On Saturday 13th April 2024, my wife and I were travelling back from our daughters house in Stoke after seeing our grandchildren in our 2016 L/R Disco 4 which we have owned from new and despite 82000mls has its full L/R service history and is driven with care. We do tow and have a Coachman 520VIP.On this Saturday evening we were travelling through the M6 roadworks between J21A and J26 at a cruise control set speed of 50mph when suddenly the car juddered and started to slow down but we manged to coax it off at J23 - the A580 - and found a safe place just of the dual carriageway to stop.We finished up on a low loader with the car back at home- Saturday night at 2300+.Following many phone calls over the next week and with our son in law and his car trailer we ended up the following Saturday at the Landrover dealer where a few days later confirmed that the engine needed replacing.
This last week - FOUR MONTHS LATER - we finally received a call to say that our replacement engine had arrived and the car was getting prepared for the work.Unfortunately the dealer did not have a suitable replacement car for us as we needed a tow bar to tow our caravan and they were unable to get one so this year we have not yet used our caravan and have not had a holiday together this summer,so we ended up with a hire car.
I think that it is disgusting that a company as big as JLR cannot supply an engine quicker than four months or is it that the engines now being fitted to their cars are so bad and so many fail that they can't keep up with demand.
I know it is not the dealers fault but JLR seriously need to get their backsides in gear and start producing quality cars made with quality parts rather than the expensive cars with rubbish parts at premium car prices that are now being produced and sold.
How long has the saga of spare wheels getting stolen gone on and what have they done-next to nothing,what have they done about tow hitches getting stolen-nothing but why should they? In excess of £1000+ to replace full size spare along with winch and carrier, over £400 for a tow-ball? A nice little extra earner for Landrover isn't it!
Over six years on they are finally looking at security on their cars.Last week I received a letter from JLR saying that they are NOW looking into the cloning of my fob data and as a temporary measure have given me a Faraday pouch to put my keys in,I have two fobs but they have only supplied one pouch! It's an absolute joke.
Wonderful car, crap quality, useless company.
one does not by a landrover if you want security, cheap insurance or reliability! apart from the 4 months wait your story is exactly why anyone should/would avoid them.
Everyone who buys a Land Rover believes they will be the lucky individual who buys the perfect example. The relaibility surveys don't lie, they are trash and have been for decades. I've numerous friends who have bought them in good faith and regretted it. One spent so long at the dealership being lied to he decided to take his laptop on every visit and work from there. Another suffered an oil leak at just 2 years old which meant major engine surgery.
However at 8 years old its harsh to blame a main dealer. Once any vehicle gets to 5 years old repairs are to be expected, at 8 years they are almost inevitable and by ten years major issues or an accident usually write vehicles off. My neighbour has a 20 year old Disco 2 and its a good job his day job is a HGV mechanic as he is spannering every weekend to keep it going. Last time he took it out the clutch failed.
JLR won't have warehouses full of your particular engine and it may be a recon unit anyway. Also check what you are getting. A new engine may just be that and all ancilliaries such as turbos, aircon, water pump, oil cooler, coolant system, power steering pump, alternator etc will be transferred from your old car.
If you want ten year reliability buy a Toyota, they are confident in their product and will warranty engines for ten years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
I like LRs but wouldn't buy one. Not reliable and difficult to insure due to thefts.
The Discovery engine failures are well known not good for such pricey vehicles. I had an old S3 LR which just kept going,tough as old boots! We had loads of LRs when I was in the RAF which seemed to go on and on despite getting hard use. They were well maintained and were a simpler design.
We will stick with Hyundai or Kia. Other alternatives would be Toyota or Mazda.
We also have a Mini, our second. Well built and reliable cars. Of course owned by BMW.
Post last edited on 20/08/2024 10:20:05
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
We had a LR defender for 9 years, a dealership vehicle, and had no trouble with it at all, maybe we were lucky. And we hammered it too, though didn't tow.
I was telling OH about the OP issue, he said that that engine was made by Ford.
Hi Dave, its NOT the dealer I have an issue with its JLR themselves,the dealer has tried all they can but are talking to a brick wall.As regards stock,these engines are notorious for snapping crankshafts and JLR have done absolutely nothing to cure the problem, apparently its a design defect. JLR had 18 warehouses full of parts-including plenty of engines-and decided to move it all into one big warehouse just outside Leicester called Mercia and still haven't got it working correctly.The engine for my car is being paid for by my extended warranty so any car over 2yo will only receive a reconditioned unit which still costs £11500!!! My main dealer is waiting for either three or four engines.My engine is the 3.0l lion engine but JLR's own engine is called the Ingenium engine which is designed and built by JLR themselves. This engine is also a pigs ear with many different serious faults across the range but that is JLR- cheap and nasty badly designed components that are not fit for purpose.
Being perfectly honest though my D4 has been a good car with only the main propshaft needing changing due to the rubber around the bearing perishing but again bad design.
My neighbour had similar problems last year when he exchanged his Range Rover for a new Land Rover. After a few weeks the ECU developed a fault and the dealer was unable to get a replacement. The dealer told him that JLR were building a new spares facility and in the meantime they had no access to spares. They said every main dealer in the country had vehicles waiting for spare parts, which appears to be true if you Google Land Rover spares.
Eventually after several months the dealer took his Land Rover back and gave him another brand new one.
Been towing caravans over 50 years and had many tow cars. Bought a brand new Discovery and the worst car I ever owned. Back at dealers in the first week for new gear box as kept jumping out of gear. The technician phoned Landrover and they said they knew of problem and to fit new gearbox, At 32000 miles and out of warranty,towing caravan and 2 miles from destination gearbox gave up. Recovery home and cost us another gearbox.After spending all that money though better hang on to it for a bit, but then 12 months later turbo gave up. Got rid and bought new Sorento which was trouble free,followed by trouble free Santa Fe.
We have a Santa Fe and are very pleased with it. We sold our Mitsubishi to an acquaintance who sold it on after 4 months as he had the opportunity to buy a Range Rover. Now he is unhappy as it is rapidly losing value.
He is always having digs at us "you don't go to proper sites" is one as we prefer CLs. He was waxing lyrical about Eye Kettleby. Not our idea of a lovely site at all.
Can I ask what Land Rovers are difficult to insure? I have had my 1984 127 twin cab pickup for almost 15 years now and never had a problem insuring it. This is despite it being heavily modified and converted from a gutless 2.5 td to a 4.6 V8 from a Range Rover. I still only pay £275 per year including comprehensive commercial use. In terms of reliability it does seem that Land Rover have actually got worse since the 1980's and early 90's and although my Land Rover is on it's 3rd engine and 2nd gearbox, they were swapped through choice rather than necessity apart from the 2nd engine which suffered from poorly made cylinder liners. My 40 year old Land Rover still works for it's living, something that new Land Rovers seem ill suited to. I have in the past been unfortunate enough to have to go to official Land Rover dealers in the past for a few parts and services and I have to say that they have been far from excellent most of the time and that most small independent Land Rover specialists are far better, quicker and cheaper.
Quote: Originally posted by martin734 on 05/1/2025
Can I ask what Land Rovers are difficult to insure? I have had my 1984 127 twin cab pickup for almost 15 years now and never had a problem insuring it. This is despite it being heavily modified and converted from a gutless 2.5 td to a 4.6 V8 from a Range Rover. I still only pay £275 per year including comprehensive commercial use. In terms of reliability it does seem that Land Rover have actually got worse since the 1980's and early 90's and although my Land Rover is on it's 3rd engine and 2nd gearbox, they were swapped through choice rather than necessity apart from the 2nd engine which suffered from poorly made cylinder liners. My 40 year old Land Rover still works for it's living, something that new Land Rovers seem ill suited to. I have in the past been unfortunate enough to have to go to official Land Rover dealers in the past for a few parts and services and I have to say that they have been far from excellent most of the time and that most small independent Land Rover specialists are far better, quicker and cheaper.
Pretty much any Land Rover or Range Rover built in the last 5-6 years have seen premiums rocket due to theft and spare parts availability
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Topic: Landrover
On Saturday 13th April 2024, my wife and I were travelling back from our daughters house in Stoke after seeing our grandchildren in our 2016 L/R Disco 4 which we have owned from new and despite 82000mls has its full L/R service history and is driven with care. We do tow and have a Coachman 520VIP.On this Saturday evening we were travelling through the M6 roadworks between J21A and J26 at a cruise control set speed of 50mph when suddenly the car juddered and started to slow down but we manged to coax it off at J23 - the A580 - and found a safe place just of the dual carriageway to stop.We finished up on a low loader with the car back at home- Saturday night at 2300+.Following many phone calls over the next week and with our son in law and his car trailer we ended up the following Saturday at the Landrover dealer where a few days later confirmed that the engine needed replacing.
via mobile 20/8/2024 at 10:15am
