Faulty TD5 Oil Pump Bolt - Update

Mick,

Gutted is the natural reaction.

You have a PM from me. Prying eyes etc :wink:

Unless you had specifically agreed not to disguss this matter in a public forum then they have no right to withdraw their support.

If they think this publicity is bad they are mistaken, we all already know the issues with Land Rover and the quality of their customer care.

Perhaps a mention by one of the current affair programs of your situation may have them rethink their postion, although it should never come to that.

Seek individual legal advise, I'm sure it will work out in your favour at the end.

It certainly does leave a sour taste in your mouth, I had exactly the same issues with a new Holden once.

Thanks Glen, I am very quickly learning of their customer support.

You know the Queen and Prince Phillip drive/are driven in Land Rovers? I reckon if a bolt in the oil pump let fly whilst Phillip was doing the rounds of Windsor Castle, he'd have a brand new one sitting in the driveway before he could walk back. Things could be worse though. That's what I keep saying to myself.

Without prejudice and I don't care who reads this:

1. Mick, you're being stuffed around by a bunch of...not very nice people...to put it mildly...just get a lawyer who is versed in trade practice law. A lawyer needs clear evidence to build and state a case, producing or evidencing a precedent in a court. There are clear precedents for your case locally and globaly, therefore it is easy to produce a case where there is in the mind of a court, evidence in your favour 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

If I were the presiding judge, which I'm not, LR would have to work mighty hard to discredit you and your Land Rover. They will no doubt try and discredit you but doing the same to one of their products could seen to be counterproductve, so they would attempt to say you did the damage, as opposed to the vehicle being inherently deficient from build, so as the hypothetical judge, did you do the damage?

I think I'm hearing you say you didn't. Therefore you need to show a case by precedent, whereby others have had a similar experience. (of whch ther is much documentary evidence and evidence of LR resolving the issue at no cost to owners. (Can I hear the shredders going at LR?, but victims tend to keep records).

A court will admiss 'contemporaneous extraction' which means a documentary record of something that happened as described at the time, such as a diary or a service record (of another 'victim' vehicle) or the (subpoena if necessary) records of a, or several repairers who fixed similar vehicles on behalf of Land Rover.

Print this out, use it and take it to a legal.


2: Having prepared your evidence a copy to the NSW dept of fair trading which would be more than interested in what's up thus far. and especially as the dealer has reneged on what was earlier stated, but this may be an issue, however.... you have demonstrated a decision 'under duress' (as has the dealer).

Much evidence exists re this fault, personally I'd run with it, but in the end the truth will out, Mick.

It is extraordinarily disappointing that the representatives of Land Rover in Australia behave in such an appalling manner.

Mick, don't lose heart, it took a whle for Richard Nixon to be nailed, but a year after Woodward and Bernstein started the case, said Nixon was on the way out.

Now find the missus, take a breath and work the problem and a solution.

Be procedural. Start at the beginning at write down everything, if you haven't already, (and of course you have). Every detail, every little detail, every one Mick.

Steps 3 and beyond are pursuant to steps 1 and 2, and are a PM.

Standing by.......


GQ

Typos are due to my use of a new keyboard which has a 'foreign feel'.

Seems like we have an attitude at LR that doesnt seem to like customers.....Make me think twice about updating this year. Nissan is looking better everyday. One of my mates copped a patrol with the exploding 3.0 motor, bought at auction, 115k on it (ex coppers) and it went at 140k and nissan replaced the motor, no arguments as it was a known problem. LR could learn a little here about doing the right thing.

You would think that if someone from LR is reading this...


YES YOU - LISTEN UP


It would be in their best interests to do the right thing, because there are a lot of existing and also potential future customers also reading this.

:evil: :evil: :evil:

and the rest of us who own early 99 disco's,keep at them and do not give
up, will this make it hard to sell this model disco unless you had proof that
it has been checked? something LR should be doing as it a known fault due to faulty workmanship!!

A bit off topic, but last year my son had problems with his Kia car (bought new) - he had a wheel fail due to cracking. Since it was out of warranty, I got a second hand one for him for $50. A couple of months later a rear wheel collapsed on a roundabout. He could not find a second hand one, had to get a new one for about $300 as he was coming to see me next weekend - when he got here I jacked it up and looked at the wheels closely and found another two cracked wheels. An internet search found that it was a known problem in the US, and they were about to have a recall. Calls to the selling dealer and Kia Australia were totally unhelpful, but after talking to consumer affairs, and NRMA Technical Service I talked to DOTARS in Canberra, who handle recalls - they knew all about it, and told me Kia did too and that Kia knew they would have to have a recall. Consumer affairs suggested trying my local dealer (by this time it was 3pm Friday) - Bingo! They advised me that if available in Sydney they would have two new wheels in Dubbo on the Monday and would supply and fit free of charge, which is what happened. It seems they had been through it with one of their own customers, and had found out who to talk to at Kia. Several months later, there was an actual recall and all five wheels were replaced, despite the fact that three were new replacements and one was a second hand one not from the suspect date range. It took about six months to get the $300 back from the dealer.
It seems not only Landrover has customer relation problems - although in this case the costs were lower and the safety implications a lot worse than in the oil pump bolt question, but they were still unhelpful. Again, part of the problem was the dealer, which also seems to be a Landrover problem. And guess who won't be buying any sort of car from that dealer again - but would consider buying from the Dubbo one, even another Kia!

Never threaten legal action unless you are going to do it because if you do they won't speak to you again but instead just pass you off to there lawyers. Trust me they will have one ready to go. Best action is to keep your cool (no matter how hard). The best way to get some action is to hurt there sales. Now if this means bad word of mouth, you make sure you imply who you know and how bad press gets around three times as fast as good press. There are many forms of press media, you just have to think of which one is the best for you. If you have to, get the placcards out and sit on there door step. As long as you do it legally there is not a thing they can do about it. If you don't get any success with that then you ramp up and do it at the motor shows etc etc. Make sure that you let them know how much this has hurt not only you but your family and that you won't let it rest until you get what is fair. Good luck mate. Been through something similar, you will succeed but you must keep your head up. :wink:
P.S. you are exactly right, it could be a lot worse.

Dear all

I am the proud owner of a 11/99 HiCap Defender Td5 130. I read about the bolt problem some years ago and decided to wait a while...I have about 70K on the clock (used for bush work only). But after reading of the incident described recently re the family holiday I thought....well ' I could be in that situation too'.

Would it make sense to have a 'reputable mechanic' pull the sump off and check the offending bolt and loktite etc?? Any thoughts :?:
and how much??
Phil

Td5 130
SrsIII 88"
Darwin, NT