Yup. That or they're telling you what they think you want to hear

 

Hmmm, a sales person’s opinion over an engineer’s??
I only use top tier fuel, https://www.toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/ (You can get it at Costco cheaper than than the regular priced lower octane fuels on the street.)

I wonder if this decision contributed to your situation…

Anyways, glad you’re getting it sorted and well done for confirming the engine.
cheers

 

Worth noting that if you have a car which specifies lower octane, there's no benefit to using higher octane fuel, it will just cost more. In fact, it can actually *reduce* performance and gas mileage a bit since higher octane fuel is more resistant to ignition at lower compression ratios.

Gasoline marketing is very misleading in that regard... "Supreme" is not better than "Regular" if your car is *supposed* to use regular.

Any car will benefit from using top-tier brands though.

 

Got my LR2 back last week with the replacement engine (72K miles). The odometer remains at 167K since it follows the chassis mileage.

It passed CA smog inspection today. Since the engine is the same type as the original one, CA considers it a Replacement Engine and it follows the normal smog check process. If it had been a different type of engine (an Engine Change), a separate inspection would have been required to certify it for CA smog requirements.

In addition to the block and head from the lower mileage engine, I also got it's coil packs, fuel rail with injectors, and intake manifold. To meet the warranty requirements, the shop installed a new water pump and thermostat (the radiator was recently replaced so that did not have to be done again).

Everything working OK so far. Using Premium Fuel (91) going forward!