How Land Rover Waterford stole my new car experience

I ordered a new Defender late last year and took delivery of the vehicle in January 2024. Towards the end of April (less than 4000 km into my ownership), I started noticing a few rattles in the car namely:

- A rattle on the front passenger door which sounded like a loose speaker, - A rattle coming from the B pillar on the driver’s side, and; - An intermittent rattle in the boot area.

I contacted Land Rover Waterford and a booking was confirmed for the 6th of June 2024. After having the car for 4 days, Land Rover Waterford returned the car to me with the following damages:

1. The front passenger lower door cover had been cracked. 2. The cover underneath the middle speaker had been damaged. 3. The cover around the door handle for opening the door had been damaged. 4. The front left passenger door had oil marks all over the leather. 5. The back right rear passenger door had oil marks all over the leather.

I have pictures of all the damage but could not attached them to this post.

Only the rattle on the front passenger door had been fixed, and all the remaining rattles were still present.

I wrote to Brendon Melville (the exiting Service Manager) and copied Darryl Harper (Dealer Principle) to express my extreme dissatisfaction with how my brand new, more than R2 million car, had been treated with total negligence and *********** workmanship carried out by a technician who clearly had zero experience with working on vehicle interiors, and specifically Defender models. I was asked to bring the car back so they could correct all the issues. I specifically queried what would be done to remove the oil stains from the leather as I did not want any products used that would compromise the leather on the interior or leave any smell. My query was never answered.

The vehicle was returned to the dealership for the 2nd time, and an external company was brought in to repair the interior damages and the front left passenger lower door panel was replaced. There was also a repair done to the right rear passenger door which had a noise when opening, believed to be related to the noise I was hearing from the B pillar on the driver’s side.

When I collected the vehicle, I did a thorough inspection and found that there were still damages to some of the panels and now new damages to the right rear passenger door. A courtesy car was arranged for the following morning, and I brought the vehicle back for the 3rd time.

I collected the vehicle the following day and all the damaged panels had been airbrushed, and all the oil marks removed. This in turn left a strong spray paint smell in the car which faded after a day or two, but the chemical used to remove the oil stains stuck around and my “new car smell” I had been preserving since January was now gone and destroyed.

I tested the car for a few days and the B pillar rattle was still not resolved. I reported it once again and the car was brought in for the 4th time and I was given a loan vehicle.

A week and a bit later, after sending the car to SMH Paint Technics, the body “creaking” was allegedly corrected, and I was told the problem is finally resolved. I collected the car and tested it for a day. The B pillar noise seemed to be gone, but now the seatbelt was making a loud noise when being extended to clip the safety belt in. It seems like the belt had not been installed correctly, and so the car went back for a 5th time to the dealership.

I received the car back the same day and continued testing the car.

To my absolute disgust, a brand-new noise has now developed from the same seatbelt that was incorrectly installed.

My brand-new R2 million+ car has been butchered and broken by *********** technicians at Land Rover Waterford, and I have been ****** of my new car experience and smell. I am now stuck with a car that still has a defect on the seatbelt.

Land Rover Waterford's service department is *********** and negligent and you should not take your vehicle anywhere near there!