Hi all

Many will know about the ride quality issues I've had and to recap, I've had lower control arms, front diff and all 4 air struts changed. I've also had the fuel tank baffles fitted to fix a reported thump but that failed.

LR Customer Relations have been involved from the start but after 2 dealers, about 10 dealer visits and 8 months of constant pressure they have closed my case and said any further action is between me and the dealer Im currently using after the first was really bad.

My 13 plate SDV8 still wallows along like an old barge, on anything but flat roads its side to side, up and down, knocking over small bumps (even a joint in the Tarmac near my house) and it needs steering correction to steer this old boat along. The dealer I'm using is looking for obvious signs of problems and can't seem to figure out why it drives like this, their master tech compared it to sitting in the cab of a HGV.

If LR won't help and dealers don't know what to do what's next for me? I can't sell it, the drop in value means a £15k plus loss and I'm not wealthy enough to ignore that I'm afraid. I love the look but so wish it drove like the 15 plate I was given to compare mine against?

There must be something I can do? The dealer is still willing to help and they have access to LR technical but they are guessing despite me providing the info from this site.

If anyone knows how I can apply more pressure please let me know?

Thanks

Carl

Hi Carl, sounds awful. Do I take it from what you've written that you've had it for eight months? and you've had this trouble right from the start? If so it seems from what you've said and what your dealers technician have confirmed that your car may not have been of satisfactory quality (Sales of Goods Act).

I understand that the law has recently changed and has been tightened further but it may well be worth a good read as you may have to write officially to Land Rover rejecting the car and / or giving them a reasonable time to fix the issue.

Hi, yes, bought it as an approved used vehicle in April this year and it's always drove like that. I threatened that to the guy at LR when he called to say he was closing my case and he didn't seem to care. It's a route I'm thinking about but wasn't sure if it would apply to a used purchase? It's my thought that since dealers are replacing parts in an attempt to improve it then my complaint is valid so I think I'll write to them anyway.

Thanks for the reply, it's what I wanted to hear

Yes I think I would do it sooner rather than later. I have read a thread on the L405 forum previously regarding a similar issue so you might want to check.

Print out the Consumer Rights Act and read it thoroughly. Your right to reject is initially limited to 30 days now but there are other parts of the act (around repairs) which state the retailer must carry out those repairs within a reasonable time.

Also talk to a solicitor who specialises in Consumer Law. They will know how best to approach it and which clauses to leverage to get the most favourable result.

The bottom line is you are 100% entitled to a vehicle which is fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality, and free from defects. Yours clearly isn't.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

Suspect you're not kicking up enough fuss in the right places at Land Rover - a dealer's senior mechanic on record as saying it isn't right should be reasonable evidence of a problem.

I've just emailed a contact at Trading Standards to ask her exactly where I stand, lets see what she says.

It's been so frustrating, I know the ride can be better and this forum tells me what needs to happen, LR and two dealers won't listen so he repairs are only part way completed and as I told them, it hasn't worked.

Carlos,

If you bought the car 8 months ago and the defects were reported within the first 6 months; and remain unresolved despite repeated efforts by LR main dealers to remedy the problems, then you have an argument that they have had more than reasonable opportunity to undertake satisfactory repairs.

If you bought the car 8 months ago, then SOGA and not the CRA applies, because the Consumer Rights Act came into force on 01.10.15.

If it offers you any hope:
Our L322 4.2SC had an oil leak reported to the main dealer within 6 months of our buying it. They assured that it would be competently repaired. Over 2 years later, the same leak was still there, despite many dealer visits and expensive repair attempts by them, including repairs paid for by LR Select Warranty.

The main dealer - part of a major national group - eventually told me they could not guarantee they could fix the leak. Then they refused to communicate with me and appointed a solicitor to deal with me.

It did not go to court and was unpleasant, however after a month or so of us dealing with their solicitor and producing comprehensive records kept during the 2 year period, we got a full refund (I would have settled for nothing less, wasn't prepared to be intimidated and would have taken the matter to court because we did have previous assurances in writing). Notably, you car is a lot newer than ours was at the time too.

This links shows distinctions between SOGA and the CRA.

http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic34270....rights+act



Last edited by pld118 on 22nd Dec 2015 3:44am. Edited 1 time in total

You are probably at the stage where you need to get proper legal advice from a solicitor who knows consumer protection law.

My understanding of SOGA is that your contract with the original selling dealer was deemed to include a requirement for the car to be of a standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account of the description of the car, its price and all other relevant circumstances. You would need to compare against a sound 2013 car, not a later one as they might be different. A problem found within six months of the purchase was deemed to exist at sale. If the car is not of satisfactory quality, your options include rejecting the car and getting your money back, having it repaired within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you (with the right to reject and get your money back if that cannot be achieved) and getting part of your money back to reflect the difference between what you were given and what you should have had. Refunds would probably have to take into account the use you have had.

Your SOGA claim would be against the original selling dealer, not LR. If another dealer has fitted replacement components and done other work, the selling dealer may argue that the problem is with those parts/work and not with the car as originally supplied, and that this means that you can no longer return the car to them and get your money back.

In addition to SOGA, you should still have a claim under the LR three year warranty if the car is not working as a sound 2013 car should. That would be a claim against LR. The dealer of your choice should help you with that. If LR are refusing to honour their warranty there is the possibility of going to arbitration at SMMT as well as taking them to court. If your warranty expires early in 2016 you would probably be as well to make a claim ASAP even if you are separately trying to use SOGA against the original selling dealer. I have a recollection that the warranty terms say that if three attempts have been made and the car is still not fixed, then you get a replacement car, but you would need to check that, and of course there is the question in the context of a continuing repair process when one "attempt" ends and another begins.

Litigation is expensive and may take a long time, plus the outcome is always uncertain. It is hard to get firm indications of likely costs and time, but it might be worth comparing the potential downside for you with the loss on selling/trading in and moving on with a better car. Only Range Rovers since 1988

If you have a finance loan on the car, just get them involved and supply all evidence, they will complete in 56 days and as you have factual evidence the faults are from when you got the car, a refund will be sorted out.

Land Rover needs to sort out there quality control on the production line, software nightmares and hellish customer service standards.


They wouldn't have customers complaining if the cars where built right in the first place! Current vehicles
4.2 SC FFRR RSE 2010- facelift
Range Rover Evogue Dynamic Lux

Gone
Rejected RRS my14.5 nightmare
Disco B4 XXV convert
Freelander 06 SE
06 RFFRR 4.2 SC Vogue RSE
Audi A8 4.2Tdi Quattro (hated with a vengence!!)
54 FFRR 2005 model V8 4.4 Cobra Variant
53 Mitsubishi Shogun V6

Wow, thank you for the advice, seems very daunting, slow, painful and costly if it didn't go my way, the joys of RR ownership

I am talking to the dealer I've chosen, will give it one more try then might have to give it up as a bad job

Very straight forward if your still paying for the car, the company should have a specialist department just on things like this, takes the pressure off as your entitled to get your money back  Current vehicles
4.2 SC FFRR RSE 2010- facelift
Range Rover Evogue Dynamic Lux

Gone
Rejected RRS my14.5 nightmare
Disco B4 XXV convert
Freelander 06 SE
06 RFFRR 4.2 SC Vogue RSE
Audi A8 4.2Tdi Quattro (hated with a vengence!!)
54 FFRR 2005 model V8 4.4 Cobra Variant
53 Mitsubishi Shogun V6

Ok thanks for that, I am still paying for it so will take that route after letting the dealer have another crack at it.

Standard wheels and tires?
Or you have a poor wheel alignment......how are tires wearing.
Steering speed input issue?
Damper issues?

Has the FF had a serious smash and has been repaired?

Factory 21" with Pirelli factory tyres, all 6mm plus. The dealer Im currently using supposedly went over every aspect of possible causes and found nothing, dampers all changed for latest spec recently so my guess is it still needs the ARC valve block fix and possibly the steering rack?

It was very bouncy before the dampers were changed and is still a bit but better I think, its hard to tell because I rolls a lot too so the body movement feels quite obvious. One odd thing, if I start her up and sit for 10 mins it feels like the damping force is improved, so something is just wrong still as far as I'm concerned?