May be a little unfair, I paid for (out right, no outstanding finance) a 2017 SVA Executive RR at the end of 2024 (28th December), expectations were that I would be picking it up the following Monday or Tuesday (30th/31st December).

There were a couple of things that the dealer (not JLR) needed to fix (missing spare wheel, sorting out the rear entertainment remote and headphones) etc.

Get a call on the Monday, car has an intermittent issue with the entertainment module and needs to be replaced but would be ready by Saturday 4th, on the 4th I'm halfway to the dealer when I get a call saying that the car isn't taking the software update and needs to go to JLR to fix, should be ready by the 11th.

Get another call on the 10th, software update for the entertainment module applied but they are doing more software updates, will be ready by Monday as JLR workshop not open on Saturday.

Yet another call on Monday, every time they try to apply the rear entertainment module update it blows a fuse, they need to replace the rear screens, currently no time line for that work to be completed, it could be days or weeks.

At this stage I out a large chunk of change, I don't have a car, I've paid for a low mileage car that should have been fairly ok and yet I get the feeling that perhaps I should be asking for my money back and looking elsewhere (only issue is, I fell in love with the car, she's such a beautiful thing).

I'm just moaning really, it's frustrating that I've spent the money and don't have the toys to show for that money.

Would you mind sharing who the dealer is as might be possible to work out the possible scenarios.

Jon

To give you context to why I think it helps there are two possible reasons:

(1) The dealer is genuinely reporting back what is happening and is therefore acting in good faith.

(2) They are stringing it out whilst they put your hard earned to work in what is always a quiet month or two.

Knowing who the dealer is will make one or the other option more likely in my opinion.

I have some personal experience of the above in that I bought a "cheap" luxury car from a dealer in the South East who mostly dealt with high value cars. Having fully paid for the car they were asked to complete a couple of minor jobs prior to hand over. This turned into a 3 month delay as they claimed the alternator needed to be replaced. Having replaced it twice and the issue not resolved, they eventually gave me an ultimatum of either refunding me in full or accepting the car "as is". It had a warranty sold with it. I accepted it, took it to my local specialist who sorted it in 30 minutes by coding the part to the car.

With hindsight and knowing a little more about the trade now than I did then, I have to question the delay I experienced as possibly falling into option 2 above.

Maybe worth sharing some more details on here as the collective advice from members of this forum could end up saving you a lot of trouble and future heartache.

Best of luck with it,
Jon

[edit: a third option is they just simply don't know what they are doing]

Hi Jon,

This is a prestige car company based in the east of England, keen not to share their name just in case (I've been burnt before where I've "named" something and it's come back to bite me).

They do sell lots of high end cars, including a large number of JLR stock, I've been told that the car is at the local JLR dealership for repair rather than them doing the work directly.

Although I've paid for the car (and have the VIN) I don't have the v5 in my name, all I've actually done is pay the dealer, received a bill of sale and the documentation part is supposed to happen at hand over (which makes sense).

I did start to wonder if this was a case of #1 or #2 but the sale of the vehicle was done in December so should have already hit their books rather than balancing them for a poor January.

Car looks immaculate, has a decent dealer history, has low mileage (less than 35000 miles), I believe I'm the 3rd owner, although owner 2 didn't have it that long (6 - 12 months). Now there could be perfectly good reasons for the short term ownership (cost of fuel alone ).

I did luckily purchase a platinum warranty with the vehicle but that could also be worth less than the paper it's written on.

It’s not a dealer that start with r and ends with a by any chance ?

Fair one Simon, understand your reticence to share a name.

If they are relatively local to you I would suggest getting face to face with whoever is the responsible person there. I think it would help you (a) agree a timeframe for it to be worked out (b) negotiate a "penalty" for them having delayed it for so long, assuming you are possibly a few days/weeks away from it being resolved.

I think that would help you put to bed any feeling that you've got buyers remorse, sounds like they are genuinely doing their best to work it out but regardless its unfair on you when you've paid in full.

Jon

Saxtons? Unless its you perfect RR i would be asking for a refund as good knows how long this could take, overfinch modified

EV_Simon wrote:

they need to replace the rear screens, currently no time line for that work to be completed, it could be days or weeks.

I would get my money back and get a facelift MY18 with the Ultra wide band security and get a Ghost2 fitted. 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

I want to be clear, it's not Saxton's. I've been advised that the repair centre should have the replacement parts delivered and fitted today... fingers crossed.

Follow up and seeking advice.

I still don’t have the car, it’s at Land Rover being worked on, tomorrow will be 4 weeks since I paid for the car.

Dealer has no clear idea on when the car will be ready, apparently it’s not waiting on parts but the car still won’t take the software upgrade.

Now to the part I’d like advice on.

Dealer wants to talk to me about next steps, I’ve paid for the car outright, no outstanding finance and I have the sales agreement showing paid in full, what I don’t have is a v5.

I can’t imagine that the current work invoice is cheap and I’m concerned that they will want to try and return my funds and eventually resell the vehicle at an increased price to try and recoup some of what it owes them.

I don’t know if they will want to just return my money or try and offer me an alternative vehicle but I can say that neither they nor pretty much anyone else has the same spec car up for sale.

Where do I stand? Can they force a refund based on the car not being fit for purpose, can I get money back for the insurance I’ve already paid for (as well as the admin fee to cancel said policy), do I hold out, can I hold out? I love the spec of the car and haven’t seen anything else out there that ticks all the boxes but when does it become “enough”?

Seeing as they can't seem to give you much information, I'd demand a meeting with them and the LR Dealer that is carrying out the work to get the full picture, reason for delays and expectation of fix time from them.

If the car salesman doesn't want you anywhere near the LR Dealer then that's very suss, and I'd demand money back.

Just to be clear, you have purchased the car and have proof of ownership in the sales receipt. So if you want to have details of which dealer it is at and speak to them directly, it’s your right to do so as you own the vehicle. They can’t prevent you from doing this.

I assume you’ve got a clear line of communication in the faults and delays, emails and messages. This is sufficient evidence to reject vehicle or seek compensation. However, unless they are willing to offer compensation, this will cost you legal fees and isn’t really worth pursuing. They’re are not happy with the situation too. They’ve lost a sale and will have cost to repair to get it into a sale worthy condition.

For Insurance, if a broker, there’s very little you can do. If direct, explain the situation and then look for them to hold in credit for insurance against next car. This will negate fees and potentially lost month.

If there’s no clear path to fix the car, it looks like you’ll need to walk away and find another. If there is, and you think this fault is isolated, and waiting is an option you could decide to wait.

I would be walking away at this point.

Sounds like a Friday afternoon car at best, which may have a lifetime of issues going forwards...

Get them to put on a Land Rover extended warranty so major issues covered by warranty in future. If not walk away.