I just wanted to share this as I try to come to terms with it. My X 90 with a fabric roof had roof lights on it, these were causing wind ripple on the roof and were also rattling, so I took them off which left behind some damaged paint where they'd been rubbing, and lots of sealant blobs. At this point I didn't realise the roof front is plastic and it was never going to be a huge issue. I wish I had a time machine....

So I took it to a local garage who work on very high end cars and who I trusted, and asked if they could get the sealant off and repaint the roof. Quote was a little high but I went with it, because I trusted them.

Picked it up on Friday, initially everything looked fine. Then while I was driving tonight I heard an epic clattery rattle sound that wasn't there before - the right A pillar was doing the normal thing before, but the left now does it too. That was odd. Initially I thought it was coming from the middle of the roof. Then I noticed the headliner wasn't clipped up properly at the front and the clips don't seem to want to grip any more. Then I noticed a crease above the door on both sides of the headliner. Then I noticed the rubber seal that sits between the closed roof and the roof panel, wasn't sitting right, higher and lower in places. That's when I noticed the left rear corner of the roof is too high, and the lip the seal sits on is snapped off along the edge in several places (the pieces are still sat in the seal), which is what might happen if someone was levering against it while removing the roof.

I think they partially dropped the headliner to get to the roof cover bolts, obviously not enough hence the creases, then damaged the fabric roof frame and potentially bent the sheet metal the roof panel bolts to (or best case it's excessive sealant causing it to be high in one corner), all to repaint some plastic. I'd like to think they would have told me they were doing all of this and I've known them for 20 odd years, but I am 100% sure that panel was flush before, it looks like it in the only photo that questionably shows the line. I'm also 100% sure the headlining was perfect as it's one of the things I specifically checked when I bought it.

Head in hands, I don't even want to think how much this is going to cost to get corrected properly, feel sick to my stomach. At a minimum the roof has to come off again, the headlining may have to be replaced and very likely the entire folding roof frame has to be replaced, which is a huge job if Land Rover even have a supply of the part.

 

That hurts to read. The best possible news is that painful lessons are never forgotten...

 

What a horror story!
Why can’t you get them (the mechanic) to fix what they have damaged? Am I missing something?

 

Seriously, I would take it back to the high-end shop and show them their work, and demand they get it right. I am sorry about your troubles.

 

^ I'd do the same. Take it back to them and bitch & moan until they fix it properly, which they should've done from the get-go.

 

Spoke to them today (this was all discovered at 7pm last night) - there was no attempt to deflect it, the guy who did the work will probably end up without a job and they're going to either make it good themselves or pay for an authorised land rover place to do it. I was almost 100% correct on the sequence of events except the roof never got removed, the technician just had a damn good attempt at it after removing the bolts...

Next problem is the LR authorised repair center won't take on work if someone else has touched the car, which is an insane policy. I have to write a letter to the manager to see if he will do it, I can't understand this because if I traded it in today at that same dealership they definitely wouldnt notice anything, the new owner might, and that exact same bodyshop would just deal with it. What's next - refusing to repair a drive shaft because the owner once added a side step? It's not like there's hidden surprises now, they even have an exact sequence of events.

The place that owns the damage want to try to take the bend out of the roof corner rather than replace it which the LR dealer would. It's not the cost there it's their judgement on what the best end result is since everything is currently factory bonded and not leaking. They also want to try to repair the plastic edge (I have the 2 parts that broke off) rather than replace the entire roof frame if possible. The windscreen has to come off apparently to replace the headliner unless someone knows another way.

This is drama I really didn't need on top of other things at the moment, but at least they accept liability. The other "good" news is that while they are incredibly expensive, the roof parts are available to order if needed. The big stress is this is a rare combination of model and options, it took months to find one - I was planning to retire from driving while still owning it, that kind of car.

 

Reset,. I think you first need to understand what parts are affected to understand what needs to be replaced, It's probably not as complicated as you think. Start with what components need to be replaced. This stinks entirely ... but ... I dont think this is as terrible as you think it is, if if you can just figure out what exactly is going on, you can pressure them to fix it properly.

Watch this video and tell us what is damaged or take screen shots and mark what is damaged...
1) There is a plastic panel up front. The roof header on the exterior.
2) The fabric panel and associated frame. (the part that moves)
3) Two trim strips on either side of the moveable panel up top. (these are removable, and cover the drainage areas. They are a flat black plastic color in the video running the length of the car on either side of the fabric panel.
4) The fabric non moveable headliner on the interior of the vehicle around the car -- you said this is damaged I guess because they prised it down to access what is above instead of properly lowering it -- but again, extremely easy to replace this with a new Land Rover part - just expensive -- 3-4K ).

What else is affected?

As for the LR shop telling you "they do not work on things other people have touched. That's horse****. The Land Rover shop does not actually have that policy. "They wont work on something someone else has touched". They do. They just dont want to deal with a mess...