Well well well not impressed so far :(

Picked my range rover sport TDV8 yesturday at 3pm and within 18 hours of ownership and 16 miles since purchase its broken down and been stranded already

Got to be some sort of record surely its not new like 2008 36k miles

neo2 said:

Picked my range rover sport TDV8 yesturday at 3pm and within 18 hours of ownership and 16 miles since purchase its broken down and been stranded already

Got to be some sort of record surely its not new like 2008 36k miles

Click to expand...

So what has gone wrong with it??

Its from a specailist car supplier normally top end stuff from sort of £30,000 to £100,00 astons a alike...

The fault was this, when i collected it he said we have ahd to fit a new battery as it sounded slow this morning on turning over and didnt want to risk a breakdown on your new car ??? great i thought...

Did 16 miles in it yesturday and parked it over night etc, goes to it this morning and it started up what seemed to be ok, but with a light on dash yellow light with symbol showing a rocking side to side picture...then reversed off drive and noticed the sat nav screen was blank totally black as in off drove 100 yards and it came on flickered and clicked went off oand on few times then 3 more lights came on dash, brake warning orange, hill decent, few others and then the whole lot went off rev counter, speedo, centre display miles etc etc whole lot, 10 yards after cut out and stopped.. goosed...

RR wouldnt crank interior light was dim and nothing just loads of clicking noises like relays and stuff YEP ****ed off to say the least...

went to check battery on side of road and noiced the terminal was movable but secure, so i re arranged the terminal nipped it up better and same with earth side, put my jump pack on and all dash lights normal but cranking was too slow to start it, think the jump pack wasnt up to it to be fair, got a jump leads start off a vauxhall insignia and it started straight up sounded fine, turned all electrics of and drove it to garage of my mates and put battery on charge did notice the stereo says low voltage when you turn it past 19 on the dail for volume and thats with engine running as well...

any thoughts guys is it..or my thoughts are..

New battery connections not tight enough as i could turn the lead on battery post but it was gripping to be fair and on...

New dodgy battery ???

Alternator fault? but no light on dash etc..

set fire to it maybe ???

As it stands its in my mates workshop awaiting a full battery charge and see what maybe an auto electrician says tomorrow etc...

NO NO NO take the fooker back and get a full refund. See the Crock of **** thread for ya rights and how to make sure ya don't get dicked about.. Just cos someone sells expensive cars doesn't mean they're honest or trustworthy.

No garage replaces a battery like that. Perhaps it was confirmed dead before they replaced it. Did they use the correct one, because if they didn't then it won't stand a chance of keeping an L320 going as even the Genuine Part ones are on the limit.

Sounds like the usual defective alternator misdiagnosed as poor battery problem to me.... it is much easier for the dealer to replace the battery than the alternator and it gets the car sold and out of the door.... It's easy enough to get the alternator and battery checked, ideally by the garage that sold you the car, it's bound to be one or the other.

Also - sounds irritating but don't let it spoil your enjoyment of the car quite yet - sounds like a pretty simple problem and, to be fair to the garage, could be a problem brought on by the cold weather that they were genuinely unaware of..... when I bought my Lotus Esprit, 3 things failed on the way home and needless to say, I was thinking "what have I done?!?" Dealer sorted them all out without any fuss at all in 48hrs, and it has been excellent ever since (I will probably regret saying that.....)


Let us know how it goes...

Cheers

Jerry
ps obviously, you should have bought a P38, at least you would have EXPECTED that to break down within 18hrs ;-)

"a specailist car supplier normally top end stuff from sort of £30,000 to £100,00 astons a alike"

Reputation at stake here?
*
sure is a strange old story though,
being told it was naff before you drove off..
*
*
and I thought my disco 1 lightswitch damaged by my 3 year old granson was "critical"
*
*
good luck though fella...

or the usual overnite battery drain problem

Easy fault here not the end of the world
Alternator failure and proberly a duff battery!
There is also a software upgrade too

Similar thing happened with my L322.The day after i bought it and having been stood on the drive all day ,it wouldn't start.I changed the battery for a new one and it's been right as rain ever since.
The guy whom i bought it from refunded the cost.I understand your apprehension but let things devolop and put it down to being a victim of circumstance because they are a great car.

From what I've read later Range Rovers are plagued by battery problems even more than P38's and cold weather, loose connections and standing on a forecourt will certianly affect it but if you are certain it has been replaced rather than charged then check the dimensions etc of what has been put in because it might be the wrong one.

From what I've read alot of later owners are going for Optima Red Top replacements and on one other RR site they were discussing the fact that the alternator in the TDV8 is never able to fully charge the battery. Not sure if thats true or not.

Look on the bright side if a new battery solves it at their expense then you will have peace of mind on that score for a few years! Put in the biggest one that will fit in the tray as regularly said on here.

Hi guys i took it back to his garage today and he was very sorry and opologising he fitted the battery as he thought it seemed a bit slow on the morning i got it, but wasnt sure if it was becouse the valet guys had been cleaning it all day the day before hence he thought better safe than sorry..but that never worked lol...

It definatley got a new battery on like, but the connection wasnt tight i agree but once it was started and terminals tight i drove it 3 miles back to him without fault, and when i got there i switched it off, and restarted it 3 times on the belt and looked a right bell end...he charging battery up all day today and taking it to auto electricians for a test tomorrow to see if anything shows up ???

I would rather keep it than get a refund it took me ages to find the colour and spec i wanted within the price with the low miles etc...

Alternator would be my bet, a low voltage indication with the engine running is the clue.

Datatek said:

Alternator would be my bet, a low voltage indication with the engine running is the clue.

Click to expand...

Exactly. What baffles me is why this obvious test is taking these garages more than 5 mins to do!!

Cheers

Jerry

neo2 said:

Dont know if ive done the right thing running costs wise and up keep but hey ho im happy with it.. and totally suprised myself ive headed off in a slightly different direction as well but it was a cracking deal from a friend


Im chuffed to bits just hope its a good one thats all...

Click to expand...

is it from a friend or a dealer, coz very rarely are they one and the same?!?!?

Hi guys had the battery checked today anyway by the dealers mechanic and as follows..

1) battery of correct size and ampage and working fine but its new
2) alternator charging at 13.8 to 14.2v while running

Battery has now been charged overnight and for 24 hrs..
Battery conections all tight and clean..

Result as it stands the radio turns all way up to 35 vol as it should only used to go to 20 ??? and its been ok since i collected it no faults found as yet since got it back but only drove 4 miles...

fingers crossed it might of been the terminals on battery loose, and not a masked fault by charging the battery up for 24hrs or it will return soon i assume...

neo2 said:

Hi guys had the battery checked today anyway by the dealers mechanic and as follows..

1) battery of correct size and ampage and working fine but its new
2) alternator charging at 13.8 to 14.2v while running

Battery has now been charged overnight and for 24 hrs..
Battery conections all tight and clean..

Result as it stands the radio turns all way up to 35 vol as it should only used to go to 20 ??? and its been ok since i collected it no faults found as yet since got it back but only drove 4 miles...

fingers crossed it might of been the terminals on battery loose, and not a masked fault by charging the battery up for 24hrs or it will return soon i assume...

Click to expand...

13.8 to 14.2 is too low, I would expect 14.4 to 14.8 with engine running.....suspect Alternator.

This ambition of owning a range rover for years is vastly taking the **** and doing my head right in, i know its only a car but its annoying the bloody hell out of me now like

UPDATE...

After driving it back from the garage after having battery charged for 24hrs and them checking alternator and stuff theis is todays encounter it like east enders this range rover turning into a new toy nightmare quickly..

Ok parked on drive over night all seemed ok, got up this morning tried to start it perfect happy with that, swtiched it off after 2/3 mins on idle and went to work in my other car, got home 3pm thought right lets go out for a drive in it..

Started up reversd off drive and the SUSPENSION FAULT light came on turned and drove down my street 100 yards and sat nav screen went blank, 5/6 lights now on dash, mixture of all sorts ARGGHH another 100 yards down road rev counter goes off and speedo then lcd display in middle and then the whole lot went out, engine running still though, knocked all the electrical items off and drove 3 miles to mates garage..

Noticed on way the gear selector LCD display was showing a large capital F for ****ed and said limited gears ??? revs were 4rpm at 45mph so i assume its in 3rd gear.. got to garage and left running in Park till got a look at it 4/5 mins tried to move it wont come out of park ?? FFS man, turned engne off and went to restart click click click no battery power, so jusmp pack on starts up, now will move out of park..

Reversed back 10 feet all lights off and gradually coming on warning lights i mean till had 7 on at once.. TIME TO BURN IT LOL...

Called 4x4 dealer specailist and took it through, they checking it tomorrow...

Now simce i took it through ive found this out see if this might be the cause maybe..

THE SPORT SEEMS TO GO OK WITH A FULLY CHARGE BATTERY BUT AS IT DRAINS ITS THROWING ALL SORTS UP.. BUT IVE FOUND THIS OUT TODAY LATE ON 6PM...

The garage thought the battery was sluggish so replaced the battery after test drive, which it drove fine on as they didnt want any issues (ironic or what) but here is what ive found the battery that came off was a 110 amp and the replacement is a 84 amp but same size in physical size, but a cheapish one year battery ?

COULD THE BATTERY BE AT FAULT I DONT UNDERSTAND ELECTRICS,could the battery that was originally one just be low on charge due to cold and valeters with doors open etc etc me with all heated bits on as well, and then garage fits this battery and all the faults appear ????

Any advice would be helpful
cheers Rob