I have a 2000 Disco II, which I love and have had for two years. What I do not love is the repair cost. Looking for some insight on the following issues.

I purchased the car with 55k miles (now 73K) two years ago and it still looks new. I paid $13.500 plus tax and license at a VW dealership as it was a trade in, which I thought to be a fair price at the time. Three months into owning the car there was a coolant leak which needed a head gasket and intake gasket = $1,300. Six months after that it needed brake work $1,000. Six months after that had 65,000 mile service as well as new drive shaft = $1,000. Total repair cost in 21 months $4,300.

The car is now leaking coolant once again. I took it to Land Rover which is where I had previously taken it and they said it was the air intake gasket as well as another gasket that needed replacement (both of which were the same gaskets they replaced 18months ago, but would not cover). They quoted me 2k to fix what they "fixed" 18 months ago. They also charged $100 to tell me this and then made my car sit an extra week while they looked for the estimate. Anyway, long story short I do not plan to return to the dealership ever again for service.

My questions are:
1. Is an independent shop that specializes in foreign autos reccomended over the dealership? I found a reccomended one in the area who quoted $500 over the phone (vs 2k dealership) but has not yet given full estimate.

2. Given the repairs I have done, would it make sense to keep the car for another couple years, in hopes that nothing else too major could go wrong as I have gotten major repairs out of the way? Are there any common repairs coming up that I should be looking out for? What is the average annual repair bill? Have I already put too much into this truck?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

I understand your frustration, it is hard to lay down good money and then keep repairing it.
The head gasket is a common item to fail, and if repaired properly should never leak again.
The brakes, well you screwed your self there, you should have called around for prices. New pads and rotors are only $600 and I have changed mine out in the drive way in 2 hours with no special tools.
As for the service, all vehicles are supposed to get serviced, so no materwhat you were driving, it would have needed to be done.
The drive line didn't need to be replaced, just have new u-joints installed for maybe $160 worse case.
So would I keep going to the dealer, no, and I have worked for dealers for 30 years. There are some good ones out there but for the most part, they are having problems getting quality help with the proper experience.
Find a good shop, call it home and if they hit you with a big estimate for something, check it out here or somewhere first.
Take care and have a better day.
Mike

 

I'll never buy another land rover for the same reasons.

 

Goto your autoparts store and get some K&W Block Sealer, just make sure you fallow the instructions to the letter or it will not work for sure. I used it on my 94 which had a blown head gasket cause the head was a little warped and drove it for a year afterwards and it was still sealed when I got rid of it. It will either work or it won't but it is only like $5 or $10 bucks to find out. Otherwise find a shop with a good rep cause it sounds like the dealership is not on the ball unfortunately. with dealerships service deptartments, they are either really good or really bad. If you are in the SoCal area Simes Land Rover in Passedena is pretty good or an independent shop I found called DreamCars Automotive was very good (owner used to be a indy car racer). If you see somebody with a Land Rover don't be affraid to ask them if they know anybody good in the area, they will usually be able to tell a good one and a few of the bad ones too 8)