Urgent advise needed on a serious Land Rover Evoque brakes malfunction

deaneo4

I urgently need some advise on where I stand in regard to the brakes failing on my Evoque, hence the statement from the AA recovery team
"Main carrier bolt missing causing caliper to grind into wheel. Nearside front caliper hanging off and had cut into the wheel" 
The brakes actually burnt through the mental frame of the wheel and would have been fatal if I was travelling at any degree of speed (8mph at the time)
The car locked and I had to avoid a car in front and of me and when I drove around a corner another car had to brake hard to avoid me as my brake had locked tight to the wheel, hence car would not accelerate!

After waiting a year since I ordered the car, and now had the car from new seven months ago, the supplier has had the vehicle back no less than 4 times now, once for brakes replacement (within the first two months) they stated the brakes were warp and this included a number of other issues, time after time.

I need to know what to do as this is plagued me for the past 7 days:

• The JLR showroom have failed to respond to my requests for a clear examination of the car and provide a report back to me (it was recovered back to their showroom)
• I need to know what I can do legally to raise the issue as when I discuss this with a Lawyer they will not provide any guidance unless I spend C+£200 for a chat, if I knew it would be worthwhile I would book the appointment  
• I'm not after replacing the car, getting my money back or whatever at this stage, they have supplied me with a courtesy car and therefore I'm sure they will want me to make a decision on the next steps for them, that way they don't have to bother with trying to work a way out
• Additional info - The car is on a £500 per month PCP, the customer service is diabolical and the experience of having a new car has bypassed me as I have mainly driven cars that are someone else owned and not mine 

I am at me wits end and would really appreciate anyone's guidance on my rights etc.


 

Grey_Critic

Forget talking to the dealer - you need to contact JLR Customer Service in the first Instance - Phone: 0345 303 2303 -

Based on what you say - "Main carrier bolt missing causing caliper to grind into wheel. Nearside front caliper hanging off and had cut into the wheel" 

This is either a serious defect/manufacturing fault or something done incorrectly whilst in the workshop.In another post there is discussion about vehicle recalls - depending on what is found during the investigation it may need reportiong to DVLA?

Do you have Legal Cover on your insurance? I

Mildly_Miffed

The mechanic who last worked on the brakes failed to properly tighten a bolt. Human error happens.

The garage should rectify it all for you, free of charge. If you've got a courtesy car in the meantime, what else do you want?

It would have started making a grinding noise long before any real damage occurred. I presume you stopped and investigated immediately?
The brake would have been clearly visible through the wheel at the roadside, and a quick visual comparison to the opposite wheel would have shown the problem to any driver without mechanical knowledge.
Surely you didn't then try to drive further...?

molerat

As above.  Likely human error.  No major damage has been caused, just a brake caliper, new wheel and a few odds and ends.  I doubt it "burnt through the wheel", just scraped it away.  Likely to get a  free service out of it - that is what I got when my clutch failed, luckily on their forecourt, when they didn't do the hose up tight after moving it out of the way to do some warranty work.

Grey_Critic

Love the way some are dismissing this as a minor problem. The OP says it was a low speed failure - hate to think of the consequences if it had been at notorway speeds.

A mechanic failing to fir a bolt - someone is Physic then. I repeat such a failure should be reported to JLR - you cannot make asumptions when you nget such a failure - when I investigated such things isn was considered serious Not Minor.

diystarter7

Grey_Critic said:

Love the way some are dismissing this as a minor problem. The OP says it was a low speed failure - hate to think of the consequences if it had been at notorway speeds.

A mechanic failing to fir a bolt - someone is Physic then. I repeat such a failure should be reported to JLR - you cannot make asumptions when you nget such a failure - when I investigated such things isn was considered serious Not Minor.

Hi

The two posters you refer to, I totally agree with them. Mistakes do happen and its happend to my car, my first car, the mechain did not properly connect the handbrake cable after fixing the axel on my Capri - human error is just that, we can all forget.

It's how the garge deals with the mistake, customer care that maters.

Many cars, especially those with more than a few gadgets have niggle faults etc

Mt brand new GLS bought a few years ago - the parking sensors did not work first thing in the morning when the car was left out in winter and parked up againt garage you had to turn it on and off to get it going they looked at it twice and new sorted it but as it does not happen durig summer, or when parked awar by a few inches from wall in dampy weather, it was no big deal

The I think a nox sensor went on it, repalced FoC and i was given another gls in the meantime

Small problem with pan roof, sorted while I waited,

When the car was a few weeks old, the high temp warning light came on - they did a full check, picked up the car and ledt me one - conclusion must have been some sort of airlock - never happened again

So things can go wrong - 3 of the 4 concerns, most people would not have bothered to take the car back.

With the OP, its not good re brakes, but something like this, you will nocitce a nosie etc and if my car is making noise, I will drive very carefully to safe place and check and then decide if driven would there be more damage.

Main dealers are on the whole very good if you speak to the right person - so OP, give them a chance and if no satisfaction then take it to the top

OP - if offered, would you take a new model like for like or do you want a different model etc? Thngs like this can put you off, but who is to say the new car wont have a little problem etc

I wish you all the best and hope its sorted.

Grey_Critic

Mechanics do make mistakes - Omce had one to to bring a car into my office but people are assuming the fault is the mechanic - JLR would not be doing their job if they did not investigate this.

 I once had a case of an ambulance brake failure whilst on Blues/Twos - Contaminated brake fluid was found to be the cause - brake fluid should have been changed but due to brake cylinders having been replaced someone (not us) had assumed that they did not need to do the change - Ford still insisted on a full audit trail of service/repairs to ensure it was not a manufacturing fault.

Brakes are a safety item and JLR cannot just assume it was a lazy mechanic.

Nobbie1967

Not sure what you are asking for here. JLR will repair the car and have given you a courtesy car while this is done. You have said you don’t want a replacement car or your money back, so it appears that what JLR are doing will satisfy you. They may not have assessed the car yet, so hopefully will explain what has happened once this is done. As someone has said, they should throw in a goodwill gesture.

If you are after compensation of some kind, presumably what you consulted the lawyer about, you will need to quantify what loss you have suffered.