Treefrog99 wrote:

I have just bought my first LR Freelander 2 and am looking for an indi garage. I am interested particularly at the one in Shirland nr Alfreton.
Could someone let me have there name please
Trevor

I am lucky in that I do all my own servicing and repairs (up to now anyway!) One thing I have noticed with good indy`s up here anyway is that they are swamped with work and while small jobs like servicing ,brakes etc have a quick turnaround more involved work can mean your vehicle is off the road for weeks if not months as big jobs always take a back seat to the little "paying" jobs. My friends D3 was off the road over 9 months getting an engine rebuild after a head gasket failure and I visited another indy last weekend for an MOT on my other car and there was around 30 vehicles in various states of repair lying around the workshop/yard area with the owner saying how there was not enough hours in the day to make a dent in all the work that was waiting to get done!

Same here
There is a cracking little specialist a few miles down the road (LandRanger services), they always seem very very busy.
with long waiting times.
Up to now, time permitting I have always done my own repairs, but after the heart attack, if I pick up a spanner I get nothing but grief from the whole family (fitting a towbar almost put me back in hospital, two hours just to be able to catch my breath), that's why I bought a newer car with 2 years warranty, and two years servicing.

Problem is even the dealers are swamped, mine has a gearbox fault, LR rescue couldn't fix it, so a 3 week wait to get her seen to. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

gearbox fault on an Ewok.... its not my old one is it ?

My own stupid fault - I wanted a 9 speed, so got an early one on a 64 plate - in Orkney grey.

I'm a controls guy, it's not only what I do it's what I am, so to have a car where the software was written by a gorilla in gloves really does wind you up.

Never never buy an early design of anything

Stupid thing is the 6 speed FL2 box was brilliant.  Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I did hear of lots of problems on the Evoque forum with the early 9 speed, sluggish, hesitation, hunting etc. and it was mostly cured by software updates by LR on the gearbox ECU (SteveD on this forum has an Ewok now and I think he had his software updated successfully)

Ive never driven a 6 speed auto Ewok, only the 9 speed on a loaner, but I wasn't that impressed with it as I felt 9 gears was just too many for that car, however the RRS Dynamic I had on loan with the 9 speed was better (but still too many gears)

Ive driven a DS and a Jaguar XE with the 8 speed and that was about right, really nice auto box.

But im still just as happy with my FL2 Aisin 6 speed box.

Test drove 2 Ewok 6 speeders loved them - so I bought a 9 speeder

The only things I specified on the whole car were the gearbox and spare wheel, gearbox is rubbish and the spare is a space saver.
Gill specified the colour, sunroof, interior, gadgets, roof bars, boot liner, she insisted on the warranty and servicing, she even insisted that it was an Ewok - wouldn't let me have a Disco, or another FL2.

It's the last car I buy with her present. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I have no confidence in either Lambs who always seem to take in more work than they can handle nor Hunters.
I have used Derby 4x4 who do good work at reasonable prices. FL2 SD4 Metropolis Auto Santorini Black / ivory completely stock.

It's true that light travels faster than sound, some people look quite intelligent until you hear them speak.


Stop global winging.

After various folks help and recommendation thought I'd report back.
Desiring to keep a main dealer service history I decided to go to Guy Salmon's in Sheffield. They offered me a fixed price service at a reduced rate. Overall very happy with the customer service I received. They were a bit late finishing the car so knocked a bit more off. They picked up and quoted for various other work, namely discs and pads all round, intercooler hose on the way out and a possible leak from the rear crank seal. Ouch! Not cheap, and not convinced by the crank seal diagnosis.

So went to David Naylor in Shirland. Just got the car back having had him fit genuine discs and pads all round (they were totally shot) and a genuine intercooler hose kit (it was, and did, split). He too wasn't convinced about the rear seal and thought it was just oil mist/drips from the split hose. All in all very happy to recommend David to anyone, very helpful service and at a sensible price. Knowledgeable too, hopefully saved me a packet not having to investigate the rear seal.

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations. Will probably keep getting the car serviced at Salmon's if they are still doing deals but only for the dealer stamps. Will ignore their diagnosis though and use David for everything else!

Cheers
John

David sounds like he could be the specialist I'm looking for. Do you have a company name or contact details?

Hi Houston,

David's number is 07973 899485

Cheers
John

JHW wrote:

After various folks help and recommendation thought I'd report back.
Desiring to keep a main dealer service history I decided to go to Guy Salmon's in Sheffield. They offered me a fixed price service at a reduced rate. Overall very happy with the customer service I received. They were a bit late finishing the car so knocked a bit more off. They picked up and quoted for various other work, namely discs and pads all round, intercooler hose on the way out and a possible leak from the rear crank seal. Ouch! Not cheap, and not convinced by the crank seal diagnosis.

So went to David Naylor in Shirland. Just got the car back having had him fit genuine discs and pads all round (they were totally shot) and a genuine intercooler hose kit (it was, and did, split). He too wasn't convinced about the rear seal and thought it was just oil mist/drips from the split hose. All in all very happy to recommend David to anyone, very helpful service and at a sensible price. Knowledgeable too, hopefully saved me a packet not having to investigate the rear seal.


Thanks to everyone for their recommendations. Will probably keep getting the car serviced at Salmon's if they are still doing deals but only for the dealer stamps. Will ignore their diagnosis though and use David for everything else!

Cheers
John

Houston wrote:

David sounds like he could be the specialist I'm looking for. Do you have a company name or contact details?

Much appreciated. I've been after someone local