Thread: This must be embarrassing for Land Rover

Originally Posted by Tombie

I think it may be more to do with modern demands on vehicle OS.

Sometimes it just seems to go wrong


Remember Toyota smashed the 100 series across the globe, and then had thousands of engine and suspension problems - often catastrophic failures.
For a company that size, full of spin on being unbreakable, that’s some horrendous outcomes.


The most improved player in the game has been Mitsubishi in recent years. And they’re multitudes of funding better off than LR

I had a 1994
100 series Turbo Diesel which was recalled for replacement engine bearings...

My friends who are current model Hilux owners are getting new DPFs FOC due to a class action in progress

Originally Posted by Red90

That is not apples to apples. Most other brands build vehicles that are reliable and do not fail even with new models. I've never had a new vehicle with a failure during warranty, ever. 100% of people I know that have purchased a new Land Rover in the last 10 years have had multiple warranty claims. The average being four per year.

You've been lucky. Prior retirement I was in the earth moving game, and over the years all our new Field Service vehicles gave problems under warranty. Ford (Courier), Nissan (Navara and Patrol) and Toyota (Hilux and L/cruiser).

Originally Posted by andrewm42

The main issue that the video highlights is that the engineers/ mechanics are still coming to terms with the systems they have installed in the car.

The first issue with the "check engine light" doesn't really sound like they knew what the issue was, and just swapped around some cables to try and eliminate possible causes, and are now waiting for the problem to reoccur.

The second issue, with the cameras, although annoying, is not critical to the operation of the car, and getting you back from the middle of no-where. What is strange however is that it worked until they "updated the software", and then it stopped working. At this point in time, I would guess this is more likely with some issue with different software versions on the various modules not communicating rather than an actual broken module. Time will tell.

The other thing to keep in mind is reliability is one part of the puzzle, and the other is how the brand treats their customers when they have issues. Based on the US experience, the brand definitely seems interested in helping. I would like to think that this behaviour is not just for YouTubing customers.

Excellent comment which you beat me to by a short margin. It would appear the camera problem was "introduced" by the Service agent as the owner made no comment that it was not working prior to taking the car in. The disbelievers laughing about this problem should put themselves in the situation of the Service agent tackling this problem. A totally new vehicle with which their top mechs have probably only done a few days Service Training and completely unfamiliar with the product in the raw. We had a similar situation with our first V8 L/Cruiser flat tray Field service vehicle and it sat in the Dealer's w/shop for 9 days whilst they played with it. Eventually replaced the ECU which was ex Japan. It was the new V8 model and their mechs were unfamiliar with it. And that vehicle went on to have the engine rebuilt under warranty with new piston rings due to chronic oil usage.

Originally Posted by Discodicky

I had a 1994
100 series Turbo Diesel which was recalled for replacement engine bearings...

At least they recalled them and they were fixed under warranty.

Unlike the 3.0L in the D4/5.But this issue seems more random,so actual vehicles that have the problem may be difficult to identify.

Originally Posted by scarry

At least they recalled them and they were fixed under warranty.

Unlike the 3.0L in the D4/5.But this issue seems more random,so actual vehicles that have the problem may be difficult to identify.

It was every 6cyl Diesel cruiser which made it easy to work out.
I have friends with them and as part of their 100k service interval they drop the bottom end and replace all the bearings. If you don’t, it is likely to fail.

The SDV6 seems a bit more hit and miss. Still covered under warranty - it’s once that warranty is over that you must assess the risk.

There are aftermarket cranks out there now that sort the issue.

Originally Posted by scarry

It really is unbelievable,isn’t it?

After all the reliability surveys,reputation over the years,it’s still going on?

Other manufacturers have these problems sorted,but some seem to continue with them.

I have had LR’s for the last 21 yrs,and run a fleet of Jap/Thailand commercial vehicles for the last 30 yrs,and from my experience,there is just no comparison in the reliability,service costs,fit and finish,etc,etc,between the two.

Sure,the D4,which was mainly Ford,was better,but it still isn’t up to the standard of others on the market.

This is one reason we have replaced the D4 with another brand.
Yes,you guessed it,the one the sheep buy.
After looking around for a long time,and wanting a large 4WD wagon,new,and suited us,there was no other option.

I couldn't agree more with everything you have said.
Land Rover have designed (different to actually putting them together correctly) some dam great vehicles over the decades but what is generally consistent is poor build quality and reliability issues.

I thought I had read that the Defender had undergone some huge amount of km testing (1 million kms?) yet A pillar noise, leaking windscreens, rattles in the door trims and camera issues never showed during testing???

As I have said before, if the new Defender has the build quality and reliability of a Lexus it will be an awesome truck.

Originally Posted by Tombie

It was every 6cyl Diesel cruiser which made it easy to work out.
I have friends with them and as part of their 100k service interval they drop the bottom end and replace all the bearings. If you don’t, it is likely to fail.

The SDV6 seems a bit more hit and miss. Still covered under warranty - it’s once that warranty is over that you must assess the risk.

There are aftermarket cranks out there now that sort the issue.

True.
Just realised my "deliberate" mistake; it was my 1994 80 series GXL turbo diesel, not my 100 series GXL turbo diesel which came later to me and was a 2004 model.