Well, I log back on to let ya'll know it's only gotten worse. Already in a bad mood and then I see Rovin 4 Life's posts.
Dude, you are an ASS. Your attitude is exactly what I've experienced from LR of Spokane. You act like it's MY FAULT the piece of **** keeps breaking and the fucking dealer can't figure out what's wrong with it. Well guess what buddy, it's not my fault.....it's theirs. I've never taken the thing off-road and it's not even drivable. There is an electrical short or grounding problem that's very random. Every time it gets towed to the dealer they can't re-create it. Why? Probably because it's moisture related and the damn thing gets blow-dried during the 400 mile tow to Spokane.
After reading many of your posts to others, it sounds to me like you're just jealous that you're stuck working on other people's nice rides. And the whole military thing....way to be patriotic and understanding asshole. How about you go camping in Afghanistan in some caves and I'll see if one of my buddies can send you a 2000lb "thank you" card from me. The base I'm at is one of the VERY FEW AF bases not within 100 miles of a LR dealership. I never volunteered to go there, but yes that's one of the risks of the job. Thanks for being so understanding jackass. But enough about some jackass technician who acts like a pompous ass.
Back to my issue....same problem kept happening, but would "reset" after turning the car off and back on until three weeks ago. It was raining for days and it happened after the car was parked in the rain for two days (I was using my garage to do some work). I've figured out the likely problem since sending it to he dealer. There was water on the passenger floor-board when the problems happened. Probably clogged sunroof drain valves backing up and leaking on wiring harness(es). Anyway, the tow truck drove it to Spokane, dropped it off to the dealer in person on a Saturday. They had him park it on the street and said they'd lock it on the lot that night. On the following Tuesday I called to ask the status. Left a voicemail, no return call. Same thing on Wednesday. I finally get a call on Thursday and the guy says they don't have my vehicle. WTF!!!??? So I call the tow truck driver and he gives me detailed info about when he dropped it off, how he took pictures since they made him park it on the street, and the name of the guy he gave the keys to. When I called the dealer back, he told me he'd look into it. 1 hour later they called to say they "found" my vehicle. SERIOUSLY!!!??? You fuckers had it parked across the street for 5 days and it never occurred to anyone that it was supposed to be serviced? (the dealer is in a low-traffic part of town, in a small town with not many Land Rovers anyway) So they say they'll look into the problem (no apologies by the way). I told them at this point I don't care whether they can fix it or not because I only had 5 weeks left in the lease and there was no way I was flying out to Spokane to pick the damn lemon up, drive it back to MT, to just have to drive it back 4 weeks later with an additional 800 miles racked up towards (and pushing me over) my lease mileage limit.
The following week, still no call. I call the dealer and ask to speak to the top person at the dealership. I got the "President" (that's what she referred to herself as) and told her the whole story, including the fact I wanted to turn in the leased vehicle now. She apologized and assured me the lack of CUSTOMER SERVICE I had received was not what she expected. I related it was all I ever had experienced in the three times the car had been in. No one ever calling back after promising to call, inept wrench-turners (err....Technicians....sorry R4L...not really asshole!), and how the whole thing was the exact opposite you'd expect from a luxury car dealership (Land Rover/Jaguar). So I wait for my call back, and the service dept calls back trying to cover their asses, assuring me they're going to work on it immediately. I tell them I don't care because I don't want it back. They didn't listen, drove it 430 miles in 3 days trying to get it to create the same problem. Of course it never happened. So they call me today and tell me to come pick it up. Ummmmmm.....HELLO. HAS ANYONE AT THIS FUCKING DEALERSHIP BEEN LISTENING TO ME? I AM NOT PICKING THAT PIECE OF **** COMPUTER ON 4 WHEELS BACK UP. It's like the windows version of a car....continually crashing and everyone expects you to just accept the fact, reboot, and move on. So I tell them again that I'm turning it in NOW. They tell me they can't help me w/ my last month's payment issue, even though they're the idiots who can't fix the vehicle and who have caused me to not have it for months. Then they fax me the odometer statement and that's when I realize they've driven it so many miles and put me over my lease limit. Not their problem they tell me. NOT THEIR PROBLEM???!!! HELLO JACKASSES, I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT IT BACK SO WHY DID YOU RACK UP THE MILES FOR A VEHICLE I COULD CARE LESS IF IT WAS FIXED?? I expected them to list the miles from when I turned it in. So I tell them I'm not signing it. They tell me that's the only way they can start the lease termination. I tell the SERVICE dept manager (who apparently has forgotten his job is about customer SERVICE) to put the President on the phone. He says she's out (liar). I tell him to have her call me ASAP.
While waiting for the return call, I call Land Rover North America. They were EXTREMELY helpful. I filed a formal complaint with them regarding Land rover/Jaguar of Spokane and explained the whole situation. The individual was very sincere in his apologies, related he didn't have the authority to waive the last month's payment but that he agreed with me that I shouldn't have to pay it and would take it up his chain. He gave me the direct # to call him back with any further issues/questions and promised to get back to me by Tuesday. This was the experience I should have received from the start by the dealer. It's the opposite of what one would expect. The local small dealer having absolutely no customer service (and their business depends on it) and the large corporation that you dial an 800 number for and play touch-tone tag actually being the helpful ones.
Oh, and the president never called me back. I called them again and they said she just stepped out. Fucking liars have caller ID. There's no way that small-town dealership is so busy I have to continually get voicemail. When I dealt with the dealership in Los Angeles, who happened to be the number one dealer in sales volume of all of North America, I'd always get someone on the phone within 2 minutes of calling. I bet if I called from my hotel room here in VA they'd connect me through right away. I'm writing formal letters to the Better Business Bureau, the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, and the local Spokane news papers next week.
I'll never buy a Land Rover again in my life. Everyone I know will hear about this and I'll tell them to spread the word. I certainly hope that this dealership isn't the norm, but this is what happens. Customers base their beliefs about a product/company on their small experiences.
Oh, my custom-ordered Pathfinder arrives this week. FULLY loaded with nicer options than my LR3, it costs less, and there's a dealership 3 miles from my house.
Oh, expect some ebay links next weekend after I get back home. Anyone else stuck with an LR3 that wants to purchase my clean WeatherTech front, rear, & cargo liners, and/or my trailer wiring harness, and/or that ridiculously expensive trailer hitch can buy them for me at incredible savings. Anyone interested can pm me in advance.
I'm out. Thanks to those who have been nice/helpful on these forums. R4L needs to eat **** and die though.