Hi there - can anyone recommend a decent independent garage in Kent? Had a look online and have seen Landmark's and RCV however have never dealt with them before and a glossy website means nothing in reality.
Have recently bought a TDV8 which i had for a week before numerous warning lights appeared - luckily it was covered under warranty and was shipped over to Harwoods main dealership but these clowns have had the car 2 months ( yes 2 months!!) and are useless so for the future I'm looking to use a specialist who actually knows what they are doing.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hi- I use AHL engineering nr Maidstone, highly recommend them

Where are you in Kent?

I have used these as they have a couple of ex JLR mechanics there so know what they are doing
https://www.ansellsservicecentre.co.uk/

or.... i have heard these are good
https://www.ahlengineering.co.uk/index.html
https://gigglepin4x4.net/

Thanks for the leads gents - I'm based just South of Ashford so both AHL and Ansell's are similar distances from here.
Once I get mine back from the dealership I'll arrange to get it booked in for a gearbox oil change.

If you go for Ansells ask for Jason or Dan, i asked them how much for a gearbox flush, think they said around £300

Spangler wrote:

Hi there - can anyone recommend a decent independent garage in Kent? Had a look online and have seen Landmark's and RCV however have never dealt with them before and a glossy website means nothing in reality.
Have recently bought a TDV8 which i had for a week before numerous warning lights appeared - luckily it was covered under warranty and was shipped over to Harwoods main dealership but these clowns have had the car 2 months ( yes 2 months!!) and are useless so for the future I'm looking to use a specialist who actually knows what they are doing.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hi Spangler, All
Have you used or had quotes from any of the recommended places,
I am due an oil change soon and the big 7 year service later in the year,
would be nice to hear some feedback on one of them before committing
to a booking with one of them,

Like you I am south of Ashford and am currently considering either;
Ansell's service centre (more of a generic garage, but do remapping)
or
AHL Engineering (Land Rover Independent Specialists)  ===========================================
2012 Range Rover Sport Autobiography 3.0 SDV6 8 speed Automatic
Indus Silver with Hockenheim premium two-tone leather Ebony/Lunar,

My own view would be that you need a garage with specialist knowledge. These are complicated beasts.

Autobiography1969 - the car is booked it into AHL next week as the dealers still haven't resolved the issue and aren't putting enough time into it.
Will update this thread with some feedback on how they did, hopefully that will help you.

Quote:

"Autobiography1969 -
the car is booked it into AHL next week as the dealers still haven't resolved the issue and aren't putting enough time into it.
Will update this thread with some feedback on how they did, hopefully that will help you."

Won't be able to help now I'm afraid.........just had a call from the garage i bought it from who state they aren't going to spend anymore money on repairing it ( they have spend circa 4.5k) and will give me a full refund....real shame as I'm sure it's a simple electrical issue just a bitch to find out what the cause was.
My first foray into RRS ownership lasted a full 6 days before it went wrong......heyho!

That's odd. In that I mean unless they don't sell it on they would surely get the same issue with whoever buys it next ?

Gutted for you mate,
Will you have a second foray into the land of the RRS?

I may pop in there and have a chat one afternoon, as you can tell so much
more in person than you can by phone..

Might just get an oil change while I am there..

Thanks for you offer of help though mate.. ===========================================
2012 Range Rover Sport Autobiography 3.0 SDV6 8 speed Automatic
Indus Silver with Hockenheim premium two-tone leather Ebony/Lunar,

@Fatherjack - They said they would cut their losses and place into auction.....

@Autobiography1969 - I'm gutted too as I loved the car, it matched how I like them to look ( see pic attached),2008, 65k genuine miles, decent history etc however the electrical issue just couldn't be resolved without outweighing the value of the car.
I'm thinking about popping into AHL on Monday afternoon as I have a lot of DTC data sheets that I got from the dealership - if they looked at it and were confident they could fix it at a sensible price I maybe able to bargain a "settlement" price with the garage and take the car back...big risk though....

Will I have a 2nd foray? - wanted a RRS for years and company cars always stopped me from getting one. Lost my job at the beginning of the year so though sod it, I'll get one to make me feel better. Hasn't worked out that way so I'm somewhat deflated and unsure to be honest.

Still odd. No chance they would get anything back at auction like what they would have priced retail plus there is the money they are saying they have spent on repairs ?

Think they have had enough of the saga just as much as I have. Fairly upmarket place who deal in high end vehicles so if they take a hit every now and again I'm sure the coffers can take it.
They have been pretty good to be honest, gave me a loan car throughout and put straight into a main dealer, just came to the point where enough was enough and they want to cut their losses...