2nd heater matrix!! No help from LR

[lrcb40]

My dealer has just diagnosed that my 2nd heater matrix is leaking! It was replaced under warranty 18 months ago and now the replacement is leaking! I contacted LR Customer Relations and they are completely unable to help and don't understand how p*ssed I am at having to replace the thing at my cost ($800+) after such a short time.
Maybe a J**P is looking like a good prospect as a replacement.........
Andy
1995 RRC
2002 Freelander (or should that be POS....?)

 

[syoung]

What is your warranty status? Out of warranty?

 

[lrcb40]

Warranty

Just out on the vehicle (5,000) and 18 months after the original was replaced. That's 2 heaters in 65,000 and one only lasted 18 months!!
Andy

 

[syoung]

I would assert (to the dealer) that the part was defective- there should be a warranty on the part itself. Read all the fine print on the repair paperwork, there should be a mention of a warranty. Were there any documented suspicions that the core was bad since they replaced it but before warranty on the truck ran out?

 

[Alyssa]

The warranty is 50,000 miles, not 60,000 miles. You are 15,000 miles out of warranty.
The parts warranty is 12 months.

 

[lrcb40]

Warranty

Yeah, I got my numbers wrong, but the beef I have is that the core should last more than 18 months! If they warranty the original one for 4yrs/50,000 (or whatever) but the replacement only lasted 18 months. The mileage has nothing to do with the heater being able to retain fluid!

It's just another example of the kind of defects I encounter with my customers who make this kind of component for the automakers. These suppliers don't control the process of design/manufacture/test, the LR buyers screw the suppliers on cost and I end up with a leaky core! Which costs LR to fix (at approx 100 x the cost to correct it at the supplier), but they'd rather lose my business than deal with the issue back through to the supplier. This can't be an isolated problem, either. The tech. confirmed that they've done a bunch of them in the past, so LR are simply avoiding this instead of looking on it as a way to 'knock my socks off'.......
Andy

 

[Alyssa]

And why didn't you purchase the extended warranty? You chose not to purchase it, and yet you want LR to pay just like you did? They provide at 12 month warranty on the parts, and a 50k mile warranty on the vehicle. You aren't a day or a hundred miles out of warranty, you are FIFTEEN thousand miles out of warranty.

 

[rmuller]

Alyssa is absolutely correct.. You're not owed anything by the dealership on either your truck, or the part as they are out of warranty. Your best move now would be to find an independent mechanic who can fix the problem, and maybe diagnose whatever caused it to go.

 

[syoung]

I assumed he had the 60K from getting a Cert Used one...

Heater cores on Freelanders have been known to fail- If you were just out of warranty, you may get some relief and from your earlier posts it seemed that you may be under the part warranty. It's an icky job to do a heater core, for sure. LOTS of time involved although it's not difficult. My advice is to go to a good indy shop instead of a dealer.

 

[lrcb40]

It's easy

changing the heater core on the Freelander. It's a two hour job, but $800! The first time it only lasted two years before it failed. It's a cheap core from an old Sherpa truck by all accounts, from the bad old days of shitty Leyland.

As for the extended warranty, you folks don't get it. Mileage has nothing to do with a heater core relability. It's the 21st century for heavens sake. It only lasted 18 months. If they know this why isn't it on the bloody scheduled maintenance? No wonder the Japanese (read Toyota/Honda) are whipping everyone's arses, when they require their supplier to make better components...........I'll keep my money thanks.
Andy

 

[Alyssa]

Whether or not mileage has anything to do with a heater core failure, you never said how many MONTHS you are out of warranty, so I had to go by the mileage you gave. All warranties have a month and a mile component.
...and if miles don't have anything to do with a heater core, how come you told us?

 

[lrcb40]

Dunno,

but 60,000 miles is nothing these days for a vehicle. My RRC has had more abuse (from previous owners by all accounts) and it's much less maintenance than the Freelander. Yeah, it's overengineered, but it's also not changed much from the 70's. I guess I'll do it myself and save a few bucks. I'f I can't vent here, where can I........?
Andy

 

[Rocky]

Almost user replaceable....

Just wait til the IRD goes bad......then you'll scream at the $$$. UK price is about $2000

Theres good reason I pushed my Uk brother away from LR.....

 

[syoung]

It's a pain in the arse to take ALL the crap out to get to the core to replace it. If all the cores were cheap junk, then how come they all aren't failing?

The Japanese transportation appliances have a huge amount of problems too- but people accept it because "it's Japanese, so it's better- must just be a fluke that mine needs a new engine"

 

[lrcb40]

Welcome to my world

The lack of consistency is what is killing the western auto industry. From suppliers through to the assembly shops, the processes don't give the same result. It's not true what you say about Japanese (except for home built Mitsu's) - they get it right most of the time, it's just that when they do have a problem, they can nail it down to the cars affected (unlike LR withe the recent gas tank recall, when all where replaced, regardless of actual condition)
McDonalds, (and the other fast food folks) the drug industry and many other industries can get it right in terms of consistency (if Bayer made asprin as badly as LR make cars, we'd all get sick!), then I guess it will only be when the Koreans/Japanese/Chinese take their market away from them that they will start to change........sad isn't it?
Andy

 

[Alyssa]

Every gas tank was replaced because of a faulty DESIGN, which affected every one of them. They were replaced with a tank with a radically different design. Where are you getting your information???

 

[lrcb40]

Where are you getting your info?

Who says it was a design fault? Just because the replacement was different doesn't mean itr was the fault of the original design.........Unless we can see that root cause analysis which detemined this. Be careful that it's an easy excuse to blame the design, since we can't disprove it and there is some 'mystique' in telling you that................it doesn't sound so sexy as "we didn't make them right......."
Andy

 

[disco_fever]

Japanese automakers and Drug Companies have never had recalls on any their products??!


You bought a car knowing the terms of the warranties, and land rover lived up to all their claims. quit whining because you have to replace a part. Every other motor vehicle owner in the world has to pay for it if the car is out of warranty(unless for a recall like the gas tanks), why should you be any different?

did you buy land rovers because you thought nothing would ever break?

put your chin up, wipe away those tears, and go buy a kia sorento.

 

[Amm134]

My dealer has just diagnosed that my 2nd heater matrix is leaking! It was replaced under warranty 18 months ago and now the replacement is leaking! I contacted LR Customer Relations and they are completely unable to help and don't understand how p*ssed I am at having to replace the thing at my cost ($800+) after such a short time.
Maybe a J**P is looking like a good prospect as a replacement.........
Andy
1995 RRC
2002 Freelander (or should that be POS....?)

Andy I feel your pain...

What specific symptoms did you have prior to both heater cores diagnosed as going bad ?

I'm asking because I have a D2 in the shop for overheating and one clue is a "hot drip" on the passenger side.

They are looking at the heater core today.

Was your truck overheating ?