 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > Has anyone cancelled one? |
 
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018   
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Which would suggest that JLR/the dealers have misread the market with regard to the vehicles they've taken into stock. Wouldn't they have been carefully optioned to sell? |
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4th Jul 2020 6:53am |
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3753 
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I think that, as has been pointed out numerous times on here, LR has again moved a model too far upmarket when they replaced it. People don’t mind basic if the price is right but LR has taken the “basic” out of Defender and moved it into borderline luxury and what people wanted was basic but more comfortable and better built than what went before, not leather cladding and cheap carpeting.
New Defender is very nice to drive, it’s onroad behaviour is in a different league to the old one but it doesn’t have to have the posh seats and complex electronics to still be a great off-road or utility vehicle. For me though, they got it spot on apart from on price, it does exactly what I need out of an off-road vehicle that can be my only car - be competent off road but be comfortable and quiet on the tar. People shouldn’t be shocked by L663 Defender after all you all knew what was coming when the DC100 was shown getting on for 10 years ago. Maybe it’s more like the 1st 2 door Range Rover than a Series or ‘Land Rover’ model of the 70’s and 80’s. I’ll not be swapping mine for a Grenadier if that ever makes it to production at a sensible price. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come 2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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4th Jul 2020 8:10am |
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| J77 Member Since: 04 Nov 2019 Location: Fife Posts: 3259 
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It’s always been the way with dealers, I always went with entry level models then optioned the things I want. That means my cars are always built to order, if you like. My Velar was the exception it was destined to be dealer stock along with 7 others of the same spec and was just about to go into build. I wanted shot of my D5, which I paid more for because I couldn’t get the 3.0 on the entry level model turns out 2.0 would’ve been the better option, and the deal on the Velar was very attractive. I’ve had, D3, Evoque, 3x Fl2, 2x D4s, Disco Sport, D5. I’m a Disco man at heart but can’t see me ever going back to a Disco now. |
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4th Jul 2020 10:45am |
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| AndrewS Member Since: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Hereford Posts: 3707 
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Dealers order cars for their stock as well as customer orders, if they get the spec wrong on their stock orders the cars will be more difficult to sell, I would imagine that the clever/successful dealers know their customer base and know what spec will sell. The cars that get sold out of a dealership in Aberystwyth Wales will be different to Mayfair London.
When a new model is introduced it must be difficult to decide on a spec. The new Defender has a lot of dealer fit accessories, a clever strategy? get the basic cars out and then customise them at the dealer? I know my local dealer is very busy bolting things to new defenders. 130's have feeling's as well you know  |
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5th Jul 2020 10:42am |
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| JackW Member Since: 10 Jan 2017 Location: Roswell, Georgia Posts: 111  
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When mine came in last month it was missing several of the minor accessories that were on the build sheet like the roof rack, snorkel, hood decal and fender flares. Those could be dealer installed (at extra cost - labor rates are much higher at the dealer than the Port Install where they are usually done). The most important missing accessory was the tow pack which includes the advanced off road pack and those can't be retrofitted because of software/hardware that must be factory installed.
So I had to decline that car and reorder for an August build/October Delivery. The dealer had "my" car sold within two hours of my declining to accept delivery. I have two trailers - one utility and an Eriba caravan so I have to have the tow pack.  Click image to enlarge |
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6th Jul 2020 10:17pm |
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| Pacha Member Since: 23 Feb 2020 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 772 
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^^^^^^
This is where JLR have dropped the ball constantly. Dealer fit stuff is such a wild card and some are good, some not so. They never learn. Rgds. Chris |
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6th Jul 2020 10:37pm |
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| JackW Member Since: 10 Jan 2017 Location: Roswell, Georgia Posts: 111
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In the case of the tow package it was a mistake at the dealer level - the clerk in charge of placing the order accidentally deleted the Tow Pack on January 26th - just before she went on maternity leave. So no one caught it until I saw the car right after it rolled off the truck at the dealer - noticed that the 2" hitch receiver for the US market wasn't on the car.
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6th Jul 2020 10:44pm |
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| J77 Member Since: 04 Nov 2019 Location: Fife Posts: 3259
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Here in the UK all accessories are fitted at the dealer even though they are on the build sheet and all are priced to include dealer fitting.
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7th Jul 2020 12:10am |
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| JackW Member Since: 10 Jan 2017 Location: Roswell, Georgia Posts: 111
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In the US some of the accessories are fitted at the Port of Entry - I guess they have a building somewhere near the dock that has a bunch of Land Rover of North America personnel adding the parts in a more controlled fashion. Dealer labor rates are pretty outrageous here - I think around $165/hr.
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7th Jul 2020 12:40am |
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3753
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One thing I’m finding out with this car is just how many ex-customers JLR has............. most frequent comment is “ it looks fantastic but we had a Discovery Sport/ Evoque were the engine seized just out of warranty due to oil dilution and lR didn’t’ want to know us” or “ we had a wonderful Range Rover Sport but the crank snapped just out of warranty and Land Rover didn’t want to know us” “ We always used to have DefenderS on the farm but they were so unreliable / expensive to repair we Were forced sadly to buy a Japanese pickup that has never had a problem”
These are the things Land Rover needs to reflect on, people are not buying JLR cars because of the way that they have been previously treated by the company NOT by the dealers. Oil dilution and snapping cranks were design failures, they were not caused by the owners. Regarding accessories, in June I was told I couldn’t spec the winch on my new car “because it is a factory fitted option in our system” When I asked the virtual assistant on the LR website I was told last week that it is a dealer fitted option, so I approached the dealer again................. I’m now being batted back and forth between a dealer who says they can’t quote me because I should have specced it at ordering and the factory who tell me it’s a dealer fitted option, that’s why we taken it off the configurator........... Don’t LR realise how very incompetent this makes them look? People love the cars, but they find the company’s attitude to customers to be terrible Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come 2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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7th Jul 2020 9:17am |
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| J77 Member Since: 04 Nov 2019 Location: Fife Posts: 3259
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I was under the impression that all accessories be it mud flaps or a winch were dealer fitted?
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7th Jul 2020 11:54am |
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| milesr3 Member Since: 12 Feb 2013 Location: Suffolk Posts: 873 
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The 'JLR don't want to know us' problem is compounded by a (relatively) short warranty period and ticking time bombs like oil dilution.
There was an ad on the telly for some Renault the other day and at the end I was amazed to see that it had a five year warranty. I didn't think Renault were a manufacturer of 'premium' vehicles? Years ago we owned a FL2 on which the oil cooler failed and filled the entire cooling and HVAC system with black mayonnaise. Out was out of warranty but JLR picked up 85% of the (large) bill and it only cost me a few hundred pounds to get it fixed. Similarly I had a NOX sensor fail on my Mercedes, under extended warranty. They fixed it and when I came to pay the excess they declined to take any payment for it. I'll buy another vehicle from them on the basis of this simple gesture. |
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7th Jul 2020 12:15pm |
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3753
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Me too! Miles, this is what the people at LR have yet to grasp, look after the customer when they have a disaster outside of the warranty and they are likely to come back again. LR has been trying too hard to gain “conquest” sales when they should be looking after the customers that they have already. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come 2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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7th Jul 2020 12:44pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 16927 
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Sadly this is a very true statement, and if Landrover had tried to develop this reputation they could hardly have done a better job. The more recent the model, the greater the problems it seems. If you consider the TDCi Defender, there have been several serious problems which should have merited a recall but haven't (output shaft, axle casing failures, 2.4 piston cooling jet hysteresis, 2.2 oil pump failures) and in every case LR has simply denied that there is a problem, but will when pressured offer a contribution to the repair but only if carried out by a main dealer. I don't remember any such problems with the Series models (I accept that they are simpler, but axle cases failing? Inexcusable in my book)! It is not wonder that most customers feel that JLR's interst in them ends the moment they leave the showroom, and attitude which certainly seems to continue. Very sad. |
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7th Jul 2020 12:56pm |
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