I certainly hope he wore a condom cause you already been raped by him.

Just his labor listings for changing the thermostat, top radiator hose, and the antifreeze alone is ludicrous. Same thing for changing the other fluids.

And what did his 150K mile service consist of, Changing the air filter? What about the tranny, did he include a fluid and filter change on it?

Did He service the fluids in the Transfer case, front and rear diff's? His parts price would not even cover those fluids so I highly doubt he did, but I would want to know specifically.

Did he use Power steering fluid or Transmission fluid for the Power Steering System?

What about the brakes and wheel Bearings, Did he pull tires and look at the brake pads and rotors.

In my unhumble opinion, he already ripped you off badly with the original $1400.

Usually immediate overheating is related to the head gaskets and that is probably why you got it at the price you did. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice. And you are probably thrilled to get it.

But his price of over 5 grand has not even covered a lot of items like a head gasket job, brake job including bearing service. Also did he service the front swivel ***** or did he just throw a set of tie rods on? And there is no alignment on the front suspension. There is a wheel alignment if that is what he means. His language is not specific to a Discovery, so I wonder what is including.

At this rate, you will have a $12,000 1999 Discovery I real soon. Hope you make the kind of money that I used to. That is just my head-on assessment from my own experiences.

Where do you live, maybe there are some members close by that can help you get used to swimming in the deep end.

 

I went back and took a closer look at the list. All he has completed are the items with an *?

So all he has done is replace the fan clutch, the serpentine belt (which he called the cooling system belt) the thermostat and gasket, the top radiator hose, the power steering fluid, the brake fluid, the temp guage sender, and the antifreeze?

For $1471.00

That is about two hundred in parts and another hundred in fluids. He should have given you a nice ring, flowers and taken you to dinner as well...........

I could have flown to whereever you are and done all that and still pocketed a whole lotta money.

Where did you buy these at and who was the Specialist that screwed and tattooed you?

That serp belt labor alone was an insult, much less the same for the thermostat and the top hose. He is banking on that solving your overheat problem? When he gives you the estimate for the head gasket next week after it still overheats, you will really be sick.

Sorry about the tone and bluntness, but you been took my friend.

 

Please download the set of factory manuals, called the RAVE. That stands for Rovers A'int Very Economical.... You have certainly paid for your copy.

 

Well, this is all pretty hard to hear... Once I get it back on Monday I'll be sure to ask a lot of questions in this forum before I take it to another shop! I've downloaded the RAVE, and don't mind doing a lot of things myself. I live in Dallas, TX and if any of you are close and enjoy helping me learn more about my truck I'd love to hear from you.

 

I am in Dallas Texas, Coit and Campbell Road area.

 

I could see buying it for the purchase price. Allow me to ask a few questions.

You took it to him with the main problem being the engine overheating, correct?

He basically did it in such a way that he has replaced the fan clutch, but not the water pump. What diagnostics did he perform to support that approach. The thermostat and gasket are only about twenty bucks in parts if that, and two bolts on the thermostat housing, two clamps on the upper hose basically at the same time and draining the antifreeze all at that time. He may have spent a little time on a flush, but it is not clear. He basically would have taken all that off to replace the fan clutch anyway, so his labor is overboard for a group of related task to charge each one individually like he did is like a carnival trick as far as I am concerned. And you still do not know if that will come close to resolving your overheating.

Did you ask him to change the power sterering fluid, were you having any problem with it or did he just do it cause he says it needed done now? Same questions about brakes, did you ask him to change fluid or did he determine it was necessary now?

I would have major issues with what he has charged you for what he has done. Maybe it will resolve your overheating issues but I would sincerely doubt that it does.

If it overheated very many times, you could be in for a whole lot more before it can be considered a daily driver. And even though he gave you a list, I would not consider it a very good one since it did not specifically address the transmission service, wheel bearings, differential and transfer case fluids and such.

If you paid by Visa you may even consider a DISPUTE.

 

Awesome deal, I live in the Uptown area... Only 20 minutes or so from your place. I'm having all of the work done at Branco Motor Company on Fabens Rd. I plan on calling them tomorrow and ensuring that they've done a pressure and sniff test so that I know the head gasket isn't blown before they do any other work. Do you do all of your maintenance yourself? Where would you recommend I take my Rover? We'll have to meet up sometime.

 

I took it in for a post purchase inspection, front to back... What test he did to come up with the extra and maybe unneeded expenditures, I'm not really sure. Maybe he saw me coming, I admitted to not knowing anything about Land Rovers except for the fact that I love the way they look and the things they're capable of. I think that I'm going to take it to another shop and just make sure that everything he said he did, was done before I consider a dispute. If they're being this tricky about what needs to be done, maybe somethings aren't even being done. If he's done all he said he has, I'll just chalk it up to a loss and a learning experience. I've downloaded the RAVE and plan on doing a lot of research before I put much more money into it. I'm also going to call and ask if a pressure and sniff test was done to ensure that I'm not throwing money at a truck that is already a complete loss. He did tell me that the engine looked to be in pretty good shape, but he didn't tell me how he came to that conclusion.

 

Welcome to the Forum. I gather this may be one of your first project cars. You're dealing with a 13 year old car with 150k miles, if you take it to a mechanic and ask what all is wrong, there will always be a laundry list of things to do. You need to prioritize what is actually needed and what just might be nice to make the ride a bit better. Most mechanics lump them all together and treat them all as urgent. Also keep in mind that a project car becomes a money pit if you plan to have a mechanic do all the labor and bring it back to factory new.

That said, that list is a great place to start. Take that knowledge you now have, read the RAVE, and see what you can do on your own. Best of luck.

 

I do everything myself. My law office is at 3300 oak lawn, right across the street from parigis

Let me reread your post to see what your doing and was done. My PO had everything done in Ft. Worth.

Blown head gasket should be a very easy thing to detect. Most shops have test strips they dip in the anti freeze.

I would be more than happy to look over your car. I have spent the past two weeks chasing down little issues and have become very familiar with them. I have read every post possible on common issues.

Lets talk if you wann come up and I can show you what I know.

My disco has had a new motor and tranny installed by the PO.