I live in Charlotte and thought I found a decent mechanic for my disco. The shop works primarily on Jaguars, but has Land Rover software from Atlantic British. Last year, the stealer told me I needed new head gaskets. I took it to this shop for a second opinion and they said it needed valve cover gaskets. They were right and I had them do the work for $800. Since then, I have had to take it back twice. Once because they forgot a bolt on the AC unit and the screw that holds down the dipstick. The second time was because there was a loud clicking when the engine was running....turns out they forgot to tighten a bolt and it came loose and was hitting the fan. Now I go out to inspect the plug wires, and see if I can get my hand back in there and notice they forgot more screws. There are 2 aluminum pipes behind the intake with a mount and the mount isn't mounted to anything. It produces a high squel when it rubs against the intake manifold (like fingernails on a chalkboard). I don't think I'll be returning to that mechanic.

When my battery died a few months ago, I took it to Firestone (warranty) and the manager there said they work on Land Rovers all the time. Should I take my Disco to a place like Firestone or keep looking for a good independent mechanic? Any advice is appreciated!!

 

Don't know if you're ever up in Raleigh much, but this shop is recommended by RangeRovers.net: http://discoveryautomotive.com/

 

I don't give second chances when it comes to someone working on my car. That's BS. So is the $800 for valve cover gaskets. Just because it's not a rover certified mechanic doesn't mean they can't do jobs like replacing head gaskets and mechanical issues. A good mechanic can do the work you're needing, mechanically rovers are simple machines compared to many.

 

First of all, that Jag shop over charged you by at least $300 plus all their screw up, so find a new shop. As for going to FireStone, that is a step below going to Pep Boys, scarey.
I am not sure where to have you take tour truck, but I would first take it back to the Jag shop and stand there while you have them fix any of their screw ups, then start looking around. Shout if you have a problem, maybe we can walk you thru some of the basic problems.

 

Looking at the receipt, labor was 440.00 for the intake re-seal and 80.00 for throttle plate. Parts were:

59.28 for Plenum Gasket
46.62 for Intake Manifold Gasket
19.86 for Intake Manifod Gasket
48.90 for Valve Cover Gaskets
75.88 For Intake Plenum Gasket
50.00 for Throttle plate and gasket
5.00 for gasket
17.74 for coolant

For a grand total of 855.78. And they screwed it up.

I called a shop close by my house called Autohaus and they said they work on rovers. They will not however, work on the suspention systems. What do you all think?

 

Total parts should have been around $180 to $200.
OH WELL, lesson learned. Do you have an SLS, rear air suspension? If so, if you have a problem I can help you with that. Try the new shop and see how it goes.

 

I do still have the SLS. I converted to springs because the compressor went bad. I didn't like the ride, so bought a compressor and new bags on eBay and put it back to SLS. Lesson learned there, too!

I just noticed the throttle cable has about an inch of play in it. Going to adjust that now. Man, what else did they miss???

 

Well I adjusted the throttle cable and WOW. It actually made a huge difference. Smoother take off, no hesitation, more feeling in the pedal.

I'm writing a letter to the shop to see what kind of response I get. If it's not a good one, I will be writing the BBB.

 

Checked the oil today and was 1 qt low. Checked around the valve covers and they are still leaking! Definetely calling on Monday. ShouldI have them do the work again or ask for some money back?

 

Ok, well, looking at the parts list he had to do more work than just the valve cover gaskets. Replacing the intake gaskets is a pretty big job. I don't think he hosed you at all. As far as going to Firestone, there isn't anything mysterious about early land rovers, that I see. Some shops my not have the software to work on the computer items. In fact, the motors on some are GM designed so it may be more familiar to them than some more mainstream imports. The one area you might benefit from going to a L/R shop is that they would be be more familiar with the "typical" issues that crop up with Rovers and theoretically should be able to more quickly identify sources of problems and also know what other things to look for. Also, they should be able to make repairs quicker assuming they've done the job a few times before on other L/R's. Those are assumptions.