Myself and my son in law both have 60 plate v6 sports. He purchased his 6 months ago with 14,000 miles from a dealer (not a land rover dealer). He just took it into the official land rover dealer I have always used with no problems at all. His fridge had packed up, he had drive line shunt and the car would occasionally go into limp mode with a warning on the dash. The dealer told him it needed a new wiring loom and ecu, they replaced the fridge ect.

He had a call today from the dealer saying that the ECU had been tampered with which voids the warranty. The are quoting a bill for around £3600 for him to pay.

Firstly, how do we even know they haven't tampered with the ECU?

Why would they have started the other work if they suspected the ECU enough to send photos to Land Rover?

I have told him not to pay it, seems ridiculous to me! Why would anyone mess with an ECU on a sport well within it warranty period?

I would appreciate you thoughts on this.

I think I would be going back to the supplying dealer !

If supplying dealer had sold it on basis of manufacturer warranty then go back to them.

If its had an aftermarket tune - does happen even on new cars - that is done via software so not sure if they call that tampering with it.

If someone has physically tampered with ECU I would be worried

Good luck for you son in law Paul

L405 Loire Blue
Swift Conqueror 645
Abarth 500c

PJB

Thanks for that. I can guess the reply from the supplying dealer. They will almost certainly say that it must have been done since it left them.

What possible reason would anyone have to tamper with an ECU on a car well within warranty?

Remap for more power is the only reason I could think of. Considered it myself with my car, but on the advice of the good fellows here I decided against it - glad I did now!

Which ECU is it that has been tampered with? There are seven in a V6. Seems strange that anyone would open an ecu as "chipping" them is done by OBD port.
I would think the dealer probably pulled the sealed sticker off while removing it?
As said, go back to the supplying dealer and let them take in the fight. Quite a few Land River dealers are getting cars flashed or chipped so would argue that one. An ECU issue isn't going to cause a loom failure, more likely the other way round. Might also be prudent to ask the repairing dealer to supply a warrantee history from the system to see what's been played with prior to your ownership. 2x TDV6. SE and HSE. Both returned to sender with issues👀
TDV8 Sport HSE...... Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!!
Now rolling in MY10 Fullfat TDV8 Vogue. Slammed it to go round corners🙈
Cruising daily #56 mph in a Volvo V8. 😱
Lots of other toys in the cupboard...😜

Remap for more power is the only reason I could think of. Considered it myself with my car, but on the advice of the good fellows here I decided against it - glad I did now!

What a nightmare

You need more clarification from dealer on why this was not picked up earlier and what they mean by tampering

I would contact trading standards if selling dealer refuse to sort it out

It is certainly not your fault but this is why I buy from a LR dealers just in case there is a dispute like this in the hope they would sort it between themselves

The sceptic in me thinks this sounds like LR yet again trying to get out of warranty work and coming up with crazy prices to fix it  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

Thanks for your replies,

LR are saying the "Main" ECU has been opened, and re-sealed with a black sealant. They are wanting more hours labour to open and thoroughly inspect the ECU to see why it has ever been re-sealed. (At my cost obviously).

Confirmation from the previous and only other owner, he never had any problems with the vehicle or any repairs. And certainly never had any form of "Chip" or "Re-map".

I have asked the supplying dealer to call LR and see what they can sort which he said he will do for me as "A good will gesture".

Don't really know where to go from here, I personally think the repairing LR garage are trying to dive out of covering any costs.

It sounds like there has been a problem in the past and someone has opened the ECU then resealed it - if it was done by a LR dealer which you would expect while under warranty there should be records on their system

Its times like this when LRCS should be there for you but unfortunately they may not be any use but you could give them as try  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

I have called both LR garages who are in the Service book, and none of these touched the ECU nor can they understand why any would open the ECU.

LRCS told me they can only go by what the garage doing the repair work has told and shown them in the email photos (which i have also now requested from them and will post for your thoughts when i receive them)..

Out of interest, does LR have a central database of what work has been carried out on what car?

Eg if I rang them up could they tell me where it's been serviced and what warranty work it's had done in the past and where?

I was informed that they do not, they told me they are all independently logged.

Sounds correct: I had some work done in a different garage to my previously usual one and they didn't know that certain work had been done previously. They had to ask the other garage what had been done, what parts were changed etc.

Seems daft that it should be so Heath-Robinson but that's LR for you! 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

if you PM your VIN i can bring a list of what warranty work has been done agaisnt the vehicle. and where warranty work was carried out.

i don't understand why any dealer would have opened up the ECU, LR certainly wouldn't attempt to repair them one especially if under warranty. Sophie Alltoft

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Here are the photo's that the repairing dealer sent to Land Rover for the approval that was denied:

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