[phamilyman]

Brilliant and fascinating and subversive. Just got this gem off Twitter. I do not have first hand knowledge but I simply marvel at the LR owner's ingenuit! Salute !

https://twitter.com/berges/status/1342046169917251585 is where I saw it. The insta post is at https://www.instagram.com/p/CJKtlSlpztA/

Think about it. Traditional protests are expensive and never worth the end user's time:
A. YOU take time out, go somewhere to protest
B. You then try and amplify it to get attention but it's just YOU talking to your small circle.
C. Companies can technically ignore you both out of malice and lethargy, plus unless you're connected, you have zero leverage on the company

Instagram changes all that! You can precisely target the kind of well heeled customers who care about bad service and can make your post go viral in the cohort that will make luxury car companies sit up and take immediate action!

This was impossible in the past unless you were part of a clique of the Uber rich. This turns the dynamic upside down. For a few thousand rupees, the post gets enough traction to hurt the company materially.

This is more powerful than Tripadvisor. Truly game changing use of technology!

PS: I have no inputs into the veracity. I'm just marveling at the digital transformation of the protesting customer and their relative power! Hooray!

It's beautiful - the evolution of the change brought by forums like team Bhp that own consumer mindshare now being extended to anyone willing to pay to distribute their message. It's no longer the helpless angry customer shouting at the dealership but the dealer calling up, suing for peace! Customers can use the tools we scaling startups use to impose costs for bad service! Truly a shift in the power balance #DigitalDemocracy

[hridaygandhi]

Right use of technology. Hopefully that will get the guys at LR rolling. India has poor laws, and it is best to stay away from unreliable brands, hopefully this becomes a trend and changes things.

[fhdowntheline]

Some of the high end luxury all-terrain vehicles are more cruise showboats than warships. Its a well known and accepted fact. No one will take such vehicles to the desert or the mountains on a regular basis. For that, we have the Thars , Boleros, Gypsys , Fortuners and Isuzu's. So within the confines of their largely urban/high street landscape, they are good to parade around!

[Karan_n8]

Pranav is an acquaintance, if you've ever heard of the watch retail chain Ethos, it's his baby. Needless to say that gives him access to the target audience since he deals in high end watches. On a side note, the fact that you invest in a vehicle of this value and are unable to use it just cause the company can't get you parts is a big bummer. If you think of it, it really does cost you money apart from just the inconvenience.

[GTO]

Whoa! He is actually advertising his message. Must be real, real angry.

Wish he elaborated more on what his issues were. Sorry to say, but if you want reliability & peace-of-the-mind ownership, Land / Range Rover is not the brand to buy. I don't know of any owner who hasn't suffered issues. Part supply & repairs are also painfully slow.

On the new Defender thread, I had shared this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBVZyvfiqKw

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by GTO

On the new Defender thread, I had shared this video:
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=zBVZyvfiqKw

They are on their third Defender (6 cylinder version previous one was the 4cyl ingenium motor) now and it also got a suspension error while off-roading (was solved by switching the car on and off) and a low coolant level warning twice even though Coolant level was fine (mostly a sensor error).

Their 2nd Defender was spoilt at the dealership itself!

https://youtu.be/P0XWj4sxEIM

Land Rover or rather JLR is probably the last out of the Germans and Swedish you should choose!

IMO reliability in luxury brands is BMW>Mercedes-Benz>Audi=Volvo>JLR

[V.Narayan]

I wonder why products with shabby engineering get to create such a larger than life image that then lures customers to buy not just the physical product but much more than that they buy the image. I don't blame the customer. Every body is not an expert on cars nor does everyone read car forums, hey they are not expected to. It is the product that is expected to function as advertised. Some from the VW stable, JLR, Mercedes anyone (?) - the story repeats itself way too often and yet well heeled folks still queue up to buy the image, the status. I wonder how that image gets developed.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

Land Rover or rather JLR is probably the last out of the Germans and Swedish you should choose!

IMO reliability in luxury brands is BMW>Mercedes-Benz>Audi=Volvo>JLR

Considering that the JLR anyway is a British brand - you are simply telling what more or less is established as a stereotype. German Engineering > British.

As for the customer - I'm a bit disappointed that he wasn't aware of this possibility when buying such a car. Any imported + niche + costly luxury car in India has similar issues on a varying scale anyway. The number of issues per 1000 cars and resolution times per issue would be different relatively - but they are not going to be Maruti. Especially for CKD/CBU Imports. This is one reason for which I can never find the asking prices of these cars justifiable in Indian context. The experience he is posting is sad of course, but its no surprise. Even JLR India might not find it something extraordinary.

[Durango Dude]

The more the electronics the more the problems. Nowadays cars more like computers and the problem is computers sit around but cars have to do their job: Run: in process all the shocks and bumps probably take it's toll on the electronics of the vehicle and most probably they haven't been produced properly and proper QC must be totally lacking.

[Turbanator]

Having bought multiple vehicles in this category, I came very close to buying RR once in Canada. Thankfully, my Brother got me under check and we went to the service center, just to see how they handle the repairs. There was this lady with 2 kids & a lot of luggage, they were a family on a holiday trip but their LR had other intentions; as expected the husband was nowhere to be seen

She was so upset as this car just came back after many days awaiting parts and some other fault came up. This was sometime in 2013 and we bought a GX in 2014. Happily drove for over 6 years with Zero faults as expected from Lexus.

With LR & TATA, this is a perfect saying that comes to my mind.

"in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”

[playingpossum]

Originally Posted by Karan_n8

Pranav is an acquaintance, if you've ever heard of the watch retail chain Ethos, it's his baby.

Have spent a bit too much time on the website, ogling the beautiful watches. Hope this new way of protesting ensures that his grievances are addressed.

Here in India there's this overwhelming feeling of powerlessness when it comes to automobile companies misbehaving. This approach has a greater chance of getting the company's eye I guess?

[CarNerd]

Never thought Land Rover was the Gulshan Grover of Automobiles How can Land Rover have taglines like "Above & Beyond", "Go Anywhere" with such an unreliable image? I understand that more technology & more components means higher risk of failure but the car too is expensive. Reliability is an important part of the brand image. Nothing justifies the high price if the new car breaks down frequently.

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

"Above & Beyond", "Go Anywhere"

The ASS has to mandatorily work "above and beyond' the call of duty, not just routine efforts, to repair the cars. They don't, hence the breakdowns, sigh! (And we joked about FIAT : Fix It Again Tony.)

"Go anywhere" Yeah....they never said you could come back too, in the same car. For that you need the Land Cruiser or a taxi, depending on where you decided to go (and come back)!

Jokes apart, this is becoming a tradition, and each such event, is becoming an "inspiration". We have BMW as trash vans, Cars dropped from helicopters, donkeys pulling cars, and many such anecdotes. Too much money, too little homework. too much internet bandwidth.

[Cessna182]

What is his vehicle suffering from? Why is the vehicle stuck? Is it lack of parts or a prolonged diagnostics?

There is one member and moderator (BlackPearl) who owns a preowned but immaculate Land Rover in the UK. It would be great if he could share his views on the nature of the issue, if the information is made available.

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I wonder why products with shabby engineering get to create such a larger than life image that then lures customers to buy not just the physical product but much more than that they buy the image.

In India, engineering and science are only important when one needs to obtain a university degree. Post that, the only important aspect is money and status in society. When ones neighbor buys a money pit for X then one must buy an even bigger money pit for >X. It's all about one-upmanship and the OEMs have this cultural psychology figured out all too well for their benefit.