Complain about a product or service

Land Rover

Doyle of Panama City Beach FL (5/3/05):
I purchased my new 2005 LR3 5 weeks ago. In those 5 weeks, I was able to drive my vehicle in satisfactory condition for about a week. While driving the vehicle in the second week, I experienced power failure and called the dealership. I was told that I probably had “bad gas” and that if the problem did not persist, I should be fine to continue driving. The failures ended after about 10 miles, so I continued on my trip.

About 3-4 days later, I started my engine and the onboard computer reported an Amber condition which meant to contact the dealership immediately. I did so, and was told to contact Land Rover customer service to have the vehicle picked up. I did, and finally got my car back after about 3 days. I was told the only problem was that the gas cap was not on tight enough.

Two days later, I was leaving for another trip, and began experiencing power failure. I took the vehicle into the dealership and was told the problem now was a vacuum seal leak and that it would take about 2 hours to fix. I left in a loaner. That was two weeks ago, and the car is still in the service department at the dealership. After the vacuum problem was fixed, they discovered a knock in the engine. Last week the dealership said they could not find the problem. Now they have called in a specialist.

Here I sit, paying for a $53,000 vehicle after only driving it without incident for a week. Land Rover of North America said they would give me a resolution last week, and I still can’t get my representative to return my phone calls.

Roger of Riverside CA (1/15/04):
My 2001 Land Rover Discovery rolled over on 11-21-03, resulting in total loss of the vehicle and bodily injury to me (broken clavicle) and my wife (scalp laceration). The vehicle started to sway/rock from side to side while I was still going straight on the road at about 45 mph. I was approaching a turn but this behavior started even before I attempted to make the turn. The only thing I did was to MINIMALLY adjust my position in the center of the lane I was in.

The SUV flipped on its left side (driver's) and slid several feet then rolled over completely and landed on a divider separating the street from a lake. I noticed that a long steel bar was hanging down from the front end. I did not realize till the following day that this was the stabilizing bar (technically referred to as track rod assembly). I took pictures for documentation.

I informed my insurance company of the problem. I explained to them that, according to an expert ex-Land Rover mechanic I talked to, the way the SUV acted is consistent with loss of control due to loss of the stabilizing bar.

SUV is a total loss. My wife and I have fully recoverd from our injuries.

Peter of Kennesaw GA (10/6/03):
My daughter was recently in an accident in her 2002 Land Rover Discovery. Left front tire drove into 2 ft ditch pull truck to embankment where front of truck struck embankment then rolled over. Truck's two airbags did not deploy and 3 passengers were left with only seatbelts as safety protection.

Paul of Brooklyn NY (1/10/02):
I leased a 2001 4.6SE Range Rover From Land Rover Manhattan. It was a demo model with 5641 miles on the odometer.The fuel economy information sticker stated that the vehicle would average 12 city mpg 15 highway mpg.I winced a little but decided I could live with it. For the past six months the vehicle has averaged between 7.8 and 7.5 mpg!

I have returned the vehicle several times to have this and quite a few other problems (which I will list later) taken care of. Initially I complained that the vehicle was only averaging 9.5-9.7 mpg. I was told that this was the "Average Fuel Consumption" since the last time and trip computer was reset. So I reset the trip computer and to my astonishment it now registered "Average MPG 7.8".I was then told it was probably as a result of my driving habits, so I borrowed my neighbors 1999 4.6 and drove it on the same route for a week and averaged 13.9mpg!

I returned the vehicle again only to be told that the trip computer was faulty and would have to be replaced. With new trip computer installed and registering 12.9 mpg I drove off and watched the mpg's drop! By the time I got home it was down to 7.6 mpg! Back again! This time I was told that the trip computer was "not a reliable guage of fuel consumption"! I asked what was and was told to "Fill the tank to the top, reset the odometer, drive for about 150 miles, fill it up again and see how many gallons the gas pump registers." I did exactly that. The gas pump registered 19.8 gallons. So 150 divided by 19.8 = 7.57 mpg!

I decided to run the test again to be absolutely sure, even driving it harder. And at 136 miles it took 18.6 gallons, that's 7.31 mpg. Neither Land Rover Manhattan nor Land Rover North America have returned my latest calls.

Donald of Murreta CA (11/10/01):
Bought used range rover and had it in shop at least 6 times between purchase date 2/24/01 and date sold 8/5/01. Towed once, 300 mile tow, in shop about 15 days out of first 45 days owned. All corrections made under warranty except rental car dollars. Lost about $12000 in value, purchased extended warranty for $700. Sent all information to Land Rover of USA and received a "we are sure sorry" letter.

Planned a 10,000 mile drive across country in that vehicle, had to purchase another vehicle due to complete mistrust in Rover.

Lynnette of Boston (6/26/00):
My sister and I were on our way to the mall. I was driving on a three-lane road, I happened to look in my left mirror to make sure I wasn't going to hit anyone when I saw all this white smoke behind me. I thought I was overheating, so I pulled over, turned the car off. I looked behind me in the mirror and saw a trail of some liquid leading to the car, that's when my sister yelled there's a fire under the hood.

My sister and I had enough time to grab our purses and run out of the truck. I called 911, the police showed w/in 2 minutes, by the time the fire dept showed up, the truck was engulfed in flames. The truck was towed to a tow lot and is now still there. I got a copy of the police report and brought to my insurance dealer, who told me my vehicle wasn't covered (I didn't have option 1 on the vehicle). I called my credit union where my loan is taken from and they told me they couldn't do anything, to just keep paying my loan.

I called Land Rover in Natick, MA, they told me to call the headquarters. I talked with a woman over the course of a week, who had a Land Rover inspector look at the vehicle without me being there. She told me the inspector couldn't find the cause of the fire and since the vehicle is a 1994 Land Rover Discovery with 136,000 miles, that they are not responsible for this. So in the meantime, I'm paying my loan without a car. I'm not looking for a new Land Rover, I just wish someone could pay off my loan so I can get a new vehicle.

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