I love my truck, but I hate my truck...what to do?

[AxelR]

Strange to read this, I had my truck in for swapping the compressor and when I got it back I noticed shoe prints on the back seat (adult size). Unfortunately I always have to pick up the truck on Saturday when service is closed. More and more, I'm considering getting service done at a different dealership... Service advisor and techs make a huge difference.

 

[Finlayforprez]

Strange to read this, I had my truck in for swapping the compressor and when I got it back I noticed shoe prints on the back seat (adult size). Unfortunately I always have to pick up the truck on Saturday when service is closed. More and more, I'm considering getting service done at a different dealership... Service advisor and techs make a huge difference.

You could probably get a free detail if you called and complained. With that said, I had a stupid tech throw my old tire in the back of my 2011 and it bounced and got grease all over the place. Idiot! They offered me a free detail, but I made them pay for my own private detailer. I don't allow my truck to get washed after service, they are complete and total hacks.

 

[bash535i]

**** UPDATE ****
I received a call from the service manager today. This was the Land Rover service manager, not the head service manager that my cause was escalated to when it became obvious that the Land Rover manager couldn't get a handle on the inept technicians.

She apologized and took ownership for the problems that they and their subcontractors have caused. Apparently she called Land Rover and they agree that the vehicle has had more than my fair share of issues. She gave me one solid option and another possible option.

First, they are offering to extend the warranty to 72 months, 72,000 miles at no cost to me.
I feel like that's a decent gesture, but I don't know if that really solves anything. The vehicle is in warranty now, and I'm not happy about the problems, so I don't know if adding another 22,0000 miles of warranty would be all that helpful. I had already decided (and even printed the check) prior to this last episode to purchase the 100,000 mile Land Rover warranty since they offer an official Land Rover warranty now. I'm very glad that the little voice in the back of my head said to give it more time to be certain that's what I wanted.

The other option that she through out there was to pick another Land Rover and see if Land Rover would rebate the dealer some off and that between the two of them, they might be able to get me into another Land Rover product. I'm not sure if this included the option for certified pre-owned or not. I have serious doubts that they will give me a decent trade-in on my vehicle. I asked about trading it in around a year ago when all of this started and they offered to give me about $7,000 less that the listed KBB trade in zero off of the LR4 that I had inquired about trading it in for.

The only two vehicles that I might be interested in would be a 2014 Range Rover Sport SC or a late model pre-owned Range Rover SC, but I haven't driven either. Anyone care to compare how the quality of ride, noise, power, etc... compare? I'm familiar with what a 500+ horsepower vehicle accelerates like because my last work car was a 2011 CTS-V. I'm more interested in how free from road and wind noise, how smooth riding, etc... compared to the LR4.

I paid cash for the this LR4 (~$69K) with the thought I would drive it 5 or 6 years and get my use out of it. I don't consider myself as wealthy and don't relish the thought of handing over another 20-35K in order to get into another Land Rover product only to have this happen again. I'm just nervous at this point.



Finlay,
I've actually already received a few details and without asking for them. That's the crazy thing, with the exception of the low ball trade in offer a year ago, they actually seem to be trying on these repairs. Despite their best efforts, somehow or another, someone does something to undo all of their good will. The dealer complex includes Jaguar, Audi, Porsche and a couple of others. I can't imagine that they repeat these type of hijinks on all of those brands too. I'm just at a loss as to what I should think about it or do.

As a side note, I was told yesterday that the dealership is having to sue the glass company because they refuse to cover the cost of replacing the headliner when they sliced it up during the windshield replacement.

 

[umbertob]

Uh, both RR and RRS are brand new platforms still having their share of teething problems (come take a look at posts on rangerovers.net's forum...), not sure if by joining the "early adopter" ranks you'd really be protected from even more potential headaches down that road. Having said that, I drove in a new 2013 Range Rover - as a passenger - and the ride quality was magic carpet ride-like, definitely a step up from my LR4, which is quiet and very composed already as we all know. Haven't test driven a new Sport... And don't much want to, either. No likey,

 

[chinochulo]

I paid cash for the this LR4 (~$69K) with the thought I would drive it 5 or 6 years....I don't consider myself as wealthy....

bash535i, I appreciate and understand some of the problems you have had with the LR4, but what you wrote above is like the ultimate example of an oxymoron!

 

[jjvd21]

I would write a letter to LR USA with all of the service history printed out from your dealer. That is an absurd amour of errors faults poor build etc.

 

[suvowner]

Just get a 2014 lr4 with just what you want and make them sell it you at invoice price and give you kbb for your trade or you will park it in front of the dealership and buy a big banner that says want a lemon someone did this on a major roadway in my town and it was promptly bought back

 

[bash535i]

bash535i, I appreciate and understand some of the problems you have had with the LR4, but what you wrote above is like the ultimate example of an oxymoron!

Chinochulo,

This is kind of off topic, but since we are in a forum discussing vehicles that cost more than what a lot of people are able to afford, I suppose it's as good of a place as any to discuss it.

I guess it depends on your definition of wealthy. I do feel like I'm wealthy in my relationship with God and family, but not at all financially. I'm just a HS graduate who's always been a just a little bit entrepreneurial and recognized early on that they only way to earn what you are worth is to work for yourself. With that said, I've had times where I was under the lowest tax bracket and others where I was well over the top. I've had some decent middle income jobs that were great at the time and counted them as a blessing too. In my experience, what seems wealthy depends on where where we are currently at. I've had time where I'd look at someone else with $20,000 in the bank as well off and I've had times where I felt that the number would have to be at least a 1mil or more.

Paying cash for something, in my opinion, is just an indication that you are living within your means. Same goes for your home. As soon as you're able, pay for what you can afford so that you don't have payments and all of a sudden, there's a lot less stress when you know that in order to keep it, all you have to do is pay property tax and insurance. I think of that as living simple and believe that's what we should all strive to do as long as it takes a back seat to the more important things that truly make you "wealthy".

 

[bash535i]

Just get a 2014 lr4 with just what you want and make them sell it you at invoice price and give you kbb for your trade or you will park it in front of the dealership and buy a big banner that says want a lemon someone did this on a major roadway in my town and it was promptly bought back

That's not a bad idea, but for me, there's a couple of hiccups in that plan.

#1. One of the selling points about buying the Land Rover from them was that they would do the traveling back and forth for maintenance, repairs, and etc... If I had to resort to the same tactics, I don't expect that they would continue to do that. I'd be stuck with a vehicle that would require me to invest 2 days every time I had to take it in for servicing. That's a definite no-go.

2#. As good as the supercharged V-6 is, it's the wrong engine for the LR4. Having had a turbo Supra and supercharged CTS-V, I'm quite the the fan of forced induction- for the correct vehicle. In my opinion, the new engine combination goes completely against what the LR4 is supposed to be. I think of the LR4 as a stately, but rugged vehicle that can move about on most any terrain while keeping its composure. The smooth V-8 has been the perfect engine to provide that element of it. On the other hand, I've also had the opportunity to drive a few of the Jaguars with that same engine. While they are "spunky", they didn't provide the smooth, linear power and torque that those cars deserved.

Heck, even Lexus knows enough to put a v-8 in their small GX SUV so that it maintains some semblance of luxury. Why would anyone want their Jaguar or even more so, their Land Rover to have the power delivery characteristics of a Taurus or Explorer? For those that do a lot of offloading, it's hard to imagine that they are going to want to rely on boost in order to have enough torque as they crawl along a trail. The max horsepower and torque figures for the V-6 are less to begin with, but when you consider that you have to go full boost in order to get them there, it seems quite ridiculous. With the V-8, you can tool around at part throttle and dial in the necessary amount of power. What happens to the "As Slow as Possible. As Fast as Necessary" moto when you are forced to rely on a boosted engine to build the power necessary? Don't get me wrong, I've seen dune buggies and hill climbers using boosted engines and thought, "Hey, that's really cool. Listen to them scream as they beat and bang their way around." I just don't think that a forced induction gasoline engine fits the LR4's character.

Land Rover will tell you that they are forced to go the V-6 route for emissions/fuel economy. I don't buy it. They could have used the new transmission with the V-8 and picked up similar gains. The V-6 isn't rated much more efficient and that's using the start/stop function that can account for up to 10% mileage rating increase. I would dare say that they could have used the V-8 with the 8-speed and start/stop and received a higher rating than the V-6. If they were really concerned about the mileage, they could have used the turbo Diesel that is used elsewhere, even if it did require urea injection to clean it up. This leaves me to conclude that dropping the V-8 is more about cost savings and sharing of a more common engine.

Okay, sorry for the rant. These are of course my own opinions and aren't necessarily accurate for others. My wife says I'm very opinionated- I just think I'm right.

 

[danrhiggins]

Of course you are always welcome to rant (provided it is polite which yours was.) Having spend a day driving the 2014 LR4 with the SCV6 as well as the Lexus GX (less HP and very slightly less torque and only a 6-speed and lower towing max and no 2-speed xfer case option - though I realize these things are not always apples to apples) I really liked the SCV6. I drove it up into the mountains west of Denver and had no issues or concerns. In fact, it felt great. I expect you have driven so you can compare to the V8. But from my time driving it I thought it did great. No, I haven't pulled a trailer or rock crawled up a 40 degree slope but given that I would be going slow and easy I don't seen an issue.