Really, Really good landrover dealer experience.

[jplambs]

I've posted some positive comments about my local (200kms) dealer in the past and after having read another bad dealer thread I thought I'd do so again in an area that isn't subscriber only. (Hope that's ok Mod's).

I bought my first new car, a 130 defender, from Mac Landrover/Ford in Millicent a little over 12 months ago. As I posted at the time I was very, very impressed with the way the sale/finance/everything else was handled by them at the time and I have only gotten happier since. The dealer owner, Angus MacDonald is a Puma defender owner himself and appears to have a genuine concern for following up the defenders, i.e. they aren't hidden out the back.

My most recent positive dealing with them was following an unfortunate roo strike to the front of the defender that missed the bullbar and caused $6000 worth of damage down the drivers side. After spending a month at the crash repairers (approval/order parts/ paint parts/ fit parts, etc) I had an airflow sensor fail and this caused complete power lose to the vehicle intermittently, sort of like limp mode without being limp mode.

Problem fixed I was heading for home when I started to hear a loud sucking noise, the turbo hose had been replaced under a recall but the jubilee clips hadn't been done up quite tightly enough and the hose had come off. Anyway they came 50kms up the road immediately to fix the problem (had taken all my tools out of the bus while at the dealers) and I was on my way.

Recently I received my bill for the service that was done at the same time. (they are remarkably reasonable in service costs, similar and cheaper to what our local mechanic charges) I noticed that there was a part that I had ordered and collected missing from the bill. I rang the parts fellow to check that they hadn't forgotten to charge it only to be told that, "due to the issue with the turbo hose the dealership had decided to cover the cost of the part ordered."

Did I mention that I'll be going back? The 400km round trip is worth it. :-D

[Ean Austral]

Good to read a positive story for a change. We can only hope that more are forthcoming.

Glad to hear of your ongoing good service, and hope it keeps up.

Cheers Ean

[JamesB71]

Are there any other good dealer stories?

Im hoping so. All the disaster stories are a bit of a worry....

[Pickles2]

I've also had "issues" with LRA, & we haven't even taken delivery yet either.....NOT a Dealer problem though....a "LRA Head Office/Administration" issue.
Spoke to them (LRA) (Dealer had already tried & been knocked back!) about the Indus Silver roof we wanted for our "90"...."NO" was the simple answer.....but what got me was that no-one even tried...no-one even made a phone call. I've made contact with a guy in L.R. UK, who has advised that what we want is a standard option in the U.K. How hard would it be for LRA just to email LR U.K.?...But NO...not interested.
I mean I know all about ADR's etc...if it's wheels/tyres/towbars etc....well oK what's good for the UK might not be good here....but simply a different roof color??!! They weren't even interested in trying....even said, I had the option of cancelling my order if I wished!!
I might add that this is in complete contrast to Mercedes (our other car is a C63), who will do pretty much anything to keep the customer on side.
Spoke to the Dealer again today, & he wasn't surprised....he had a customer that ordered a $275K Autobiography, & simply wanted a different coloured seat stitching (which again, was freely available in the UK), and he got the same answer...a simple NO.
Cheers, Pickles.

[B92 8NW]

I'll just put it out there, but if you want ongoing good dealer service, it's a relationship you have to put some work in to yourself.

I'm always a bit taken aback by people who use indepedent service centres under warranty, and then jump up and down when their dealer gives them the cold shoulder to fix a problem. You've basically said "Well, I'm not going to support you because I think I'm smarter and can save a few hundred dollars, but I expect you to fulfil a warranty agreement even though you haven't been able to monitor the vehicle".

I recently had an issue on my 4 yo. car, well out of warranty, but the dealer replaced it FOC. It was ~$700 in parts and labour. I suspect strongly my good friendship I've built with this dealership having sold and always serviced the car played a part in this.

I appreciate that this is a German brand with a much more proven customer oriented focus, and I have experienced less than favourable service from Land Rover dealerships, but there are good ones out there and I reckon getting to know the service advisor and supporting the dealer would go a long way in resolving many people's frustrations.

[Grumbles]

I've been dealing with Blacklocks Ford/Landrover in Wodonga for over 12 years and it has been a great experience. When I traded my wifes Falcon in on a different marque elsewhere this year I made a point of going in and thanking the service manager for all his help over the years. I can't speak highly enough of them and I told him I will be back.

By the same token I have also had great service from Brooks Motors in Wodonga - they are an independent Landrover workshop as well as selling Suzukis plus a couple of other marques. They have been good to me.

It is probably worth noting in this thread that all workshops can make mistakes. What counts is how they deal with those mistakes.

[jplambs]

It is probably worth noting in this thread that all workshops can make mistakes. What counts is how they deal with those mistakes.

Good call Grumbles, I'm a farmer who does most/all servicing of tractors, trucks, farm utes etc myself and goodness know's how many times I've forgotten a screw or something while working on machinery. It was frustrating when it happened but not something to get hot under the collar about, we've all been there and done that to one degree or another.

[Homestar]

Always good to hear when a Busienss does the right thing by its customers.. I see you have posted previously in the Dealers section about these guys, maybe you could add this one in there as well?

[sheerluck]

It's always good to hear that there are companies out there that are still prepared to do what is right by their customers. It seems that it's the smaller, more local dealers that seem to be able to do this, where the big corporates appear to be full of transient salesmen and spanner swingers that are focused solely on targets and quotas.

There are exceptions both ways I'm sure!

[AnD3rew]

I've also had "issues" with LRA, & we haven't even taken delivery yet either.....NOT a Dealer problem though....a "LRA Head Office/Administration" issue.
Spoke to them (LRA) (Dealer had already tried & been knocked back!) about the Indus Silver roof we wanted for our "90"...."NO" was the simple answer.....but what got me was that no-one even tried...no-one even made a phone call. I've made contact with a guy in L.R. UK, who has advised that what we want is a standard option in the U.K. How hard would it be for LRA just to email LR U.K.?...But NO...not interested.
I mean I know all about ADR's etc...if it's wheels/tyres/towbars etc....well oK what's good for the UK might not be good here....but simply a different roof color??!! They weren't even interested in trying....even said, I had the option of cancelling my order if I wished!!
I might add that this is in complete contrast to Mercedes (our other car is a C63), who will do pretty much anything to keep the customer on side.
Spoke to the Dealer again today, & he wasn't surprised....he had a customer that ordered a $275K Autobiography, & simply wanted a different coloured seat stitching (which again, was freely available in the UK), and he got the same answer...a simple NO.
Cheers, Pickles.

LRA have a long and proud history of not giving a about their customers and avoiding responsibility. I wouldn't on a LRA executive if they were on fire.

Some of the dealers do their best to make up for them but can only ever be partially successful. With my other cars I have generally stayed with the dealers after the end of the warranty and have been rewarded for doing so, but since LRA generally tries to get out of paying warranty claims even under warranty I saw no reason to stay and ran off to an independent the moment the warranty ran out.