ace finan
Member Since: 27 Jul 2016
Location: warrington
Posts: 12
 
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| Personal review of 4 North West Indy LR specialists | |
Hi all,
Having only had my Freelander 2 Sport since last June, I have had a whirlwind experience with 4 LR specialist in the North West, whilst trying to sort out various brake, haldex, diff, ABS, ECO Stop/Start and door lock issues.
This is purely my story and assessment of the service received. I appreciate that my experience may be different than others, and my car issues could be unique i.e. its a shed on wheels, but still one I am fond of 
WARNING...THIS IS A LONG STORY!
Firstly when I bought my car from a third party dealer (deane motors chorley), they used K Motors in Leyland to try and correct a few issues with the breaks and a passenger door lock.
Plus points - they fixed and replaced the door lock actuator
Minus points - forgot to do the window one touch reset after unplugging motor when removing door panel
and more importantly they didn't fix the extremely squeaky brakes, but said they were OK and safe to still drive with.
As the work was being carried out on account to Deane Motors then I would have hoped they would have replaced pads as part of the sale. Minus points to me for not pushing the issue though. But mega plus points to K Motors for doing a full service without it actually being requested. However mega minus points for them trying to charge me over £450 quid for a service I didn't asks for.
K MOTORS VERDICT: meh! not sure.
A month or so later I still wasn't happy with the brakes, plus the handbrake had become a bit useless at times and ECO Stop/Start inconsistent, but as my 3 month warranty with Deane Motors (and subsequently K Motors) was up, I had to look around for a close by non-dealer specialist.
I settled on Lanny Man in St Helens.
Plus points - he repaired my squeaky brakes and adjusted handbrake. Front and Read pads and discs all round.
Said Eco Stop/Start issue was to do with battery being old.
Took for test drive and pointed out I had the early signs or the Rear Diff wear whine/rumble but not yet an emergency.
Minus points - cost over 1k in total for brakes. Quoted just over 3k for rear diff work. Only does new replacement not bearing repairs. Also quoted £400 quid for fitting and replacing a new battery.
LANNY MAN VERDICT: nice bloke, just a bit too pricey for me. May as well use a main dealer.
After a winter of no new issues except existing stop/start and the now obviously pointed out whining/rumble on Diff, then I needed to look around for someone to take a look.
A local neighbour with a Defender 90 recommended Land Ranger Services in Atherton.
So off I went one Saturday in February.
I met Martin (with beard and ponytail, a nice bloke) who confirmed Diff noise but not life threatening.
As it was my "new to me car" I wanted to book it in so it was sorted. March was the date as MOT was up too.
Another Martin (no beard or ponytail, another nice bloke) carried out MOT and did a low level repair for the rear diff, changing diff oil and also oil in Haldex.
After picking up the car and driving that weekend for 200 miles there was a noticeable shuddering when on full lock when reversing or pulling away.
Car went back on the following Monday.
Land Ranger had it for a week to try and solve it.
Haldex was suspected but only thing they could do was keep flushing oil through it.
Haldex filter was not done as part of oil change work. I had no previous issue with Hadlex until the Rear Diff low level repair.
They managed to get it to drive with a barely noticeable slip when pulling away. No more violent shuddering.
knowing what I now know I should not have accepted it until things were perfect.
But asked what warranty they gave on their Diff work and gained their assurance that if their repair to haldex was not sufficient that they would look at a recon one from Bell Engineering (I had suggested this to LRS earlier in the week based on looking through this site)
Drove for just over 2,500 miles but issue with slipping and shuddering crept back over the months. Reported it back to Martin (no beard or ponytail) at regular intervals. NO concerns shown.
Anyway Service time came early August on a Friday. Also a rear passenger door lock had gone alongside persistent haldex/diff slipping issue AND on the very day itself an ABS sensor fault started alongside a HDC error.
So I took to Land Ranger.
They did service OK and replaced door lock, but in doing the lock, broke the door pocket lugs from the main panel i.e. someone tugged door pocket to get panel off.
They replaced an ABS sensor and cleared the fault.
They did not have time to investigate Haldex issue still.
Picked up car on that Friday (no mention of broken door pocket), got home, ABS and HDC fault also came back on.
Queried LRS about broken door pocked next day (Saturday) and also that ABS and HDC fault still there.
Provisionally booked in for further investigations in two weeks as my hols due to start that weekend.
Unfortunately car could not sustain waiting to go away for hols as it became unbearable to drive on the Sunday. Luckily I looked on this forum and found Premier Services as a recommend.
I will give verdict on Land Ranger when I have explained what next LR specialist did.
STILL WITH ME?
So after calling them and explaining the problems I was having, the next week I took car to Premier Garage Services in Stockport. There I met Rob and Neil and Graham. Again, nice blokes.
They took the car in and I was lucky enough to be given a courtesy run-around while the work was being done.
After initial investigations they revisited the Haldex and Rear Diff work done by LRS.
The newly replaced oils in March were were burnt.
The Diff oil had a metallic silver paint look and consistency.
The Haldex had a black thick dirty consistency.
Oils aside they also found O.1NM pre-load on the diff.
The Haldex filter was clogged.
Anyway they stripped, cleaned and rebuilt the rear Diff and bearings. New oil in Haldex. Put it all back in. Still same prob.
While doing this, they also found broken/corroded wire connecting to ABS hence ABS and HDC Fault.
Eventual decision was that Haldex was stuffed too. Ordered new one from Land Rover. It transpired (after further diagnostics and trying my car with other Haldex from another vehicle) that this brand new one was duff too! What are the chances? Apparently a recent faulty batch from Land Rover had escaped their factory.
Anyway, it was fixed under Warranty to Premier Garage by Guy Salmon main LR dealer in Stockport.
Premier handled all of this while I was on my hols and kept me updated.
After I came back form hols I picked up car from Premier and went back to Land Ranger Services to ask about door panel fix and show them the oils that Premier had removed and ask about the original Rear Diff work using info Premier had given me.
Spoke to Martin (no ponytail or beard) and to his credit he took it on board and gave me a full refund on the work.
He also temporarily repaired door pocket until new door panel came in FOC on backorder.
SO...
LAND RANGER SERVICES VERDICT:
Plus points - Good MOT.
Good Service.
Fixed door lock.
Refunded original Rear Diff repair work.
Temp repair on door panel.
Ordered new door pocket FOC.
Minus points - Rear Diff repair possibly rushed and could have been more thoroughly cleaned. Not pre-loaded as per recommend.
Other options could have been explored with Haldex during the week they had it after the issue arose e.g. filter/pumps
Reluctance to revisit original work on Rear Diff even when issue persisted. Always having to chase.
Broken door pocket due to clumsy/rushed approached to doing work.
PREMIER GARAGE SERVICES VERDICT:
Plus points - Rebuilt Rear Diff. Diagnosed Haldex as issue after trying to fix it first.
ABS and HDC fault sorted.
ECO Stop/Start started working
Thorough in investigation and diagnostics. Not rushed.
Willing to show customer what they have found rather than just telling.
Regular updates on progress and costs.
Potential for courtesy car if available and under right circumstances.
Minus points - I have none.
In all my experience with the car Premier Garage Services was the most satisfying and found them to be extremely knowledgeable and best at communicating.
But LRS do good work and are willing to refund/rectify which takes bottle to admit when things have not gone right.
They just need to not rush and be a bit more thorough and it could save them mistakes etc.
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8th Sep 2017 5:07 pm
Cost me less than £125 for a top of the range one last week I fitted myself in less than half an hour so thats about £500 per hour labour rate then 
or as they say in the trade sold a kipper.
