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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
24 May 2005, 8:19 PM
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duncanfitz
Joined 16 May 2005
9 posts
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Just an update on my car.
Went to LR Chipperfield yesterday (Mon) to see what was happening.
New engine due today, promised it would be done by the weekend but there are 2 others needing new engines in front of mine in the queue!!! Such a great product!!
Then broached the subject of the bill. They quoted me £3758 for parts and labour all in. Was getting ready to quote everything from you and the others on this message board when they stole my thunder and told me that LR had agreed to pay 100% parts and labour and I didn't even have to ask!!
I must admit that my gob was well and trully smacked!!
Just hoping I get the car by the weekend.
Many thanks to all of you who helped me out. and for anyone just starting out with their Head Gasket or cooked engine. DON'T PAY A PENNY FOR IT
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
26 May 2005, 10:59 AM
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Chris
Joined 20 May 2005
3 posts
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I am seeking advice on the 'redesigned' CHG. My 2 year old 30,000m Freelander has just had its CHG replaced at LRs cost. I am informed that a redesigned gasket plus rearranged and rerouted cooling system will mean that the problem should not recur. Has anyone out there got sufficient technical knowledge to make a judgement.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
26 May 2005, 8:14 PM
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Matt
Joined 17 May 2005
13 posts
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Haven't heard that one, accept the later models have an improved thermostate for better temperature monitoring. However I have been informed by various sources that the main cause of the problem is the plastic dowels at the bottom of the block. These have since been changed to stainless steel ones, make sure that your have these included in your repair. Also that stretch bolts MUST be replaced and not reused.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
26 May 2005, 10:47 PM
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Chris
Joined 20 May 2005
3 posts
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Thanks Matt. I'll press this on the dealer and see what the reaction is.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
27 May 2005, 3:02 PM
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SNELLJ
Joined 26 May 2005
9 posts
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i WENT TO TEST DRIVE A RAV4 RECENTLY, THE SALESMAN WAS SAYING THEY HAVESTOPPED SELLING SECOND HAND LAND ROVER FREELANDERS AS THEY HAVE HAD SO MANY HEAD GASKET ISSUES.
I DON THINK YOU'LL HAVE ANY JOY WITH LANDROVER (I TAKE IT THE CAR IS OVER 3 YEARS OLD) .
YOUR BEST BET IS TO GET IT FIXED AND SELL THE CAR !!
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
27 May 2005, 3:17 PM
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duncanfitz
Joined 16 May 2005
9 posts
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I have just been to pick up my Freelander from the Chipperfield LR dealership.
All parts and labour paid 100% by LR with no squabbles.
Only thing I am surprised about, is that the is no warranty on the new engine. Any compant on this?
I was told it was because I made no payment towards it and LR paid 100%!
Anyone know if this is normal?
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
31 May 2005, 11:58 AM
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Matt
Joined 17 May 2005
13 posts
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Nice result Duncan!!! Did yours have a full service history?
Mine is currently with my LR dealer and I had to pay £85 for them to write a report that is sent to LR to see if I can get any money back. Mine is has been serviced in acorrdance to the mileage in the service book but not exactly every 12 months. My LR dealer is suggesting that I may not get any discount at all because of this!! but I'm still waiting for final word from LR direct.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
31 May 2005, 5:04 PM
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jaq200
Joined 6 May 2005
13 posts
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As long as you have a full Landrover Service History which relates to mileage and/or dates (the mileage obviously being a far more important service point than date, within reason) then Landrover should be replacing all failed Head Gaskets completely free of charge, no matter what year or mileage your vehicle is.
Don't take no for an answer and just politely drop 'Watchdog' into the conversation if needs be!
As previously stated over and over and over and over again on this site, Landrover took the Freelander to market with at least 15 known faults, the major of which was/is the Head Gasket. Under the Consumer Act this makes the Freelander of non-merchandisable quality..... again I refer to a class action against Landrover UK.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
31 May 2005, 6:33 PM
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Chris
Joined 20 May 2005
3 posts
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Subsequent to the failure of the CHG in my freelander I wrote to the local dealer in Carlisle to get them to admit they had a problem and to get a firm declaration on where I stood as to the cost of future failures. I received a particularly patronising reply which included the phrase 'as with most things in life these days nothing can be certain'. Except apparently the failure of a freelander CHG. Mine blew again within a week and my freelander is back in the dealers for the bank holiday. Pathetic!
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 11:07 AM
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Graham
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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LEGAL POSITION. Ok I am also unfortunate to own a Freelander with a failed head gasket, however I am a lawyer and understand the legal position. Basically you have two possible lines of attach: (1) contract claim against the person / dealer you bought the car from and (2) negligence claim against Land Rover.
The contract claim is nice and simple. The Sale of Goods Act (and related acts) imply terms into the contract which require that the car is of "satisfactory quality" (this used to be "merchantable quality") and is "fit for its purpose". If your head gasket goes before a very high mileage (say 100,000+) I think you have a decent claim.
The negligence claim is unlikely to succeed. Firstly courts are reluctant to hear a negligence claim if you have a contract claim instead. Secondly negligence does not generally allow you to claim for "pure economic loss" which is the loss of the engine itself. Thirdly you probably can't establish a "duty of care" between Land Rover and you, as you did not buy the car from Land Rover, they merely manufactured it. Your best form of attach with Land Rover is the negative publicity etc. Essentially any payments they have made have been what they would call goodwill.
Unfortately, a class action is probably not possible as all claimants would need to be claiming against the same defendant. As a claim probably can't be brought against Land Rover the claims would be against the various dealers that sold the dud vehicles. Law firm Irwin Mitchell tried to bring a class action and abandoned it for these reasons.
My problem is that I was 700 miles late for the 60,000 service and they're using that as a reason. Legally this will only provide them with a defence to the claim if they can show that the head gasket failure would have been picked up in the service at the time which seems to be unlikely. So I am still sueing.
Logistically to bring a claim you will need to instruct an expert engineer to give an opinion on the cause of the failure etc. We have done this (it cost about £300).
Whist I'm sure the above is obvious and slightly tedious if I can help I'd be happy to answer any legal questions re your failed Land Rovers.
Regarding my claim, I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who has a copy of the Watchdog piece, or links to any sites which establish that this is a very well known fault, or anything else useful. I am about to issue legal proceedings against Colliers Land Rover in Birmingham. Anyone else had problems with them?
Regards
Graham
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 12:48 PM
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lewis
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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We have owned our freelander for 6 years we had two new engines first one paid for by landrover the second one paid by us then I saw the watvhdog programme and they set up a helpline and we got the money refunded all bar vat. Twenty thousand miles later we need another new engine they will not pay anything because we had it serviced at our local garage once. They have all been head gasket problems because of the age of the car it just is not worth spending £3800 on it. They promised us it would never happen again last time. We feel so let down having to just scrap it and of course take the loss. Perhaps it is time to get in touch with watchdog again. My advice is get rid of it as soon as possible.regards karen
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 12:55 PM
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jaq200
Joined 6 May 2005
13 posts
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Try the BBC Watchdog search engine under http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/
and thanks for your sensible advice. So a class action is out but as a group if we presented to Watchdog it could be a very decisive victory (only possibly not a financial victory if Landrover did not pay out as our vehicles would become 'untouchables'?)
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 1:21 PM
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lewis
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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I aggree with everything you say I have emailed watchdog and hope everybody else will, perhaps we should go to the newspapers I have a wonderful letter from landrover received just after we bought it that says I am delighted you have chosen your freelander you will find it an excellent vehicle, well designed, built to last and a pleasure to drive, it goes on to say they will be pleased to here from us if we have any problems, what ajoke they could not of been more unhelpful and unsympathetic. Just to build their case this time the dealership said oh it not only needs a new engine but there are other things wrong like a cracked mirror and the door lock is a bit dodgy how we kept a straight face I do not know. It is like something out of faulty towers. By the way we have just spent £750.00 on a new drive shaft another common problem according to the mechanic. My argument is how can you be responsible for two engines and not a third, please everyone get rid of it we would of after the last engine but the service manager reasured us it would be o.k. Incidently the service manager seems to change everytime we contact. I am in suffolk by the way. Regards Karen.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 5:12 PM
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Graham
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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Yes I have contacted Watchdog and I would urge everyone else to do the same. I will check the search function on the site also, thanks.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 6:12 PM
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rdee
Joined 27 Jan 2005
120 posts
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Its interesting that you say that your dealer is using the reason of 700 miles as a get out clause, a friend of mine asked the question how late could he bring his freelander in for its first service and was told that they allow up to 1800 miles in excess of the service mileage.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 8:45 PM
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Matt
Joined 17 May 2005
13 posts
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Having had to pay £85 for my LR dealer to write a report to send to LR, I have just heard back. They will not make any contribution to the repair of my Freelander. The excuse from the dealer is that its out of warranty, yep its five years so old, it would be. ... I paid £85 for that!! they must be kidding!! Luckily I haven't handed over any cash yet!! I am now going to try LR customer care tel 0870 5000500 if anyone wants it. My local dealer is also in Suffolk Karen, I wonder whether its worth trying another one but not from this area?
I've also been speaking to a mechanic mate of mine, an he's says its it's almost impossible to tell when a gasket is going to blow (a bit like a light bulb blowing) and no matter how many times a car is serviced they would not be able to tell before hand. As it is a design fault in theory they should recall the engines and replace the plastic dowels with stainless steel ones and this should stop the problem, but obviously they didn't.
I have contacted Watchdog but as yet now response, it would be worth just getting them to look at this website.
If anyone else has got any further advice I'd be pleased to hear from you.
Matt
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 9:04 PM
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joy
Joined 1 Jun 2005
1 posts
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Unfortunatley, i'm in the same position as you. It wasn't until the gasket went that i remembered watchdog - i actually watched the program, clean forgot and went out and bought one. I don't know what to do with mine either, as i bought a used one and i have to say, i have had a few other problems - like the mirrors, which don't fold in (duh!!!) Let me know how you get on with yours - i would ideally love to take it back to a main dealer to get it sorted once and for all and then get myself something else that's more reliable and fuel efficient.
I really do wish you luck; but do let me know how you get on and if you can find some who might be able to fix the car without costing a fortune.
joy
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 9:32 PM
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lewis
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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Message for Matt my dealer is in Ipswich will not mention name as I do not know how I stand but interestingly enough today when they telephoned to ask when we were collecting it he mentioned he had another one in I am wondering if its yours. They have charged us £210 to strip it down and they will give me a report with that. However they have said they cannot put it back together so we now have to get a lowloader to pick it up more expense it was driveable when we took it. We have located a smashed up one with a decent engine, so we are wondering what to do, is it worth throwing good money after bad. I have found customer care useless they do not want to know. I fear watchdog is our only hope. If you want to email me my email is [Log in to view email] It has got to the stage when I see people driving a freelander I feel sorry for them!!!!! regards karen.
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
1 June 2005, 9:48 PM
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lewis
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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message for Joy get it repaired and get rid of it we also took ours to a 4x4 expert who said freelanders have big problems with driveshafts and differential and he does dozens. If all thid does take off in the papers and watchdog as previous forum members have said it will make the car very difficult to sell. Afriend of ours managed to get his repaird a bit cheaper but it was in Manchester, he got rid straight after. How many other people must be in the same situation, I have tried trading standards but cannot get hold of anyone as there telephone service of replying to left messages is not working. I hope I have not worried you to much but I would hate you to get in our position three engines later. Good Luck. regards Karen
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Land Rover Freelander Head Gasket Failure
2 June 2005, 9:31 AM
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Graham
Joined 1 Jun 2005
16 posts
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I shopped around quite a lot for a new engine. Firstly the local Land Rover dealer quoted £3,500 for a reconditioned LR engine including the initial diagnosis / taking it apart, but came down to £2,900 when I said I'd go elsewhere. Decent independent mechanics using very good reconditioned LR engines (go to Turner engines and ask for a referral) all quoted approx £2,800. Internet operators like Rivermead and Engines Direct quote a staggeringly low £900 approx but after asking round I'm led to believe that when they get the car the price can suddenly rocket so it's unpredictable, also the warranty relies on a 6 monthly expensive service (which is also a hassle as you have to take the car to them). I wouldn't risk them but others may have tried them and been ok.
On doing the maths it worked out better for me to sell the car without having it repaired. I sold it for £2,500, losing about £3.5k on the value (which is now the value of my legal claim). Having it repaired and selling it may have made me more money but from the dealers I rang I had so little interest in the car (partly due to the reputation) that shelling out the money seemed a real risk as it may not sell easily.
The comment about the dealer saying there is a 1,800 mile leeway is really useful, thanks. Any other comments on this point gratefully received!
Graham
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