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I bought a 2020 Discovery in December 2019. Three weeks ago i was driving my elderly neighbor home from the doctor and a block before our street, a white light flashed on the dash that said "Check Coolant" or "Coolant Low" - I honestly can't remember which. About 15 seconds later we heard a knocking noise and about 30 seconds later we were in my driveway. I turned the engine off and there was green coolant fluid gushing from the front driver side of the car. I called Land Rover and they dispatched a tow company. Tow Truck arrived and they checked under the hood, said there was still fluid left so he was going to DRIVE the car from the driveway to the street and onto the flat bed tow truck. He took it back to dealer where i purchased 6 months (to the day) earlier. They called me the next day and said that a rock had hit the radiator, they replaced the radiator and covered it under warranty. I went the following day to pick up my car and watched as the porter couldn't start the car when he attempted to bring it to me. He finally got the car to move 3 tries later. He brought it to me and i said, what happened? Why wouldn't the car start? He said he didn't know and asked if i heard "the noise it made". I told him i couldn't hear the noise from where i was but that i couldn't take the car. A BRAND NEW CAR should start. The next day the dealership calls me and tells me that the engine was blown and that i needed a new one to the tune of $30-35,000.00. I just paid $70,000.00 for the car 6 months ago. I had ZERO WARNING lights, ZERO bells or sounds, simply drove the car about 1.5 blocks with a knocking noise. 1.5 blocks was the ONLY indicator that there was a problem. Anyone else heard of such craziness? My insurance company says it doesn't add up and they are doing an investigation but, they reserve the right not to pay it if they feel like it should be at the expense of Land Rover. Land Rover INSISTS this is not their problem and refuse to help in any way. I guess my biggest concern at this point is, how could i ever drive a car worth $70,000.00 that has the potential to blow its engine with no warning, no signals of an issue and a whopping $30,000.00 bill if a rock hits the radiator. The mechanic said the rock flew it at such an angle that you could "never get it to happen like that again. a one in a million chance". Great. Love any thoughts. Here are a few pics of the dent where they say a rock hit. Not that it necessarily matters but, i never saw or heard a rock coming for me. This is the spot on the radiator where they say a rock hit.
To only get a warning that coolant level is low and nothing about temperature (which must have been sky high given the engine damage) is very misleading in terms of the severity of the problem. I would have done what you did most likely, certainly I would have continued home if I was that close although I would have pulled over immediately and shut it off if I heard a knocking noise. However it may already be too late at that point if the knocking is a cracked piston vs pre-ignition...
Given it takes a while for an engine to heat warm up after starting I don’t think the tow truck driver made it any worse. I suspect the oil was toast from the overheating so any further damage he would have done would be due to that but it’s likely the damage was already done.
It could happen to any vehicle, all engines work the same way. It’s the lack of an overheat warning that concerns me. Other than that I do understand Land Rover saying it’s not their problem, physical damage by an external force is never going to be covered by warranty. If your insurance covers such an event that’s a relief. The horrible and scary thing would be if they didn’t and you were left to foot the bill.
Discov: Thanks so much for your reply. I appreciate it. This is MY Discovery - they say the rock went through the side vent - you can see there is not deflector. This is a Discovery from the dealers lot that has the vents covered with deflectors.
I have been speaking with the Jaguar Land Rover Dealer for 3 weeks about this. They have the car in their possession as it was towed there. They say that despite the fact that there was no warning/etc., the issue happened because a rock hit the radiator. End of story. Rocks hitting the radiator are not mechanical failure. I understand that. The dealer is saying the knocking i heard for those 45 seconds was the engine dying and it was already too late. My argument is this: rocks come flying off the road/trucks/etc every minute of every day. How is it possible that they manufacture a car that is so fragile? I went to the dealership and looked at other DISCOVERY 2020's and some of them have those plastic defectors that help to block anything from coming into the engine compartment. Mine does not. It is open. I have pics and have attached them - one is mine where there are no deflectors and one is from their lot that DOES. HERE IS ANOTHER GRIPE I HAVE: My insurance told me that I could pay out of pocket for a computer check - to see what codes came up/etc and for the dealership to "scope the engine to see the pistons". I gave them full permission and my credit card and said, please check this. You will see that absolutely NO codes were given. No warnings whatsoever. They ran the tests and when my insurance company called to get the results they were told the codes were " PROPRIETARY INFORMATION". When i confronted the dealer about that they say, it doesn't matter anyway because we can stop at the point the rock hit the radiator. I am beside myself. And very sad. Met with my attorney and they said we could sue but, that Land Rover has a thousand attorneys waiting to nit-pick every detail and that it will cost $$$$$ more than it will to just take the loss.
LoneStarLR - thank you so much for responding. If you wouldn't mind checking out my reply to "discov" above, I would be grateful. I didn't want to retype the same reply. I am in 10000% agreement with you that there is a real problem that there is no warning. That's my whole point to Land Rover - how can this high tech machine not give a warning? Anyway- i truly am grateful for your input. Happy 4th of July!
Your situation is really horrible. I hope it works out for you. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Current)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
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kylaroy77, I don't see any other reply from you, but no matter.
It's the lack of warning that's the concerning part and I really hope this works out for you.
Please keep us updated.
wow, that's truly unfortunate and I hope for the best for you in this. Maybe petition JLR or ask the dealer to petition them to reconsider claiming this on warranty.
The radiator is mounted pretty low anyways isn't it? I'm surprised it doesn't get more gunk or dings on it. Engines heat up quickly, but shouldn't have heated that fast in that short of time to burn the oil or cause a failure like that. I've driven some overheated vehicles in my time and I've not had any failure like that. Not saying it can't happen, but man, that was fast. Being a brand new, can't imagine any other issue like a sticking thermostat or a fan/fuse blown in addition to the leak unless a manufacturer's defect was already in the engine itself. Really hope this turns out okay for you.
Thanks for all the replies - i sent another reply this morning with additional pics and info. Does that have to be okayed before it will show here? I don't want to post again in case that is how this works. This is my first go at this. Let me know - maybe because it had more pictures attached it had to be looked at by the moderator?
07-03-2020, 04:30 PM
Rock hit Radiator and Motor is Blown
