In Short do not buy a car for this dealer they treat you like idiots
Article Submission From Land Rover Hell
Name: Robert Wood
Email:
robwood@commander.co.uk
Title: Mr
Article:
My above vehicle was taken into Stratstone Nottingham Dealership, on Monday 01st June 2009 due to a Air Suspension fault which caused the system to remain at 'Access Height' only.
I was informed by the Stratstone Nottingham Dealership that the vehicle's air compressor had burned out and required a new compressor which was in my view is an item which should have lasted longer than the actual period in use. They also stated that the vehicle also required an exhaust gas recirculation valve, no reason could be given to me. The cost of these parts was quoted to be £873.00. As is usual when parts are required, there is a delay in procuring parts from Land Rover by this Dealer! Apparently the required compressor was in short supply, I accept this is not the fault of Stratstone but that of Land Rover.
My vehicle has remained in the Stratstone Nottingham Dealership until last Thursday 11th June 2009 (some 11 days later) when they called me and said it was ready for collection. I collected the vehicle at about 2.00PM. I drove from the Stratstone Nottingham premises and immediately noticed an information centre message that the suspension was 'raising slowly'! I gave it a short period of time to raise fully over a distance of approximately 2 miles where I had to stop for an appointment. Immediately after the appointment I returned the vehicle to the Stratstone Nottingham Dealership within an hour and had journeyed less than 4 miles! The Service receptionist stated it was working OK when I collected it, it was not OK for the reason stated and the message became apparent immediately on driving away.
The Stratstone Nottingham Service Manager, sat in the vehicle and manually operated the system. During his trials, a warning message came up that the new compressor was overheating and he said that it would do so if it was being used too much! He agreed that the vehicle was not operating correctly, but that opinion seemed to change later.
The Stratstone Nottingham Service Manager stated that the system may require calibrating or it maybe a problem with the height sensors! I am afraid I did not agree with his summation and told him so. In fact there was an argument growing due to the claims that the vehicle was not at fault!
Consequently, my vehicle was again left at Stratstone Nottingham for investigation and remedy. Later that afternoon (5.20PM) they telephoned and stated they had checked the vehicle using 'one of their most experienced technician's' and found it was working correctly! I told them I did not agree it was working correctly but I gave them the benefit of doubt until I had the opportunity to see the vehicle again. It was agreed they would deliver the vehicle to my home address!
Later that day (11th June 2009) at 5.48 PM I received a message that when they got in the vehicle to drive it to me home the fault was still there and would not therefore be delivering the vehicle back to me but had ordered from Land Rover an air compressor reservoir and various 'other bits', these would be received in the morning (12th June 2009), fitted and the vehicle returned to me, and they promised they would call me first thing in the morning to confirm the parts had been received and fitting was in progress! No call was received until 1.30PM when I was informed that more additional parts were required and would cost me a further £123.00 approximately but these parts would not be received until Monday 15th June 2009.
It could not be ascertained by telephone why additional parts were required so I then visited Stratstone again to ascertain why they were charging additional parts even without knowing whether or not such additional parts would remedy the fault. As already stated above, the parts already fitted and charged and paid for have NOT rectified the initial problem. I asked for the dealer principal to become involved but was told he was not on site, this was an outright lie as he was there and he appeared when the situation became heated.
The attitude was that I have got to pay for these extra parts that they have now decided to change even though they can give no assurance that these parts will remedy the problem, maybe Land Rover could help them to determine this! After some further discussion the dealer principal commented that 'if you don't like it you can go elsewhere'.
Today I did not receive a call as to the status of the vehicle until 16.10PM where I was told that despite fitting these additional parts the fault has not been remedied. The service advisor said that they do not now know what the fault is and are continuing their diagnosis!! I specifically asked him if Land Rover had been contacted for advice, the response was "NO". This is quite surprising as one would expect the dealer to contact the manufacturer for support and advice if a particular problem could not be remedied in house.
For whatever reason, it seems quite clear that this dealership seems to lack the ability of adequate diagnostics and I have to say common sense in determining faults and communicating such diagnosis to the Land Rover Owner. Parts seemed to get blindly fitted and customers charged without any concern as to cost implications and full remedy of the initial problem.
As an example Stratstone Nottingham was charging engine oil used in a service to me on the basis of a 4 litre petrol engine requiring 7 litres whereas this vehicle only requires 5.5 litres, these over charges must have been applied to all owners of Discovery 3 Diesel engine vehicles as apparently it was from Stratstone's service price list. As a result I have had to complain and ask for money back 4 times over a 3 year period, this does not reflect well on the Land Rover or Stratstone name.
I would also like to point out that the fault was very similar to my co-directors Range Rover which again Stratstone Nottingham could not fix so Land Rover Roadside Assistance was called and that engineer fixed the problem by changing the air vent valve filter which he said was a common problem but had not looked at during a vehicle service. We have reminded them of that remedy on this occasion.
To add fuel to the fire, this dealer wants me to order a new Discovery and also my co-director to order a new Range Rover (number 7) from them but they will not take any orders unless a £1,000 is paid up front!
My faith in Stratstone Nottingham has plummeted to '0'. I would like to have a Land Rover report (not Stratstone) on the failed items (my property) they claim are being returned to Land Rover.
I still have no idea when Stratstone Nottingham are going to find and remedy the initial fault that my car was taken in for over two weeks ago and the car returned to me.
Calls over the last 3 days to Landrover themselves has not resulted in any response or action.
In Short do not buy a car for this dealer they treat you like idiots and expect you to pay for trial & error fitting of parts and over charge on servicing.
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