Dealership Rant
At least your dealership told you they’d have to charge you the hourly rate to look at it. That fact came as a surprise to me when I picked up my truck. That’s one reason why Graham Rahal will never win an Indy 500! (Bobby Rahal JLR).
Just go straight to the dealership manager and cut out anyone you have been dealing with - particularly if you are still under warranty. They *have* to take a look at it.
I would also contact JLR customer service, though I would say have rather tepid expectations of them. I've tried that a couple of times and gotten ZERO response. They don't make it remotely easy to figure out how to contact them about an issue and there is simply ZERO follow-through and follow-up once you are able to submit something or speak with a human being. Terrible customer service all the way around.
There are some decent dealers out there. If you live in Houston, JLR West Houston and JLR Central Houston are not among them and I wouldn't buy a skateboard or waste 5 seconds with them. I moved to Denver about a year ago and Land Rover Denver is quite decent. It's really hit or miss. Just don't be satisfied for their terrible service - or that of JLR corporate.
Service and customer service are the two biggest disappointments of my 2020 Defender - my fourth Land Rover vehicle I have owned.
I recently bought at Tesla Model Y from a storefront at Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado and while you do most everything yourself and it's not a typical car-buying experience, it was easy and stress-free. I can't say that about almost every other car I have purchased - and it didn't cost me nearly the entire day at the dealership being peddled endless BS by sales and financing people. I wouldn't hate it if other manufacturers moved to a model more akin to Tesla where the price is the price and you can do it all quickly.
I would also contact JLR customer service, though I would say have rather tepid expectations of them. I've tried that a couple of times and gotten ZERO response. They don't make it remotely easy to figure out how to contact them about an issue and there is simply ZERO follow-through and follow-up once you are able to submit something or speak with a human being. Terrible customer service all the way around.
There are some decent dealers out there. If you live in Houston, JLR West Houston and JLR Central Houston are not among them and I wouldn't buy a skateboard or waste 5 seconds with them. I moved to Denver about a year ago and Land Rover Denver is quite decent. It's really hit or miss. Just don't be satisfied for their terrible service - or that of JLR corporate.
Service and customer service are the two biggest disappointments of my 2020 Defender - my fourth Land Rover vehicle I have owned.
I recently bought at Tesla Model Y from a storefront at Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado and while you do most everything yourself and it's not a typical car-buying experience, it was easy and stress-free. I can't say that about almost every other car I have purchased - and it didn't cost me nearly the entire day at the dealership being peddled endless BS by sales and financing people. I wouldn't hate it if other manufacturers moved to a model more akin to Tesla where the price is the price and you can do it all quickly.
While I don't doubt there might be some good dealers out there, traveling 1,500 miles to find one doesn't exactly speak well to the state of dealers.
We flew to Raleigh from New Orleans to buy our 2021 P300. I'd put them on the good dealer list. It was an easy, no hassle transaction. They had most of the paperwork done when we got there. We landed, Uber'd to dealer, looked the car over, signed and drove off an hour and a half later. Same deal, they matched the interest rate we had through pre-approved financing, tried to sell us a bunch of "extended warranties" (which are actually 3rd party service plans). Had us sit and wait for a half-hour for no apparent reason. But other than that, they were cool.
Back then, no pre-paid maintenance or true JLR extended warranties were available. I like MBUSA's model for both financing and extended warranties. MB lets you pay to extend the factory warranty at time of purchase, up to 2 years / 100k miles. I asked JLR about it, and they won't even let you pay CPO it to get the JLR CPO extended warranty. But if you trade your car in, they CPO it and sell it to someone else with the real extended warranty.
Back then, no pre-paid maintenance or true JLR extended warranties were available. I like MBUSA's model for both financing and extended warranties. MB lets you pay to extend the factory warranty at time of purchase, up to 2 years / 100k miles. I asked JLR about it, and they won't even let you pay CPO it to get the JLR CPO extended warranty. But if you trade your car in, they CPO it and sell it to someone else with the real extended warranty.
I’m impressed Tesla has pull in FL given how conservative their legislature has become.
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
I’m impressed Tesla has pull in FL given how conservative their legislature has become.
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
I’m impressed Tesla has pull in FL given how conservative their legislature has become.
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
The article fails to mention they also carved out for Rivian and future DTC manufacturers. It's either/or. If you're a legacy mfr you can't come in and shut your dealers out. Local jobs are protected and more money is kept in the community. If you're a new mfr, pick your model and commit to it.
It's politics, a true sandbox for idiots. No decision makes everyone happy but this seems a reasonable compromise.
I’m impressed Tesla has pull in FL given how conservative their legislature has become.
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
https://reason.com/2023/06/15/florid...ealership-law/
Florida hasn't gotten more conservative. It only appears that way because the rest of the world has changed so drastically and we've simply retained what would have been the normal value system from ~10 years ago.
The article fails to mention they also carved out for Rivian and future DTC manufacturers. It's either/or. If you're a legacy mfr you can't come in and shut your dealers out. Local jobs are protected and more money is kept in the community. If you're a new mfr, pick your model and commit to it.
It's politics, a true sandbox for idiots. No decision makes everyone happy but this seems a reasonable compromise.
The article fails to mention they also carved out for Rivian and future DTC manufacturers. It's either/or. If you're a legacy mfr you can't come in and shut your dealers out. Local jobs are protected and more money is kept in the community. If you're a new mfr, pick your model and commit to it.
It's politics, a true sandbox for idiots. No decision makes everyone happy but this seems a reasonable compromise.


