Outrageous Land Rover Charlotte

[jamsandwich]

Hey guys i dont know most of you but i'm looking for help after what i was handed today at Land Rover Charlotte. I am 18, I have a 2000 Discovery II with a lift and 32" all terrains and my SES light went on, my passenger window regulator shitted out, and i have crickets in my front drive shaft which i think is the u joint but my knowledge is limited at best.

Anyways I really didn't want to go to Land Rover Charlotte, but I asked on this board for a place to go instead and got no replys so I made the service appointment and today I went in. Let me just say they werent really nice people, and their scheme is unacceptable.

When I called the guy to make the appointment, i asked him for his opinion on the codes i had pulled at autozone for FREE. I read him the codes, he said sounds like 02 sensors but we'd need an appointment to verify. that's fine with me. Well today he comes back and charges me 120.50 for labor and parts. He didnt even do anything. Just told me what needed to be replaced. Lets say at that point i was already steamed.

Then i get his quotes for fixing everything. I saw the list, looked him in the face and asked him if he was kidding:

Note Front Drive Shaft Lound...1200T
Window Reg...410T
Front Pads and Rotors...1200T
Serp Belt Crack...210T
Oil Pan Leaking 500T.

Oh yeah and getting a replacement DII key now will run you:

Key...380T

He also asked me if i got "daddy to help me buy the truck" and "who i got to put the lift on". What a douchebag. I bought this truck by working construction every summer of high school and i put the lift on. Do you think they were trying to take me for a ride cause I am a kid still?

And my plea for help still stands, who will give me a fair price to replace this stuff in or around charlotte, nc?

 

[KevinNY]

If you did the lift then you can handle installing a new front drivesahaft, doing a brake job and putting on a 40 dollar belt. It's only 750 for the parts for all that. I'd ask them how many hours it takes them to lossen and tighten 8 bolts? That's all it is for the DS and you can buy a new one for 300.

 

[D Chapman]

Just have the drive shaft rebuilt. You can ge the parts for like 110 bones, and a shop will charge you about 60-70 to do it. It's not a hard job to do even with simple tools, but if you've never done one, that I don't know if you should try on a drive shaft you depend on.

Brakes are cake on Rovers! Get the pads ar Napa. Both sets will run about 140.00. you can get cheaper brake pads, but I've had best luck with napa pads.

O2 Sensors are like 100.00 ea at Nathans.

Your at the dealers mercey with the key.

 

[D Chapman]

Call Will Tillery for the window reg.

 

[jamsandwich]

yeah ive seen so many people calling him up, i want to do all the work myself, i just dont trust my skills yet. plus its my only ride and i work 7 days a week. I had to take off 3 days to do the lift, only needed 2, but it took me 12 hours total over 2 days and i did it by hand, by myself.

i'm thinking about getting a GBR heavy duty shaft and spending the extra money as i plan to wheel this pretty extensively throughout college.

i have the rave, im doing some research tonight to see how to do all this stuff.

rovers north has 02 sensors for 67.95 and 69.95 each

 

[Rocky]

Whaddya expect going to a dealer with a modified truck.....DIY or good trustworthy indie shop is the only way togo

 

[jamsandwich]

yeah i took off the very on my discovery badge, and i made a magnet that says biscuits that i put there instead.its a band i like, the disco biscuits.

The guy was acting like i ruined a collector car by making it better with a lift and tires hellas and that tastefully done badging mod.

 

[campbell]

Sorry to hear it Jam...

The driveshaft is easy to change. If you don't have the replacement, I would go ahead and remove and lock you center diff. You don't want to have it left loose while driving down the road. Contact Bill at GBR and order a new one.

If you don't want to do the brakes, find a local shop. They can get the pads. If you need rotors, get them from Nathan at Discount british parts. Most independent shops will switch this stuff out for you.

Serp belt is pretty easy too (takes some patience). Just make sure you draw out the belt path before you remove it.:banghead: Remove the plastic shroud on top of the radiator (4 plastic screws) and remove the metal shroud around the AC and ACE (if you have it) pullies. Use a 15mm (I think) socket and long ratchet on the tensioner pully. Pushing up will release the tension on the belt.

Not sure about the window regulator. Do you have a window that is not working? I had the rear driver-side window not working. I took the switch out of the center console and cleaned it with some electrical cleaner. Put it back together and it has worked great since.

For the O2 sensors go with Nathan at Discount British Rovers.

As for the key, you are stuck with the dealer.

 

[padreisla]

Yea I would agree if you tackled the lift then you are well ahead of me. The front brakes on the Disco II were easier that they were on my wife's ML320. I also had an exhaust leak and I was quoted $300-400 for a replacement exhaust manifold. I stuffed my fat body under the Disco II and tightened up the bolts going from the manifold to the tail pipe and problem went away. I am in Tampa, but if I was there I would help ya and ask you questions about installing the lift. That is my next project.

Joey opcorn:

 

[jamsandwich]

yeah my fron passenger window only goes down if you press down on the window while hitting the key down. its the regulator

and padre the lift is easy. really easy in fact. just get compressors if you dont want to mess with sway bars and abs lines.

you can ask me questions, i may be a kid but i will try and help you out

 

[Badfysh]

i love going to the dealer in my truck. they just stare it like its a space ship or something (cuz its always muddy)

i never take the truck to the dealer for service. i do most everything myself. i have a long time mechanic thats great as well as a local guy that is a rover enthusiast.

the first time i went to the dealer they started raping me and when i realized why my ass was hurting, i told them to put it back together and i left.

i took it in for for a bad ABS sensor. they wanted $200 each ($800 total) plus$200 to install them. they also tried to tell me that there is a problem. the service writer escorted me to the garage whgere the mechanic told me i needed new rotors and pads (HA! you fucktard I just did the brakes myself and the pads are new and rotos didnt need resurfacing). i was lucky to get out of there with a $90 bill for diagnostic code test. bullshit, but i did agree to that when i took it in.

thats why they call them STEALERships.

 

[noee]

jamsandwich:
I just did a new serp belt, 10 minutes total, you can get a fan tool at Advance Auto for $15, it's the one labeled for Dodge, 36mm I think.

I just did new rotors in the rear and calipers all around and pads, 1 hr.

If it's just the ujoints in the front driveshaft, 1hr job, but while you're in there, lube the hell out of the center kit.

Oil pan gasket, 2hr job, just a bunch of bolts and a new gasket. With lift, ramps are not even necessary.

Not sure about the window reg, never done that yet on the D2, but I just fixed my door handle, 5 minutes to get inside the door and get to the stuff in there. The window frame comes out with like 4 bolts, IIRC.

You can do it man! Fuck that service writer.

 

[discovery12]

Yeah man that sucks at the Dealer. I'm 19 and when I took my Disco to the Dealer for the gas tank recall some of the mechanics were looking at me kinda of funny.:banghead:

 

[scottjal]

You can get the centering ball for the front driveshaft from Napa too, It is a Precision 614 I do believe. That and the U joints you can get about anywhere. The work on these is pretty easy as well, but you can drop this off at most transmission / driveline shops for same or next day service. I see in another thread you asked about locking the CDL so you can drive the truck with the shaft out so hopefully you are already on the way to doing this.

As for the brakes check out my stuck rotor thread, this is a pretty extreme case but it still only took me three hours to do the back rotors and pads.

Those prices are crazy, they should be ashamed. I wonder if there is a way to complain to mother LR?

 

[jamsandwich]

yeah im actually going to get a gbr driveshaft. i just wanted the front out because i dont want to buy a zf auto trans as a result of a failing driveshaft

 

[berad001]

Yeah I got quoted about the same for a brake job, I just asked the dealer and they spewed out that huge number... I did it myself for about $75.

 

[vanhorn2dallas]

yeah man. I live in the charlotte area and I use to take my rover up there (when it was under warranty) and they were douchebags man. all jerks. im 20 so i am young too so they would kinda look at me funny. but the point is... i got a window reg from will for like 50 bucks and installed it myself..mainly guessed but it was pretty self explanatory--it did take me forever. im about to do my front brakes too. yeah my DII key does not work but screw buying a new one b/c id have to take it to charlotte to have it programmed--pshh.

 

[scottjal]

yeah im actually going to get a gbr driveshaft. i just wanted the front out because i dont want to buy a zf auto trans as a result of a failing driveshaft

Smart.


The remote key is about $100 on line in a couple places. That should be about 15 minutes shop time for programming, but maybe they have a minimum? The cheap way out though is to use the plane DI key and have that cut for way cheap, but well its a rover so finding them locally may be a challenge. I went to ebay and spent like 7 bucks including shipping for three keys.

 

[kcabpilot]

On the key - for a spare I just got a plain key without the remote, cost about $20 from the dealer. It works just fine but you have to stick it in the door and do it the old fashioned way (manual)

 

[Monty_1604]

James,
Please please please take your truck to Dale Gregory at Autoworks Unlimited.

He has an Indie shop in Huntersville off exit 23. The guy is super nice and will work with you for whatever you need. He spent 30 minutes on the phone diagnosing a problem I had after I gave him the OBD II codes.....that was the first time I had spoken to him so I was hooked after that.

He knows and loves Rovers. If you can find him a Defender 110 he'd love you.


Chris

PS email me if you have any questions about him.