My wives 2012 LR4 went into our local dealer for service last week. It has 27,000 on it and the service light came on so she took it in. Having had issues with them in the past I decided to meet her there. The SA went on to explain that it require the following:
Oil & Filter Change:
Filter $60.06
Oil $75.15
Labor $87.25
Tax $12.14
Total $234.63
Pollen/Cabin Air Filter
Filter $61.41
Labor $191.51
Tax $5.53
Total $258.45
Fuel Induction Service
Fuel Ind. Kit $68.61
Labor $222.29
Tax $6.17
Total $297.07
Total All $790.15
Needless to say I was stunned! Peter the SA insisted that the Fuel Induction Service was required by Land Rover NA in order to maintain the emissions warranty. So I asked him to show that to me in writing and he responded that it was in the "passport to service" booklet that came with the car. I went to the car and ask him to find it in there. Needless to say it isn't in there. He then went on to say if I didn't do the Fuel Induction Service and the engine throws a check engine light then they will not repair it under warranty. We are talking high pressure sell tactics that border on fraud. Obviously I told him that I wasn't going to do it.
Next is was on to the cabin filter. He insisted that it was a 1 hour job to change the cabin filter and that is why the labor charge is $191. While he was talking I looked up the youtube DYI and realized that it was under a 2 minute process. Again this is just plain and simple a lie. I ordered the filter from british atlantic and changed it myself in 90 seconds.
After all of this there was not way I was going to let him change the oil. I ordered the filter from British Atlantic for half the price and a minivac from amazon. The oil proved to a PIA because the Dealer does not sell the oil to customers it is only for their service department. Their parts guy actually said that the only way to get the oil is to pay them to do the oil change! A quick phone call to the Jag dealer 2 miles away verified that Jag had the special Castrol oil and they were more then happy to sell it to me.
With this behind me I called Land Rover NA customer care. Jose seemed shocked at what I reported and opened a case with a promise to investigate it. Today I received a call back from LRNA. The woman "investigated" it and explained the estimate the same was a SA Peter did. I asked her how long it takes to change a cabin filter and she said that the dealer told her that it was a one hour job. She admitted to not having any technical knowledge so I asked her to check with someone at LRNA and ask how long it should take. She said that LRNA doesn't have anyone with technical knowledge and that they rely on the dealerships for that. I have asked to speak with her supervisor and now await a call back.
You would think that LRNA would want to get a handle on their dealers and not let them treat customers like this. Over the years I have owned Porsche, BMW and Audi and I have never had a dealer try and pull this before....
Oil & Filter Change:
Filter $60.06
Oil $75.15
Labor $87.25
Tax $12.14
Total $234.63
Pollen/Cabin Air Filter
Filter $61.41
Labor $191.51
Tax $5.53
Total $258.45
Fuel Induction Service
Fuel Ind. Kit $68.61
Labor $222.29
Tax $6.17
Total $297.07
Total All $790.15
Needless to say I was stunned! Peter the SA insisted that the Fuel Induction Service was required by Land Rover NA in order to maintain the emissions warranty. So I asked him to show that to me in writing and he responded that it was in the "passport to service" booklet that came with the car. I went to the car and ask him to find it in there. Needless to say it isn't in there. He then went on to say if I didn't do the Fuel Induction Service and the engine throws a check engine light then they will not repair it under warranty. We are talking high pressure sell tactics that border on fraud. Obviously I told him that I wasn't going to do it.
Next is was on to the cabin filter. He insisted that it was a 1 hour job to change the cabin filter and that is why the labor charge is $191. While he was talking I looked up the youtube DYI and realized that it was under a 2 minute process. Again this is just plain and simple a lie. I ordered the filter from british atlantic and changed it myself in 90 seconds.
After all of this there was not way I was going to let him change the oil. I ordered the filter from British Atlantic for half the price and a minivac from amazon. The oil proved to a PIA because the Dealer does not sell the oil to customers it is only for their service department. Their parts guy actually said that the only way to get the oil is to pay them to do the oil change! A quick phone call to the Jag dealer 2 miles away verified that Jag had the special Castrol oil and they were more then happy to sell it to me.
With this behind me I called Land Rover NA customer care. Jose seemed shocked at what I reported and opened a case with a promise to investigate it. Today I received a call back from LRNA. The woman "investigated" it and explained the estimate the same was a SA Peter did. I asked her how long it takes to change a cabin filter and she said that the dealer told her that it was a one hour job. She admitted to not having any technical knowledge so I asked her to check with someone at LRNA and ask how long it should take. She said that LRNA doesn't have anyone with technical knowledge and that they rely on the dealerships for that. I have asked to speak with her supervisor and now await a call back.
You would think that LRNA would want to get a handle on their dealers and not let them treat customers like this. Over the years I have owned Porsche, BMW and Audi and I have never had a dealer try and pull this before....
