I have a 2023 Land Rover Defender V8. ~7K miles. Took it in recently for 1st year scheduled service. Mechanic noted "chocolate milk" like liquid in the engine coolant, raising concerns for an engine oil leak. Took it into the JLR dealer since it's obviously under warranty. Mind you, when I called JLR to bring it in they told me it would be 6 weeks before I could drop it off. I told them this was a critical issue as the car should not be driven with oil in the engine coolant...She said I could do an "emergency" drop off where you basically drop the car off but they still don't touch it until it comes up in the service queue. I said ok and dropped it off.

That was one month ago. They found a crack in the engine oil reservoir with contamination of a bunch of the hoses. The hoses need to be replaced, but surprise, the parts are on backorder with no ETA from JLR.

Prior to this I had someone break my rear passenger window; to get replacement glass from JLR took 6 weeks.

What's even worse is because I didn't buy it from the dealer they will not offer me a loaner, and instead I got stuck with a Toyota Camry from Enterprise for the last month. I asked why would JLR not pay the dealer to supply a Land Rover rental to me instead of paying Enterprise to give me a Camry? Manager said that's just the policy.

Absolute worse experience I've had with a luxury car manufacturer with a $100K+ SUV. This is my first Land Rover and will be my last.

 

In CA that sounds like an easy Lemon Law case. Call JLR corporate and ask for a replacement vehicle. See what options they offer before mentioning Lemon Law is prob best.

I had a Porsche lemon and also an Audi lemon recently. The auto manufacturers typically want to work with you to avoid Lemon proceedings. I wound up with two great outcomes.

Every state Lemon Law is different and I have no idea if JLR is as amiable as VAG. However, I would definitely call JLR and let them know whats going on, and see what they say. If they stonewall you just open a Lemon Law case.

 

LR service is insanely terrible.

My dealer had my car for a week. 3rd week on this menial task. Scheduled drop off at 730am on a Monday and told them out of the gate that I needed it back before Friday as I was towing a trailer.

No worries. This is an overnight job. Enjoy your loaner.

Crickets Monday Tuesday, wednesday Thurs at 615pm I get a text after my servicebro has fecked off home.

LR: Apparently after replacing the shock the suspension error has persisted and we've been int ouch with LR tech assistance. Could be a while.

I need the car it is safe t drive yes?

LR: Yes.

Pick up car. No shock has been replaced. They did sweet F A all week and just thought they'd lie to me to fob me off for another week.

5 seconds to look under and you can see the old shock still there

Lies, lies and BS. this is the standard from my dealer.

This is not an isolated incident.

Internal panels flapping in the breeze. They are incapable of replacing clips/repositioning panels, missing clips, cross threaded bolts. I have become rather adept at undoing the damage they do.

3 visits and about 3 months to diagnose and replace a shock after i showed them exactly what was wrong. They are completely clueless.

The Octa's new quantum 6 dimensional suspension should be a piece of cake for them.

Other repairs, they just lied, said they replaced the part with a new one, New one has the same scratch on it I put there. Remarkable matching skills from LR Bellevue.

Sounds like you're getting the Platinum treatment.

 

When I had my 2022 the local JLR dealership was like that, the loaner thing came down to if you bought it from them specifically. (Which I did) I bought it new from them so I was ok as far as that went. Even the ordering of the service queue might have been impacted by whether you bought it there (not sure) but it was also during the pandemic and they had serious parts shortages then. This loaner bit was mentioned out here as being a 'thing'. Since trading my Defender I've been able to get a loaner with my Honda even though I haven't bought it there (bought it from a different local Honda dealer) but that loaner was for use during a recall repair so maybe that plays into it. With that being said I don't understand the notion to spend 100k on a used rover from some other dealership. Any used car is a gamble of sorts but this is almost reckless abandon. Anyway good luck going forward, let's be optimistic maybe once it's fixed you'll get many trouble free miles out of it. Me personally I'd try to find some way out of that mess.

 

I feel fortunate to live in Dallas. We bought our first Rover in 2010 and the Snell Auto Group who owns the Dallas, Frisco and Austin stores has always been outstanding.

 

These must be dealer specific experiences and I am sorry to hear that you are getting such a runaround. I would personally report such dealer lies to Corporate Land Rover and if available, go to another dealer for service and repairs. I did not buy my last LR from my local dealer but I always get it serviced there and they always provide me with a LR loaner.

 

Every dealer is an independent business (or a dealer group). Quality varies widely and it really sucks if there is only one near you and they are terrible. Mine has been generally awesome, but JLR parts availability is often a problem that can lead to long waits. My understanding is that it has improved over the last year or so.

 

I agree with you, but would caution that my own experience has shown that JLR corporate simply do not care. Extremely blunt, rude, patronizing. You name it, they are it. The tone is set from the top here. Love the cars, but JLR corporate in the US are absolutely worthless, and their dealers are following their lead.

to the OP - look into your state lemon laws.

 

l always find it a bit depressing when someone joins the forum just to complain about their vehicle or dealer.

lt shouldn't happen, but it seems to be the way of things nowadays. Dealers and manufacturers only interested in selling product and no interest in customer satisfaction once it's sold.

 

Well at least the dealership didn't "lose" your Defender. Albeit a different make, I had the experience of using a rental loaner for several months. Didn't push the repair time issue since the loaner was much nicer than what was being serviced. After 2 months, I called for a status to learn they didn't have a record of the car being in for service. They had to walk around the lot to locate it! Can't imagine what it cost the dealership. In the end I didn't pay a thing to make up for the delay.