I leased a 68k MSRP 2018 RR Velar P250 SE-R Dynamic back in April for $731/month for 39/10. Since then, the car has been in service for a bit over 30 days for a host of electrical issues that they’ve “fixed” with updates. I’ve opened a case with corporate about it and they’ve said it qualifies for the buyback program but will “assess the situation for the next 30 days”. In general, what kind of terms can I expect from this process? The dealer I talked to said they generally strip all of the front end and back end money off the car as a discount (roughly 12% I’m guessing), plus I am eligible for any other rebates. I’m a bit hesitant to lease another 2018 Velar out of fear of having the same issues but the MF and RF for the 19’s doesn’t seem great. I’m open to taking the cash back from my entire lease and looking for maybe an E400 coupe or a Jag F-type P340 but is there anything I’m missing with LR?
Hear! HEar! Some guy on this forum was talking recently about getting a 140k LR and he thought his “lease” payment would hold sway over the manufacturer to fix the car if it had issues. Is LR asking you to stop making lease payments as well for right now?
It is my understand that I will be receiving compensation at the end of the 30 day review process (lease payment refund minus mileage in the worst case), but until then I still have to make payments on the vehicle.
What sort of electrical issues did you encounter? Did you check the door jamb to see when yours was built, was it one of the first?
Hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.
In order of appearance:
- Telecommunications module failed, the car thought it was being stolen because of this and made it impossible to tow.
- Dashboard blacking out, couldn’t see what speed I was going or what gear I was in.
- Bluetooth connectivity issues, wouldn’t recognize my phone and wouldn’t load XM radio
- Tailgate wouldn’t to the button on it, my key, or the kick sensor.
- Climate and infotainment screens blacking out making it impossible to change air conditioning settings or drive mode.
- Car would take 20 or so seconds to accelerate to 60, and a shuddering tranny.
Car is still in the shop with the tranny issue, but hopefully it gets resolved soon.
Thanks!
You should look up the Lemon Laws for the state you live in, maybe find a good Lemon Law attorney. Are you in CA by chance? I wouldn’t go by what RR tells you- get someone who knows what they’re required to do.
Based on CA laws, you should get either a percentage of your payments refunded or a similar new car to be substituted into your original lease contract. If RR doesn’t have any 2018 Velars available, they should be responsible to get you or order you a new 2019.
The car is registered in IL, which notoriously has a lax lemon law compared to WI or CA. That being said, since the car was leased in April, I still have about 6 months or so to lemon law the car which already qualifies on both days in the dealership (over 30) and in repeated unfixed issues (4 times). Worst case scenario is that I hire an attorney in the spring and essentially drive the car for free until then since all my payments will be refunded. Best case, JLR does right by me, refunds my payments up until this point including insurance, and offers me similar or better terms in a '19 Velar.
Sounds like you’ve got a handle on it, but I would still recommend an attorney. The attorney shouldn’t cost you a dime if it’s like CA. RR pays for him. I would think you could lease another one, or if you like the terms of your current lease, have a 2019 substituted in as the collateral. I think such a transaction is tricky, though.
I think in any case, giving them the 30 days to resolve it on their end and come up with a preliminary offer is the least stressful way to handle this at the time being. If they come up with an offer to make me whole by refunding all of my payments, and hopefully my insurance, great. If not, I’ll hire a lawyer and I’ll recoup those payments in addition to lost wages by spending so much time in the service department, insurance, ect. and it will just be a lengthier process than if they rectify the situation immediately. As someone who is fairly young (I got into this lease at 24), I would like to think they would see it in their best interest to want to keep me in the brand and give me a pretty good offer on a model year newer vehicle. If not, I have heard that the S4/SQ5 leases aren’t terrible right now.
Wow I’m surprised you’re willing to take a refund from LR and buy ANOTHER Velar!?!?
I remember seeing a YouTube video and the electrical engineer (couldn’t be over 30 years old??) was like yes there’s nearly 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) of electrical cabling in the new Velar. I laughed when someone in the comments is like “great something will definitely go wrong along that 10 km of cable in the LR…”
Found the video and the spot where they talk about it: https://youtu.be/XLmPkDIUnCs?t=666
Well the funniest part about it is that LR doesn’t acknowledge that there can be a fault in how the car is wired. Everything is a “software update”…I’ve so far had 4 software updates to fix bugs in their operating system/ screens blacking out but every time it has been updated, something else stops working.
Hmmm possibly I guess but wouldn’t other people cars be experiencing the issues as they are running the same software? My guess is if that’s what they determined to be the problem the next step will be to replace the entire computer in the car (ECM, PCM, and such).
I would bet good money that this car will never run right. The issues you describe are exactly the concern I had when I saw reviews of the Velar when it first came out - regarding the screens not functioning for climate etc. There’s a reason why the boring manufacturers stick with buttons. The other issue that I’m sure will crop up at some point are the electric door handles as that seems to be a fairly common problem already.
If I was you OP, I’d take any compensation and run to something else.
WHY OH WHY are the prettiest cars always the worst.
The issue is, I’m not really sure what I want. With the Velar, I kind of knew when I saw it that it was the car I wanted, but right now, I can’t find anything that really speaks to me in the 60-70k price range that isn’t a Velar. The refreshed C-class isn’t going to lease well immediately, the new 3 series isn’t going to be out for another year, I have yet to see a single S60 Volvo on a lot. I guess my conundrum is that I want a well equipped, good looking, European car for around $700/month.
C43 or a AMG line E300?
Well an Alfa would fit the bill but would definitely be a case of out of the fire into the frying pan reliability wise. Maybe an Audi S7? It’s not out yet but if you’ve already got used to the 2 screen layout of the dash, that could be an option. Maybe even an RS5? Porsche Macan GTS?
A 60-70k Euro-car will always be tricky to lease well, and you’ll still most likely not have perfect reliability. I think it’d come down to your preference for SUV vs Sedan
I am with you - my current Land Rover Discovery Sport had most of those issues.
It had been in service for a total number of 66 days.
I spent a lot time driving their Jag loaner (F Pace) and got to know more about the Jag…
I am on the fence when my lease is up - whether to stay loyal - was thinking of the Velar but now I am having doubts…
Don’t want the F Pace as it is smaller and harder to get in/out of the car without hitting my head ( I know - drove the loaner for over 2 months).
I’m with you on the Alfa- I test drove the Guilia QV and it was an absolute blast…real shame that it leases like a garbage fire. Audi’s and Porsches tend to lease terribly with high MFs and with an RS5 there would be little to no discount. The S7 is a great looking car, but I think that the combination of bad MF and higher MSRP might make it a no go.
Substitute girls as well
@4sallypat - you might be entitled to a substantial refund of your lease payments (unless you already settled on something else). Maybe even get a new RR substituted into your existing lease, which you would be entitled to buy out or trade in…