Some of Land Rover's UK dealers have allegedly been told to fit non-genuine parts, while one magazine claims a JLR manager suggested used parts could ease the backlog
Owning a car from a brand with a terrible reputation for reliability is one thing, but you’d at least hope that dealers could fix your expensive luxury SUV when it does go wrong. Instead, Land Rover and Range Rover owners are discovering that the company is in the middle of a crippling parts shortage that has left thousands of vehicles off the road, unable to be fixed. Rangerover Landrover
As many as 10,000 JLR vehicles were off the road in the UK at one point in October due to the backlog and dealers were running out of both courtesy cars and space to store customers’ broken vehicles. The situation got so bad that one insider told Autocar that JLR had instructed dealers to use non-genuine parts to get idling workshops moving again and to help clear the long list of cars waiting to be repaired.
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The magazine also reported that one JLR senior manager had suggested technicians use second-hand parts and says it spoke to one Eoque owner whose car was repaired with a refurbished, rather than new, engine, though Car Dealer Magazine, which first uncovered the backlog, says the dealers it spoke to said used parts had not been fitted. Some JLR customers who contacted Car Dealer after its original story told the title their cars had been off the road for as long as nine months.
JLR CEO Adrian Mardell admitted to Autocar that the company had messed up, and explained that the problems stemmed from the firm’s decision to consolidate its 18 parts supply sites into one giant warehouse.
“To be very, very clear, this is something we are really unhappy about, and just like the challenges with vehicles being stolen, this is something right at the top of this organisation,” Mardell said.
The JLR veteran told the publication that the number of cars off the road awaiting parts had been cut from 10,000 to 5,000, but suggested the situation wouldn’t be fully resolved until the early part of 2024.
Would you let a dealer’s service department fit non-genuine or used parts to your car if it meant you could get it back on the road sooner? Leave a comment and let us know.
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