After having my tdv8 for 3 days, I ve learned not to mess around the gadgets without checking the battery voltage, spend friday in and out of the FFRR learning about rear dvd and main display, all was fine when locked up friday night,came to start the car this morning and electronic hand brake fault, transmission fault, after fearing the worst, called the RAC ( 1st time in 4 years membership) they came and tested battery, it was too flat to start the car, Eventually got it started, so took for 20 mile drive and put on charge over night. So if I want to play with the gadgets, either leave engine running or check battery voltage first.
At least its made my mind up about getting a warranty sorted.

We've all done it

If iit's still the original, then probable;y due a new battery anyway

Yep and mind that alternator they are very prone to failing on 2007 and early 2008 cars. I would charge battery with a charger rather than loading the alternator.  Present :2008 TDV8 HSE
Gone Audi A5 2.7TDI
Gone Discovery 3 HSE
Gone Mercedes CLK
Gone Range Rover 2.5 DSE

Gadgets never mind them watch those puddle and tailgate lights too! Flattened my battery on the D1 while fitting electric seats in it a few years ago  If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

According to the service documents that came with the car, the battery and alternator was changed in December 2012, so would be unlucky if it was bust again. At least I am not the first to accidental flatten a battery, sure I won't be the last.

Welcome to the club I did the very same when I got mine showing every one all the toys Came out next day with the wife all ready to go out none start battery flat. Had to put it on charge red faces all round . Now when working on car I plug batt charger on & have changed all puddle & interior lamps to led bulbs.

ij.brooks wrote:

At least its made my mind up about getting a warranty sorted.

A warranty won't stop the battery going flat and a warranty won't replace the batter for you either.

My experience with insurance backed warranties is that they are simply not designed with the RR in mind. I had a fully comprehensive warranty on mine from warranty direct, even though it was meant to be comprehensive they changed the terms every 5 minutes. If something was on their list of things then you had to wait for an assessor to come out (5 working days) and they had to agree with your garage that x part is indeed faulty. They would then make you wait further whilst they thought about your claim.

Basically it's as complicated as insurance when you have an accident. Just as long winded and time consuming. I never once actually managed to get them to pay for repairs. They either rejected the claim in the case of the steering column, hand brake, water pump and wiper motor. Or just made it so long wonded I would have been without transport for 2/3 weeks.

My advice is to put that money in the bank! 

I know they wouldn't cover me against the battery, my daft fault, but it did make me realise how easily things can go wrong. I was considering warranty direct, after reading some positive review on here, also read some bad review!, but now all confused again.

How much have you been quoted for the warranty? 

They quoted £835 for a year, with a £50 per hour labour rate. if I decide, I'm hoping to get them down abit.

I guess it depends how many miles the vehicle has done as to what the warranty costs?

With or without a warranty, i would read up on what you can do/afford to do, in the way of preventative maintenance...

Managed to flatten mine once in the channel tunnel - good job I was fairly near the front for the indignity of getting pushed off

They did give me a jump start once I was outside though

ij.brooks wrote:

They quoted £835 for a year.

I've NEVER spent that a year on failures, even including maintenance and upgrades etc and I've had 4 FFRR's now. Also at £50 per hour labour cap that rules out main dealers (£150ph) and higher end garages that supposedly know what they're doing. 

Really, I was thinking about putting a few grand in the bank or warranty. But the horror stories of turbos, gear box or suspension scares me, my car is 7 years old and 79500 miles on. Doing about 12000 miles a year. I have emailed a couple of independent land rover specialist around my area about there labour rates just to help with decisions.

Has your gearbox been serviced at all? If not an oil change is great preventative maintenance.

As for the engine, if you do high mileage you might like to do an oil change twice a year and a filter change once a year. Manufacturers push the service intervals to the limits so they look good in the marketing info - not necessarily what is good for the engine/components.

I tend to run a summer and winter oil, moving one grade each way depending on the season. In the summer if your oil is too thin you'll leak it through the seals on a high mileage/old engine and if too thick in the winter it will clatter on startup and you won't get adequate protection. One size does not always fit all when it comes to oil, especially on a higher mileage engine.

The majority of components on the FF that will fail will be classed as wear items, bushes, mounts, joints, bearings etc etc. None of these will be covered. Even catastrophic engine failure may not be covered - sometimes they only cover the casings etc, so if it's something small that renders the engine dead and is 3 days tear down time they still wont pay.