RRUK
Member Since: 10 Jun 2005
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 2584
 
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| THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT: | |
I have now finished my letter and as you have all been helpful to the cause, I'm sure you'd like to read what I am putting to Landrover. It's very long so I apologise. I have also pasted in the excerts I picked from your comments to bolster the claim.
MDP: I have not pasted in your letter, if you are OK with me doing this let me know, I will of course take out any personal references/address etc
Letter To Land Rover Customer Services
02 September 2006
Mr Brett Phillips
Customer Relations Manager
Customer Relations Department
Land Rover UK
Browns Lane
Allesley
Coventry
CV5 9DR
Ref: Alloy wheel damage:
Dear Mr Phillips
Further to your letter dated 25th August Ref 1-5507981 from your colleague Phil Perry, I hereby enclose as requested a CD with photographs of my alloys wheels showing the recent damage when taken off road.
I would like to address a few key points in your letter if I may:
“It seems apparent that your off road activities are not compatible with the wheels on your vehicle. It may be that at the time you purchased your car that it was not fully understood what activities you intended to pursue off road.”
I can assure you that my off road activities have comprised of taking this “terrifically able” car across general farm land and tracks, grassy fields in winter time, through gateways in fields and more recently, dry moor land tracks and heather. There was nothing difficult or challenging about this terrain. If what you say is true and this is Land Rover’s public stance, then this means that the Range Rover Sport Supercharged is not capable of tackling this type of easy off road terrain without customisation. Therefore, it is not built for purpose as prescribed under the Sales of Goods Act.
There was at the time of purchase, and still is, zero advertising or marketing matter from Landrover to suggest you should not expect this vehicle to be capable off road or, that it will sustain damage unless the wheels and tyres are modified first by the owner. There is also no advertising or marketing media to suggest that potential customers of the ‘Sport Supercharged should expect this model to be any less effective than the TDV6 or 4.4 V8 on their respective rims. I quote from Landrover’s website:
“Range Rover Sport is an exceptional sports tourer that excels on-road and off, delivering awesome power for a thrilling, involving drive. Choose from a Supercharged 4.2 litre V8 390ps/385bhp, naturally aspirated 4.4 litre V8 299ps/295bhp and a technically advanced diesel 2.7 litre V6 190ps/188bhp engine”
Also, referring back to the quote from your letter above, are you saying that the Salesman involved should have questioned me thoroughly before selling me the car as to how I was planning to use it and therefore if it was suitable? If so, then he failed as this was not done, and thus I could argue that I was not fully informed of the vehicle’s limitations prior to purchase.
You then proceed to say:
“Many owners, as you know, keep a separate set of wheels and tyres for their off road activities and it would seem that this may be the solution to your situation”
Whilst I understand that owners of some Land Rover products keep separate sets of wheels and tyres for off road use, I would like to point out that these owners are predominantly entering their vehicles into RTV type trials and weekend off road forays, where they expect to use the full capabilities of the vehicle. Their specific aim is to test the vehicles off road ability. To suggest that as an owner of supposedly the “Best 4x4xFar” I should keep a separate set of wheels and tyres for my ‘Sport Supercharged for when I want to drive down a farm track or across a grass field is completely ludicrous. I would like to ask you, where you think I might store these wheels, how often are you expecting me to swap them, why should I pay this extra money on top of the £58,500 I have already spent and how long do you think it will take me to do this? Your suggestion is quite frankly, absurd.
You then proceed to say:
“…the Sport with its lower profile, would benefit from more robust tyres in the environment you appear to be using it.”
As I am only using this vehicle in the mildest of off road situations (which I am fully willing and able to prove via a site visit to the places this damage has occurred) you are admitting here in writing that the tyres supplied with the standard Supercharged alloy wheels are unsuitable for taking the vehicle off the road in any manner at all. That sounds like an admission of an error in specification by Landrover.
As you will be able to see from the supporting information I have included with this letter, I am not the only Range Rover Sport owner who has had alloy wheel damage, and I’m not the only supercharged owner who thinks the current wheels and tyres are a design flaw. I have included with this letter for your attention the following material:
1.A letter sent to me by fellow Supercharged owner Martin ****** explaining how his wheels are also damaged despite having never taken them off road or damaged them on kerbs. He also supplies supporting photographs which I have included on the enclosed CD.
2.A list of quotes taken from the RRSPORT.CO.UK forum website, the largest single community worldwide of current and potential Range Rover Sport owners, of which I am a moderator (Nearly 800 registered members to date). These quotes are in direct relation to a thread I started explaining the damage to my alloy wheels. They are the members’ personal reactions, experiences of their own wheels and also some experiences of swapping out a 2nd set of wheels.
3.A CD with supporting photographs of my alloy wheels, plus a series of photographs of Martin ******s wheels.
Many members on the RRSPORT.CO.UK web forum have questioned the quality of the standard alloy wheels on the Range Rover Sport, not just the Supercharged. Many are of the opinion the material used is too soft, a theory with which I am inclined to agree. I have had many brands of car with alloy wheels and I’ve never had so many issues as I have with my ‘Sport. They seem to mark and scratch with infinite ease, not even taking into account taking them off road. It is possible to mark them permanently with just your finger nail. This is not acceptable, particularly for a vehicle designed to go off road. It may be that some independent testing of the alloy wheel material needs to take place in order to show how well they are designed in relation to vehicle weight, speed, stress etc.
I would like to point out that I have already written to one international motoring magazine (evo Magazine) as I’m sure you will know about this very issue before. This is when Landrover decided to jump in and replace the wheels on my vehicle. It’s a shame it took that second letter to instigate this, as I had already written to Landrover Customer Services. It would seem that Landrover wished to prevent any further adverse publicity.
I firmly believe that I have a strong and clear legal case, primarily based around the Sales of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) regarding the wheels not being fit for purpose and as you have since pointed out, not being instructed by the salesman at the time of purchase of the vehicle’s limitations. I have absolutely no hesitation in writing to further publications to highlight this issue, including all supporting evidence and written replies from Landrover. There are plenty to choose from however I feel the following list would be a good starting point:
• Land Rover Owner International
• Land Rover Enthusiast
• Land Rover Monthly
• Land Rover World
• evo Magazine (for a follow up)
• The Land Rover Chronicle
• 4X4 Magazine
• Top Gear
• What Car
• The Times Motoring Column
• The Shooting Gazette
• The Shooting Times
• The Field
• www.rangerovers.net
Let’s not forget that the members of the RRSPORT.CO.UK forum and its sister site DISCO3.CO.UK will be very keen to be kept up to date with this issue and my correspondence with Landrover. I might even start my own website specifically focussed on this very issue, with all of my digital images of the damaged wheels, location shots of where the damage took place, testimony from other owners etc.
I would hope that Landrover can suggest a valid and more reasonable solution to this issue. I cannot and have no intention of keeping a second set of wheels for taking my ‘Sport on my local farm tracks, that’s a preposterous notion. I also will not accept that I have to be economically compromised to find a solution to a problem I did not create, but clearly am having to make quite some effort to highlight to you as the manufacturer. I sincerely hope that Landrover take this complaint as 100% serious. A solution needs to be found and I look forward to hearing from you in reply.
Yours sincerely
Adam *********
Address as Above
Enclosed:
Martin ******s supporting letter
Quotes from RRSPORT.CO.UK members
CD containing supporting photographs
Quotes Taken from RRSPORT.CO.CUK Members:
Quotes taken from the RRSPORT.CO.UK web forum: The largest single forum dedicated to owners of the Range Rover Sport.
All of these quotes are taken directly from the forum in relation to my post thread concerning the recent damage to the alloy wheels.
Thread address:
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/post52657.html#52657
My Username on the forum is RRUK:
Member: Bobby (Singapore) Supercharged Owner
“1.Anybody who does serious off roading will have a spare set of appropriate wheels and tyres. He does not have to tell you that.
2. Is he saying that you carry around the aforementioned spare wheels in your RRS and whenever you need to cross a field or leave the tarmac you immediately stop and change to these wheels?
3. Nowhere in the world where the RRS is sold is there any warning that the wheels may not be compatible with certain off road activity.
4. Is the RRS NOT the BEST 4X4XFAR?”
Member: Shmoogle (UK) TDV6 Owner
“Yeah, they're quite badly scuffed for such low-impact "offroading" aren't they....
Not sure if it's comparing like for like or if it's any indicator of alloy quality/hardness, I parked & crossed fields a few times with my M3 19s (lots of NT properties have muddy field-based parking) and I came out of those with no scratches at all. The wife only ever damaged my M3 wheels in genuine kerbing activity.
If it's any consolation my alloys are all scuffed up too and this is just from living in an area where the local roads are primarily little declassified twisties with dirt banks.”
Member: Caz (UK) Supercharged Owner
“I think we have a case under the Trade Description Act. I told the salesman I need a tow bar for my horse trailer, obviously going off tarmac, through muddy fields with half a ton of gee gee behind me. No mention of 'Oh! Can’t do that, better buy a set of off road wheels', along with the 60k price tag.
The Best 4WD by far!! as long as you don't get the wheels muddy.”
Member: Cliff H (UK) Discovery 3 Owner
“What a wonderful load of waffle. As you say RRUK the SC does not come with a warning that it should not be used off road without changing the wheels. End of.
I think LR alloys are very poor quality in general.
They pit very easily with brake dust, the inner wheel is not even sprayed and as per my post last week about my wheels being replaced, the overall finish can be very poor.”
Member: MDP (UK) Supercharged Owner (Martin Perry, as per the supporting letter and photographs)
“RRUK
This annoys me too.
All my alloys are marked [bar one] and the car does not go off road at all * THEY HAVE NOT BEEN KERBED *
I will be more than happy to supply high resolution photos to add to your complaint - to give it more weight.
I will be taking mine into dealer next week or so for its 1st service and will complain bitterly re this matter!”
…..
“Having participated in the exclusive day at Gaydon I can confirm that all the cars used on that day were HST versions of the SUPERCHARGED & they put these cars through hell that day.... they all wore stock 20" rims ...... and I looked at them all .......
ALL WERE DAMAGED / MARKED
However, the point here being that to demonstrate the cars ultimate prowess on & off road including some extreme track driving they stuck with the stock tyres and alloys.”
Member Josh (UK) TDV6 Owner
“Mine hasn't been off road and yet one or two of the wheels have what I can only describe as stone chips in them. Never had this problem before.”
Member: Misery (UK) – Supercharged Owner
“Hi RRUK have just been reading about your alloys (a little late though) I must say I feel for you.
I too have a SC and can't understand how I am getting so much damage to the alloys, I have NEVER had any damage on any of my previous cars all LR by the way. A friend of mine also has a SC and was only complaining abut his alloys the other day, they are all pitted and marked they don't seem to be able to with stand normal road wear and tear let alone some light off road use.”
Member: Jaymann (UK) TDV6 Owner
“Is the RRS not a LR the ‘go anywhere’ vehicle? You spend £60k plus for a 4x4 when you take it off road where it is meant to be designed for and you end up getting wheel damage!
Wheel damage on a set of wheels that you got with the car not knowing that if you take this car off road with these wheel maybe get damaged!
What is that all about? That is not right in my books. I don't know what you lot think but I'm sure most of you will agree with me on this. Why buy it if you can't use it when you get it home?
I don't want to pay £53k for a off road car then when I want to go off road I have to pay £700for a new set of wheels just to go through a muddy field with!
This is bang out of order and this is why I will not take my car off road knowing my wheels will get trashed”
Member: Umbertob (USA) 4.4V8 Owner
“I have a jack and all the tools of the trade, but those heavy wheels take me a good 45 minute to 1 hour to switch on my own. And by the time I am done I need a shower, new clothes and a nap, since the whole switcheroo also makes me very cranky. I could not handle it if I had to do it weekly.”
Member: Bobs-Buggy (UK) Supercharged Owner:
“It takes me 45mins working flat out WITH air tools (swapping 20" for 20")!” L319 D4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 SWB
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Wed Aug 30 2006 10:49am
