Ad Blue and Service Plan

Faults and Technical chat for the Discovery 5
mrwats12
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 7:49 pm

Post by mrwats12 »

Just had my first warning to put more adblue in the car after 4000miles. It said this morning I had 1000 miles to go so phoned a dealer Lookers West London - that I was nearby today and told to pop in.

As it's on a service plan adblue is included, but don't expect a straight forward process. The car has to get booked in on a job card just like a service. The whole process for me took 2 hours ! A lot of this is caused I am sure by the shoddy approach to customer service at Lookers, however the more and more cars being sold requiring adblue I can see this becoming a real issue for JLR - the process should take 10mins maximum - or just give me the stuff and I will do it myself !

User avatar
p4vvs
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:19 pm

Post by p4vvs »

I will need to top up the Ad Blue soon too. I was just thinking of buying 10l from the local garage and doing it myself. anyone have any idea where the filling point is? hopefully in the engine bay...
Lee Jackson
Posts: 81
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 1:03 pm

Post by Lee Jackson »

from watching videos its in the engine bay. if it was a right hand drive i believe its on the passenger side up near windscreen side.
kits80
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:13 pm

Post by kits80 »

I'm just approaching 4000 miles and it now shows that it is required in less than 1000 miles. My dealer is in Nottingham and they offer either a morning or afternoon appointment. I asked if there was a waiting appointment but they don't offer it which is crazy.

I used to have a Sharan which needed adblue every 10,000 miles or so, and they always offered waiting appointments which take around 20 minutes to fill up, or as it was every 10,000 miles or so I could often tie it in with a service or MOT. I can't quite believe that this will need doing every 5,000 miles, and if it's going to take half a day, I fully agree with you that they are going to struggle once demand increases.
Craigp
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 2:34 pm

Post by Craigp »

I've seen others talking about this and it seems the ad blue tank was not always topped up full from the factory . So it could be a little misleading as to how much you are using.
3litre SE. Monticello Red. Electric deployable tow bar.
kits80
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:13 pm

Post by kits80 »

Craigp wrote: Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:47 pm I've seen others talking about this and it seems the ad blue tank was not always topped up full from the factory . So it could be a little misleading as to how much you are using.
Ok, that would make sense. Hopefully you're right.
AJRGM
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:46 pm

Post by AJRGM »

The AdBlue tank filling spot is just to the right of the engine bay when you open the bonnet. Up on the side fenders bit, will say DEF on it.

The reason it takes so long for the dealers to do it, is because they have to plug in a diagnostics computer to the OBD to find out exactly how much needs topping up, then the machine that actually tops it up has a big step to step process. The OBD bit takes 5 mins and the topping up takes 10 or so minutes. Before they even do this they have to fill out a VHC (Vehicle Health Check) to make sure all the damage on the vehicle is accounted for and just to let the customers know if their brakes need doing anytime soon.

Finally, from the factory the AdBlue tanks aren't filled up. Only once its at the dealer does it get filled and usually its around 10L worth if I remember correctly.

This info is based off my time doing work experience at one of the main dealers.
MrKeefe82
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:53 pm

Post by MrKeefe82 »

On my first edition the adblue message came on at 4,000 miles saying I had 1,500 miles to do it in. At 4,500 miles that went down to 500 miles. I called Guy Salmon Portsmouth where I bought the car and they said they had no dates for 4 weeks which would have been no good so had to take it to Harwoods Pulborough who topped it up that week under my service pack. They said it will likely need doing every 4,500 miles as a result. Definitely not ideal and very inconvenient. However if you think that's a pain the service due message came up last week at 6500 miles saying a service was due in 1900 miles. This week at 6800 miles that went down to 1450 miles. Back in to Harwoods today and have had to have an oil change at £245. Would have waited a bit longer but am driving to Germany next week. Harwoods said that some cars need an oil change every 6000 to 7000 miles. Evidently as it's not classed as a full service it isn't covered by the service pack either. Between the AdBlue top up and oil changes it looks like I will be back at the dealership every other month. In addition to that one of my wheel arches is falling off (looks like it has been stuck on with no more nails pads), the windscreen seal is coming away and flapping in the wind (supposedly there is a recall on this), the rear camera often doesn't work and says to contact the dealer, the radio and CD player often aren't picked up, the Bluetooth disconnects whilst on calls regularly, the high beam assist comes on randomly when people are driving towards me, USB connection regularly doesn't recognise my device. The list seems to be endless. It is going back into Harwoods on the 3rd August, the soonest they can see me again and give me a loan car. Called Land Rover and they couldn't care less and palm me back to the dealerships. I'm at a point where I wish I hadn't bought the car to be honest. See my twitter account @AdamKeefe for pics of the wheel arch and windscreen, it is really terrible.
v2cjb
Posts: 116
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2016 8:56 pm

Post by v2cjb »

A service on yours already. Surely that can't be right. I thought it was a 16000 miles or a year. Puzzled. Shame you have had so many issues with yours. I hope it's sorted for you. My first edition has been good so far, just the boot and trim issue and a door handle loose. I have to say though for a 70k vehicle the quality could be better.
MrKeefe82
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:53 pm

Post by MrKeefe82 »

The dashboard said service due but when Harwoods investigated it further they said it was just an oil change and therefore doesn't count as a service hence the charge.

Over the weekend the wheel arch actually fell off whilst parked. I'm guessing the sticky pads gave out in the heat. In some respects that is better than it falling off on the autobahn later this week.

I absolutely agree, for £70k it should be made a hell of a lot better. Unfortunately though I don't think that Land Rovers prices are reflective of quality. I think 40% of the price is the brand name. I bought my wife an Evoque HSE Dynamic last year and we had some issues with that too. The parking sensors still don't work properly on it, the front and back don't work together so you could reverse round a corner and hit the front as it swings out and you'd get no warning. Harwoods unfortunately have investigated it several times and decided in the end that it is meant to work like that. Absolute rubbish obviously but it gets to a point where you feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. Hence why I didn't buy the Disco from them. I ventured to Guy Salmon instead. It was a much better sales experience until I need the AdBlue topping up. I called them up, explained that the message had come up and asked if I could pop in in the next week as i had a couple of long journeys coming up and was told I couldn't be seen for a month as they were busy. I said that would mean the AdBlue would run out before then and they said keep using the car until it doesn't work anymore and then call out LR Assist and they will come and top it up. I told them that was ridiculous and they explained to me how their service centre just isn't big enough for the number of customers. I sent a scathing email to the sales rep who didn't respond and therefore decided to bite the bullet and return to Harwoods.

Unfortunately I think LR have become to big for their boots due to popularity and so the dealers no longer care because they feel don't need to. When I first looked at getting rid of my MB CLS a few months ago I found a RR Autiobiography I liked at Harwoods Croydon (not our local one which is Pulborough). I called up to discuss the price and what they'd give me for my MB and they massively undervalued my MB buy about £4K versus other dealers id spoken to. I asked if there was anything they could do to bridge the gap and was told "I don't need to discount my cars, they sell themselves" and that I think sums up the attitude of LR as a whole these days sadly.

I have had LR respond to me on Twitter after my multiple messages on Friday. I will see what they have to say this week but I'm thinking I might cut my losses at this rate. The only issue I have is what other car can fit two dogs, a baby, all the stuff that goes with a baby and my wife and I (I'm 6 foot 4, which means in most cars the space behind me gets lost as my seat goes right back). Maybe a MB GLS but they aren't that great to look at.
Post Reply