[Rangeroverxx]

Just purchased an 03 RR 2 days ago with 61k miles on it. Drove it 800 miles from Miami home to NC and within 20 mins of my house it started making a weird engine noise (almost like the tires were running on rough pavement). While doing this the battery light would flash a few times. A bad smell came thru the ac vents. The noise stop and I continued driving until it made a different noise and looked in the mirrors to see what looked like smoke coming out of the back of the truck. Again it stopped within 30 secs of starting. A few miles later the temperature light came on and the truck overheated. When pulling over to the side, I then noticed the power steering had gone out. Any thoughts? Please help!

 

[ibis1]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Your alternator is probably starting to freeze/lock up, this throws off the belt so you have no power steering and the water pump stops turning, causing the vehicle to overheat. The burning smell was from the belt. ibis1

 

[gisham]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

if its your alternator save urself some money http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/L ... in#reviews

 

[snugg]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Check your radiator hoses. Had a similar problem when my top hose failed. As I was pulling over cause the engine was starting to overheating the powersteering went out. Once the car cooled off, it started working fine Again. Replaced the top house replaced the coolant. All is well. I would say flashing light is alternator. So u may hAve more than on problem.

 

[Rangeroverxx]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Well... 2 days of repairs and the total came to $2900 and counting. Alternator, serpentine belt, water pump pulley, thermostat and gaskets all needed repaired... not to mention the battery. They also state the truck has an oil leak and is missing bolts, etc under the truck. There is also an error message of "Transmission Failsafe Prog" reading... not sure what this is.

I have tried reaching the dealer 16 times over the past 3 days and they refuse to call me back. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, State attorney General office, and Federal Trade Commission. I have also contacted the finance company who is trying to get the dealer to reverse the transaction. I am so upset Im not sure what to do. They also did not supply me a Buyers Guide when purchased so they violated the law there. Anyone had any issue like this before? and suggestions on how to rememdy

 

[ibis1]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

First let me say that I feel sorry for your situation. That being said,my advice to you is (1) Buyer beware. (2) What kind of deal did you get to buy a vehicle in Miami, when you live in North Carolina? (3) Did you have anyone access the condition of the vehicle? I do not know your experience with these vehicles, but they can be high maintenance even when they are taken very good care of. It's a little late now, but if you want to provide me the last six numbers of your vin, I'll look at the warranty history and service records for the vehicle. ibis1

 

[03rangiemark]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Well... 2 days of repairs and the total came to $2900 and counting. Alternator, serpentine belt, water pump pulley, thermostat and gaskets all needed repaired... not to mention the battery. They also state the truck has an oil leak and is missing bolts, etc under the truck. There is also an error message of "Transmission Failsafe Prog" reading... not sure what this is.

I have tried reaching the dealer 16 times over the past 3 days and they refuse to call me back. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, State attorney General office, and Federal Trade Commission. I have also contacted the finance company who is trying to get the dealer to reverse the transaction. I am so upset Im not sure what to do. They also did not supply me a Buyers Guide when purchased so they violated the law there. Anyone had any issue like this before? and suggestions on how to rememdy

What was the name of the Land Rover dealership that you bought this from?
It sounds like they operate more like one of the many questionable buy-here-pay-here dealers that sell polished junk to suckers that don't know what they're getting into.
That said, replacing the parts you're talking about isn't out of the ordinary for a Land Rover, assuming you bought a well-used 2003, with probably about 61,000 hard miles on it. I know you said "repaired", but I assume you meant "replaced".
If you're looking for an inexpensive, reliable, care-free vehicle, don't buy a Land Rover.
Did you do any research before you bought it?
Best of luck getting it straightened out. ray:

 

[remington]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

I feel bad for you, but you did buy a used car with no warranty. As stated above these repairs are not unusual for a 7 year old car. The prices are, well, it's a Range Rover.

When you buy a used car from out of state presumably to save a few bucks, you are taking a bit of a risk. I bought a used Porsche once as a fly-in-drive-home, mind you it was only 200 miles away, and I lived to regret it as I didn't even make it home without problems. I had no chance for an inspection or a thorough test drive which would have revealed problems that weren't disclosed. Never again. I buy locally.

 

[gisham]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Man you need to find a good LR indie in your area if you cannot work on this truck yourself- The parts you mentioned can be bought online for around 500.00-

The dealership marks thier parts up and thier labor rate is almost twice that of an indie-

These trucks can be maintained very reasonably if you do your homework. FYI

 

[dsd1976]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

First let me say that I feel sorry for your situation. That being said,my advice to you is (1) Buyer beware. (2) What kind of deal did you get to buy a vehicle in Miami, when you live in North Carolina? (3) Did you have anyone access the condition of the vehicle? I do not know your experience with these vehicles, but they can be high maintenance even when they are taken very good care of. It's a little late now, but if you want to provide me the last six numbers of your vin, I'll look at the warranty history and service records for the vehicle. ibis1

Hi Ibis,

sorry to Hi-jack the thread but if I can you my VIN details can you look up the history for my car? thanks

 

[LR1]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

I once flew to the Palm Beach/Miami area to buy a D90. While on the road home to New Orleans, the a/c stopped working, the radio went out and I noticed a burning smell only to find out that the dealer had painted the exhaust and other hot parts and that the paint had burned off to expose rotting metal by the time I got it home... WATCH OUT and good luck as I got stuck w/ this one

 

[36dbldz]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Man you need to find a good LR indie in your area if you cannot work on this truck yourself- The parts you mentioned can be bought online for around 500.00-

The dealership marks thier parts up and thier labor rate is almost twice that of an indie-

These trucks can be maintained very reasonably if you do your homework. FYI

you are rite bout that one. here are some in your state:

http://www.rangerovers.net/service/south/ncarolina.html

 

[RossoCorsaItaly]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Not saying this applies to you, but as someone who sells Rovers on his lot.

03 Rover buyers are the worst. They're all trying to get into the car for as cheap as possible, usually to show off that they are driving a $74,000 truck that they got for $15,000 and then as soon as typical Rover maintenance hits, they turn to the dealer to cover it when they have a car that has been out of warranty for 3-4 years. Generally the truck at this point is on its 4th or 5th owner, the previous owners who had a similar mentality and skimped on maintenace.

Bottom line, you bought a USED Range Rover with NO WARRANTY, you bought it from 800 miles away and did not even bother getting a qualified pre purchase inspection on it. Now you're dealing with issues that are common on an 03 Rover. Now instead of fixing the truck and learning from your mistakes, you're trying to blame your ignorance on the dealership, you sir are priceless.

 

[jhepworth]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Rosso - well put.

The problems listed i can say without a question are ones that a used suburban would have at the same mileage and age. My 03 Yukon had to have 3 new tranny's, fuel pumps, new heads re-sealed, upper and lower, transfer case, along with a giant list that filled 6 full pages of paper when the history was printed out. All before 60K miles. I would have to say MY RR has been in the shop A LOT LESS than that yukon.

The nice thing about these RR's - they have been around for a while so most of the known problems are well documented and easily dealt with if you are half way mechanically inclined or a good troubleshooter.

For me and my wife - we love the RR - it drives excellent, is the best looking suv on the road and goes very well off road.

A side note - all in for the repairs listed - i would be shocked if it was more than 1200 total for the fixes mentioned with labor to do all the work - esp. if you sourced the parts on the web and used an indie to do the work. 1200 for a 7 year old car isn't really that much money, unless of course you want to compare it to a honda civic?

JH

 

[nsxxtreme]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

Just a comment when the battery goes low and the alternator fails error messages go crazy. You will get all kinds of messages.

I would suggest getting these cleared first before authorizing any further work. If the problem is really there then the message will return.
Look at the top of the page is a company called black box solutions. You can read and clear your own codes without having to wait on the dealer.

I've accidently left my lights on I dont know how many times and killed my battery. Error codes go nuts when the battery gets low. While were speaking of that who the frick designs a car that shuts the lights of when you turn the car off? I'd love to punch the designer in the face for that one. The **** RR dings for just about everything so you eventually ignore the **** dinger. :evil:

 

[Guest]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

The **** RR dings for just about everything so you eventually ignore the **** dinger. :evil:

The first rule of owning a Range Rover, "you never ignore the dinger"...
The second rule of owning a Range Rover, "YOU NEVER IGNORE THE DINGER"...

:lol:

 

[nsxxtreme]

Re: Just Purchased 2 days ago - Power Steering Out, Engine Overh

The **** RR dings for just about everything so you eventually ignore the **** dinger. :evil:

The first rule of owning a Range Rover, "you never ignore the dinger"...
The second rule of owning a Range Rover, "YOU NEVER IGNORE THE DINGER"...

:lol:

If the dinger made sense then ya. But it dings for EVERYTHING. Why would you make a car that shuts the headlights off when you shut the car off? What possibly could the point of that be? And then if your going to ding at least do it like every other car and ding until the lights are shut off instead of the 2 dings its does ugggggggg..... :twisted: haha you can tell my frustration level! lol

That dinger is dead to me :lol: