Well Guys Im not sure where we got to with this - but I thought I'd send you an update as its got Land Rover Written all over it!!

The car has continued with the Intermittent fault (long story short fob in clutch down - yes ALL THE WAY DOWN - Error message appears HDC System Fault - Engine System fault and it does all - doesnt try to turn over - doesnt try to do anything!!)

To give the abridged version of the tale in the last two months I have received three visits from the nice people at Land Rover Assist (one of which resulted in being winched onto a tow truck Ill stick the picture of shame in my Gallery )

And we are up to our Fifth yes FIFTH Main Dealer Stay - For the love of god!! I will remind you of course that I have only had the car THREE CHUFFING MONTHS!!

Three subsequent visits to Stratstone Doncaster - who incidentally are a complete Shower of you know what and should be strongly avoided at all costs. Seriously - they are crap and fully deserve their reputation!!

Long and short of it is - Main Dealers havent got a clue whats wrong with it - its now back with Armstrong Masseys at York and it has been for the last two weeks (with a small one day return to me before it did it again! Well it was actually six hours from Pick up to first fault) - They have got it to fault onto a memory stick and they have sent it to Land Rover - who equally have no idea whats wrong with it.......... nice!!

Rapidly losing my sense of humour - and can only take solace from the fact that daily wear and tear is on the various courtesy cars Ive had!!

Courtesy car list - do date:-

58 Plate D3 HSE - nice
Vauxhall Astra SXI - not nice
Vauxhall Astra Twintop - boys kept looking at me!!
58 Plate Range Rover Vogue - mmm nice
09 plate Freelander 2 - with STOP/START emblazened down the side in 2foot high orange letters - do give me a wave if you see me - you will know is me!!

Our own Defender 90 who steps in when the piece of junk wont start and I dont have time to wait for LRA!

My love for Freddie is now a distant memory - and we soldier on with only the thought that it is all my own fault for buying a stupid metal box with a stupid green oval on it - and I really shouldve known better He was always going to break my heart

Bring back my Shogun all is forgiven

Ill keep you updated - with my progress - or indeed lack thereof - and update my courtesy car records

[/code] 'Freddie' FL2 2007 GS, Sumatra Black, Manual
Stable Mate - Alan - 1963 Series 2 SWB V8.

RIP Hugh our 90 - much loved and missed.

i'll check in on AM, york when i collect my car later, and give them a few pointers

after today i'm no longer a Pikey



well at least till the new car arrives  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

07 and earlier cars seem to be the ones with non start issues, I will may stand corrected but no 08+'s have suffered this problem. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I’m not saying I would know better than Land Rover or the dealers but when I had my dashboard apart to fit a new CD player I had unplugged the terrain response controls and forgotten to connect them back up. The car would not start and came up with the same message as you are getting, I promptly S**T myself when I saw this message and then realised I had left the connector unplugged.

Maybe yours has come loose or something?
It’s worth looking or having the dealer look. www.222photography.co.uk

I've had this problem on my Nov 07 & it took about 2 weeks to solve.

There are (at least) 2 computers controlling all the engine & software functionality. One of them, the "smaller" one is called something like a BCU module.

And it was a failure in this BCU computer, that resulted in the non-start & the keyfob being stuck in the ignition.

I believe the small computer to be an Amstrad and the larger one a Spectrum 16K

CG is quite right that its only the 07 year models that suffer from the non starting problem, LR replaced this with the annoying knocking noise for the 08 model year!!

Fully agree with Beauchoc that the FL2 is a cracking vehicle that is sadly let down by the total incompetence of the dealer network. Ive now dealt with three - Stratstone, Marseholes, sorry i mean Marshalls and Colliers and all fall well short of what I would expect from a premium brand - so much so that when mine is up for renewal in 18 months I am seriously considering trying another manufacturer.

shilen wrote:

CG is quite right that its only the 07 year models that suffer from the non starting problem, LR replaced this with the annoying knocking noise for the red fl2's

 At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

ouch!!!

Just to clarify on the dealer front:-

Ive got no problems with Armstrong Massey (Although watch this space )

However Stratstone are a completely different kettle of crap

Communication - Horrendous, Service Horrendous - for example the last time it was with them for the HDC fault I also pointed out that the Drivers side mirror was juddering - when I collected the car - (this being after two days of no communication from them and basically their attempt to 'resolve' the HDC problem was to keep trying to start it and surprise surprise it did - nothing more invasive than that!) Anyhow I collected the car to find it plastered in WD40 in the general vacinity of the wing mirror - all over the windscreen, window and runs and 'overspray' all over the door - nice!! To me a complete disregard for the care and condition of my vehicle while it is in their charge. I will say this for one of their employees Matt - a young guy on the service desk he was a nice chap and tried his best in 'difficult' circumstances!!

Also on its last visit I noticed quite a tasty Silver number on the forecourt. So I sat down with one of their Sales Chimps - sorry men. I got chatting to him - as you do - and it came up that I had bought the car from Armstrong Masseys. to which the obnoxious sniggered 'Oh yeah Im trying to start a rumour that they are going bust'. Which I thought was a nasty, vindictive and unecessary comment to come out with let alone a complete load of hogwash - and I thought 'personified' the whole Stratstone ethos, attitude lack of morality and general of the whole set up.

In my humble opinion Stratstone (Doncaster at least) are to be avoided - I'm never one to fall into the 'give a dog a bad name' trap - and having heard their reputation I had decided to give them a chance - however now I have seen first hand their attrocious set up it will not be a mistake I make again - despite the alternative lengthy round trip to York!!  'Freddie' FL2 2007 GS, Sumatra Black, Manual
Stable Mate - Alan - 1963 Series 2 SWB V8.

RIP Hugh our 90 - much loved and missed.

Masseys going bust cripes Id better warn everyone  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

If I was you I would pop into AM and let their MD know what was said and by whom

no dealer needs that sort of slander by another and to think I talked to them when I first looked at the FL2, they didn't get my business then and now never will

Glad to say I bought from AM and they have always been very good with me within the realm of what they could find wrong. Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

my dealer experiences

Stratstone - long running problem with knocking noise which they failed to diagnose on numerous visits, in the end telling me 'we suggest you take it somewhere else!', removed part of the bodykit thinking that was the problem only for it to fall off a few days later after being wrongly refixed. Told me my drivers seat was fine when i queried why it was moving slightly (which was later diagnosed as faulty by another dealer). On the plus side they refitted the sports grille for me without any question after it came loose, unlike another dealer who was more concerned how they were going to recover the cost of the 10 minute job!

Colliers - also had long running problem with knocking noise with them which they spent 3 weeks trying to sort, credit to them they eventually sorted it but the cause was poorly explained and i never got to the bottom of it, they also kindly dented the bonnet during one of the Freelanders stays there, then denied it and charged me £60 to put it right!!! Diagnosed the faulty drivers seat although took over 4 weeks to get replacement seat, Wouldnt fix the loose front grille claiming it wasnt covered under warranty (which i am reliably informed it was so they were wrong!!) and more concerned on who was paying for it - gladly let me drive off the forecourt with me worrying if it was going to fall off and get crushed under the Freelander

Marsholes - supplying dealer, TOTALLY UNINTERESTED in the problems i have incurred, Sales Manager refused to take calls and never answered emails - utter (just wish they were not 2 hours drive away or would have confronted them face to face!)

Customer Support Centre - another load of , TOTALLY UNINTERESTED in my problems and more interested in that their dealers hadnt done anything law breaking. When i wrote to them to complain a second time they replied saying 'at least its fixed now so enjoy the driving experience!'

Yes I have really enjoyed the Land Rover Experience!!

Mine..Ripon Land Rover ... don't know about current service standards as car has never faltered but they did the heater recall cleanly and efficiently without forgetting to plug all the wires back together.
We have used them for years on our farm landies (defenders and earlier versions) and always had good service. But you should hope so seeing that they are owned by Ripon farm services who sold us most of our tractors,combine harvesters etc for the last 40 years
The owner works behind the parts counter of the tractor dept during busy times ...although recently whilst doing this he left the keys to his brand new FFRR on his desk and later got to view cctv images of someone walking into his office grabbing his keys and driving off


unfortunately they also sell towbars
http://www.ripontrailercentre.co.uk/ At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

BACK IN BLACK

Righto - yesterday Freddie returned (yes nearly FOUR weeks I know )

Apparently to blame - 'A relay'. Nothing to do with actually starting the vehicle but controls 'other' functions of the car.

Land Rovers Fault finding department came up with this gem .

On putting my relay in another vehicle guess what.... yes that one faulted too - priceless

So we are back on the road

Thankfully due to the absent 90

Thank you for all your suggestions 'Freddie' FL2 2007 GS, Sumatra Black, Manual
Stable Mate - Alan - 1963 Series 2 SWB V8.

RIP Hugh our 90 - much loved and missed.

Your first entry got me however I have the dreaded 07 that's just developed the problem and as we have no dealer to assist my way around it is to go ballistic with the stop start button and don't give the comp time to think ie(on off clutch down key in clutch up clutch down key in press button as fast as I can till it goes barroom! longest time so far 10 minutes.)! don't suppose they told you what relay it was and where its hiding?
regards
Will
And like you I want my shogun sport back I have got my hands on a junior for a project and its a little bomb just a bit of metal worm needing a good welder lol  Mini and Anglia restorer TDI don't have a F*****g Clue