Disco Sport Owners: Timing Chain Issues & Class Action Potential

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Originally Posted by WFS1

I’ve heard second hand today that there has been a successful action against LR in AUS for the timing chain…anyone know anything about this?
We eventually had the chain etc replaced after having the car off the road for many weeks.
The second bit of pain in our story was that the front CV joints had also failed. These were previously misdiagnosed by a dealer mechanic as failed front suspension!
All up the work cost just under $8K at 112000Ks . The LR specialist mechanic who completed the work made the strong recommendation to revert to old school oil changes at 12-15000ks.We have done so.

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I’m interested to know if there has been any successful action against LR Australia? I have a Discovery Sport. 93K for mileage, always serviced and just over 6 yrs old - was told yesterday the quote to fix the timing chains and DPF is $12.5K. Interested to understand if anyone has had any engagement with alarm Australia on the issue?

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Originally Posted by JLW

I had the same issue at around 110,00km with my 2016 disco - LR told me that the timing chain needed replacing and advised some stupid $$$ figure to repair. I told them that as I had bought the car from them, had always had it serviced by them and had always followed their service recommendations and actions that I will not pay for it to be repaired - outcome was that it was fully repaired by LR under goodwill.

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can you advise what actions you took to get Lar Australia to cover this under goodwill?

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Originally Posted by Keiranm

can you advise what actions you took to get Lar Australia to cover this under goodwill?

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Sorry for the delayed response. Indirect yet hope this helps...

In your case I'd thoroughly document the service history, obtain as much information on engine timing chain life expectancy (the JLR log book / service schedule should indicate when / if it needs to be checked and change right!), and take your demand up with the JLR dealer's Service Manager for them to take your demand to JLR Aust. and above if necessary.
Always remember we still have Australian Consumer Rights, regardless of manufacturer warranty periods.

Mine is nearly a year older than yours, has 20,000km less on the clock (longer story, but still mainly >1,500km trips) and has been back to the JLR dealer well over 20 times, all but once under "goodwill" for free servicing, replacement of faulty parts & constant oil services.
I say "free" yet it still costs me time, money & is of substantial inconvenience to keep taking it back.

The next time it goes back (likely before Christmas now, given it's history) for yet another DPF / Oil Dilution issue is the time JLR Aust. will receive a "fix it fully, buy it back or replace it" demand.
This will go in via the Service Manager at the JLR dealer.

In preparation for this I've now fully & exhaustively documented each and every time it's been back, what for & for how long.
I still have the sales document that noted a 32,000 km oil service requirement!! along with the JLR service bulletin noting oil dilution issues that was released within days of my purchase.
Over the course of my ownership, simply through previous log book requirements & once purchasing bad fuel, I've kept track of every fuel fill, every location & every odometer reading.
Fortunately this will also enable me to demonstrate excessive fuel usage should JLR want to push back.

Thankfully I've pushed the point with JLR several times & so have had cases referred to the UK Head Office where they've also analysed my driving style and confirmed I drive within whatever parameters they deem acceptable, so yet another point they'll be unable to wriggle away from.

Also thankfully I have a good mate who's Managing Partner in a fairly prestigious law firm, and he's promised to cost effectively help me out should JLR decide not to honour their obligations.

If JLR read this then perhaps they can prepare for restitution, as they've demonstrably been unable to rectify the cars issues.

Good luck!! Good luck to us all.

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Originally Posted by beachfamily

I am interested in joining / have already made enquiries to commence a class action… People vs JLR for timing chain failures in Australia.

We have just had a catastrophic engine failure due to timing chain instantly snapping on our LANDROVER Discovery Sport. We were simply driving down the road and our car lost power. No warning lights, no sounds, in fact no indication of any issues at all.

Towed to JLR dealer/service centre where we purchase the vehicle 3 years prior and that’s when our troubles really began.

Our local car sales /service team and JLR refused to pay for any repairs. We also discovered that the extended warranty sold to us by JLR dealer voids timing chains and any surrounding damage caused by timing chain failure.

Our car that was worth $40,000AUD 3 years ago…is now worthless. A replacement engine is at least $20,000 and current resale is only $20,000.

I am absolutely taking matters further. How JLR and our dealer/extended warranty company expects us to simply walk away from $40,000 just due to missing a single service is the definition of unjust.

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I am an owner in the US. My 2017 Disco Sport with 65k miles just had the exact same issue. Looking to collect as much data as I can to get a suit initiated here in the US. I am also an attorney but this is a bit out of my realm of expertise. It seems to me if they were on notice (which clearly they were because the class action settled against them here in the US for 2012-2014 affected models) and did not fix the issue, this should be gross negligence. I am in the process of contacting the attorney who handled the US class action to see if there has been any activity with regard to later models. I will update for all who are interested.

As an aside, my vehicle was just at my service department one month ago for its 60k service. It seems a lot of you had your issue diagnosed prior to the chain actually breaking. Is this an issue that should have been assessed at my service?

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Originally Posted by discosportowner

As an aside, my vehicle was just at my service department one month ago for its 60k service. It seems a lot of you had your issue diagnosed prior to the chain actually breaking. Is this an issue that should have been assessed at my service?

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I agree, JLR and their sales agents have been aware of this timing chain issue for years. Why hasn’t a major recall been undertaken for this faulty part!

I have made contact with a class action legal company here in Australia- I will keep you all updated.

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So just heard from JLR in Phillip, Canberra today. I got the 'engine oil critically low' message on my 2017 Disco Sports L550 with 86,000kms on the clock. I've only done 15,000kms since I bought it and already had the DPF/DEF issues, which needed a new exhaust system (that JLR here did on Goodwill). I stopped driving and booked it in. JLR said timing chain guide had snapped, stretched the timing chain and the resulting metal on metal grind of chain to engine block spat out metal filings that circulated throughout the engine. It clogged the oil strainer at the bottom of the engine and threw the code. Now, JLR tell me due to the extent of the filings through the engine, I'll need a new one. I asked what are my options, without knowing this exact known defect, and they said they'd call me tomorrow with more info, including costs for a new engine etc.

Seeing if this issue had moved further along at all, and if anyone had had any luck in getting JLR to cover costs? I saw Thomas's post about s271 of the ACL which was interesting and the post just above about logging all Services etc and using this as proof that the car was not driven in an unreasonable manner.

Cheers

An update on the above: JLR has agreed to cover 70% of the new engine build, including cost of diagnostics etc. I'll be up for $8,900 but they're covering more than I thought they would. Had to state my willingness to head down the consumer law path, and demonstrated my knowledge of the class action lawsuits from the US re: timing chains, and s271 of the ACL providing a guarantee of quality of goods (and the fact that I work with consumer law for a job). There was a reasonably significant gap between the 68k service and the 85k service (2 years) - I was pretty sure I had brought it in during that period, but they didn't have it on file and I had no e-mails or docs to prove it. Note to self: document every service etc and keep that info safe. I'm going to turn around and sell it right back to them after they fix it as I've already bought a Rav4 Hybrid. Lesson learned!

I’d appreciate an update on the Australian class action. I’ll shoot you an email.

I have a 2016 Disco Sport, bought it new and it’s been serviced at Northern Beaches Land Rover / Alto Artarmon ever since.

It had a timing chain replacement in 2022, and a turbo charger failure after engine warning and limp mode in July this year (towed in for repair). I was hoping to sell the car, then last month an engine oil critically low warning - there was no oil at all in the engine. It was towed in for assessment and it’s the timing chain again. Service Centre said JLR Australia was willing to cover most of the repair, but I’m insisting they cover all of it given they only replaced the timing chain 2 years ago. They’re refusing… I was drafting an application to NCAT, but then came across this thread…

How do we push for an Australian recall of the engine? I read South Korea is the first (and only?) country to issue the recall on the ingenious engine.

I am based in Perth, and received the news after today's 70,000km service that the timing chain of my 2018 Discovery Sport needs to be replaced.
I purchased the car privately at 40,000kms 18mths ago & it was in immaculate condition & regularly serviced by another LR dealership.
I was advised it would be about $9000, but the dealership would speak to LR in UK & see if they could assist with some of this cost.
I have had a quick look at some of the other posts & my quote seems exorbitant.
I will continue to read through all the other related threads/posts.
I'm keen for others thoughts/feedback, thx