Is the dealer screwing me over

xmustang420

Member
Jun 18, 2004
19
0
38
Rock Hill SC
Okay sry in advanced for this long post. 3 weeks ago I was driving to the beach and the 96 disco started to act up. I would keep the gas down, but it would stop getting gas for a second or two and then start back. It would to this on and on and on till i stopped at some gas station to fill up, thinkin it could be bad gas. I called my dad (I'm 18) and he said to come home or get it checked out. I stopped my some garage and they read the codes as being my pistons were miss fireing and it needed a major tuneup. Ended up driving it back home because they couldn't do anything to it that day. Took it to the dealer in Greenville SC. They hooked it up to the computer and told me and my dad that new spark plug wires, and ignition wires would take care of the problem, but they would suggest getting the 90,000 service done. (86,000 miles on it now) We agreed and the bill was like 1,100 dollars. Disco did fine for 3 days and then the check engine light came on again. We took it back and now they say that all pistons are misfireing and that we need to replace the cylinder head. Now the want 2300 dollars, 975 being the cylinder head and the rest labor. What do yall say about this. I'm getting that the intial problem wasn't corrected and now we are paying for it. I guess my first problem was takeing it to the dealer, but my dad wanted to go ahead and get the disco running good. Thanks and sry again for the long post.
 

knebusch

Banned
Apr 20, 2004
63
0
55
Charlotte, NC
www.gcvalves.com
sounds like it could be the vehicle speed sensor. not a hard diy job.

good luck.

btw, to answer whether or not you are getting screwed. most threads here usually have dealer and screwed in the same sentence. :confused:

ken
 

bri

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
6,178
152
US
Screwed on price. Absolultely, just look at the estimates, parts wise and how much labor they allow. New parts will be about 1.5-3.0x th price you can purchase through a decent vendor. Likely labor is ~$100/hr.

However some dealerships DO have good techs.

Brian
 

LostInBoston

Banned
Apr 19, 2004
690
0
41
Wandering aimlessly
Some dealerships have decent techs, but i havnt seen one yet. Take it to an independant garage. at the dealer you'll be getting hosed on price of parts, cost of labor, how long itll take them to do it, and the work will be sub par. LA dealers can afford to do this because for some reason people keep brining their trucks to them. im guessing they keep raising labor rates ecasue more people are going somewhere else and they have to make up for it. Maybe you should try some easy things first like spark plugs, wirres, vss before getting te major work done. please do not give them over 2k. i can almost guarentee that they will not even solve the problem and will find another reason for you to drop more $$ on them.
i hate dealers

-Rick
 

bri

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
6,178
152
US
I would say that all LR dealers here in CO have decent techs and the Co Springs, Denver South and East are all good. Now that my warranty is up, it will likely never see the dealer again.
 

scubaman99

Well-known member
Jun 7, 2004
489
0
Sunnyvale, CA
www.keepmedia.com
Dealership... screwing me....

goes together like peanut butter and Jelly

sorry for the negativity, but LR of SJ proved to me time and time again that this is SOOOOOoooo true

The thing that REALLY burns me up is that now that i have a 01 HSE that still has some time left on the original Factory warranty and its got an additional 12mo / 12K mile Land Rover Certifed extended warranty I just found out that i cant take it any where other then LR to take advandage of the extended warranty :mad: :eek: :(

i will be trying out LR of RR to see how their service is

KEN
 
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Pugsly

Banned
Apr 20, 2004
382
0
www.roverautomotive.com
scubaman99 said:
The thing that REALLY burns me up is that now that i have a 01 HSE that still has some time left on the original Factory warranty and its got an additional 12mo / 12K mile Land Rover Certifed extended warranty I just found out that i cant take it any where other then LR to take advandage of the extended warranty :mad: :eek: :(

Hey, if it is under warranty and they want to replace the engine, transmission, axles, etc, then more power to them I say.

I would rather stick sharp sticks in my eye than go there if I were gonna have to pay the bill, though...
 

bri

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
6,178
152
US
I confirm. If you are talking Landrover San Jose, yup, they stink.

I gave up and went to:
EXCLUSIVE BRITISH EUROPEAN
2875 WINCHESTER BLVD # A
CAMPBELL, CA
(408) 374-0131

They could do warranty work on mine, but mine was after market warranty, not LR.

They are "certified" for LR work.
 

scubaman99

Well-known member
Jun 7, 2004
489
0
Sunnyvale, CA
www.keepmedia.com
I always take my 95DI to John at E.B.E. and when i got my new (used) HSE the frist place i took it to was John at EBE to ask him about the LR warranty...

he told me that he can do "service" work, but he can't do "warranty work" BUMMER

in any event, he'll get my DI work for as long as i keep it and in 18 mo he'll get my P38 work as well...

when... not if it needs it :eek: :D
 

RoverDude

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
841
0
The O.C.
www.roverdude.com
Geez....before you douse yourself with gas and light yourself on fire only after you poke your eyeballs out, because you have to visit a dealer consider a few things. Before you would invest thousands of your hard earned green backs, you would always exercise some due diligence and do some homework. Same thing with your service work. Ask around for referrals. Find out who can do warranty work. Before, I began working at a dealer, I was getting hosed at an independent. Of course some techs are better than others. I don't care where they work. An educated customer, is the best customer. Maybe, you can even do it yourself. Lighten up, it's just a truck.
 

Pugsly

Banned
Apr 20, 2004
382
0
www.roverautomotive.com
RoverDude said:
Before you would invest thousands of your hard earned green backs, you would always exercise some due diligence and do some homework.

I don't entirely agree here, once you've found someone you trust then you can apply a lot less scrutiny. It just seems that, for me, I've found it easier to build those relationships with independents. If you pick the right one you are getting service at above dealership quality for much less than the dealership hourly rate.

RoverDude said:
Same thing with your service work. Ask around for referrals. Find out who can do warranty work. Before, I began working at a dealer, I was getting hosed at an independent.

...and now you're getting hosed at the dealer? :)

RoverDude said:
Of course some techs are better than others. I don't care where they work. An educated customer, is the best customer.

A lot depends on where that tech works, how their productivity is being monitored, and how they are being incentivized. In my experience, the dealership techs tend to follow Testbook too much and are always eager to replace engines / transmissions / cylinder heads / etc.

RoverDude said:
Maybe, you can even do it yourself. Lighten up, it's just a truck.

Don't tell the GM of my dealership that, he calls the vehicles he sells 'cars'!
 

xmustang420

Member
Jun 18, 2004
19
0
38
Rock Hill SC
I didn't meen for this to become a dealer basher section, I just freaked out when my dad called and told me that they wanted 2300 $'s to replace the cylinder head. As for research my dad has spent countless hours on the web looking at stuff. Basically we found out that this happens to alot of rovers using 4.0 engines, mostly disco's. The problem seems to be sticky valves. This is caused by carbon fouling. We also have gathered that many mechanics diagnose this as an ignition or fuel sytem problem, or a bad speed sensor. Most of this was gathered from Robison on Rovers Carbon Fouling 1 and 2. I would give yall a link but I'm not sure what exact site it is because my dad only printed it not book mark the site. I Just would like to know would changing the cylinder head be neccesary or would it even fix the problem. I also heard of a complete valve job, but I'm not sure that would take care of the problem either. I was just wandering if anybody else as had this problem and how they dealt with it. Thanks and i guess its time for some more research.
 

RangeRoverHP

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
445
0
Philly
Assuming it is the dreaded valve sticking problem:
Best case scenario is the valves need to be cleaned and the guides reamed.
Worst case is a few valves and possibly guides need to be replaced. Rarely a seat is required, but it does happen.
At the dealer:
Best case + all the associated gaskets and bolts + labor = ~$1500
Worst case + all the associated gaskets and bolts + labor = ~$2300

I think they're preparing you for the worst.
 

RVRSRVC

Well-known member
May 7, 2004
1,163
0
Elizabethtown, PA
www.roverlab.com
When we perform valve/ cylinder head repairs, our machine shop shortens the exhaust guides to eliminate the sticking valve syndrome from carbon build-up. I am not sure that reaming the valve guides to give more room for the carbon to bild-up is the best long term approach!