From XC60 to Porsche Macan or BMW X3?

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by NigelDay

VERY fast, but with those wheels ???
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/jaguar/...rce=newsletter

They're 20" wheels.

[NigelDay]

Originally Posted by raymondcoia

They're 20" wheels.

I can't find any reference to actual wheel size in the article or on the web, but they certainly look like very low profile tyres. If indeed they are 20" (not 21/22"), I wonder why ?

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by NigelDay

I can't find any reference to actual wheel size in the article or on the web, but they certainly look like very low profile tyres. If indeed they are 20" (not 21/22"), I wonder why ?

The size of the tyres are 255/35 ZR20.

[Arianne]

Hello folks,

Here’s my latest update on our ownership of our D300 Velar after one month and just under 3,000 miles.

Canal narrow boats and the Range Rover Velar

First, I need to share a story of my 1998 narrow-boat holiday on the Oxfordshire Canal. Reading this will help you understand the dynamic of the Velar, especially when comparing it to the F-Pace or Macan.

Back in the summer of 1998 we hired a beautifully appointed, very loooong narrow boat called Enterprise. We had a wonderful time with it, except for the first three days. At the beginning, after overcoming the knee shaking fear of manoeuvring this massive boat through the locks, all I did was bang my head and knock my elbows throughout the day as I moved up and down the boat. It was annoying.

And then, on the third day (as Hazel O’Connor would sing), I remembered in the evening that I had had a great day, hadn’t injured myself and wondered why. The reason is that the boat had beaten me into submission. Instead of living my life at the pace of the M40 motorway I had adjusted to the serene life of canal boating. By the time we handed Enterprise back and climbed into our car, I was completely relaxed - just what a holiday should achieve. Sadly, the M40 motorway put an end to that within a few miles!


What’s the connection?
In simple terms, after almost a month of ownership, our Velar (we call her Holly), has reprogrammed me! Holly has told me that she isn’t an F-Pace, nor is she a Porsche Macan or a Jaguar XJ. She is a Velar and she is unique.

I have learned that Holly can be hustled at speed on twisty roads. Select ‘dynamic mode’ and the ‘S’ option on the gearbox and she will oblige. But at the end of the journey, as you get out, Holly says “Do you really want to travel like that all of the time? I am a RR Velar. I can be driven fast and hard if you want but I have a much better proposition for you. Let me waft you to your destination in complete and utter comfort. Not the wallowing, disconnected experience of soft SUVs but a purposeful drive which everyone in the cabin will enjoy. Relax, listen to my wonderful sound stage through the Meridian system, sink back into my leather heated seats, place your hands on my heated steering wheel and take a moment out to enjoy the journey. And, if you do close in on the legendary Nissan Micra being driven at 40mph on the rural road, I promise to overtake so quickly you won’t notice how long you are on the wrong side of the A7 or A68. I am effortless”, says Holly.

And so, having understood that Holly is neither a better built F-Pace, nor a Mercedes GLC...... I have come to love her, as has the rest of the family. My friends are stunned by the cabin, especially at night.

As you can tell, the last week or so has been a time of bonding with our new car, understanding the technology and allowing it to sink down from my conscious brain to the unconscious - always a good place.

Meanwhile, special mention must go to Amellia at Jaguar Land Rover Customer Relations Centre. This poor lady has agreed to take my case and manage it along with my dealer - the issue of the rubbing noise on the offside front wheel. Holly is booked in for her ‘sound audition’ on 6 November, the rejection window has been extended (let’s hope we don’t need to use this option) and we have a Velar as our courtesy car for the duration of the booking. Amelia has sent me an email and made it clear that this “is certainly not Land Rover’s idea of a great customer experience’ and they will get it resolved to our satisfaction. So far, I cannot fault either JLR CRC or my dealer. For Holly’s sake, I hope they can fix it otherwise I will be asking if Holly has a younger sister!

By the way, I am getting there on the Meridian system front, as you may have guessed. My son, who is no audiophile, sat with me and just told me the sound settings he prefers. He is no perfectionist but, as embarrassing as it is for me to admit it, his settings actually really work for the system, my music and my ear. Meanwhile, the USB connection has stabilised somewhat. It’s not perfect but good enough and we have a workaround when we need it.

And finally, this ‘Conversion on the Road to Damascus’ with Holly in the last week isn’t completely of my own originality. I read this new Top Gear report on the Velar on Wednesday and it really chimed for me. It makes sense, it’s spot on. I share it with you then....

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/...ge-rover-velar

Have a lovely weekend folks. It’s five-aside football for me tonight with my Activity Bracelet, friends staying with us over the weekend and a busy November ahead.

Arianne

[AngloScot]

Just a question, if I may,

Do the lads you play 5 aside football know you write these posts?

Only that I am originally from Scotland and trust me I can just see the lads "ripping the ****" out of you. Come to think of it, they would down here as well.

Sorry if I have offended you, but I just can't believe what I am reading half the time.

[Arianne]

Originally Posted by AngloScot

Just a question, if I may,

Do the lads you play 5 aside football know you write these posts?

Only that I am originally from Scotland and trust me I can just see the lads "ripping the ****" out of you. Come to think of it, they would down here as well.

Sorry if I have offended you, but I just can't believe what I am reading half the time.

Happy to respond, but could you expand a bit before I do?

Arianne

[isleaiw]

So Arianne - 2.5 months in, how is the search for a solution going? And how is the car behaving / are you finding it now the novelty has worn off?

Just looking back at the opening few posts of the thread, it's a fair jump from a £40+k option to the £70k final sticker price....

[Arianne]

Originally Posted by isleaiw

So Arianne - 2.5 months in, how is the search for a solution going? And how is the car behaving / are you finding it now the novelty has worn off?

Just looking back at the opening few posts of the thread, it's a fair jump from a £40+k option to the £70k final sticker price....

Honestly? I haven’t got on very well TBH And it painful to think that this is the outcome when, as you say, we pushed the budget up to £70k and went all-out to order the exact car of our dreams (within the limits of our finite budget).

You asked and I have always tried to be balanced in the reporting of my experience on this thread. Some folk only talk about the highs and lead others to believe that it is only them that have life’s bumps in the road. I believe in telling it like it is, maybe there’s value to others and maybe I will learn from it better that way?

Back in November / December, I received emails from my dealer and from Amelia at JLR Customer Services clearly stating that the revised bracket for the half-shaft would be produced and that it should be available in the New Year. On this basis, and the offer of a modest goodwill gesture for all of the grief of £2k, I agreed not to reject the car under the CRA, first 30 day rule. That’s because we loved the car and believed them when we were told it would be fixed within a few months, in effect.

Now I have chased them up. It’s March and I think the definition of New Year extends only a few months into 2018? Amelia says they no have no idea when the part will be available to the dealer. The dealer is saying the same thing. Thanks very much! I am left with a £70k+ Velar with a noise from its OSF wheel. Promises count for little and they clearly have a different view of the meaning of the terms New Year and Integrity. I worked with them in good faith, now the good faith has vanished.

The whole new car experience has been almost totally spoiled. There have been moments when I have been able to push this all to the back of my mind but, as a general rule, the toxic effect of the many phone calls, emails, meetings with the dealer, family discussions etc. have completely ruined what should have been a magical moment as we acquired what I thought would be the “best car I am likely to ever have prior to retirement”. It was not to be.

We ordered our F-Pace 3.0d S in April 2016, took delivery in March 2017, rejected it for this reason, were in loan cars until September 2017 when our Velar arrived, then realised the replacement car had the same problem, were in loan cars for weeks while it sat in the workshop and now the promise to fix the thing has become a “one day never affair”.

I am at my wits end. Do I reject under the 6mth rule and take the hit? That includes over £1k spent on a set of winter tyres which will be almost worth next to nothing on eBay? Do I go nuclear and write to AutoExpress and ask them for help? Do I go into my dealer Lloyd Kelso and just sit there until someone bothers to give me a coffee and discuss it. Or do I write to the directors of Lloyd Motor Group and beg for their intervention? Or do I just work really, really, really hard to re-train my conscious mind to get a grip and disengage with this issue by just accepting the reality that I have a sub-optimal car? JLR themselves seem to have just walked away.

If you are considering the purchase of a 3.0d V6 version of either the F-Pace or Velar then think very hard. When I drive past my Volvo dealer now........

Any suggestions welcome. The 6mths is up on 23 March.

Arianne

[Chief inspector]

I didn’t really think you would ever be happy with this given you are super sensitive to the issue now, its in the back of our brain.

I would if I were you, get out of it if you can, head over to the smoker barge section of piston heads and buy an old V8 for few grand, run that for 6 months, then think about a return to new vehicles.

I really liked the Velar (other than the sticky out bit on the boot) but it just ends up being well beyond a comfortable budget very quickly.

[SuffolkBoy]

Originally Posted by Arianne

Honestly? I haven’t got on very well TBH

Back in November / December, I received emails from my dealer and from Amelia at JLR Customer Services clearly stating that the revised bracket for the half-shaft would be produced and that it should be available in the New Year.

That’s because we loved the car and believed them when we were told it would be fixed within a few months, in effect.

The whole new car experience has been almost totally spoiled.

Do I go nuclear and write to AutoExpress and ask them for help?

If you are considering the purchase of a 3.0d V6 version of either the F-Pace or Velar then think very hard. When I drive past my Volvo dealer now........

Any suggestions welcome. The 6mths is up on 23 March.

Arianne

Arianne, I feel for you, really I do. I know how much you love your cars.

My thoughts are that if you go to Auto Express (or any other motoring magazines), you are not likely to get a resolution before 23 March, even though you will make the problem public and therefore help other JLR purchasers avoid the larger wheels when speccing their car, it won't necessarily help you.

If the resolution is still months away, you are going to have this issue nagging away at you, spoiling your ownership of what you say is the most you are ever likely to spend on a car before you retire.

You don't say how long you intended to keep the car (if you did in an earlier post, forgive me), but say it is is 3 years, if JLR spend another 6 months finding the resolution, that is a fair chunk of your ownership where you are experiencing this issue.

My view? Reject the car and start looking for a replacement outside of the JLR range.

I know that it took you and the family a long time to come up with the replacement for the XC60, but I think you need to start that process again!

Hopefully these are constructive views for you and the family to consider.

Good luck, and keep us posted.