I appreciate the insight. I'm doing the Blackstone oil test as well. Saw you mention that around here and felt like it couldn't hurt.

 

Yeah I did that a few times. Will probably do one with my transmission service too.

Interesting data. I have a thread on that.

 

Second drain and fill for my rear diff. First one at 53000 miles. This one with 79,000 on the odometer. The oil is unsurprisingly in much better visual shape. less opaque.

A quick job. 30 mins about. M8 hex for the fill plug. 3/8" square for the drain plug. 30Nm on both. A little hand pump to fill it.

Easy as you'd like. $86 for 1qt of oil and new plugs. Taxes and shipping in a couple of days. I had about 3/4 liter left from the first service so just needed 1 qt.

A beautiful cold clear night for this little task.

 

The details in this link.

 

 

Folks in the PNW / Seattle area @GavinC - as I don't have the garage to do it myself, nor the tools / supplies / skills, I'm trying to figure out which dealership to get maintenance done at. Land Rover of Lynnwood had done my first oil change for a reasonable $280 + tax, tire rotation for $70 + tax and did the typical multi-point inspection, check for leaks, top off fluids, etc... - but this time around, for oil change & then brake fluid change (still $280 for oil and then $300 for brake fluid, then $100 for cabin air filter which I can do myself) - they want $1058 plus small shop fee and then tax. The advisor said "Inspection and checks/software checks would be the remaining balance." (so remaining balance of $380 to do inspection and software checks?!?). Bellevue had the same 'menu' style sheet, and their price was $1420 plus shop charges & taxes. Both indicate that if the entire "menu" isn't done, then they won't reset the service indicator. However a year ago, Lynn did just an oil change, tire rotation, and full inspection and reset the service indicator. They both seem to be using some software called "SmartVMA" for these service offerings?

Anyone in PNW have any suggestions on where to go, aside from probably Land Rover of Lynnwood and Land Rover of Bellevue? I'm still under warranty until the end of 2026 (4 years) or whenever my mileage kicks over (currently at 35k miles) - so prefer it done by a Land Rover authorized place that knows what they're doing, but holy cow.

Here's what I'm being offered. Thanks in advance for any recommendations! -Matthew

 

Hey there. @Matty79

You can reset the service interval yourself. So I wouldn't worry about that.
I know lots of folks like to have a documented service history at the dealer so if that's important to you, you're stuck with the dealer pricing and nonsense additions.

A lot of the line items are completely bogus add-ons. Not part of LR's recommended service schedule. This is one of the reasons I'd run a mile from the good folks at Bellevue. Their work is, to put it politely, less than optimal, in my experience.

35k you're looking at oil, filters, brake flush (if it's not been done at 21k), tire rotation and that's it. I'd add in the rear e-diff but that's about it. About $120-$140 in parts/fluids. for the basic and another $100 if the rear ediff is done.

I'm not sure where a good indy is for modern LR vehicles in our neck of the woods. A 35k service is as basic as you'd like. Maybe you could get the parts/fluids and have any local garage do it.

 

Thanks @GavinC - appreciate it! I've googled - but cannot find a consistent answer - what's the steps to reset the service indicator on these things? I remember back on my '19 Discovery Sport it was some weird thing about having just the accessory ignition turned on, hold down the accelerator, cross your eyes a certain way ... but anyway, wasn't sure if there is a way on a 23.5 Defender to reset it w/o GAP IID tool.

Also - confused by your sentence " This is one of the reasons I'd run a mile for the good folks at Bellevue. Their work is, to put it politely, less than optimal, in my experience." - are the folks at Bellevue good, or not so good? (I've met the shop foreman / supervisor, also named Matt, at Lynnwood before - but it did take them two tries to fix a coolant leak. First repair only held for ~6 months).

I do wish for the old days when it took 20 minutes and barely any tools to change oil on a late 80's car, or easily swap disc brakes out, a ton of stuff I used to be able to do - but modern vehicles are a bit much for me (and I don't have my own garage @ home any more).

Thanks again! -Matthew

 

Sorry I misstyped.

I'd run a mile from them. Very shoddy work.


There's a bunch of similar videos on YT.

 

Just have the dealer do the oil and oil filter. And if you want eg brake fluid, diff or something like that. They will anyway do a multipoint inspection for free to see if you need anything else done. Then you have the oil as your service on record. For cabin air (easy diy - I did mine), and any other basic maintenance either do it yourself or have a local shop do it

I did that with mine at the annual service. Dealer was fine with it and reset the service light. Otherwise a Land Rover OBD reader like icarsoff can do that.