RE: Range Rover Sport SVR: PH Fleet

[elementad]

I think it's more of a trait of current car electronics and more environmentally friendly battery's. Not as good as they used to be.
Don't Porsches suffer the same problem. It's not just Range Rover.

http://youtu.be/hnFAYqFN-u0

[Wills2]

fblm said:

"I don't lay blame with the car really; turning over a big engine after a couple of weeks stationary in cold weather is probably asking a lot of any battery."

That's probably the response they got from the JLR PR dept....AKA Haymarket publishing.

[TazLondon]

LOL. How on earth can a car in this day and age not start after a couple of weeks? And a 'hard reset' is required to fix the software systems? Very poor software.

[405dogvan]

My 405 turned 20 last year, it's battery was over 10 years old and would hold enough charge to be left for a month and still start (and I'll wager an old-school 1.9TD needs more CCA than a modern V8)

I replaced the battery more because I was offered a decent replacement cheaply and given that most batteries struggle to make it to 4-years-old, I think past 10 is a job well done.

Modern cars eh?

[George111]

TazLondon said:

LOL. How on earth can a car in this day and age not start after a couple of weeks? And a 'hard reset' is required to fix the software systems? Very poor software.

Look, it's got a fault, there must be other RRSs which manage to stay charged for a few weeks ? Lets give them chance to identify the issue, fix it and perhaps PH can report back in a few weeks to say it now stays charged ?

[405dogvan]

George111 said:

TazLondon said:

LOL. How on earth can a car in this day and age not start after a couple of weeks? And a 'hard reset' is required to fix the software systems? Very poor software.

Look, it's got a fault, there must be other RRSs which manage to stay charged for a few weeks ? Lets give them chance to identify the issue, fix it and perhaps PH can report back in a few weeks to say it now stays charged ?

The 'fault' is this increasing dependence on electrical power to make things work which worked FINE without it before - allied to a mentality of using customers as guinea pigs (something the motor trade has always done but which - with some manufs at least - has become an art form)

Change for the sake of change - technology for the sake of technology - design/engineering led by marketing - this is the problem...

[V8LM]

Was it the car battery or fob? Don"t need to unlock the car using the 'blipper' (and shouldn't anyway as the signal can be snooped) and maybe the reason the car wouldn't start is that it didn't recognise the fob?

[George111]

405dogvan said:

George111 said:

TazLondon said:

LOL. How on earth can a car in this day and age not start after a couple of weeks? And a 'hard reset' is required to fix the software systems? Very poor software.

Look, it's got a fault, there must be other RRSs which manage to stay charged for a few weeks ? Lets give them chance to identify the issue, fix it and perhaps PH can report back in a few weeks to say it now stays charged ?

The 'fault' is this increasing dependence on electrical power to make things work which worked FINE without it before - allied to a mentality of using customers as guinea pigs (something the motor trade has always done but which - with some manufs at least - has become an art form)

Change for the sake of change - technology for the sake of technology - design/engineering led by marketing - this is the problem...

That's happening in all cars, even motorbikes these days have key-less start.

All I'm saying is this could be a genuine fault and after rectification the car will start after being left for much longer.

Does anybody else reading this thread have a RRS or RR which will start after a few weeks in an airport car park ?

[Impasse]

George111 said:

That's happening in all cars, even motorbikes these days have key-less start.

All I'm saying is this could be a genuine fault and after rectification the car will start after being left for much longer.

Does anybody else reading this thread have a RRS or RR which will start after a few weeks in an airport car park ?

Yep, a number have already commented in this thread but their real life observations have been lost in amongst the armchair speculation:

ELothian said:

My 2011 RR is fine to be left for a couple of weeks although I understand earlier ones weren't.

rich1231 said:

I had an SVR delivered in October. I was then taken ill and didnt drive it for 2 months. No issues at all on starting it up for the first time.

mikebrownhill said:

My wife has a 2011 RRS 5 litre petrol still on the original battery and often leaves it for 2-3 months at a time while she is overseas and never has any problem starting it up again on return

[AW111]

I think it is more the fact that the reviewer just gave LR a free pass ("they all do that sir") instead of admitting that the freebie car had a fault that totally immobilised it.

Still, it's not like it was a prestige "go anywhere" 4wd, is it .

[Jim AK]

I posted earlier that this issue has been prevalent since the arrival of the P38 & here we are over 20 years down the line with similar issues!

I never understood why the car needed to periodically 'wake up' check it was level then supposedly go back to 'sleep'
I'd rather it slightly crooked but be able to start!

How hard can it be, security systems aside, to have everything shutdown when the ignition is off & the car is left for a period?

[MB 1]

Wow a lot of RR bashing going on here, much of it from people who haven't owned one.

I've had a 2011 RR Sport for 3 years now and it's been faultless. Used it to tow 2 tonnes of race shuttle to countless race weekends no bother at all. I also leave it at the airport for up to 2 weeks, and in the garage for up to 8 weeks with no problems.

These are complex cars but reliability doesn't seem to be an issue. I will certainly be moving to the new model at some point.

Agreed the battery shouldn't go flat after that long though, but as many have said, it's unlikely to be the battery itself.

My mums Boxster only lasts a couple of weeks before not starting though...

[Motormatt]

Although RR don't have the best reputation where reliability is concerned, I don't think this issue is confined to their products.
I know someone who had a similar issue with a brand new BMW X5 that repeatedly failed to start after being left for a week or more at airport car parks. As a frequent traveller, this was a major problem that despite repeated attempts, BMW couldn't resolve. Eventually, out of frustration, he took a BMW courtesy car hostage and refused to return it unless BMW could guarantee the X5 was fixed!
In the end, all faith in the car and the dealership was lost, and he traded it in for a new Land Cruiser Amazon. Problem solved.