2016 Land Rover LR4

The contact owns a 2016 Land Rover LR4. The contact stated after reversing, he attempted to shift into drive(D) however, the gear shifter would not move and remained seized in reverse(R). There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle. The contact could not restart the vehicle as the gear shifter would not move into park(P). Upon investigating the issue online, the towing agent who arrived at the scene detached half of the console to reach the emergency release cable to move the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the electronic switch needed to be replaced; however, the part was not available. The contact contacted several unknown dealers who confirmed that the part was not available. The vehicle was diagnosed but not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

GAS TANK DUST COVER CRACKED, LEAKING FRANK FUEL OVER THE TANK, ONTO VEHICLE COMPONENTS AND ONTO THE FLOOR WITH ASSOCIATED FUMES. VEHICLE LEAKED FUEL WHILE STATIONARY IN THE GARAGE, LEAKING FUMES INTO THE HOUSE. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LAND ROVER FOR REPAIRS. REPAIR TEAM NOTED THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND THE COVER WAS RE-DESIGNED. I WAS CHARGED APPROXIMATELY $800 FOR THE PART AND LABOR. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THIS MAKE AND MODEL.

MY 16 YEAR OLD SON WAS DRIVING THE 2016 LR4 THAT WE PURCHASED "PRE-CERTIFIED" LESS THAN 3 WEEKS AGO FROM FIELD'S LR IN NORTHBROOK ILLINOIS. GOING 68 ON THE HIGHWAY, THE WHEEL STARTED TO LOCK UP, THE GAS PEDDLE FAILED, AND SMOKE STARTED COMING THROUGH THE VENTS. HE WAS ABLE TO KEEP A COOL HEAD FOR A NEW DRIVER AND GET TO SIDE OF ROAD BY SHEER LUCK THAT THE ROAD VEERED TO THE LEFT. ONCE IN PARK MORE SMOKE CAME THROUGH VENTS AND HE AND HIS FRIEND JUMPED OUT AND RAN, WHILE THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO CATCH FIRE AND EVENTUALLY BLOW UP, AS SHOWN IN THE VIDEO BELOW. POST EXPLOSION PICTURES ATTACHED TOO.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 LAND ROVER LR4. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY SHUT OFF. MOMENTS LATER, THE ENGINE WAS RESTARTED AND THE VEHICLE OPERATED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LAND ROVER PASADENA (3485 EAST COLORADO BLVD, PASADENA, CA) TO BE DIAGNOSED, BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED AND NO MECHANICAL FAILURE CODES WERE DISPLAYED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE, BUT NO ASSISTANCE WAS OFFERED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 35,000. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN.

WHILE DRIVING WITH MY FAMILY ON THE HIGHWAY, THE FOLLOWING ALERTS STARTED TO DISPLAY: CHARGING SYATEM FAULT; ABS FAULT; STABILITY CONTROL NOT AVAILABLE; EMERGENCY BRAKE ASSIST NOT AVAILABLE; TRANSMISSION FAULT. THE CAR THEN SUDDENLY DROP THE SPEED FROM ABOUT 45 MPH TO ABOUT 10 MPH, CAUSING A NEAR MISS WITH THE CARS BEHING US.THE ENGINE STARTED TO SHAKE AND VIBRATE AND SOUND ROUGH. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER BEFORE THE ENGINE QUIT AT ALL, AND THEN THE MESSAGE "LOW BATTERY, PLEASE START ENGINE" APPEARED. TRIED TO RE-START BUT THERE WAS NO REACTION ON THE CAR.

CAR WAS RUNNING, BUT IN PARK (PARKING BRAKE OFF). I WENT TO THE BACK TO GET SOMETHING OUT (I WAS DROPPING SOMETHING OFF AT A NEIGHBOR'S) AND THE BACK TAILGATE WOULDN'T OPEN. WENT BACK, OPENED DOOR AND PRESSED UNLOCK BUTTON ON DOOR. STILL WOULDN'T OPEN (WHICH I REALIZE NOW PROBABLY IS BECAUSE THE CAR WASNT ACTUALLY IN PARK). I THOUGHT IT WAS BECAUSE THE CAR WAS ON, SO I REACHED IN TO PRESS BUTTON TO TURN IT OFF. CAR BEGAN QUICKLY ROLLING BACK DOWN THE DRIVEWAY. I JUMPED IN AND PRESSED THE BRAKE, FORTUNATELY NO INJURY, BUT VERY SCARY. STRANGE, BECAUSE USUALLY WHEN YOU TURN IT OFF IT PUTS ITSELF INTO PARK IF YOU HAVENT TURNED THE DIAL TO DO IT YOURSELF. COULD HAVE BEEN VERY BAD, AND SO THANKFUL NO ONE WAS HURT.

WIRING HARNESS OF TWO YEAR OLD LAND ROVER LR4 LIKELY CONSTRUCTED OF SOY WIRES. RODENTS ARE ATTRACTED TO THE WIRES AND EAT THEM REGULARLY. THIS CAUSES REDUCED SAFETY THROUGH A COMPROMISED ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. MANUFACTURER AND DEALER REFUSES TO RECALL VEHICLES AND RE-INSTALL WITH APPROPRIATE AND SAFE WIRING. FURTHER, BOTH MANUFACTURER AND DEALER PUSH COST OF REPAIR ($1200) TO CONSUMER AND WILL NOT HONOR WARRANTY. CONSTRUCTING A WIRING HARNESS OUT OF MATERIALS ATTRACTIVE TO RODENTS APPEARS TO THIS ENGINEER TO BE A CLEAR DESIGN DEFECT THAT PUTS DRIVERS, PASSENGERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC AT RISK. WOULD LIKE TO SEE MANUFACTURER RECALL VEHICLES WITH RODENT COMPROMISED WIRING AND REPLACE WITH NEW, RODENT RESISTANT WIRING. THIS IS COMMON PROBLEM KNOWN TO ALL MANUFACTURERS. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS AGAINST VARIOUS MANUFACTURERS. LAND ROVER KNOWS, OR SHOULD KNOW, THE DANGER OF THIS TYPE OF WIRING. THIS PROBLEM APPEARED IN MY VEHICLE DURING NORMAL USE AND NORMAL STORAGE IN A SUBURBAN DRIVEWAY. I DO NOT TRAIN, BREED, WORK TO ATTRACT, OR DO RESEARCH WITH RODENTS.

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF EACH OTHER IN JULY AND THEN NOVEMBER OF 2017 A SMALL PEBBLE HITTING THE WINDSHIELD WHILE DRIVING ON THE EXPRESSWAY CAUSED AN INSTANT SHATTERING CRACK THROUGHOUT THE WINDSHIELD. THIS WAS NOT A DIVOT OR NICK BUT A SHATTERING CRACK IN EACH CASE. THIS WAS ALSO NOT SOME LARGE OBJECT THAT HIT THE WINDSHIELD BUT STANDARD TYPE OF MINOR DEBRIS THAT FLEW UP FROM THE ROAD. I REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA WHO SAID THEY WOULD TAKE NO ACTION AND ADVISED ME TO NOTIFY THE APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY ON THE NATURE OF THE UNSAFE PRODUCT DEFECT THAT I HAD EXPERIENCED WHICH I AM NOW DOING. I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH AN INCIDENT OCCUR IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF OPERATING AUTOMOBILES AND BELIEVE THE NATURE OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WINDSHIELD ON THIS CAR IS FLAWED TO HANDLE NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS.

BODY ELECTRICAL: HATCH FAILED TO STAY OPEN AND STRUCK MY HEAD CAUSING A CONCUSSION ON 06/15/2017. ACCORDING TO LAND ROVER ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND, THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE. ISSUE DOCUMENTED AS FOLLOWS BY LAND ROVER ANNAPOLIS, MD: REAR HATCH STRUTS WEAK, REPAIR: REPLACE BOTH REAR HATCH STRUTS AND CHECK ALIGNMENT OF HINGES AND STRIKER.