Rejecting car due to steering fault

[Shambler]

I bought a Range Rover Velar in June 2024 from a non JLR dealer. The car has full JLR service history and I’m the 2nd owner. The car developed a power steering fault 3 weeks ago and is not drivable.

I live in a remote area in Scotland and the local garages will not look at it as it needs to go to JLR main dealer, the closest dealer is 100 miles away and won’t return any calls or answer (10 attempts) The 2nd nearest dealer cannot look at it till start of March.

There is a forum online which has a large number of members which all have the same issue (some with FPace). I believe that waiting for parts can be 3 months.

I contacted my insurance company who will not cover as it’s a known mechanical issue with this vehicle.

I spoke to JLR customer services and they say there is no recall for this fault.

As I require the car for a 70 mile commute daily and will not have a car for possibly 5 months or longer can anyone offer advice if I can reject the car to the finance company? (I’m currently just over 6 months in to a 24 month PCP)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeremy-75qq8]

If you are over the 6 months I would say the odds are low unless you can prove there was a fault when you bought it and it does not sound like there was.

[Rough101]

Is it under LR warranty and if recently serviced, still under their assistance plan? If so you can escalate by calling them and declaring a breakdown, you’ll be in a hire car until they sort it out.

If not, phone these guys for an opinion on cost/timescale, had a friend take his car there from Newcastle whilst under warranty and paid for a repair as like you, LR were taking forever and in his case he wanted to sell it.

https://www.rrglasgow.uk/contact-us/

Edited by Rough101 on Sunday 12th January 12:37

[Paulm4]

Not sure where you stay but if it's the Inverness JLR dealer that won't answer your calls then I'd be happy to pop in and ask on your behalf as I pass it on my way home from work.

[dundarach]

It needs to go back to whomever sold you it and they have to have the opportunity to repair it.

No one else has any obligation to sort it out,

If they won't repair it or can't, that's when you move to rejection phase.

What did the place you bought it from say?

[OutInTheShed]

dundarach said:

It needs to go back to whomever sold you it and they have to have the opportunity to repair it.

No one else has any obligation to sort it out,

If they won't repair it or can't, that's when you move to rejection phase.

What did the place you bought it from say?

I think that's only if the OP is trying to pursue the vendor under the CRA, which may be futile, as there is a clear case to say this is a wear and tear fault that developed after purchase.

I don't understand the details of PCP, whether the finance co has any 'stake' in the car and should help get it fixed?

It might be helpful to understand the true nature of the 'fault' and whether it can be fixed by some independent company?
There are specialists who can rebuild and improve most components and sub-systems.

It might be worth getting some legal advice about what the warranties should be covering?

[Bill]

Also worth looking here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[119]

Shambler said:

I bought a Range Rover Velar in June 2024 from a non JLR dealer. The car has full JLR service history and I’m the 2nd owner. The car developed a power steering fault 3 weeks ago and is not drivable.

I live in a remote area in Scotland and the local garages will not look at it as it needs to go to JLR main dealer, the closest dealer is 100 miles away and won’t return any calls or answer (10 attempts) The 2nd nearest dealer cannot look at it till start of March.

There is a forum online which has a large number of members which all have the same issue (some with FPace). I believe that waiting for parts can be 3 months.

I contacted my insurance company who will not cover as it’s a known mechanical issue with this vehicle.

I spoke to JLR customer services and they say there is no recall for this fault.

As I require the car for a 70 mile commute daily and will not have a car for possibly 5 months or longer can anyone offer advice if I can reject the car to the finance company? (I’m currently just over 6 months in to a 24 month PCP)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It appears you won’t be coming back to the thread but I’ll ask anyway.

How old is the car?

What has the non franchise dealer said?

[Shambler]

Apologies, been busy at work.

Car is 4 years and 3 months old.

Car has warranty with warranty wise (Platinum) Not been particularly helpful (surprise, surprise)

I have an email I sent to Aberdeen Land Rover in September when the steering light first came on and subsequently disappeared after restarting (I had the car for 3 months at that time) Aberdeen Land Rover never replied.

[papa3]

Shambler said:

Apologies, been busy at work.

Car is 4 years and 3 months old.

Car has warranty with warranty wise (Platinum) Not been particularly helpful (surprise, surprise)

I have an email I sent to Aberdeen Land Rover in September when the steering light first came on and subsequently disappeared after restarting (I had the car for 3 months at that time) Aberdeen Land Rover never replied.

JLR in Aberdeen has just been sold to Parks Group. Not sure if this will help the root issue but it may explain the lack of comms. That said, I found them to be hard work when trying to get any warranty job completed.

Read the terms of your warranty. In most cases the cover is quite clearly defined and the provider will designate who can inspect and work on the vehicle.

CRA rejection will be a push given the timescale. Onus is on the owner to prove the fault was present at time of sale after 6 months has passed.

Always inform your finance company. It isn't your car until the last payment is made. Assuming the finance was arranged by the dealer (most pcp is) the lender will have more direct communication with the seller than you.

Email to JLR isn't relevant unless seller was cc'd, you must inform the supplying dealer of the issue.

[OutInTheShed]

What fundamentally goes wrong to result in a 'steering light' being lit up?

It may be easier to get the bd thing mended than to argue about it.

[Shambler]

OutInTheShed said:

What fundamentally goes wrong to result in a 'steering light' being lit up?

It may be easier to get the bd thing mended than to argue about it.

Thanks for your input, it was extremely helpful.

[papa3]

Shambler said:

OutInTheShed said:

What fundamentally goes wrong to result in a 'steering light' being lit up?

It may be easier to get the bd thing mended than to argue about it.

Thanks for your input, it was extremely helpful.

OutInTheShed may well be correct though.

Whilst you may have some redress with the warranty they will likely exclude existing and design issues. Sounds like your dealer is having none of it. The burden of proof lies with you under CRA and given that you have driven for more than 6 months without the issue, proving it existed at the time of sale will be an uphill struggle.

[QBee]

Moral of the story, yet again, seems to be don't buy anything made by Jaguar Landrover.
The tales of JLR woe on here and Facebook seem to be many and varied, and often expensive.
Which is a shame.

[papa3]

QBee said:

Moral of the story, yet again, seems to be don't buy anything made by Jaguar Landrover.
The tales of JLR woe on here and Facebook seem to be many and varied, and often expensive.
Which is a shame.

4 of my last 5 cars were LR. Discovery 3, 2x Discovery 4 and a Defender.

With the exception of the defender all were well over 100k miles and I had 1 fault, the first Disco 4 had a taste for park brake control modules at £1400 a time. As long as you didn't use the parking brake, it was fine.

The defender had a variety of "niggles" which were mostly cosmetic. The issue was the timescale to get a workshop appointment and the lack of reliability of the dealer. 1 repair needed 7 visits due to staff absence, parts not ordered, no loan vehicle etc etc.

These were all commercial vehicles and were used within the business.

I'd have another Discovery 4 tomorrow.

[pigface1001]

QBee said:

Moral of the story, yet again, seems to be don't buy anything made by Jaguar Landrover.
The tales of JLR woe on here and Facebook seem to be many and varied, and often expensive.
Which is a shame.

Freelander 2 is about the ony decent one they made

[OutInTheShed]

papa3 said:

Shambler said:

OutInTheShed said:

What fundamentally goes wrong to result in a 'steering light' being lit up?

It may be easier to get the bd thing mended than to argue about it.

Thanks for your input, it was extremely helpful.

OutInTheShed may well be correct though.

Whilst you may have some redress with the warranty they will likely exclude existing and design issues. Sounds like your dealer is having none of it. The burden of proof lies with you under CRA and given that you have driven for more than 6 months without the issue, proving it existed at the time of sale will be an uphill struggle.

Seriously, what is the alleged 'known problem'?

I find it hard to believe that there is not a fix.
Many cars have weak points that can be fixed or even upgraded by specialists.
Racks can be rebuilt, pumps likewise. It's not quantum mechanics or voodoo.

You bought the car.
If it had lasted a year before this problem appeared would you still be wanting to reject it?

I'm always disappointed when I get a bill before I've had my money's worth out of a car, but if you can fix a problem such that it won't recur, you're then hopefully sorted
Sometimes it's better to take the odd knock and get it sorted, than to have to look for another car.

One of the few good things about LandRover products is that the owners have a wealth of knowledge and (unfounded) enthusiasm.
Tap into that and find a solution.

[Cold]

OutInTheShed said:

Seriously, what is the alleged 'known problem'?

If it's the same issue as suffered by some Evoques, Disco Sports and some L494+L405s then it's a corrosion problem (due to mismatched metals) of the three bolts which mount the (electrically assisted) steering rack's motor to the rack itself which causes the bolts to fail. It's mainly the earlier cars and the Evoque and Disco Sport were subject to factory recalls (N642), but not the L494/L405 although they will have been checked if the car was still serviced at a main dealer.

This Bosch rack is also used by BMW and Tesla and has similar instances of failure but without invoking the pub histrionics.

Once one or two bolts have sheared then the drive belt from the motor to the rack can slip.
If all three bolts snap and the motor detaches itself from the rack then you're driving a car with very heavy steering.

The aftermarket repair kit is a nominal price ( under £100) but of course the cost comes from the labour required to do the job as quite often the subframe needs to dropped, although I've no doubt some experienced LR tech could do the job blindfolded in a matter of minutes using just one hand!

As usual, Simon from PowerfulUK has a few Youtube videos on the subject in his own easy-to-understand and slightly chaotic fashion.

https://youtu.be/4O--HP0dTRA?si=FG6VeydVNn6lPWG1
https://youtu.be/zVZnoahK9rQ?si=zOREzESXJYN-BiQI
https://youtu.be/QHBRwSL2wJQ?si=HR3CSbg4v4OfY7yC




If this isn't the OP's problem then feel free to ignore!

[Lo-Fi]

Bill said:

Also worth looking here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Ooh, that's interesting! I don't suppose there's one for Lexus?

[Shambler]

Thanks guys managed to get the car booked in end of Feb. My point about rejecting the car was due to the fact that I am paying for a car on finance that is not usable potentially for a few months. This will be my last Land Rover product. It’s not the fault with the car that has put me off the brand but the dealers. JLR service departments are absolutely dreadful. I have made over 50 calls to 8 different dealerships and left my contact details with each. Only 2 answered or replied and one of the dealers took 10 calls before helping. I was looking at the rejection route due to the sheer frustration of lack of help from dealers and the potential time the car is off the road.