As you know from a previous story, The Fast Lane has recently purchased an all-new Defender that broke down with a check engine light after 167 miles. The air-to-fuel ratio is the culprit based on the error codes of the British utility vehicle, but the reliability woes didn’t stop there.
After updating the software of the engine control unit, every single camera stopped working over a faulty module. Land Rover has also replaced the injectors of the four-cylinder turbocharged mill, but the check engine light didn’t go away. Technicians have also tried replacing the ignition coils, but the problem continues to persist.
“Now they’re looking through the air intake,” said Tommy Mica who has also added that “the computer is not communicating to the engineers exactly what is wrong.” In other words, Land Rover still doesn’t know how to fix the issue or what triggers the check engine light. Considering that TFL spent “three or four days” with the car out of a total of 24 days, this whole debacle is starting to get a bit frustrating.
“I can’t tell you how disappointing is to buy a new car and not have it be available to you,” said Roman Mica. “After it’s been there for so long, I’m getting very despondent and I’m wondering if they can actually fix it, right?”
He’s right. Not even Jaguar Land Rover engineers from the United Kingdom could work out the issue, and lest we forget, the Defender is a premium-oriented SUV with quite a peppered sticker price even in entry-level specification. The TFL car, for example, retails in the ballpark of $56,000. Plenty of automakers have something to offer at that price point, alternatives such as loaded Broncos or Wranglers.
The Defender with the base engine isn’t exactly efficient either. 18 miles to the gallon on the combined cycle from 2.0 liters of displacement, a turbo, and four cylinders is so and so by many accounts. For an additional $12k, Land Rover is much obliged to level up to a turbo straight-six that can’t do better than 19 mpg even though it's mild hybrid.
“Now they’re looking through the air intake,” said Tommy Mica who has also added that “the computer is not communicating to the engineers exactly what is wrong.” In other words, Land Rover still doesn’t know how to fix the issue or what triggers the check engine light. Considering that TFL spent “three or four days” with the car out of a total of 24 days, this whole debacle is starting to get a bit frustrating.
“I can’t tell you how disappointing is to buy a new car and not have it be available to you,” said Roman Mica. “After it’s been there for so long, I’m getting very despondent and I’m wondering if they can actually fix it, right?”
He’s right. Not even Jaguar Land Rover engineers from the United Kingdom could work out the issue, and lest we forget, the Defender is a premium-oriented SUV with quite a peppered sticker price even in entry-level specification. The TFL car, for example, retails in the ballpark of $56,000. Plenty of automakers have something to offer at that price point, alternatives such as loaded Broncos or Wranglers.
The Defender with the base engine isn’t exactly efficient either. 18 miles to the gallon on the combined cycle from 2.0 liters of displacement, a turbo, and four cylinders is so and so by many accounts. For an additional $12k, Land Rover is much obliged to level up to a turbo straight-six that can’t do better than 19 mpg even though it's mild hybrid.