[orbeamike]

My 2006 RRS is reaching the end of the 4 year warranty period in October, just this week I brought it in for what I thought it's last free scheduled maintenance. The RRS had it's shares of small annoyances but overall a good vehicle to us. What I didn't realize after I spoke to the service rep was that Land Rover only covers the 1st 6 scheduled maintenances for free. So this time I actually had to pay to have it serviced. OK, no big deal, the car has done only 4K miles since it's last service in January and aside it from pulling a little to the right there is nothing else to do. The dealer recommended an oil change, check the fluids, 4 wheel alignment and tire balancing.......Total estimate came out to be $800.00!!!! Wheel alignment and tire balancing alone were $550, $160 just to balance 4 wheels......
I politely declined and took the vehicle home. I then took the RRS to a local tire center and had it aligned and balanced all for $130.00.......The car had low air pressure on the front right tire and rear alignments were off. The car no longer pulls and it drives fine.

I can understand may be dealer doubling the independent price, but how do they justify 4X the difference? When I declined the service rep eluded how complex the 4X4 system is on the RRS and that it requires special tools and knowledge for alignment........My question is does it really require special training to align our RRS for dealer to charge what they charge?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[vaksub]

Hey which stealership did you take your car?

 

[orbeamike]

I just want to mention that the dealer service has been excellent, service reps are courteous and I am offered a loaner each time, although I prefer to be dropped off and picked up when the car is ready. I really want to continue give them my business and I understanding paying more for dealer service. But not at 4X the independent rates!

By the way, anyone recommending a reputable independent Land Rover service in the South Bay near Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale CA area?

 

[Alboogie7]

Yes, i live in the bay area also and I would like to know if anyone can recommend a reputable independent Land Rover service in the South Bay near San Jose Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale CA area???

 

[umbertob]

Many tire shops around here (Los Angeles) refuse to perform 4-wheel alignments on the RRS due to our trick suspensions. Ideally, a shop would have to put the suspensions' geometry in "Tight Tolerance Mode", using diagnostics, prior to aligning as that setup mode controls ride height more accurately and minimizes the possibility of errors due to small height variables. It does take more time than with your average car to do it right. On the other hand, alignments are not rocket science either, and if your local tire shop is experienced with these types of suspensions and you feel comfortable with them, save your money and steer clear of the dealer's inflated prices. $160 for a 20-minute spin balance job... LOL. Some dentists on this forum are cheaper than that!

 

[phil.]

http://www.cerroneseuropean.com/[/url]

 

[orbeamike]

Thanks Umberto,
It's good to know about "tight tolerance mode" for future alignment. The shop I took to did not use any diagnostic equipment to put the car in proper setup. The original OEM tires have no more than few thousand miles left, once the new tires are installed I will shop for a place that can do proper alignment.
Also thanks to Phil on Cerroneseuropean, I will give them a call on future services. I guess 20 minutes drive isn't really that far......I am just spoiled living in an area with just about everything accessible all within 10 miles radius.

Best,

Mike

 

[fixthedoor]

umbertob:

What do you mean "using diagnostics?" Does this mean the shop must have special equipment to access diagnostics mode? ....or?

Perry

 

[umbertob]

They don't have to use diagnostics (except for dealers and some indy shops, who can afford Land Rover's IDS?) and/or put the car in that mode, but it helps in the alignment process. Here are the alignment procedures a dealer would follow for our cars, from the shop manual: Four wheel alignment procedures. Steering geometry specs and tolerances: Alignment specs.

 

[fixthedoor]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mark_CT]

This kind of info needs to be referenced in a sticky.

I'm not saying you need to sticky this post but at least have one post with things like this in it that references good posts like this one.

 

[jbrac25]

If you guys are willing to drive down to Ventura a friend of mine whos a service tech for LR does work on his off time. PM me if your interested in getting a deal he does awesome work and has prices usually nowhere near even the independent shops and obviously has access to dealer diagnostics.

 

[orbeamike]

I took my RRS to Cerrones European for its 1st oil change outside dealership maintenance. I also inquired about tire alignment and setting in "diagnostic mode", since they don't do wheel alignment in house they are not aware of such setting.
They did mention that to prevent the RRS from settling in ride height in parked mode just open the door before turning the engine off. Does it really work for alignment?

Mike

 

[Alboogie7]

Can folks please post their experience in dealing with http://www.cerroneseuropean.com/

I am in the same position as Mike and live in San Jose, CA but I do work in Redwood City so it works out well. How are they in terms of service, turn-around time and pricing?

Thanks

Alex

 

[Tom]

I used to live in Menlo Park a bought used 2000 Range Rover. I took it to Cerrone's for a PPI and they failed to diagnose a faulty differential about which I specifically asked about as it was making a noticeable humming noise. After buying the car, I invested many thousands more after the differential and a couple other less signifiacnt things were fixed that they also failed to find. Conversely, they had tried to sell me on a full engine reseal when all it turned out to need were a few small oil leaks from simple things like valve cover gaskets. Hopefully things have changed there, but in my experience they appeared to be diagnostically incompetent at best and prone to suggest unnecessary repairs at worst.

 

[phil.]

i've been taking my RRS to cerrone's for years. they host lrrforums.com and have built quite a nice online community over there for all LR enthusiasts - mostly disco and RRC/P38 guys but the LR3 owners are growing. frank and tony have been working on LRs for years 20+ so they're very familiar with the entire lineup. frank drives that big yellow D90 on 35s while his son has a lifted DI. tony's got a FFRR, a DII, and an LR3. so you can see that they drink their own kool aid so to speak. they've been very instrumental in establishing NCLR not only as a club sponsor, but also serving as officers and even doing small things like making breakfast at the annual club event. from time to time, they'll even bring in guest speakers from vendors like ARB and sponsor group guys on their site.

service-wise, they've got a loyal following throughout the bay area with folks traveling as far as napa, livermore and santa cruz to get to cerrone's. they'll do custom work - i.e. they installed my rover specialties sliders and did minor trimming to get my front skid plate installed w/o the winch. i usually get stuff done on the same day unless they find things last minute and can't get parts. they can usually source parts from LR RWC if they don't have it in stock themselves. they have a few LR loaners or may spring for a rental. i can't really comment on pricing other than it's cheaper than LR RWC. don't have the context compared to other indy shops. they are an approved LR Assured provider so they can handle your extended warranty claims. at my 75k check up, frank did notify me of some seals that are starting to seep that we should take care of before my warranty expires.

bottom line is there is no better choice for an indy LR shop in the bay area. check out lrrforums.com for more opinions.