Ownership Diary - LR Discovery 5 R-Dynamic HSE

LR cars aren't without their foibles with random wobbles here and there, hugely complicated things. My alarm kept going off last week so called LR Assist to have a look but nothing showed up on the code reader. Went out for a drive somewhere and up popped a message to say my bonnet was open - which it wasn't. Anyway, stopped, properly slammed it shut and since then no alarms. Go figure.

The water ingress sounds less like a LR issue per se and more of something blocked somewhere (with apologies for the oeuf sucking), I had it on an A6 and it was inevitable blockage of leaves etc. Had to remove the entire interior and hang it up to dry, what a pain. Really poor that the supplying dealer is on radio silence, I don't know why people do this. Even if they said it wasn't their problem it would be something at least but to just ignore you - very poor show. Hope you get it resolved soon, that is a lot of water sloshing around.

 

Thanks for all the replies and ideas, chaps.

We really hope this gets sorted. My wife and I have been discussing it an awful lot over the last few days as we evolve the "fleet" and the one thing we're both convinced of is that the D5 is the car we want to be driving as the family vehicle. It fulfills the brief so well and in spite of all the problems, it is the perfect car for our needs - leaks aside. I really hope that JLR Finance make the breakthrough with Rockar that we need to get it fixed once and for all. Failing that, I might try one last ditch attempt at Autoglass to see whether the windscreen is ill-fitting, maybe stump up for that and potentially talk to an Indy about replacing the carpets if we think any leak is solved. But equally, I might do the indecent thing and trade it on; replacing with another D5 (god help me). But it would have to be more or less like for like, because even I am getting a bit tired of spending money on cars and would like to keep the workhorse for a good period of time.

I do think it's odds on that the windscreen is the issue. I've checked all the door seals and there's nothing really obvious like there is on misting seals on BMWs. The fact we had the issue initially with the windscreen is a big red flag and as @zarnd mentioned, it is relatively common.......which makes it all the more annoying that I'm being stonewalled!

Let's see. JLR Finance have yet to respond officially - they did say it would take a few weeks to opine on the case first. Watch this space.

 

You've been bitten by the LR bug, they really are quite tricky to replace with an alternative. I've been mulling over getting shot of my FFRR but cannot think of a replacement unless it's another one. They really are so very good at what they do! Good luck with the windscreen, hope you get it resolved soon.

 

Thank you- that’s very informative

 

So, an update of sorts.

Had a bit of a breakthrough today. Not sure to what I attribute it; whether it’s the damming Trustpilot Review I left, the YouTube short with loads of hashtags and references to Rockar, the constant emails to Complaints Department, the JLR Finance complaint, or just whether the chap finally read through his unread emails….

Either way, I finally got a phonecall today. An apology it had taken so long to respond and full acknowledgement and sympathy for the predicament in which I find myself. He’s going to arrange for my car to be collected and a loan car provided, then they will strip it down, investigate the issue. If it’s something they can solve, they will, otherwise if they’re not convinced then they’ll look to get me into another vehicle or (inference only), get my money back. We’ll see.

I’m just delighted it’s being taken seriously and understood the issue was there from the outset. It might take a while to organise it being taken in but at least it’s all in motion.

 

Yes, this time all in writing, so feeling a lot more comfortable than when it was just a telephone call.

 

So astonishingly, come this Thursday, it'll be a year to the day since we picked up our Discovery 5. In some ways, lots of ups & downs. In reality, when I look back on the last year and at the Disco on the driveway, I'm actually filled with happiness and pride...........tinged with a very small amount of frustration and ongoing annoyance. But overall, the car has done everything that we've asked of it (apart from stay dry!) and has proved to be the consumate family car - whether it be for the school run or long-distance holiday bus.

One thing it isn't, however, is cheap. It has felt monumentally expensive at times - not least when replacing all four tyres at various points. Then insurance, VED (£580!) and fill-ups. That said, it is remarkably efficient and has averaged just shy of 30mpg in our ownership and regularly sees up to 40mpg on long runs. I initially insured & financed the vehicle on the basis of 6k miles p.a. That changed fairly quickly early this year when my daughter moved in with us fulltime and we went from 4x 25mile school trips per month to 20x per month in short order. That pushed our mileage up enormously which has resulted in just over 10k miles for the year. Interestingly, however, when I pull the list of trips out of LandRover app (yes, it allows you to data dump to an Excel file), since we got back from France mid-August we have done a total of 1.5k miles in 3months. Disturbingly, the average during this time has been 5miles per trip If I were buying the car today, I'd potentially even be considering a petrol given that usage pattern. But Christmas will see a change to that as we spend more time on the road, including our annual trip to Ireland to see the family so we will be up beyond 1k miles over the festive period.

Faults aside, the whole family loves the car. I love it. It's no Macan, Cayenne or even X5. It has a completely different feel to it - a plushness and insulation from the world outside which is only available from LandRover products IMO. It's hushed when it needs to be, a bit more vocal when making progress and once you're dialled into it and not taking liberties, it's surprisingly agile at times. It has an interior which cleans up nicely and seems to take a lot of beating from the family antics. If only the water ingress weren't an issue, I'd say it was the perfect vehicle. Certainly as a counterpoint to the 228i I've just bought, it's a wonderful 50% of the two car fleet. I jumped back in it today after using the Bimmer all week and I delighted to be behind the wheel. Both cars are great for their respective jobs.

Below are the cost round up for 12months. Fairly eye-watering. I've taken the depreciation figure as what it's actually cost me in PCP payments but in reality, there's probably another £4k more to come off if I were to trade it in tomorrow. It's an expensive car for sure, but I doubt we'd be without it unless for a very good reason.




Coming up, scarily, will be a service. The insurance goes out on Thursday which I've already covered off and the Comprehensive Warranty & Roadside Assistance already went last month. VED is another £580 but I think next year is the last of that, or even potentially this year. Then it drops down. Hoping to see another year or so out of the tyres before we go through that malarky again. But with lower mileage comes lower fuel costs, so I think we'll get back to around £150 per month mark this coming 12months.

No news again from Rockar on when to expect the loan car. I fear it'll be a New Year job. Let's see. But this is one loved car in the Spuff household.

 

So an update here….

Radio silence from Rockar. They’ve gone AWOL. It seemed too good to be true after their behaviour to date. Sadly it seems to be the case.

JLR Finance however - note received today to confirm they’ve upheld my complaint and agree that faults with windscreen, leaks and scuttle shake were evident at time of purchase and Rockar have appeared to confess to them they’ve done no remedial work in this regard.

Upshot is I’ve been offered a little over a grand in goodwill compensation for loss of enjoyment and inconvenience and a promise to cover cost of rectification unless this is economically unviable.
If latter is the case then I can reject.

Although there’s a way to go with getting it sorted (hopefully) at least I feel like there’s a plan in place. Have a renewed sense of some faith back in the system and it working properly.

 

Thanks @Wynne71. I think, reading between the lines, the issue partially stems from the fact that Rockar shut their service/maintenance facility and are subcontracting space with another dealer group. This means they don't have the capacity to follow-up on their Aftersales and struggling probably to fufill their PDI and new car sales with a limited amount of volume through someone elses workshop. I'm not excusing it. I think it's appalling customer services and I would never consider using them ever again.

JLR Finance have accepted it's their issue as owner of the car so basically whatever happens now, my right to redress is with them. All I have to do is to get a quote from any VAT registered garage for the anticipated repair costs. Once they've signed the estimate off, then the vehicle goes in, work gets done and I get repaid (or invoice is settled directly with the garage). I have told them I want to use Marshalls JLR Cambridge (my local dealer) and they are fine with that. If during that exercise they find that the cost to repair is economically unviable (presumably if it's close to what they're making on the finance agreement versus what they can trade the car on for) then we can talk rejection. I'm not naiive enough to suspect that I'll come out whole on that, but I imagine I would get some pickup over the trade-in value. Let's see. I genuinely hope it doesn't go that way since, as I've said multiple times before, we love the car and it fits very well with our lifestyle and I have extended the warranty etc. Plus I'm also at the top end of what I'm prepared to stick into a car monthly budget & deposit-wise. Have little desire to start all over again. But it has to be right and we have to have a level of comfort in it that it will remain watertight going forwards.

So there we are - I'll get onto Marshalls tomorrow and we'll see.