Evoque on long-term test

(23-03-2012 04:57pm)PhilSkill Wrote:  Welcome John, Seen from your magazine you were testing one so be good to see the progress.

Mines been fantastic after initial build issues requiring a new Front Bumper and Gear Knob Replacement

Shame you didn't want to do an article on the serious rust issues I have on My Mazda, having taken it right to the MD of Mazda UK, I wrote to your helpdesk.

Hi PhilSkill,

Glad to hear you've got your Evoque sorted after early issues - although you shouldn't have had them in the first place, of course.

Sorry we didn't pick up your rusty Mazda story; we do get an alarmingly high number of Helpdesk queries, as it turns out, so we're just not able to pick up and run with all of them.

Quote:Hi Peet. Is that your car in your Avatar? We came *so* close to having a Mauritius Blue one but there were complications in the ordering process for us (we go through the press office) so it ended up being quicker to go for white (which still photographs well, a key factor). We still ended up ordering last June for delivery, er, two weeks ago, mind you - before anyone says the press jumped the queue!

Regards to all,

John

Hi John, That is indeed. Picked it up today.

(23-03-2012 05:13pm)peet Wrote:  Hi John, That is indeed. Picked it up today.

Good luck with it. Mauritius Blue really changes depending on the light; there's a lot of grey in it in some images, yet in others it looks like bold sky blue. Yours looks v tidy in your Avatar, I have to say...

Regards to all,

John

(23-03-2012 04:06pm)Donny Dog Wrote:  LR really would be remiss if they let a 'Friday night' car out to What Car! For a true test, What Car should buy one incognito, 'mystery shopper' style!

(Looking forward to the updates, by the way, and it was nice of you to let us know about this, thanks!)

I was hoping that it would be a standard dealer order so it reflected reality rather than a specially prepped test car. The reason the car had 400 miles on it was probably so they could iron out any rattles, issues etc before it was handed over!

Also to experience what seems to be the real Achilles heal for LR which is their dealer network. Oh well.....

Welcome John.

I have the same model as your test car, with very similar mpg at just over 500 miles. I am hoping that the fuel consumption will improve, as I certainly expected better. From your post, it seems that I will be waiting for at least another 500 miles!

(23-03-2012 05:18pm)WB Wrote:  I was hoping that it would be a standard dealer order so it reflected reality rather than a specially prepped test car. The reason the car had 400 miles on it was probably so they could iron out any rattles, issues etc before it was handed over!

Also to experience what seems to be the real Achilles heal for LR which is their dealer network. Oh well.....

I'm confident that we will do enough miles during our spell with the car to encounter the dealer network at least once, if not twice. It's never a perfect scenario, I agree, but I've had personal experience of discovering appalling service from main franchises in the past (not LR, but other brands) so we can pick up on some of that.

---

(23-03-2012 05:19pm)LDT Wrote:  Welcome John.

I have the same model as your test car, with very similar mpg at just over 500 miles. I am hoping that the fuel consumption will improve, as I certainly expected better. From your post, it seems that I will be waiting for at least another 500 miles!

I don't think you can expect much better, LDT. I'm thinking 34-35mpg will be pretty much the max for a 2.2 Sd4 Auto.

Kind regards,

John

Welcome John!

From one John to another.....So when you take your vehicles in for service does the dealer know that they have a vehicle associated with the automotive press - or are they completely unaware?

I think the Land Rover (Press Fleet) that is in the number plate where we all have the dealer's name might have some influence................

(23-03-2012 05:32pm)Straydox Wrote:  Welcome John!

From one John to another.....So when you take your vehicles in for service does the dealer know that they have a vehicle associated with the automotive press - or are they completely unaware?

Straydox/John,

We take all measures possible to ensure that they don't know - removing any press office stickers (they like having their own tax disc holders, for example), taking off any press office keyfobs, removing fuel cards (we keep a record of every fill) etc.

What we can't do is remove registration plates that may have a press office logo on them, or stop manufacturers having an internal system whereby it flags it up on the dealer's computer.

The hit rate, I'd say, is that slightly less than 50 per cent of dealers are aware. I do remember, for example, some pretty awful days wasted in the 'customer care' of my local Vauxhall dealer when I was running a VXR8 for Autocar. They clearly hadn't a clue that I was a hack.

We've also been hard on dealer costings before, including LR ones. I remember the oil change bill on a Freelander being queried, if only because it was considerably more than the amount charged by a Citroen dealer for the same oil change, on essentially the same engine, in a C6...

Regards to all,

John

---

(23-03-2012 05:42pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  I think the Land Rover (Press Fleet) that is in the number plate where we all have the dealer's name might have some influence................

Not on our car , XfullFatTim. It only says 'Land Rover' - no mention of press office.

Regards,

John

Welcome John

Was reading the online review of the Evoque on your website (as I have several times ) and notice you only have 2 reader reviews.

Both of these reviews do not appear to be from owners but rather individuals who have had 1 -2 hour test drives and have scored the vehicle on that experience..

Not good enough team !

I am sure there are owners on here that could add a few reviewes and get a better ownership perspective.

Come on BabyRR team get some honest reviews in