60 plate MY11 Freelander 2 TD4e GS

Good car - Far too much to service at a dealers.

Issues started part way into a service when the dealer said I had supplied the wrong oil (£5.20 per litre as apposed to a dealer price of circa £19 per litre). The Landrover service book and the plate under the bonnet clearly states this vehicle replacement oil must meet Ford M2C 913B specification and be 5W30 viscosity. Before purchasing the oil (Millers XSS 5W30 oil in 5 litre containers) I called Millers oil technical line and at the current mileage of 8,000 pa I was assured their XSS 5W30 brand fulfilled all of Landrovers requirements but at higher mileage pa up to the specified 15,000 miles between services they would push you towards Millers XF LONGLIFE ECO 5W30.
The dealer after a discussion fell back from their position when I challenged them but then wrote on my invoice "customer supplied oil that does not meet DPF requirements", currently I am challenging this with Landrover having asked them first when did fully synthetic oil to Ford M2C 913C specification become a requirement as they had not informed this important change to vehicle owners. Landrover agreed with me yesterday by phone that Ford M2C 913B had not been superseded so I feel that many motorists are being overcharged by dealers for fully synthetic oil when good branded semi synthetic oil does the trick (and that spec is recommended). A DPF does seems to be the achilles heel of owning a modern diesel engine but I am not happy that a dealer could possibly compromise my warranty by putting such a statement on my invoice. I wonder what oil is going in at the factory? as an example BMW were recommending Castrol and then provided a Shell 1litre top up pack within the boot of my wife's new BMW a couple of years ago

8 days after first contacting Landrover they now agree with me over the oil type. Happy they see my point but many owners out there must be paying dealers too much for over specified oils.

Coming up to the second service and the car is still growing on me. As before the service side is interesting with the supplying dealer Armstrong Massey wanting a outrageous amount for the second service. Ripon Land Rover have given me a sensible (and written quote) so shop around and save anywhere up to £150 between LR dealers.

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