Avoid the 2010 LR4!

[jwscfa]

On February 17th of this year I took delivery of a 2010 LR4 HSE with the Lux Plus Package. On February 23rd the vehicle would not start and was flat bedded back to the selling dealer for two days to diagnose and replace the brake switch. The warning on the dash said "place foot on brake" while my foot was on the brake. On March 3rd the same problem occurred resulting in the service manager of the selling dealer coming to my house and adjusting the brake switch. Apparently it was not reading adequate vacuum pressure in the brake system. In addition to this problem I experienced many of the same issues noted on this forum with satellite radio reception problems, incorrect satellite radio displays, uneven steering wheel heating and calculation problems with the guidance system unable to read the amount of fuel in the tank when it was full.

On March 29th while driving I got 4 fault codes-transmission fault,parking brake fault, emergency brake assist not available and stability control not available-drive carefully. I drove the car home and it once again was sent by flat bed back to the selling dealer. After keeping my vehicle for 3.5 days I received a call from the service manager. He stated that most of the minor issues wold be fixed with a software upgrade due to come out in a month. He also stated that they had not been able to replicate the fault codes and Land Rover had instructed them to return the vehicle to me. The vehicle had 1601 miles when it went back to the dealer.

I documented each of these issues with digital camera photos which I provided to the dealer. Some of these issues may seem minor and I would not dispute that but for $60k I think you have the right to be a little picky. However having two major service issues within a month and a half with one of them being a major safety issue was too much for me. The fact that made up my mind about the quality of the car was when Land Rover would not acknowledge that the car even had a problem even though it was documented with pictures. I think my selling dealer did all they could to correct the issue but got little support from the factory. Basically here is a vehicle with a major safety problem that Land Rover is unwilling to acknowledge and is willing to put this car back on the road. they have a car that they cannot fix so their response was to send the car back to the owner. This is totally unacceptable from a safety standpoint and I traded the vehicle for another brand.

I feel everyone should be aware of how Land Rover is not facing up to service issues with this vehicle and I would strongly recommend against anyone purchasing any vehicle from a manufacturer such as Land Rover who has this attitude toward service and safety issues with their vehicles.

 

[Stonecutter]

Every manufacturer builds a few lemons.
I tried very hard to convince myself to buy a LR4 as a replacement for my 2007 Mercedes GL450. The local dealers seem to make it very difficult to get the vehicle specs & colors I want, and the bad press got me concerned.
I ended up ordering another GL. Stories like yours make me glad I made this choice.

 

[aesopian]

My experience has been a 180 degree difference from your experience. My vehicle has driven and handled as expected, quality is top notch and I've experienced no electronic issues.

It's truly unfortunate concerning your experience - both with the vehicle and the manufacturer.

 

[zgaspen]

JW - did these lights continue to come on even after the dealer returned the car to you?

This afternoon I made my third LR visit and only continue be more impressed after driving other vehicles and getting to know LR and the LR dealer better. Living in an area where there seem to be more LR's and RR's than any other truck, I don't know a single person with a 2007-2010 that has issues, yet the vehicle concinues to get a bad rap here too.

A car with this much tech and this new is absolutely bound to have minor issues (like when I purchased my '07 mdx advance dec '06). But minus something funky with a battery going dry with something left on, I don't expect many problems to get past my dealer before the truck reaches me (or at least I am REALLY hoping). There really is not another vehicle out there for me that provides sufficient space, off-road chops, performance, comfort and safety the way any of the bigger LR's do and I expect the realiability to be as sound as a Porsche. I'm not saying this is the case with your car, but I wonder how much of LR's bad rap comes from folks not really knowing how everything works in their car - they clearly are different than German and Japanese made cars....

Best of luck with whatever you replaced your truck with.....

 

[jwscfa]

I am not sure if the light continued as I was not willing to risk the safety issues of all the fault codes in driving the car. I traded the vehicle as Land Rover's instruction to the dealer was return the car to the customer. I would upload the photos but they were taken on a macro lenses an are too big to post here. My point is that the manufacturer would not acknowledge that there was a problem with the car (even with documentation of the issue) and was willing to risk peoples lives by putting the car back on the road.

 

[nolift911]

I am not sure if the light continued as I was not willing to risk the safety issues of all the fault codes in driving the car. I traded the vehicle as Land Rover's instruction to the dealer was return the car to the customer. I would upload the photos but they were taken on a macro lenses an are too big to post here. My point is that the manufacturer would not acknowledge that there was a problem with the car (even with documentation of the issue) and was willing to risk peoples lives by putting the car back on the road.

Uh - not to downplay the issue - but risking peoples lives? I think you have the classic no start issues syndrome that is being addressed in a TSB that was just released. It sounds like you need a software update. As far as the other issues...uneven heating in the steering wheel? Not sure what you tell you there - is there some calculation on the correct level of heating - I would expect that the wheel would not be perfectlyheated all the way around - maybe move your hands to where the heat is as a temporary fix?

As far as poor satellite radio reception I have the same thing - as do others, I think LR is working to resolve this.

No car is perfect - but when folks spend what they consider to be "alot" of money for one they tend to want it that way. All cars have issues - give the dealer a chance to work it out.

I think that the dealer (coming to your home to try and fix) is doing everything within their power at this point. LR would not put a vehicle back on the road if deemed unsafe - it is simply not worth it.

 

[Stormtrooper]

I would not blame this on Land Rover as a whole...think of the dealers as the child of LR. Call corp and complain and they will bend over backwards to help you...I did it with my Audi. Also research your lemon laws in your state as it sounds as though you may have one. Remember even Toyota with it stellar reputation is now thanking loyal customers for sticking with them through some tough times.

 

[tjp74]

Wow... Mine, purchased around end of Jan has been perfect, reliable, no issues what so ever so far. I had to update the software to fix the rear window but I expect that kind of issues in first model year. I liked it so much I bought an used 2000 Discovery 2 as a toy. I guess they do build some lemons especially first model year. Sorry to hear that.

 

[blackforestham]

There are always two paths along a fork in the road - be polite, patient and understanding with a Dealer or kick and scream as an irate customer. Hmmm. Which one do you think a Dealer will respond better to???? It kills me that people feel "entitled" to perfection when it comes to a LR purchase. 60k?? Who cares. Ford, Chevy and Dodge sell TRUCKS that cost a ton more than that! I can see dropping 400k on a Bently and THEN acting like a Diva. Get over yourself. It takes two.

 

[marcoVU]

I understand the OP's gripes and I would be ****** too,but it sounds like he got a lemon. The dealership seems to be taking all steps possible. I agree with others on here about contacting corporate (in NJ if you are in the US) and talk to them.

I sent them a letter back in February when I bought my LR4 about a horrible experience buying my car from a dealer in NJ, which I ultimately canceled and bought from Princeton. Anyway, they called me up about two weeks later to follow up and I told them the entire story that is was just one person that made me cancel my order. They were very helpful and wrote everything down.

Since you are having issues with the physical car, it wouldn't surprise me if they took this very seriously. It seems that the new owners are stepping up the customer service to counter all of the negative perception out there.

My experience has been great with mine with no issues, except a CD player that won't load a disc (I called the dealer and they'll check it out when I get around to bringing it in for the first service since I only use an ipod). Also, I have almost 6k miles on it and changed the oil this past weekend and refueled the beast with royal purple because I don't trust factory oil. Took a whole 15 minutes with the vacuum fluid extractor (13 minutes pouring 8.5 quarts back in).