hi all,
I love my FL2 but it has a problem and I'm hoping someone here can help.

My FL2 horn stopped working.
The fuse is ok.
The horns work when shorting across the relay.
The relay is ok.

I took it to my usual local garage and they have charged me £500 (for 5 hours) to use a piece of diagnostic kit to identify a faulty wire between the controller and the relay, and now they want to charge me another £500 (for another 5 hours) to run a single new wire between them (I've been told it will go through the conduit so I shouldn't see it unless I take the car apart!)
This is not a LR garage but a general MOT / Service / repair garage.

I feel I am being ripped off for both the diagnostic and running a new wire.
Can anyone advise please as I really feel they are being dishonest about how much time they have used and how much this should cost?
Is 10 hrs and this cost realistic for this type of problem and fix?
thanks.
David.

Take it somewhere else, where in Berkshire are you? Safari Engineering at Eversley is very good and non ripp off.


https://safari-engineering.co.uk/ 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Tracking down faults can be time consuming and if they are a general garage rather than auto electricians it may be feasible that it took them longer to diagnose the fault although if they are using a dedicated diagnostic kit I would question that.
Charging £500 to replace a single wire is laughable, are they planning on removing the engine to accomplish this? 🤔
Have they perhaps had to buy diagnostic kit specifically for this job and are trying to have you pay for it?
If they are your local friendly mechanic I'd be querying it strongly, if not just take it elsewhere. An auto electrician would be my first port of call. Sorry I don't know any to recommend where you live. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Thanks Rommel and Bob. Your advice is very much appreciated.

I'm in Wokingham so although it's a bit far I'll check them out for future work. Thanks.

I'm too late to stop the horn work now as they already have some of the parts off

As you seem to agree, it all sounds very excessive for what they are doing. I hope they aren't using me to pay for new test kit. They have another Landy with electrical problems that they have been working on for the past week so it's possible they are trying to spread the cost.

I've been told that they'll feed the wire through the conduit and join it up under the relay so I won't be able to see what they've done. While they could just be making it tidy, it just all sounds too suspicious and excessive, especially as they are trying to pursuade me that I wouldn't be able to see what they've done and don't want to document it properly.

I just wanted them to document what colour wire they used and where it goes from and to in case there is any other work in that area of the car in the future, so I insisted that it's pretty simple to write that down. There's no excuse for not documenting it properly if they are really doing the work. "Colour 'x' wire going from Connector 'A' on Controller 'B' to Relay number 'C' via right or left conduit." I can't see what's hard in that.

Anyway, thanks for all your advice, I won't be using them again after this. I'm a long time customer (9+yrs) for both our cars but that's the 3rd time recently that I've thought I'm being ripped off. Time to move on.

Thanks again,
David.

Sounds very suspicious to me £500 just to feed a wire through? I would check Trading standards to see if there has been any history of complaints , though bit late now. 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

FreeL2Dave wrote:

T
I just wanted them to document what colour wire they used and where it goes from and to in case there is any other work in that area of the car in the future, so I insisted that it's pretty simple to write that down. There's no excuse for not documenting it properly if they are really doing the work. "Colour 'x' wire going from Connector 'A' on Controller 'B' to Relay number 'C' via right or left conduit." I can't see what's hard in that.

There has been a number of rumours over the years about the garage charging people more than they should, and also for work that they haven't done, but until the issues I had starting a few years ago I hadn't had any problems with them. I always thought that they were good, but now I'm starting to doubt the other things they have said they repaired.

During the very hot summer we had a few years ago we went for a week away to Cornwall, a few days before we were due to go the car went into the garage (for a service I think), but during the service they said that the air-con bearings had gone and needed to be replaced at £700+. It was only slightly noisy on the rare occasion but had worked fine before it went in. I coudn't afford it at the time so said no to it, but when I got the car back the day before we went away the air-con didn't work at all as they had drained the whole system without telling me. I only found out months later that all I had to do was refill the air-con for £45 elsewhere and it would work again. Without the 'repair' it's still working now, with only a slight rumble very occasionally, so I guess I should have realised and gone elsewhere at that point.

When you've used a garage for so long you don't really want to believe that they are ripping you off

I might get the AA to have a look when I get it back depending upon how much the AA cost. Even if it's to satisfy me that I paid for an actual repair. I'll see what I feel like.

Thanks again all.

Last edited by FreeL2Dave on 4th Oct 2024 11:02 am. Edited 1 time in total

Always remember, a leopard never changes its spots

This is general garage problem because it has a LR badge on it some dubious garages smell a rip off for every small problem as they think us customers have money to burn. Take it somewhere recommended by anyone local on this forum as they are taking the p**s. FL2 2008 165K
Owned From new - sad but just can't part with it
Upgraded LED Hal Front and Rear LED lights
Rear spoiler, facelift Tailgate handle, total surround sound
Steel boot and door treadplates
Upgraded dolby surround sound
chrome fog bezels

I recall a chap on a BMW forum saying that his family had been having their cars serviced and repaired at a particular garage for many years.

His early E90 3 series BMW started to run badly and for a reason that I forget he took it to another garage where they found that the air filter had never been changed and the airbox and piping was full of leaves.
That model had a very awkward to get at air filter, down the side of the engine , which took a ridiculous amount of time to change for an air filter.
Clearly this particular garage just never bothered to do it.

FWIW I had a later E90 which by then had a more conventional and easy to service air box. Jules

Also we get ripped off by manufacturers /garages over branding.
Renault seal £5 vs Nissan seal £75 - eaxactly the same part for an identical engine.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A5zmYlSMKaA Jules

Last edited by jules on 4th Oct 2024 7:18 pm. Edited 1 time in total

casper wrote:

This is general garage problem because it has a LR badge on it some dubious garages smell a rip off for every small problem as they think us customers have money to burn. Take it somewhere recommended by anyone local on this forum as they are taking the p**s.