Dealer annoyance!

[DonA]

Dealer Rant!

So I dropped off my 05' LR3 last night at the dealer for recalls, B034, B036 and to have them look at the rear camber. I left a note that I will not pay for any unauthorized work.

Sure enough 12:00 this afternoon I get a call from the service rep they did 3 recalls and it needs an alignment that will cost $150. I asked him what was out of spec? He said "we didn't put in on the machine yet, we need you to ok the $150 first" I told him the rear tires are almost to the wear bar in the inside and the outside tread is like new. He said "you must have hit a *** hole and threw out the alignment" I argue that no *** hole is going to throw off both rear camber settings, toe yes, camber on both sides no. Its either at an incorrect ride height (thinking possible air suspension fault) or it was set wrong at the factory.

After a little more back & forth he asks if I would like to speak to his boss, I said YES!. He comes back after placing me on hold for 30 seconds and says "The regional rep is here and said he will waive the fee"

Well great I figured I did good. I asked how long he said the end of the day.

In addition to the work I needed the plastic cover on the rear bumper that I lost when I was towing a trailer. So I asked if he could put that part with my invoice since I won't be able to pick up untill after 6pm. (Parts & Service close at 5) He said sure.

I arrive there at 6:30 and they had the nerve to charge me $9.90 labor to "Install" that plastic cover! It needs no tools and I did not ask for it to be installed. In fact I am quite good at it since I tow my jetski trailer often and I have to take it on & off everytime, which to me is a stupid design but...

Can't wait to scream at this ***** again tomorrow. $9.90 it's not an issue of the money but just urks me they would charge labor for that. If my gas door was open would they charge me to close it as well??

 

[Moose]

$9.90 it's not an issue of the money but just urks me they would charge labor for that.

That means (probably) they charged you for 10 minutes of work (1/10 of an hour at $99 per)

If my gas door was open would they charge me to close it as well??

Almost certainly

 

[xcursion]

Common sleezy service practice. They have to get you somewhere. Last time I picked up my C class at MB dealer for a break light bulb replacement (1 bulb), they replaced both break and parking lights (4 bulbs) since "they appear at the end of their life"...

 

[bizdack]

Which NJ dealership was this DonA?

 

[DonA]

This was Land Rover Monmouth in Ocean Twp, NJ

I spoke with the service manager this morning who credited me the $9.90 which again is not the issue here, it was a matter of principal.

I also feel had I not stood firm on the alignment it would have cost me $150 when it was really a factory issue. Which the service manager finally agreed was set wrong at the factory and why LR approved the work.

After all that I must say the truck feels like new again. I agree with others it feels smoother more refined. Then again I could just be nuts

Rant over thanks for listening

Don

 

[Moose]

Glad to hear things worked out for you...

 

[KurtLR3]

small world ......i brought my LR3 from Land Rover Monmouth...

 

[trm2]

I bought mine at LR Monmouth too.

I've never been charged anything by them and have always gotten a really nice loaner car; but I routinely have had to explain to them how to fix their own car.

Oh well, sounds a lot better than some other dealerships on this (and other) board(s). And they are a lot nicer than my Volvo dealership. LR Monmouth has actually thanked me for explaining LR recalls to them.

 

[DonA]

I actually purchased from Paul Miller LR in Woodbridge. I live 30mins south Monmouth LR so it is obviously more convenient to go there for service.

My wife's Audi is from Schneider Nelson and we had been very pleased with that dealership. I figured I would give their Land Rover dealership my business.

I was all but ready to sign the deal with Monmouth, when a co-worker who thought the quoted price was high suggested I try Paul Miller. So I did, to my surprise they were $3000 less on the exact same vehicle right down to the color. Plus they said if I purchased that day they would throw in the tow hitch and wire harness no charge.

Okay well I figured I could get Monmouth to match that price and we would be all set. So I showed the numbers to the sales manager at Monmouth. He got flustered with me, started telling me a bunch of stories about Paul Miller showing me reports etc. I told him no problem I could buy there and use your highly rated service department here. All he kept repeating was that I will never be eligible for a loaner vehicle from his dealership unless I purchase from his dealership.

After the run around he says "my price is my price take it or leave it".

Well I left it, and drove home in my new LR3 that night from Woodbridge. Not getting loaners is a PITA and is something that is very annoying to me, particularly because I am a customer of their sister store and would have rather purchased there had they given me a fair deal. But to me it was still not worth an $3k

Oh well, I am moving to North Carolina in a few months so it’s all a moot point then anyway.

 

[Chongo]

Stealerships...............

My wife wanted a Landrover and so we bought one. It is a 04 discovery 2 and has 29000 miles on it. It had a ticking sound in the engine at all engine speeds and frequency would increase as it accelerated. we took it to Land rover in encino and they said nothing was wrong with it. Then I took it to Land Rover in Thousand oaks ( thousand jokes ! ) and they said nothing was wrong with it, yet it had 25 psi less in # 6 cylinder on my compression test.
The service manager told me all he heard was the injector noises, which at idle would make a hard to hear buzzing noise, this was a loud tick every forth ****** of the engine cycle, I can tell this manager had had no injector expiriance what so ever. Needless to say, As long as we own it, It's never going back to Land rover again, they left off a bunch of hardware and broke the intrument dash top piece and left out alot of the hardware that holds engine parts down, and had the radio blasting on some spanish station when we picked it up from Land rover Encino Ca.
In short I pulled the engine and found it had been overheated, it explained the new water pump to me quite well. It had ring tenstion failure and the bore was slightly affected. but no slipped liners though.
A sunnen power hone and new rings brought me back into specifications, a new oil pump gear( old one was cracked into 2 pieces), and after $2167.00 in parts and machining and around $2500.00 in modifications, it runs awesome. we are getting around 16 mpg the first week. we bought the vehicle in Immaculant condition and my wife loves it.
I didn't quite do everything by the book. I did do alot of modifications internally, and it looks like it paid off. It's vienna green and light green interior really looks sharp.
Chongo.