Rover Advice

[Houm_WA]

Mr. Steed; for my last repair I was charged a labor rate that I know is comparable to that of the local Indie mechanics and the dealer parts dept took 15% off the price of the compressor.

I've spent $3k already this year. Granted in my case it's about half upgrades/reviving and half repair, but my Estimate is not bad. Also, estimate includes WA Sales Tax. Otherwise it'd pencil out to about $2650 per year.

I'm sorry if it stings and is hard for you to accept but please don't attack my sense of reasoning. I know what the **** I'm talking about.

 

[roverman]

Labor is one thing, the dealer in my experience doesn't charge enough more to worry about, maybe $20/hr. Where I've found the savings is that Indies don't charge so much markup for parts. Again in my experience. The best example is that the dealership wanted $30 for a license plate bulb. But there are many instances with these trucks where a repair can be 90% labor. Like installing a $10 O ring for a RR classic that cost me $900 in labor back in the day.

 

[Houm_WA]

Yeah, but I'm not certain where the indies source their parts, and that's something I'm careful of. Also, after 10 years at the dealers' shops, they routinely give me breaks and when they run promotions I take advantage of that. I do check prices against places like BP Utah or Atlantic British and try to get them close to that.

 

[CMGRover]

Outside of normal oil changes and stuff, I've usually been around 1000 per year. Never has left me stranded. I do a mix of DIY and taking it to an indy LR shop (bring in my own parts usually). If it wasn't for the DIY part I'd say closer to 1500 a year. This year I might be a bit over 1000. 3000 does seem high, although maybe not if only the dealer is used.

Also I would have to recommend that the LR not be your only vehicle...sure it probably would be manageable to have only it, but man it's nice to have another vehicle to drive when the LR3 is down and be able to have time to fix it.

All in all, any LR3 is better than a Kia Sorrento.

 

[PaulLR3]

$3-$4 k is an average a year, so some years you spend more than that on maintenance? How many years have you paid 3k-4k a year? Do you really think your dealer is treating you fairly? You don't think you could do better at an indie, but you haven't had any quotes... This just makes no sense to me how you can think this is normal.

I presume this doesn't make sense to you because you have no clue what "normal" Land Rover ownership involves.

Once my LR3 was out of warranty at 50K miles, I have consistently spent about $3K per year on maintenance and repairs.

I tried a local, popular indie mechanic for a brake job. Next day I see smoke coming off a rear wheel with a horrible burning smell. Indie had no clue how to put the parking brake in service mode and destroyed the parking brake shoes. Worse yet, they claimed it was a coincidence that they wore out the next day and had nothing to do with their work. And their cheap rotors corroded and warped in just a few months.

Yes, my dealer does treat me fairly. They match internet pricing on parts. They do the work right the first time. They did about $1000 of repair work from mice damage for free as warranty work. What indie mechanic would do that?

 

[roverman]

Paul,

That's crazy about your brakes. Seems like any decent mechanic should know that, although I have to confess that I had no idea about EPB service mode and have put new rotors and pads on a probably 1/2 dozen times with no problems.

But there's something to be said or doing it right the first time. I've gone around in circles a few times with independents. I just keep trying to tell myself it's worth it. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.

 

[Houm_WA]

One thing about the dealer, they have better (knowledge and tool) resources and generally do things correctly, and if they DON'T....you can expect them to make it right. They have deeper pockets and the support of the LR corporate people, too.

Others choose a different route and I can respect that. I've chosen to build a strong relationship with my dealer service department and it has been good for me.

 

[CMGRover]

For the OP...if you don't have a shop with the proper diagnostic gear or dealer nearby (my closest dealer is 2+ hours) you might want to either get the IID tool or consider other options. Not saying you'll need to be getting friendly with weekly visits (hopefully yours won't be a problem LR3) but really a good shop is a life saver. The guy that works on mine is great, Tesla motors if anyone is in the La Crosse WI area.

Really depends on the dealer or shop. My dealer when I lived in Florida was awful. Could barely get the 600lb beast behind the parts counter to even acknowledge my presence, let alone be of any use. Never saw the same SA twice, even tried asking but they had a turnover rate. Some indy shops can be equally shady. Just visit some local shops and dealers and see what feels right, you'll know right away.

 

[jwest]

I tried a local, popular indie mechanic for a brake job. Next day I see smoke coming off a rear wheel with a horrible burning smell. Indie had no clue how to put the parking brake in service mode and destroyed the parking brake shoes. Worse yet, they claimed it was a coincidence that they wore out the next day and had nothing to do with their work. And their cheap rotors corroded and warped in just a few months.

Yes, my dealer does treat me fairly. They match internet pricing on parts. They do the work right the first time. They did about $1000 of repair work from mice damage for free as warranty work. What indie mechanic would do that?

You need to name names....no use ******** without it helping the rest of us. I had a similar experience with crappy sourced rotors but so far only in terms of fast and major rusting enough to dust coat the wheels but in rust orange, not brake black, which I can live with.

 

[jwest]

For anyone in NC, the best place to go period is Flying Circus English Cars. Family biz since about 30 yrs ago. I've been taking Land Rovers there since 2001 starting with the 96 up until it moved away in 2007. A 2004 from 2006 to present, my LR3 since 2007 for the big custom build and back for alterations a couple years ago.

I wish there were such a place I could trust in the Seattle/Portland/Vancouver/Spokane region. I trust Flying Circus implicitly.