Williams Land Rover Manchester — Attraction in Trafford

I took my Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE in for a recall on Monday 29th July (after it being postponed twice). There was nothing wrong with the brakes when I took it in, though the vehicle did show an error for the reversing camera which had been reported to Williams in 2020 but never followed up by them, and the service warning light was on as this can only be reset by a Dealer even though it had been serviced by a qualified local mechanic. The steering rack pins needed to be replaced by recall, but on my vehicle the entire steering rack was faulty and the job took more than a day (they let me drive around with this for months knowing it was likely to be faulty). On collecting the vehicle today there were a number of new issues: The Brake Pad Warning Lights were on. There was no warning light on for this when I dropped it off yesterday, and no indication that the brake pads needed changing prior to it being dropped off. The vehicle inspection yesterday said the rear pads were 95% worn (in which case the warning light would have been on anyway which it was not when I took it in) and the rear discs needed replacing at a total cost of over £660. They said the engine was knocking (it isn't) and wanted over £170 to diagnose why. They said the rear camera wasn't working and wanted over £170 to diagnose why, even though this was reported to their Chris Rayer in 2020 and they did nothing about it back then (during COVID) They quoted £1,022 for a service because the service light was on because it can only be reset by a dealer; and, The vehicle inspection that took place yesterday confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the steering/suspension (front and rear - both green, no issues) yet when I tried to drive off today there was an unusual noise coming from beneath the car as it set off. They took it back in and after a 2½ hour wait they presented me with a piece of the nearside front coil spring that they said had snapped off a while ago but was somehow miraculously still on the vehicle even though it could be removed by hand, and must have been missed by the technician the day before. It gets even better. On checking the on-board computer after eventually leaving the dealership, the previous "driving style" from the test drive that they said they had done was at a much less MPG and a much lower % driving style on the previous 3-trip average than it was when it went in for the recall. On arrival the previous 3-trip average was 42.5 MPG and 98% driving style, on collection after the 2-mile "test drive" the numbers were down to 33.7 MPG and 94% average driving style, indicating that it had been THRASHED whilst in Williams' care. I will be on to my former colleagues Dave Williams and Jeremy Hicks at JLR C-Suite in the morning for some advice. For some reason Google will not let me attach the photos as evidence. In balance, the courtesy car that was provided was excellent, a Jaguar F-Pace that until I saw the state of my car I was interested in adding to my collection.

EDIT 31/07/2024: The Workshop Manager promised to email me a series of documents through, including the formal complaints procedure. After 24 hours I'm still waiting.

EDIT 06/08/2024: I have just collected my vehicle from a professional repair shop who informed me, with evidence, that contrary to Williams' opinion the rear brake pads were not worn to 95% and were not the source of the brake warning light that came on whilst my vehicle was in their care.  Rather the source of the brake warning light was a damaged brake sensor on the front which adds further evidence to their mistreatment of my vehicle whilst in their care, and further calls into question the professional competence of their team.

EDIT 24/08/2024: Gary Nickson, General Manager now refuses to honour a printed quote for repair (of some of the damage that they did to my vehicle) that is less than 30 days old. This is what you would be dealing with if you were stupid enough to go to Williams, Manchester. Try Sytner in...

I was quoted over £10,000 by this dealer to replace the engine on my Discovery 5. After I paid the deposit, they then informed me that I needed to pay an additional £2,800 for a new turbo. Despite the steep cost, I paid it all, trusting that my car would finally have no major issue in short time. A few months later, the car’s performance became “limited,” and it turned out the inlet manifold was cracked. The dealer repaired it without consulting me, then demanded a further £900 to get my car back. It’s common sense that the inlet manifold is essential part of an engine, yet it wasn’t replaced when they installed the new one but it should be replaced. I had no choice but to pay and retrieve my car. I’ll be taking this matter to small claims court.

Moreover, a friend’s 2020 Discovery Sport also has persistent engine warning light issues, which returned within minutes of him leaving Williams Land Rover after a “repair” under warranty. Multiple visits later, the problem persists with no real resolution.

These experiences have shattered my trust in Land Rover. The cars lack durability, and the official dealer’s service feels dishonest and below standard. I will never buy a Land Rover again and would strongly advise others to stay away from Land Rover.

————- Don’t believe Williams Land Rover will solve your problem by email. In Google here, they pretends to care but they actually won’t care about you anymore. They are always ignoring email as they can’t find any strong edvidence to support their scam. I cannot receive their reply after my below reply was sent over 10 days with strong edvidence:

So glad to receive your reply.

When I spoke to Mei at the workshop, she assured me she would try to secure a better price for me. I was waiting for her update, but she never got back to me and instead proceeded to repair the inlet manifold without my agreement. Please refer to the email I sent on 15 September 2024 as evidence, clearly showing that I did not consent to pay for the repair. However, Mei ignored my email and informed me three days later, on 18 September 2024, that the repair had already been completed. This proves that at the time my car was repaired, Mei was aware of my refusal to pay for the charges.

If you disagree with this, please explain why, and confirm whether ignoring a client’s email is considered standard procedure at Williams JLR.

It is also unfair and unprofessional to present any documents at this stage, as these should have been disclosed at the outset, before I agreed to pay for the engine replacement. The diagrams you provided lack the detailed procedures for replacing an engine. I was explicitly told that a "New Engine" would be installed, and I expected not to incur additional charges for repairing any essential engine components within two years. This expectation was a key factor in my decision to pay such a significant amount for the engine replacement.

As a reasonable expectation for a typical driver and client, a “New Engine” should include all its essential components. The inlet manifold is unquestionably an essential part of an engine. You have no justification for not replacing the inlet manifold when the engine was replaced unless you explicitly informed me beforehand that certain essential components would not be included. If you believe the inlet manifold is not part of an engine, please clarify. Otherwise, failing to replace it is either misleading or unprofessional. No one would consider it professional to replace an engine without also replacing its essential components, it...

Absolute nightmare dealership to deal with. Purchased a Vehicle for my dad in April. An approved used Discovery Sport. Was told the Car was in mint condition except for one stone chip on the bonnet. Travelled from Nottingham to Manchester to view and when we got there there was a whole host of problems with the bodywork, trim falling off and marks on the interior. I wasn't happy but my dad was happy for them to rectify those problems. We then set a date to go back and collect the vehicle. The day we went back there was still problems with the vehicle, however because we had travelled all that way we agreed to take the car and then let Williams rectify and collect the car later. We got back and the stop start wasnt working, it was losing coolant and the check battery light kept coming on and the mirror was folding itself in so far that it was denting the door. There was also a noise from the engine. The car was collected a couple of weeks later and taken back to williams to have the above things plus the original things rectified. After having it a couple of weeks with no updates at all from them we had to ring them to find out what was going on. We finally had an update that the car was rectified. It got delivered back to My dad and we found all of the problems to still exist. Even the dent in the door from the mirror malfunction that they stated had been fixed was still there. I called and emailed again to have the car picked up and taken back to them to rectify properly. In the meantime the air con also stopped working. They picked up the vehicle again and took it back to williams and it has now been there for nearly 2 months again with little to no updates at all. They had found that the engine balance shafts need replacing and that the cars engine would require major work. Ive had to chase for answers every step of the way. I am having to chase them for updates but no one seems to know what's going off half of the time. I rang someone called reg a few days ago who had previously ignored my requests for a call back for 2 days prior. I had to pretend my name was someone else to get a call back response.and guess what! I got a call back within 30 minutes this time. I spoke to him and asked what the situation is with the vehicle and that my dad would like a full refund for the vehicle as it is not fit for purpose and should never have been put out as an approved used vehicle. He then found out from the service department they need to do a compression test on the engine to diagnose further problems. This looks to me like a serious engine failure has happened while its been there and that's what they are seemingly trying to cover it up. A compression test would only be needed to see if the pistons and cylinders have recieved severe damage. Again I requested we just had a refund for the vehicle as my dad had driven it less than 1000 miles and was never fit for purpose from days one. Reg said he would deal with it but Again I was promised a response but have since been ignored again for a further 2 days. I've never known anything like it from a main dealer. It is appauling. I will be contacting landrover UK and the Head of Williams and taking legal action should the request to reject the vehicle not be actioned. Purchased in April and to this date in August my dad has had the car for about a week to drive. 4 months...