2 months out of warranty and i had a 'suspension failure' warning triangle come up on my dashboard ! stopped turned off ignition and restarted, warning disappeared for 10 mins then came back, suspension stiffened and my l405 felt like my old series 2a !
called my main dealer, after 10minutes of waiting to get though to service dept they told me it would be 158 quid for a diagnostic test and they can make an appointment in 3 weeks time !!!
called a local indy, bring it down now they said, they did a diagnostic test whilst i was there, ordered the part for tomorrow morning and lent me a car overnight as long as i put 10quids worth of diesel in it.
guess where all my future business is going to ?

I truly believe main dealers of most manufacturers don't give a hoot about their customers after the warranty is up, and that's maybe a good thing because Most main dealers are completely incompetent goons so your better off with a good indie!!!

'incompetent goons' is too complimentary , my local service department technicians are woeful in my experience although there maybe some good one's in there but I've yet to experience their wisdom.

There are some good ones - My Son for example:thumbsup:

Not all goons is correct but like everything in life you are only as good as your weakest link.

Even your company or service could be perceived as overpriced and cr*p to some.

 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

Out of curiosity, what does it need?

a new pressure valve next to the compressor, a well known fault at LR

I had a very similar experience with our local Main Dealer - My car had a fault and we were driving to the airport next day, so I needed the Main Dealer to look at it ASAP...... Same story, they quoted me a fortune to diagnose but also said they couldn't fit me in for several days!

So I went straight to my local independent and he looked at the problem immediately. Whats more he had it fixed within an hour, so my response was the same, from now on these guys get all my business.

However, we shouldn't always be fooled by what appears to be good service. I don't want to sound negative, as there are some good guys out there and you may well have found some - But In my experience, what sometimes happens with people, is they win your trust with a good deed, then shaft you on return.

I returned to this independent at a later date for an Annual Service, but by the time they'd finished, they said I also needed new discs and pads, none of this work was cheap!

All in all it cost me more than I think the main dealer would have charged. Also I was told they were fitting genuine Land Rover Parts, yet a few months later the brake pads started squeaking, I returned to the Main Dealers, who told me they weren't genuine Land Rover Parts! Which meant I had to pay the main dealer to change them all again!

I've had a similar experience with a Plumber, came out did a good job at a fair price, came back and fitted some radiators on the top floor, charged me a fortune....... I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced similar.

i really think the problem is that the main dealerships have not hired enough people to keep up with demand in their service departments. 5 years ago i could just drop by if i had a minor fault and they would look at it straight away. i believe annual services are rushed through and not completed as per LR guidelines because of volume of cars booked in. my roadwheels have never been taken off and refitted on the opposite side on the same axle but the box is ticked every year ! when i question it no one has ever got back to me !

sounds to me like your Indy should be the main dealer and the main dealer should be out of business.
for the Indy.

Hmm makes you wonder what they do actually do on the service, did they change oil and filter , i just don't trust them at all.

You are spot on, I've always said that any increase in staffing levels have gone in sales rather than in after-care. What I fail to understand is that in my experience warranty work generally takes at least a month to book in, so you'd think that if they are so crammed it'd be a no brainer to increase service staff just to speed up and therefore increase the overall level of business. I can only believe that LR have rates that make this un-economic to the dealership. 2016 SDV8 Autobiography
And several others previously.