JLR Timing Chain Time Bomb

I bought a 2014 2l petrol Range Rover Evoque for my wife. In 2020, the car started doing strange things like moving forward when put into park (auto box). At the last service, we were told this was due to a battery that had to be replaced (?). The car had every service at the dealers. At 104 000km (in Dec 2020), the timing chain broke and I was quoted R110 000 in damages. This is where the horrors start creeping in..... a quick search on the internet revealed a world-wide issue with timing chains breaking in these and other engines in this manufacturer's ranges (Land Rover, Jaguar and Range Rovers are affected). Also, there was an apparent world wide problem with the cars moving even though they were put in park! The first question to the dealer was how this was possible when I had all the services done with them.....his answer was that the chain was supposed to last the lifetime of the engine and hence, is not stipulated for replacement after a certain distance covered! In other words, there is NOTHING I could have done to prevent this. More searching showed that Range Rover manuals put the life expectancy of the chain at 150 000 miles (just over 240 000km) but they were seemingly breaking at less than 50% of this "design" life expectancy (only 104 000 km in my case). It gets ever more juicy -- in America, Jaguar Land Rover is involved in a class action lawsuit with clients that had suffered damage due to these breaking chains. JLR had sent memos to their dealerships about these failures and had redesigned replacement parts....but never told clients or recalled the cars! I contacted JLR and was appointed a contact person who did nothing to change the situation. JLR was offering to cover 20% of the cost and nothing more (I tried to get this increased, but to no avail -- remember the car had just done 104 000km!). Then, I discovered that JLR did something else that reeks of a company hanging consumers out to dry --- In June 2020, JLR changed the system by which they evaluated after warranty claims. Bear in mind that they were fully aware of these timing chains breaking and specifically breaking at less than 50% of designed spec. Well, in June 2020, they changed the system of assistance or compensation from a distance travelled or engine time worked, to simple time lapsed. If my car had developed this issue in June 2020, JLR would have covered 80% of the cost.... But now, under the lapsed time (whether the engine worked or not), they are only willing to cover 20%. How convenient for a company fully aware of this problem! (Its easy to see that a simple calculation using average distances travelled by the average consumer would put the time for large volume breakages squarely around 5 years after purchase if you work on about 50% life expectancy distance for the chain). More digging on Google also lead us to more court cases with JLR because of Range Rovers suddenly moving forward even though the car was parked. In the one instance a woman died (specifically the ones with the "Dial" gear switch (as is the case in my car)! So, JLR knows about their design flaws, but fully intends for this harm to be carried by their customers. NEVER was I informed to change the timing chain or that it may fail - again, with them fully aware of its potential to fail. NEVER was I told of this possible problem and then, when the cost pressure was piling up due to their failing engines, JLR went and changed the compensation system to dodge the bullet and leave their customers squarely in the lurch! Premium car company...?? Never will my family or friends deal with these people and hopefully you may also learn something from this. If you own a JLR Product manufactured between 2012 and 2014, you MUST investigate the possibility that you may be driving with an engine that will leave you deeply out of pocket with a car company washing its hands..... (especially if your distance travelled has now started exceeding 100 000km). PLEASE do some basic searches on Google to verify what I have said here and if you know people looking at buying from JLR, at least let them know the facts before committing. Jaguar Land Rover is most certainly NOT A PREMIUM CAR COMPANY!

I now have to weigh up paying R80 000 to fix the car and then trade it in as soon as possible on an Audi or such or, taking them to court. R80 000 in legal costs will likely be swallowed within the first couple of meetings.... JLR knows this and as a result, refuses to pay a dime more than just 20% of this damage even though I purchased the car from a JLR dealer and had every service diligently done with the dealer. How nice to be able to strong-arm your loyal customer while the internet is full of them having full knowledge of this issue..... Is there not a legal company out there somewhere that could cobble together a class action suit here in SA? I am convinced there are lots more people out there suffering like this because the day the car was towed in, the mechanic told me...."they all do this....(break timing chains)"!