I have 2006 LR3 with 18K miles on it. I've had a number of issues with it that the dealer has been able to correct, but I have a very annoying rattle in the sunroof (or perhaps in the headliner area just in front of it) that they cannot seem to fix. I've had it in the shop for this problem 3 times now, and it's still not fixed. First time, they could not hear it. Second time, they heard it and fixed it with some "special" grease. Third time, they heard it and completely replaced the entire sunroof assembly.

I was not 5 miles from the dealer after picking it up when it started to rattle again. To make matters worse, the dealership put a pretty good set of scratches down my passenger side doors. They did not dispute this and repainted that side of the car for me. I did not realize this at the time, but this was a 90 minute paint job truly done right out in the parking lot of the dealership by a band of roving painters that makes the rounds to the dealers in the area doing touch up work. The paint already does not match up perfectly with the original, and I'm expecting it to only get worse over time as it fades.

I am quite frustrated, as I have a 50K, premium SUV that rattles like an old Yugo and may soon have a paint job to match. I think the dealer is now just hoping I go away. I've been waiting 3 weeks for them to get back in touch with me on the next step to fix the sunroof. They say they are in contact with the factory on a possible solution, but I think they are hoping I just live with the problem or find another dealer (I would, but there are none even remotely near my home). Even though this is quite annoying, I don't believe the lemon laws would apply. I'd sell this in a second if I could without taking a bath financially, but that's not an option right now.

Any suggestions on what I could do or who I could plead my case to other than my dealer? When I purchased this car, I knew it would not have Toyota quality, but assumed as long as I sold it before the warranty ran out I would be OK. I figured even if it was in the shop a lot, it would be fixed under warranty and I'd have an LR3 as a loaner. Now, I see they may not be able to fix the problem at all, and since I purchased they changed their loaner policy and only provide rentals through an agency so you can get a Camry or something similiar. I also assumed a premium, luxury brand like LR would take care of their customers. After reading through the posts on this forum and hearing the horror stories from other customers, I fear my current issues pales in comparison to what others are experiencing, and my issues probably would not even register at LR corporate.

 

There seems to be, in my opinion, a wide array of technical "know how" amongst the LR dealers. I have taken my LR3 to the shop for some simple stuff that I really could have done myself, but just because it is under warranty I decided to let them "fix" it, only to be surprised at the level of incompetence from some of their technicians. Yet other times the tech working on my LR3 seems to be "The MAN" as far as LR is concerned.

Not long ago, the Windshield washer sprayer on the driver side stopped puting out fluid. I'm not the smartest apple in the bunch but being that the passenger side still worked fine I was fairly sure I knew what it was. The hose had come disconnected from the underside of the sprayer. Not wanting to make the drive to the dealer I took it upon myself to get 'er done. My first problem was that I didn't have the correct tool to disconnect the sound proofing materiel that covers the underside of the hood to gain access to the hose. I made do with what I had at hand and got to the hose and since I had no spare parts at hand, I simply reconnected the hose onto the sprayer, put the sound proofing back in place and hoped for the best. A couple of days latter it came off again so off to the dealer I went. I explained in detail to the tech that I had already reconnected it once so it was obviously dry rotted or something because it would not hold in place on it's own. I wanted it changed for a new one or clamped in place so it would not come off again.
Two hours later they say it's done. I take it home and the very next day it doesn't spray fluid again. Can you believe the Einstein who worked on it had just pulled down the sound proofing materiel and reconnected the same old, dry rotted hose after I specifically told them not to? Another trip to the dealer and some stern words to the tech got everything replaced with new parts, no problems with it since. Some of the techs I have dealt with seem to be able to read a book to fix stuff but there's no real skill in what they do if it's not a textbook problem. However, others have left me quite impressed with their real knowledge of the brand and all its quirks. I would take it to another dealer. I know you said it was far but it may just be well worth the drive to save you the headache.

 

I agree with all of you guys as I've been at dealers for 30 years,(20 w/rover). as older guys retire from this field , the new and upcoming Techs really dont get it. Land Rover did recently do a training review and found out that in the US only 26 % are trained at all, and Master Techs are leaving more frequentlythan new guys are acheaving that status ,and new techs come and go too quickly to justify sending them to schools right away.Blame is all over, LRNA dosent offer the classes , the dealer is too buisy to send them, and of course they just dont understand how things operate. It isint just Land Rover , I know plenty of guys at other import and domestic shops that agree this is becoming a huge issue. So for now I'm sure you all know your chancesare getting slimmer that someone working on your vehicle knows his stuff. probbly less than a 20% chance.

 

OH. if the rattle is in the center of the car, check the clips retaining the center interior light fixture , if it isint that, the headliner should be removed for a test drive to locate the problem. simple process for somone who wants to find it .

 

My head liner began to rattle after it was removed to check the connections to the Sirius antena on the roof. First time to the dealer did not get it fixed. It took the shop foreman to look at the problem himself to find a broken clip. It sounded like it was comming from the sunroof at first. May want to look into it being a headliner problem, not a sunroof problem, as Dirtyduk said.

 

If you want to get this problem resolved, ask your service manager to schedule an appointment for you with the local district rep, the next time he is at their store. You will get it fixed pretty quickly or the Zone office will have some real problems to work out with you.

 

Just a follow up. On the 4th attempt LR service did finally find the source of the problem and successfully fixed the rattle. It turns out it was the sunroof glass rattling inside it's own metal frame. The glass was not replaced when the replaced the sunroof assembly during a previous service attempt.