Bought a new 2022 Land Rover Discovery today with 12 miles on it from JLR LA, on way home to SD, car broke down on side I-5 having with about 90 miles on it. Heard a loud bang and now won’t go into gear. JLR roadside assistance towing it to JLR San Diego.
Knew the reliability issues going in but didn’t expect it to start at hour 3 of ownership. Wife and I spent an hour on side of road.
What should I do here? Talk to JLR LA? JLR SD? JLR America’s warranty folks?
None of the dealerships are open obviously, but what are my options in the morning? Can I return the car? Swap it for another one? Don’t think it’ll be an easy fix. Will I get a loaner at least? Ask for extended warranty / maintenance?
Any thoughts / ideas / guidance @ethanrs or any other JLR experts would be much appreciated!
Technically your only recourse here is warranty work, and it that fails to fix the problem or meet the Lemon threshold (I can’t even recommend a lawyer - wayyy too soon). You need to give them time to diagnose the car, and hopefully it’s just the first of a dozen or so flukes.
You can certainly light the manager up at the dealer you bought from, and maybe they are willing to unwind this one and swap for a different VIN (also too soon for a collateral exchange), but that’s the dealer’s sole discretion. That would have to happen at the dealer you bought from, not where it’s currently being serviced.
If it makes you feel any better, from personal experience: it’s far more embarrassing when a valet has to come out and tell the new RR won’t start. I would take breaking-down on the 5 over that every time.
You aren’t going to know much before Monday afternoon, let us know what they tell you. Good luck!
Call corporate in NJ - kick up a storm and have a solution you want ready. They are focused on improved reliability and may want to make this go away. If not - reach out to the head guy in the UK. My buddy got to swap his new bmw when it went into lymph-mode leaving the dealership. Good luck.
Your perception of JLR is tainted right now, as it should be, since your brand new car is being towed. But relax for the moment and see what is wrong/what they will do. Hopefully this was a fluke, and all will be ok soon.
We have had many land rovers with no major issues. Hopefully your dealership has a good service department and will take good care of you.
Like others have stated one of two things will happen here: 1. Your car will be towed to the dealer and they will unwind the deal and put you in a new vehicle or 2. Your car will be towed back to the dealer and they will attempt to repair it. If scenario 2 occurs you are in luck. There is a microchip/parts shortage currently and shipping times are delayed. What this means for you is that the clock is ticking for a lemon law claim. The dealer has 30 days with the car in the first year of ownership to fix the issue regardless of how long shipping takes. Even if shipping takes 30 days and it’s a 15 minute fix, you can still lemon the car. When I got my Velar in 2018, I went through this process. JLR refunded all of my payments minus registration after 8 months of ownership making it the cheapest car I’ve ever owned. The question is how much do you like the car? Do you want to keep it and trust JLR or get into something new?
I don’t know for sure but I cannot think of any reason why day one would be any different than day 286 in this situation. If it will happen, it will probably go through an exception process with bunch of approvals needed. As far as I know JLR doesn’t have its own finance company which makes things even more complicated.
Hopefully, it’s a minor issue . I would ask for payment credit for at least the month the vehicle is out of service.
If the dealer unwinds the deal, they can fix the car and resell it as new since it was never titled. There is a very short window for that (around 2 weeks or less). If the deal doesn’t get unwound the car will either 1. get lemoned through a legal process making it Chase bank’s issue and will have a blemished title or 2. the manufacture will buy back the car, refund all payments, fix it, and then resell the car as certified pre-owned.
I had the first year Land Rover Discovery in 2018 and had issues that kept it in the service dept for about half the time I had leased it.
Many issues were waiting for parts from the UK (ECU, TCU, Body control modules, Telematics).
I spent a considerable amount of time in loaners (Jaguar F Pace & Range Rover Sport Velar).
Knowing what I know about Land Rover, I would only get one as an extra vehicle and use it for off roading.
The only good thing I experienced with JLR was the off road day at Land Rover’s Experience Center (Monterey, CA) which proved how a stock crossover can manage very steep and dangerous terrain with ease.
OP: I’d make sure after they exchange the Discovery Sport, to get the free Experience day coupon.
A good chunk of 4xes are having the same issues with CELs coming on shortly after taking ownership and remaining in the shop for a while. I agree w @jeisensc
Electrical components are actually much more likely to either fail immediately or last a very long time than they are to periodically fail. Failure distributions follow a bathtub shaped curve.
