Purchasing our Range Rover P38
Purchasing our Range Rover P38
We decided that as my commute to work had recently got much longer, I would need to drive Joannes car as it's cheap to run. Therefore we needed another vehicle that Joanne could drive in the meantime. I fancied a nice P38, so we got one:
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A bit of shopping around took us to our local Land Rover specialist Nene Overland who had a fine example in for a fine price. Some negotiation secured us the nice green example shown above.
We got a few items fixed (supposedly) before we picked it up. The bodywork blemishes were fixed very well, no complaints about the Nene bodyshop. Not so pleased with the rest of it....
So it went back under the 3 month warranty for a list of fixes. Some were fixed, some not...
- Missing security card - not replaced
- Blown bulb in HEVAC controls - fixed
- Spurious 'Traction Failure' messages - not fixed
- Heated seats not working - partially fixed, but trim damaged
- Rattle from exhaust - claimed to be fixed, but not so
- Rear N/S brake binding - this was supposed to be fixed before we picked the vehicle up, but clearly wasn't done properly
- Handling - excessive wheel shimmy / poor directional stability. Front bushes replaced, but still not great
- Range Rover lettering on tailgate lifting - fixed
- Ignition switch 'glow ring' out - not fixed
So assuming that the 'Traction Failure' messages are not fixable, they managed 3 out of 8.
We ran the vehicle until nearly the end of the warranty period, then took it back for a final attempt. We decided to leave the heated seats as the trim was damaged enough on the first attempt.
We had agreed as part of the purchase deal to get a 'C' service included before we collected the vehicle. The 'C' service is the most comprehensive service. It had transpired however that most of the items on the service hadn't been done. Engine oil maybe, but not the pollen filters, auto transmission fluid, air suspension filters to name a few. I decided to mark a few items with tippex before taking it back in so I could see if these items (& others) were addressed.
- Security card - not replaced
- Rattle from exhaust - claimed to be fixed, but not so
- Handling still not great - claimed to be normal
- Borderline illegal tyre - ignored - not sure how it passed the pre-purchase MOT....
- Service 'C' - fixed
It appears that the exhaust is rattling because the catalytic converters are failing (expensive). No wonder they avoided fixing that one.
So in summary, Nene have swerved the most expensive fixes, and although always polite and easy to talk to, haven't actually fulfilled their part of the contract.
Needless to say, they won't be doing any work on it in the future. And neither will I be commending them to anybody.
I just need to remove all mention of Nene Overland from the vehicle now, I'm not free-advertising for them if I'm not pleased!
