Replacement Evoque speaker cover - HOW MUCH??

[audidoody]

The other morning I noticed a cracked rear door speaker in Mrs AD's Evoque. I'm pretty sure this was caused by shutting the door on a suitcase lying on the back seat with its wheely wheels facing the door. No bother, thinks I. Can't be more than £20 or so to get a replacement and snap it in.

As you can see by the photo below the flimsy plastic speaker cover is a simple snap-in affair. £50 max at a main dealer I would have thought,

So I googled “Evoque+Speaker+Grille+Replacement”.

And was horrified to come across this story in AutoExpress:

http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/news/152965/watchdog-mas...

“Evoque owner shocked at huge repair bill after book cracks speaker cover on baby Range Rover
Cars can fall victim to a number of bizarre problems, but it’s not every day a rogue book causes over £900 worth of damage to a brand new Land Rover. Janet Richardson, from Sidcup, Kent, was carrying a set of used books in her Range RoverEvoque when one hit and cracked the passenger-side speaker cover.  “My car was just three months old at this point. I decided to take it into my local dealership Beadles Land Rover in Sidcup to have the cover replaced,” Janet said. Much to her surprise, the dealer told Janet it couldn’t just replace the cover, but would have to replace much of the door panel, too. The speaker, according to Land Rover, is an integral part of the door panel, and cannot be replaced on its own.  “I was told the parts alone would set me back £690, plus labour and VAT – Land Rover wanted £906 for the entire job,” she told Auto Express”

That is beyond nuts. So I Tweeted Land Rover customer services. After a bucket of bullst about 'can't communicate with you because you are not the owner (it's a leased car)" I finally got this response:

“I have spoken to an approved Land Rover retailer who have advised that the whole door card would need to be replaced and unfortunately we are unable to order just the cover that fits over the speaker. If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks, Stacie - Land Rover UK”.

Are they serious? Are they actually suggesting that the doors and speakers are fabricated as a single unit? And that a circle is not cut to receive the supply of Meridien speakers, and speaker furniture? To be clear: We are not talking about replacing the actual speaker or any wiring. Merely snapping in a new cover. Requiring a new door interior is akin to replacing an entire dashboard and fascia because a switch has broken. Or chucking out a laptop because one of the keys has come loose. There is clearly some major fobbing off going on here.

Any suggestions on how to proceed (outside the usual BBC Watchdog and writing to JLR MD) gratefully received.

I'd rather not have to superglue on a non-matching cover.

Edited by audidoody on Friday 15th September 20:08

[audidoody]

T350 Al said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401404434132

£50, job jobbed?

Thanks for that.

I've already sourced a couple of 5" speaker covers off eBay. £4.50 each

Job not necessarily jobbed

I'm not inclined to spend £50 plus shipping just for a bloody plastic speaker grille.

Apart from which the speaker cover on this card is different to the Meridian setup in our car.

It shouldn't require an entire salvaged door to source a part JLR should supply for a couple of quid.

I'm more pissed off with JLR's claim that the covert is an "integral part of the door panel" and "part of the speaker system" is pure bks.

Edited by audidoody on Sunday 17th September 18:56

[audidoody]

Strudul said:

Then find a breaker that will sell you just the speaker cover...

Yes. I probably will.

The point of my original post is that Land Rover dealers are being tts.

[audidoody]

Strudul said:

VincentMooney said:

So, I've only now gone and bust a speaker cover.....or one of the kids has!

Only had the car a week. I'm really struggling to track down the correct replacement part. Understanding Ranger Rover want me to buy a new door card, but some folks on here seem to have been able to buy the cover and replace them on their own.

I have searched everywhere and can't find them, can anyone help?

These?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-Land-Rover-...

Or this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-RR-Evoque-L5...

Amazing. Here is JLR's confirmation that such parts don't exist except as part of a new door card.

[audidoody]

It's not mine. It's my wife's. So your pre-conceived and rather quaint, generalisations about car owner profiling remains intact.

She's not bothered about hi-fi in the car. She's far too busy working out the best route to the nail parlour.

Of course.