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| 2000 Land Rover Discovery Review, Patrick
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Land Rover Discovery Series II
| | Model of the car: | Land Rover Discovery Series II | | | General comments: | Bend over, it's a Rover! Is the most important fact to remember of this review with the exception of DO NOT buy one of these vehicles. I will document the history which brings me to the belief that the three problems with Rovers are, they are "Over rated, Over priced, and Over here".
My adventure begins February 18, 2000 when I took delivery of a Land Rover 2000 Discovery Series II. At just over $50K it is fair to say I had every option but two. Two weeks later it was returned for a 1200 mile oil change to prepare the vehicle for a long range brake-in trip. At this time my Service Technician advise me he would have to keep the vehicle for two recalls, one for the transmission and one for the ACE system. To the credit of my dealership my TA gave me a loaner knowing I was traveling from Portland, OR to Tucson, AZ and back. A quick brakedown of the problems I had is:
Active Cornering Enhancement System pipe leak Mileage 1237
Transmission Fluid leak Mileage 1237
Winch Cover screws fall out Mileage 1237
Sunroof trim is distorted Mileage 1237
Driver window faulty regulator and motor Mileage 2159
Tail door is leaking water Mileage 6563
Tail door won’t stay open Mileage 6563
Tail door rear seal fails is leaking water Mileage 9858
Fan belt replaced –they crack all of the time Mileage 9858
Right front fender trim is loose, hanging off Mileage 11739
Tail door Strap is falling down Mileage 11968
Upper tail light bulbs burnt out R & L side Mileage 14040
ZF Transmission failure replaced on the road Mileage 16224
Two Exhaust studs broke off during Transmission Mileage 16224
Replacement
Indicator madness
1. Red temperature light goes on when fording in as little
as 6 inches of water.
2. Green Mode indicator “M&S” flashing on startup many
occurrences.
3. Domes lights (all 3) fail on cold mornings
At this point I arranged to speak with Eric Deck, at the time, the regional factory rep.
We came to an understanding Land Rover would provide an additional 12 months and 12,000 miles protection on the drive train only. Rover has something they call ‘Good Faith’ in which a dealer can repair anything on a vehicle gratis, a condition for the Ford coverage would be to remove my VIN from the post warranty ‘Good Faith’ list. This was to go into effect when Ford Motor Co. issued Extended Warranty coverage. However when Ford finally offered this coverage Land Rover had no knowledge of their offer to extend my coverage.
The last two recalls came as a package and go well together, one for the ‘Throttle Cable Sticking, the other for Inappropriate ABS Activation.
Like many before me I came not stress well enough the importance of looking elsewhere for dependable, well engineered 4x4 vehicles. Although I have suggested Land Rover practice truth in advertising by renaming the vehicle Disappointment Series II, to date they have not. I’m still waiting for Eric Deck to return my calls, as Land Rover Maryland said he would. This may be something passed from one generation to the next. | | | What things have gone wrong with the car: | everything else | | | Previous car: | Jeep, Toyota Landcruiser |
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