Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Anyone know a salvage yd in N.Cal?	2		04/05 12:53pm

By TMS on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 04:18 pm: Edit

I am in search of feedback from Land Rover owners. I have a shop that services British and Italian vehicles, including a good number of Land Rovers. I am considering in investing in an aftermarket equivalent of the dealer's Testbook diagnostic equipment.
My questions are:
1. How many LR owners have access to repair shops, other than the dealer, who have this specialised equipment? How was your experience?
2. Was the labor rate more or less than the dealer?
3. How often is one getting good service somewhere only to have to return to the dealer for something?
I have many questions, but I did not want to make a really big post! Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Trevor Griffiths
Treasured Motorcar Services

By carter on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 02:49 am: Edit

of the specialty wrench shop i have dealt with (to decipher my warning codes); the prices have not been much better than the dealer. on the pessimistic side; they know LR owners are hesitant to work on their own vehicles, but don't want to eat the dealer cost. obviously, this does not pertain to all.

cr

By TMS on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 05:33 am: Edit

Thanks for the reply.
My goal is, of course, to have the $18,000 investment generate enough revenue to pay for itself. In order to do that, I would imagine having to charge an hours' labor to connect the tool to the vehicle. I would like to offer 'complete' service for my customers; I never want to send them to the dealer!
Is it possibly worth the cost to not have to wait weeks for a dealer appointment and to have all repair issues resolved at once?

By TMS on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 05:37 am: Edit

I wanted to point out that this tool is not a universal 'scan tool' for reading 'check engine' lights. It also is for ABS, Traction control, SRS, EAS air suspension, Alarm/central locking, and diesel diagnosis.

By Ron on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 05:38 am: Edit

Isn't Leonard selling some of this stuff. Check LRX.com and see if his price is better if it is the same things. Never dealt with him so I don;t know.

Ron

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COMPLETE FUEL INJ. & AIR SUSPENSION DIAGNOSTIC
SYSTEM
Range Rover Hot-Wire Fuel Injection Diagnostic System, Fuel Injection Fast Check,
Range Rover Diagnostic Controller 446 300 300 0, Hand Held Diagnostic Unit Lucas
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Suspension System,60604022, Hand Held Diagnostic Unit Lucas Hotwire EFI System
1990 on,60604039,for info Call us at (305)754 8800, (305)970 3599, or visit us at
www.roversland.com, Roversland Inc.
Leonard Torres

By Bill Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 06:20 am: Edit

After getting repeatedly rolled by the dealer, I took my rig to a guy I who approached me in a parking lot (sounds weird, I know, but he had a Disco and just wanted to give me his mechanic's shop business card). His shop rate was $45/hour vs. $85-92 at the dealer. He invested over $20k in diagnostic equipment, and I know he was struggling to stay afloat. He also works on Jags, Mercs, and other imports, so he had much more invested in his business beyond Land Rover.

In fact, he had to sell his Disco. He also stopped advertising for Disco service because the dealer developed a special mark-up for him when he ordered parts from them (there's only ONE LR dealer in all of AZ - they effectively froze out this private mechanic - ruthless, but that's business). He therefore has to order parts from Cali or east coast on the rare occasions he takes a Rover in. The customer has to pick up the shipping. If you need a quick fix, you're payin out the nose for overnight shipping. I haven't needed him lately, as I do most of my work now. When it comes to diagnostics, however, he'll get the call before the dealer. I think he tried to be too nice and his profit margin was razor thin, if it even existed.

By disco2guy on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 10:39 am: Edit

Howdy Trevor,

I think the primary area where we want a Testbook in the private sector is for R&D. We really need access to all the facets to fine tune the ABS, ETC, etc. If you have someone in that field, or are interested in that segment, please send me an email. I have some Oz contacts that want to figure that out and have the computer knowhow. Another way to make $$ with the same piece of equipment.

BTW, the LRX ad was for the handheld unit for Classic Rangies.

disco2guy@disco2.com