I'm sitting in Farnells now and they are testing the battery again as I'm still getting 'Low battery - start the engine' messages a couple of times a week. If it tests OK Lookers have been great and said they will pay for a replacement battery to be fitted regardless of the test.

One other thing they are looking at that won't be helping the battery is my ventilation fans seem to run 90% of the time after I stop the car or even if I go to get something out of the car and dont even start it. Anyone have the same happening ? 2021 P400 Silicon Silver AB
Gone 2011 Bournville TDV8 VSE
Gone 2008 Black Canadian HSE LUX

Looks like there was also a problem with the HVAC system, a software update has been applied to the system and its not running when I leave the car. The car has had more software updates than my laptop  2021 P400 Silicon Silver AB
Gone 2011 Bournville TDV8 VSE
Gone 2008 Black Canadian HSE LUX

Well, had the pre-heater on yesterday and it would seem it went off after a few mins as when I wnt out to the car it was cold.

Low battery - start vehicle warning light came on again (this is the second time after the same thing last week0 so I contacted my dealer - he told me there was a fix but it had not been released yet!! He advised me not to use the pre-heater on a 3 week old £78k vehicle top which I was fairly discusted so contacted Team Valley LR service dept and they had a look at her.

No updates available for my 11.5MY vehicle and other than a battery at less than 50% charge no faults found so a new battery is ordered and will be fitted on Monday.

After typing this I am going to speak to customer services and report the issue as I will not take any cr*p and will simply reject the vehicle is it is not sorted!!

Guess what, on Tue the pre-heater will be on and if the problem is still there I will be back onto them  "UNDERSTEER" ----is when you hit the fence with the front of the car.
"OVERSTEER" ------is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car.
"HORSEPOWER" ----is how fast you hit the fence.
"TORQUE" -----------is how far you take the fence with you.

well done for insisting on a new battery cos that old one is now useless.... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

scarey wrote:

well done for insisting on a new battery cos that old one is now useless....

To be fair, Team Valley offered a new battery without my saying anything but guess this is not normal  "UNDERSTEER" ----is when you hit the fence with the front of the car.
"OVERSTEER" ------is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car.
"HORSEPOWER" ----is how fast you hit the fence.
"TORQUE" -----------is how far you take the fence with you.

jez had to live with a discharged battery so you have a conscientious dealer there.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Just spoken to LR customer services and they say "if I want to reject the vehicle I must contact the dealer first" so am about to start the process now.

I am not going to reject it unless they cant fix it as it would seem none of the guys on here have had a decent fix yet  "UNDERSTEER" ----is when you hit the fence with the front of the car.
"OVERSTEER" ------is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car.
"HORSEPOWER" ----is how fast you hit the fence.
"TORQUE" -----------is how far you take the fence with you.

have you tried talking to lookers? ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

One problem with rejecting the car is, this is my understanding anyway, you have to allow the dealer and Land Rover a "reasonable" number of attempts to repair the fault - I believe 3 or 5 attempts is considered "reasonable" 2018 Mini Countryman Cooper S E All4 PHEV in Melting Silver - it’s whisper quiet in EV and polluter modes

It certainly won't do any harm to start the rejection process, it should encourage the dealer to give you the attention you deserve. 
Gone - Range Rover Supercharged 2006

I know this is of no consolation and to be honest I totally agree that a new car should work perfectly, but here's what happened to me.

When I picked up the car I got the same message about low battery - this was during the handover. Dealer said that it was normal as brand new battery and it was on charge over night. Just a few runs to condition the battery, or something. Anyway kept getting the message every few days for a few weeks, less so after a good long run. Worse still was that got the car mid November, so the really cold time with all the snow etc.

Whenever using the car had heated seats, steering wheel and heaters etc on, this didn't help with allowing the battery to charge.

To cut to the chase, I didn't go back to dealer and didn't worry about it really, after a few weeks it stopped appearing and not seen it since. I suppose a good number of long runs to really get the battery fully juiced and it seems good.

I'm no expert but if you only do shortish runs then possibly the battery is not getting a good charge. I have read about some of the technical ways in which LR have managed to get the fuel economy up, and one of the ways was to do with the alternator not being active all the time (so only active at higher revs, speed or similar). I take this as if just town driving or the like then won't get good charge. Similar to the DPF and ensuring the engine is hot to clear it.

Maybe before switching the battery you should ask the dealer to get the new one in and trickle charge for a week, and only then swap it over (I'm guessing the car still runs and has not refused to start?) I know this sounds a long time but I remember back to my younger days and doing this on some of the big marine batteries I used. The RR battery is larger than the average car battery so will take some charging to get it fully topped up.

Sorry to ramble, hope this might help or give some food for thought. You're not alone and I don't think this is an isolated case.

Shoot me down if you like, but seems rather extreme to reject the car you've waited so long for. Then again it's your money so entitled to handle it as you like. Maybe I'm too easy going and I should have kicked up a fuss.

Good luck.

Land rover are aware that the battery is substandard!
I was "unofficially" shown a two page document, that highlighted the exact issues being described, with the suggestion that the stock battery is replaced with an AGM battery. It also stated there is a shortage of these available to dealers.
I confronted my dealer about this and was told that there is no official fix, but LR are working on it.
When I mentioned I had seen the official LR letter, I was effectively told this could not have been possible.

Yesterday, when on my off road experience day, I was asked how I liked my vogue? As soon as I mentioned the pre-heater issue I got a full dialogue about how it is a known fault, too much requirement from an insufficient spec battery etc etc. It was then mentioned to me that LR are trying to keep it low profile whilst they fix (apparently they also have big issues with the new sports blowing their turbo's!) Gerry
____________________________________________
Arrived>Santorini/Jet FFRR MY11 TDV8
Gone>Stornaway/Ebony MY09 RRS HST TDV8
Gone>Java black/Ebony MY07 RRS HSE TDV6

p-trax wrote:

.............. (apparently they also have big issues with the new sports blowing their turbo's!)

That's the problem with hearsay, might not be 100% factual

However, the letter I held in my hand re the battery issue was real, shame I could not get a copy (I asked if I could take a photo, but was told I should not have even seen it, as it would be obvious where it came from!) Gerry
____________________________________________
Arrived>Santorini/Jet FFRR MY11 TDV8
Gone>Stornaway/Ebony MY09 RRS HST TDV8
Gone>Java black/Ebony MY07 RRS HSE TDV6

Sounds like you're up against it, another example of excellent british customer service...