[So to sum it up.... Love the car, don't like the first impression of the dealers. I will give the service department a chance, if that's not a happy experience I will go to the local specialist who is fully landrover trained.[/quote]

I'd be interested to know which dealers in Kent you went to. I've used the same one for 12 years and they've always done the right thing, but others don't find them as accommodating.

I wonder if the problem is that there is no money in selling cars? As far as I can tell, most of the profit comes from selling the finance, insurance, extra warranties etc (the sales guy I bought from showed me his printed script, which I had to initial to say he had tried to sell me who knows how much crap: he was apologetic about it). The rest of the profit comes in the massive overcharging for service, spares and accessories. While logic would suggest that sales people should be kept on their toes in order to bring in satisfied customers for the service dept, that would require a bit of decent management!
A lot of LR sales seem to be to companies and organisations too - it may be that if you told them you wanted to buy half a dozen they might react more. Although come to think of it I've had the worst service trying to buy a couple of Transits for work, so maybe not.
A nice story from an ex salesman I know - old tramp walks into his showroom with a couple of carrier bags and stands around looking lost and ignored. Not his job to attend to him (apparently there's a pecking order in selling) but eventually takes pity and goes over to talk to the guy. In short, it was a local landowner and he sold him two Range Rovers.
Quite right about the suit - wear a good suit and you can go anywhere and people call you sir. Great for finding nice toilets and free sandwiches in hotels. May also work for buying cars.

I have seen that script too - the salesman was embarrased, but if he didn't tick boxes, he got hassle. Biggest hassle for me was his Sales Manager trying to sell me GAP insurance. I explained in great detail (maybe my mistake!) that I fully understood the nature of risk and how to assess it (its my job) and I didn't think it worth the premium for the risk. He kept on and on until I said OK I'd take it, but only if he reduced the price I was paying for the car by the value of the commission both he and the dealership would earn from selling me the policy. The salesman laughed and his SM went very quiet. The matter was dropped.

The salesman in question sold me 5 cars over 12 years and was a good acquaintance. He no longer works in Car sales because he hated all the cra@p. All he wanted to do was sell Land Rovers, which being an enthusiast, he knew a lot about. A loss to the dealership; I suspect all the folks there are now just finance pushers with little product knowledge. The service team are first rate though, don't take the pi55 - they know I didn't come down with the last shower of rain, but I suspect that a number of Yummy Mummies with D3s and D4s aren't so lucky - but then more fool them!