2.0 eD4 150 HSE 5Seat 5dr SUV

Quality very dissapointing

A potentially great car ruined by shocking assembly. How this car got through quality control at Halewood beggars belief! But maybe the recent news that Land Rover have laid off 1000 AGENCY workers from the production line may provide the answer. Whilst having sympathy for those laid off, could it be that these the despicable assembly could be due to these guys having no real investment in the product they were working on, nor in Land Rover's future? I have it on fairly good authority that these agency workers were not skilled in automotive production, were given a few weeks training, then put on the production line. OK so it might be sometimes required to take such risks to meet demand but in such cases the requirement for quality inspection needs to be ramped up dramatically. Read 90% of owners reviews and the same things regarding quality are repeated over and over again. Why were the agency staff laid off? Because demand for the cars has slumped. Why, Land Rover claim that the cause is the fall in demand for diesel powered cars, Land Rover's main power plant, due to the diesel scaremongering (totally misconceived scaremongering but that's another story). However are Land Rover really sure this is the fall in demand for their cars? What was a respected brand is rapidly gaining avery poor reputation for poor quality. I have been asked on three separate occasions, by serious prospective buyer what the car was like. On each occasion I have had to say that the car should be great but the quality of how it is put together is very poor. This has lost Land Rover three sales to Audi, BMW and Honda. If that's three lost sales just due to my car, how many are being lost under similar circumstances nation wide. Time to pick up yoyr game Land Rover.
My issues - 1/ collected the car from the dealer, arrived home and both front door seals were hanging off. pushed them back on the sticky tape by which they were fixed (or not) to find both seals 150/160mm short. 2/ Part of heat shield fell off. 3/ Heat shield came loose again. 4/ wheel arch plastic trim came loose. 5/ Service light came on after around 6Kmls - oil change and s/w upgrade, fuel in oil. 6/ Knocking from front suspension - nearside strut replaced. 7/ perhaps the main complaint - endless creaks and rattles caused by a combination of poor assembly bad design exassipated by some cheap and nasty components. I have fixed most of the rattles using paper napkins (Costa are a perfect size) folded to the right dimensions and stuffed into the offending trim gaps!! £42K vehicle made good with bits of paper towel! Really?
Ironic - now that most of the rattles have been fixed, I am beginning to like the car again but I don't think I'll be buying another unless I witness a major change in Land Rover's quality. 'Above and Beyond', more like 'Down and Out'

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