is doable within what LR specs, or if they are screwing over the techs to limit their warranty costs.

Just spent about $1000 to have a roof leak fixed. Apparently dropping the headliner is a big production since it is lined with fiberglass and you don't want to put a bend in it. Turned out to be the antenna leaking which was also causing water to short out the rear view camera.

And the steering felt loose and was leaking fluid so had the steering rack replaced for about $2000. Wow, it corners and steers so much better! These things wear out so gradually that you don't realize how bad they were until you replace it.

I'm getting to that point where I'm starting to question the wisdom of dumping more repair money into my LR4. Still love it better than anything else out there but there are limits. Hope I like the Defender so I can make loan payments instead of repair payments.

I meant to add that the customer in front of me was picking up their LR4 after a timing chain guide repair and was complaining that their invoice was over $8000.

This timing chain issue is starting to remind me of the timing chain guide issue on the R56 Mini Cooper. There eventually was a class action suit on that.

EDIT: Never mind, there already is one.

https://www.kgglaw.com/class-action/land-rover-and-jaguar-timing-chain-defect-class-action/

Same thing happened with the Audi 4.2 engines. Customers used to complain about spending $1500 to replace timing belts as normal maintenance. So manufacturers switched to timing chains thinking they were "lifetime". But when these fail the cost is far worse.

@avslash - Not a working Tech, but a service writer. I would say it really depends on the job. Some trucks are easy to work on and the Tech makes some change on it, and others will fight every wrench turn. If, as a shop, you are charging straight book time, you will get bit more than you win - especially with LR's.