dealer rant--Bobby Rahal Land Rover

Eric 951 · 10-15-2007, 05:35 AM

Just a brief rant regarding Bobby Rahal LR(actually it is Jaguar, LR, Aston-Martin, and Lexus) all combined.

Usually I avoid dealers, becasue I like doing my own work, and I have found dealers to be less than trustworthy--especially high-end dealers.

My 96 Disco had a recall notice for the fuel tank to be replaced--great, I make an appt at Rahal since I already know the other local LR dealer is a rip-off. I mention the recall, and also that I would like the fuel filter replaced at the same time, since I had tried to replace it, but the fittings were corroded, and I couldn't get it working in my yard and they are going to have most of the fuel system apart anyways. I also ask that they run a code scan and tell me what codes are being thrown(I know it is throwing 3, but I don't know to what they correlate). Drop the car off with an 1/8 tank of fuel, since they will be draining it anyways.

Get home from work friday and there is a message on my ans. machine from Rahal--your recall is done, we didn't change the fuel filter because the connections were rusty, and we ran the scan but no codes came back, you can pick the car up Sat between 9-4.

When I get there on Sat, service is closed, but the cashier can get my keys--I was pissed and ready to quiz the service advisor regarding why they didn't do the filter replacement--even if the conncections were rusty, hell if they broke the lines, I would have paid for replacements--I have never heard of a factory authorized dealer NOT performing work because it was too difficult--then I get charged a 1/2 hour labor for the code scan--which would have been fine had they actually DONE the scan. I KNOW it is throwing 3 codes which I haven't been able to pin down--they stated, no codes thrown--BS.

On top of that, when I get in the car, the gas tank is freakin' bone dry--I know they changed the tank, and certianly didn't expect a full tank--but 5 gallons would have been great--especially for a gas pig like a Disco. They did however wash the vehicle--wow thanks alot.

Bottom line--if you didn't know already-- Rahal sucks.

Joeaksa · 10-15-2007, 06:30 AM

Write a letter to both the dealer and LR. Crap like this is not acceptable. How did they expect you to drive the vehicle out of the lot?

HardDrive · 10-15-2007, 07:59 AM

Hmmmmm....that is not a good experience. Very frustrating.

But on the grand scale of dealer/wrench rip offs, thats pretty innocent.

charleskieffner · 10-15-2007, 08:57 AM

you my friend have just become another statistic for JD POWERS and assoc. annual survey for motor vehicles with the greatest amounts of consumer complaints.

take a WILD A$$ GUESS who ranks NUMERO UNO(#1)???????? ROVER!

since i get to deal with old ones and new ones......................I WOULDNT OWN ONE IF YOU GAVE IT TO ME AND PAID ME AT THE SAME TIME!

theres a reason why mini cooper sales have skyrocketed.....................the brits dont own them anymore!

i especially get off on the ones that the uber rich here in snobbsdale,az. own with SPINNERS ON THEM!

tcar · 10-15-2007, 09:05 AM

Brits don't own LR either, Ford does.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

They were probably doing you a favor by leaving the tank dry. Otherwise, it'd just have broken down on you someplace.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Sorry to hear of your experience.

legion · 10-15-2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcar

Brits don't own LR either, Ford does.

I thought Toyota owned LR.

I though Ford owned Jaguar, and up until a few months ago, Aston-Martin.

RickM · RickM's Garage

How did they test for leakage without fuel?

Think they used compressed air?

Eric 951 · 10-15-2007, 09:33 AM

I made a point of expressing my dis-satisfaction in writing on the work order when I signed it at pick-up time. The first thing I did when i got to the car before starting it was to crawl underneath and make sure the recalled parts were actually replaced. I made it to the Sheetz station a few miles down the road with my buddy in his Jeep following--the gas needle was buried on E and I was really afraid I was going to be stranded.

Don't get me wrong, I love the vehicle and have done all the other wrenching on it myself--I just hate the dealership.

I did like looking at the A-M Vantages in the showroom.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Ha ha. I took my 330i to the dealer for some insurance/accident-related work. I pulled the codes and got 160, which is no voltage to O2 sensor in bank #2. I wrote this all down on the night drop envelope. They charged 1.5 hrs. labor for diagnostics and then changed the O2 sensor I had told them was bad! Total bill was $549. State Farm paid it with no questions.

dtw · 10-15-2007, 09:40 AM

Code check charges aggravate me. Takes about 5 minutes to pull a code with the factory tool. OK, charge me a quarter hour - but one hour? one and a half?

tcar · 10-15-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by legion

I thought Toyota owned LR.

I though Ford owned Jaguar, and up until a few months ago, Aston-Martin.

From "Businss Week" this morning:

Ford, which is suffering steep financial losses in its core North American operations, has indicated that it is looking to sell Jaguar, as well as Land Rover, another of its luxury brands. Ford has already sold luxury brand Aston Martin and is considering selling Volvo... Shares of Ford rose 44 cents to close at $9.20.

Moneyguy1 · 10-15-2007, 09:51 AM

I read posts like this and recall all those touting the superiority of the private sector over the public sector.

Neither has much to crow about when it comes to honesty and service.

89911 · 10-15-2007, 02:30 PM

Sorry to hear about your experience. I've actually use to have a few Volvo's that I got serviced at Rahal North and I had my X5 serviced at their South Hills location. I can't really say anything bad about them. Sure, when I had my Volvo, they would try to sell me their service scheduled items rather then the factories. When I use to service the BMW at the South Hills, they always had a loner car ready for my uses without a question. Sewickley wouldn't even consider this unless you bought the car new from them. I'm not looking for excuses for them, but servicing a 10+ year old Land Rover was most likely at the bottom of the list for importance for them, and it showed. I would of expected the same if I took my 89 Porsche to a new Porsche dealer. Which is why I don't.