Discovery 5 2.0 engine nightmare

Hi, any advice would be hugely appreciated….

We own a discovery 5 2.0 litre that’s done 70k. Had it as an ex demo from JLR - it’s used as a work vehicle, serviced regularly and in good condition.

First 12 months was good - however, in the last 18 months we’ve had nothing but issues. Started with a lack of performance and ‘judderring’ and dramatic swerving after various trips into the garage the engine was replaced.

Vehicle returned and still not right, issue quickly returned alongside uneven dramatic tyre wear and vehicle would swerve out of control.

Back into garage … suspension issue. Various parts changed and some
Sensors re set.

Back again, and vehicle still under performing, making strange noise on decelerating, lack of power on accelerating then lost all power and recovered into JLR.

Another engine replaced…

Came back again. Horrendous smell in cabin, JLR informed us just burn off from engine change. One week later, snell still bad, vehicle again looses performance and then power - and myself and husband very unwell.

JLR Assist diagnose exhaust had been fitted back with old parts during engine change, and was leaking fumes into cabin which is why we were un well. No real apology from JLR

back into JLR - this issues is fixed and vehicle sent back. One week later - fumes still present and vehicle still has same lack of performance and power.

back into garage sensors replaced exhaust issue rectified. Manager drives it home and looses power - back into garage and that time turbo replaced.

Few weeks later vehicle still not right, same high revs and noise whilst decelerating. Lack of power whilst accelerating. Back into garage - agreed it’s still not right but they didn’t seem to think it was as bad as we felt. no time to repair as busy. Booked in for following week.

Arrived at garage - no courtesy car available. Took car away whilst they source car

Then.. bad smell in cabin again, vehicle dramatically swerves across road and only just avoids serious accident. Smoke coming from bonnet and diesel pouring out from underneath which had sprayed onto tyres causing the slipping across the road.

JLR assist recovers vehicle and it’s now back at the garage leaking diesel all the way there off the tow truck

literally at my wits end with this situation. Currently trying to reject the vehicle as it’s on finance - but nothing getting sorted quick. It’s a work car and being self employed it’s a nightmare.

Are we just really unlucky? Is this an underlying fault of this vehicle or is this the fault of the garage?

Garage are trying to be helpful in some ways, but how can so many things go wrong with one car?!

thanks for reading any help and advice appreciated

When you say ex demo, what type? Dealer show vehicle or lr experience centre? Who was the first registered keeper on the v5 log book?

The D5 does have engine problems but few have two engines changed. The exhaust problem wasn't fixed properly by the dealer. Not all D5's are faulty. Of those that are, yours is one of the worst with so many repeat problems.

Thank you for your reply! It was just a customer demo vehicle not one for Land Rover experience, it had done 5000 miles when we got it
I am In agreement that the exhaust was the fault of the dealer, and also thinking the current fuel line issue is the dealers responsibility too
JLR Assist thought they’d reused a lot of old worn damaged parts/fittings when fitting new engine and supposedly they are supposed to not be reusable

Sounds like dealer issue

You are right to reject it. Stay with that, let the finance / lease company have the headache. CO in the cab can kill you, its like being drunk and clouds your vison and judgment, you could be dead Refuse flat out to drive it again and make a big deal of not trusting either the car or the dealer. The car is unsafe, was returned to you in an unsafe (potentially fatal) condition and is not fit for purpose. Go in hard, you need out of the contract and rid of the car. You will never feel safe in the car, either its had a very hard life that's been concealed or the dealer has done such poor work that its wrecked at least one engine and left the car literally toxic, either way it a dog because its hiding problems.

Thought about your situation a bit more. 2 engine changes is very very odd. The only time I've come across anything similar it was a scam. Either used engines were passed off as new then failed, or the same engine was put back in. I would now start from the position that it IS a scam by the dealer, they could be making £3-5,000 per engine change, and place the onus on the finance company to prove otherwise. If it is a scam then you cannot trust anything the dealer says or does.

rob1miles said:

Thought about your situation a bit more. 2 engine changes is very very odd. The only time I've come across anything similar it was a scam. Either used engines were passed off as new then failed, or the same engine was put back in. I would now start from the position that it IS a scam by the dealer, they could be making £3-5,000 per engine change, and place the onus on the finance company to prove otherwise. If it is a scam then you cannot trust anything the dealer says or does.

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Main dealer parts come from the lr supply chain only.

That's my thinking too. There should be a a paper trail with part numbers and especially engine numbers. I would expect LR to query the second order for an engine for the same vehicle.
For me this is a big red flag and says "avoid", either car or the dealer is wrecking engines so the best policy is to cut ties with both.

[QUOTE="rob1miles, post: 5278837, member: 140422]" its had a very hard life that's been concealed [/QUOTE]

Whilst the issues should have been properly addressed by the dealer and it's certainly poor work I don't think that particular point will fly.
The op says it's a work vehicle - we don't know what it's being used for - which they bought with 5k miles on the clock & it now has 70k which they've put on themselves.

Main dealers have a list of set prices and times for doing known warranty repair work jobs. Like specific recalls or 'known to happen' corrections. They're pre-aurthorised to carry them out but they have to be logged to claim the funds to pay for said work. If they do something not on the list then they have to put in a request to LR's warranty peeps. LR will ask for more info if needed. They may want to see it themselves. An engine change would cost a lot so they will have had good reason to change it. A second engine change would also need a good reason. In theory the changes would have been for different reasons if the second engine was changed so soon. One would assume it failed for a different reason.

It is still very odd. To clarify, what I meant by "concealed hard life" is that it may have been used for testing or been clocked. The assumption regarding 5000 miles is that these are genuine normal miles, but we know that is not always true. A pal of mine bought a low mileage car that turned out to have a very high mileage engine, it was a fraud but it did not come to light for a while. And to pick up the point about the second engine having a different failure cause; who would want a car that trashes engines? My advice is still walk away from both the dealer and the vehicle.

Hi thanks so much for the replies and help/advice it’s really appreciated. I’m sorry for the delay in update - to be honest the last month has been a complete nightmare with this car and it’s causing so many issues and taking up so much time

Just to clarify, as I wasn’t clear about it being a work car - the car is used as a Vets car. It does very little off road etc. It’s done miles but it’s been very well looked after and regular services etc.

so what’s happened since…

it went back in after the diesel leak. Work on it was a disaster - apparently the injector had seized, that they say was causing the problem. They couldn’t get it out! So they shipped it off to a ‘specialist’ at their other branch - the same branch that caused the Carbon monoxide leak

They couldn’t get the part out either! So they then had to call in an external ‘specialist’ who got the injector out and replaced it.
In the meantime, the finance company came to the end of their time to decide whether or not they will reject the vehicle…..
The decision: they won’t reject the vehicle!! So now it’s back to us dealing with the situation

I asked JLR for them to authorise a second opinion on the work - they said they couldn’t do that as ‘all their mechanics are trained to the same high standards and that would look like they were doubting those standards’

I discussed an independent Landrover garage taking a look - nope that would void the warranty!

the vehicle has undergone two long road tests and is deemed to be fine. However I just don’t believe it as this is the same thing that happens every time

JLR customer services are just useless in helping, yes they call regularly to update etc - but it’s just like these unproductive phone calls to tick a box. The phone calls are pointless

we’ve said we don’t want the vehicle back. So instead they are now trying to put us on a new finance agreement in a replacement 3 year old vehicle with higher monthly payments - plus we will loose the 10k deposit we originally put in.

the garage (Hatfields) are just trying to get a sale out of it. We have said we shouldn’t have to enter a new finance agreement and they should just replace the vehicle - but they won’t consider this. They’ve offered £3750 deposit contribution… but it’s on a 69 place car which 17000 miles. Personally after what we’ve been through and the fact the car has been more off the road than on for 18 months this isn’t good enough

Still at our witts end trying to sort this. Just really don’t know what to do

Want to take the car back and part ex it for Say an XC90 but I just aren’t the type of person to let someone else end up with this disaster of a car

It's a difficult position to be in. How many miles do you have to do on averge before it fails again? If it were mine I would keep driving it to get it to break under warranty so it get's repaired under warranty. Hoping the true fault will occur and be fixed.

May be worth getting an independent safety check on your vehicle. Can then show the result to the dealer next time they mention their ‘high standards’
Asking for a vehicle that won’t kill you isn’t that high a standard

Kick up hell with the finance company and get them to take it back. They simply sat on the decision until they could time you out. The dates are arbitrary so throw it back at them. The car is a dog, it needs to be someone else's problem. Don't worry about who has it next, it could sit in a yard for the next decade for all we know. Its time to get a solicitor to fight for you, and when you do that decide exactly what you want; a XC90, or perhaps an EV?

rob1miles said:

Its time to get a solicitor to fight for you, and when you do that decide exactly what you want; a XC90, or perhaps an EV?

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If it's only used for local work, then a large EV would be a nice stress form of transport, if it can be charged at home or work.

@freelance any idea's on how to push for it to be fixed betterer?

Hippo said:

@freelance any idea's on how to push for it to be fixed betterer?

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Recorded letter to dealer principal, and polite conversations with Land Rover customer services, outlining faults etc

Thanks so much again for the advice.
Land Rover customer services literally not budging on helping, just going round in circles on phone calls.

Director of dealership has convinced himself he’s helping by trying to get us in a different car on new finance agreement (which we shouldn’t have to do!) but still hasn’t really taken responsibility for the faults that are their errors

I’ve been in the dealership with other customers saying similar things after engine changes and complaining the vehicle still isn’t fixed

Independent review of the vehicle is a good idea - will look up how to do this

thanks again

Nodge68 said:

If it's only used for local work, then a large EV would be a nice stress form of transport, if it can be charged at home or work.

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I think the solicitor route is our only option now