Are Land Rover dealers struggling?

[So]

It has always been a mixed bag dealing with our local LR dealership, but over the past few months it has become even worse.

They have been quibbling over things like providing a taxi drop-off, even when they haven't got a loan car to offer for weeks. The courtesy car lead-time seems to have become silly. I think it's out at 7-8 weeks now.

They now want to charge for courtesy cars, when they used not to, and I've just had a long conversation with them about them charging for diagnostics on a fault that is almost certainly covered by warranty, "just in case it isn't covered".

It all smacks of a car dealership struggling to make ends meet. has anyone else noticed similar with their Land Rover dealership?

[Dixy]

My FF is with them at present, still in warranty, from warning light on dash coming on to just looking at car they need over 2 weeks. It took a row to get a loan car and its a Jag.

[Fat Wolfie]

With the number of Land Rover products that seem to spend time being fixed under warranty (being a victim myself) I guess it’s costing JLR too much money (presuming they in some way fund the dealers courtesy fleet/ customer taxi costs etc)..

JLR wouldn’t struggle so much themselves if they actually made cars that deliver brochure promises and didn’t suffer ongoing (mostly electrical) gremlins...

[Phooey]

I think they are struggling in the sense of being able to fix the product. Seems very dealer dependent though - Nottingham are *apparently* st, and I think it's also got to the point whereas they no longer give a st. Derby wasn't very inviting when I visited them earlier this month. I've heard better feedback about Melton LR. It must be costing them huge amounts of money and time (time is money) keeping these cars on the road / providing loaners etc. Someone's got to pay for it..

[So]

Phooey said:

I think they are struggling in the sense of being able to fix the product. Seems very dealer dependent though - Nottingham are *apparently* st, and I think it's also got to the point whereas they no longer give a st. Derby wasn't very inviting when I visited them earlier this month. I've heard better feedback about Melton LR. It must be costing them huge amounts of money and time (time is money) keeping these cars on the road / providing loaners etc. Someone's got to pay for it..

Yes, I've heard better things about Melton.Though I haven't used them.

[Sheepshanks]

So said:

....our local LR dealership,

Which dealer group are they owned by? Some are more focussed on screwing money out of customers maximing revenue than others.

[So]

Sheepshanks said:

So said:

....our local LR dealership,

Which dealer group are they owned by? Some are more focussed on screwing money out of customers maximing revenue than others.

ttstone.

[Triple7]

Nope, they don’t give a st and can extract max cash. Cometh the revolution.....

[Sheepshanks]

So said:

Sheepshanks said:

So said:

....our local LR dealership,

Which dealer group are they owned by? Some are more focussed on screwing money out of customers maximing revenue than others.

ttstone.

So that's Pendragon. They said a while ago they were going to review their 'prestige' dealerships and would likely close some of them, as they want to focus more on used cars (under Evans Halshaw).

[tvrforever]

dire - my experience of JLR main dealers is they are dire, ill equipped to cope, charge for everything, offer no 'service', loan vehicles a joke... Latest being that having had my range rover in for a regular service they didn't even mark up the service book...

heard some interesting rumours around a large chain and their future as JLR... can't say I'll shed any tears...

And yes when I hear JLR CEO on TV complaining about Brexit affecting his margins I just laugh - his business being on the st slide has nowt to do with Brexit and a lot more to do with being utterly useless & clueless about customer service & customer care (all being driven by unreliable product design & manufacture)

[isv]

Well as someone who arranged a test drive for a new Disco HSE recently and got to the dealer only to find they weren't expecting me I'd say they were st. Not only that they act like they are doing you a favour...plus piss poor discounts, expensive PCP deals... Perhaps they have so much business they can afford to be choosy!

Anyway, I am on my way to pick up my new Q7 this afternoon. 20% discount and a cracking finance deal.

[So]

isv said:

Well as someone who arranged a test drive for a new Disco HSE recently and got to the dealer only to find they weren't expecting me I'd say they were st. Not only that they act like they are doing you a favour...plus piss poor discounts, expensive PCP deals... Perhaps they have so much business they can afford to be choosy!

Anyway, I am on my way to pick up my new Q7 this afternoon. 20% discount and a cracking finance deal.

I might be wrong about them struggling. But if they are, I think they will behave like dinosaurs and not change their ways until they are virtually extinct.

[Crumpet]

Just had my D4 serviced today at Guy Salmon and while the servicing department was busy as always, it did seem like everyone in sales was stood around doing nothing. There was certainly no one in the showroom there to buy!

Maybe I’m lucky but I can only say good things about the service department at my local dealership. Sales has always been ste, but then I’m not forced to buy from them!

They actually gave me a Velar SE as a courtesy car with a screen price of £62,000! It was nice enough but I’m really struggling to see how they can warrant those prices - in my mind it should have been 45-50k max! I’m of the opinion that they’ve priced themselves out of a lot of their market and they’d rather suffer loss of sales (and blame it on Brexit) than offer a decent discount.

[eliot]

Crumpet said:

They actually gave me a Velar SE as a courtesy car with a screen price of £62,000! It was nice enough but I’m really struggling to see how they can warrant those prices - in my mind it should have been 45-50k max! I’m of the opinion that they’ve priced themselves out of a lot of their market and they’d rather suffer loss of sales

Look at the Iphone over the last few years - they keep putting the price up and people still keep buying it.

[So]

eliot said:

Look at the Iphone over the last few years - they keep putting the price up and people still keep buying it.

There is no parallel between iPhone and Land Rover. None at all.

[Cats]

Crumpet please divulge where your GS dealer is as a recommended service dept seems rather rare

[tomw2000]

Phooey said:

I think they are struggling in the sense of being able to fix the product. Seems very dealer dependent though - Nottingham are *apparently* st, and I think it's also got to the point whereas they no longer give a st. Derby wasn't very inviting when I visited them earlier this month. I've heard better feedback about Melton LR . It must be costing them huge amounts of money and time (time is money) keeping these cars on the road / providing loaners etc. Someone's got to pay for it..

Melton/Lincoln (both Marshalls group I think) we're always good when I was living in that neck of the woods. No complaints at all.

[Crumpet]

Cats said:

Crumpet please divulge where your GS dealer is as a recommended service dept seems rather rare

Wakefield. Can’t fault the service dept one bit and that’s over two Discoveries and an RRS. Sales have always been crap (and arrogant) but just recently they’ve actually come to me with some decent deals, just not quite decent enough.

Yes you might have a weeks wait or so for a courtesy car but any faults that kept the car off the road have always been dealt with immediately.

Of course it wouldn’t take much to lose that faith but for now I’m reluctant to leave the Land Rover brand simply because the service has been excellent. They’ve managed to get ‘goodwill’ out of Land Rover for out-of-warranty faults and as such I’m willing to pay the premium for their assistance.

This D4 has been very well behaved though so I haven’t actually had to test them for a while!

[MRPULLHARD]

i think if you leave the Land rover brand , you will get better reliabilty and wont need such good aftercare and warranty goodwill.

the FFRR is the only desirable model in current range , all the others face stiff competition from better priced and better built rivals

[PrancingHorses]

MRPULLHARD said:

i think if you leave the Land rover brand , you will get better reliabilty and wont need such good aftercare and warranty goodwill.

the FFRR is the only desirable model in current range , all the others face stiff competition from better priced and better built rivals

You forgot to say IMHO...as for me the Range Rover Sport is the best in it's class...they Cayenne maybe a sportier drive but as an all rounder it would be hard to beat a RRS AB at that price range,