The Rover-Landers of BC

So I am a new owner of a 1998 land rover defender TD5 built October 26, 1998 (35 years and one day after my birthday)... But is a1999 model...which marks the 50 year anniversary of Land Rover. Like any new Land Rover owner I join the best club around....Rover Lander. And like any new Land Rover owner I get acquainted with my local Land Rover authorized dealer, which in my case is Land Rover of Richmond in the Richmond auto mall.

I have always dreaded dealers...having found Mercedes people very rude...but to my surprise my first call to Land Rover Richmond was met with professionalism and a friendly and helpful person...Roxane in the parts department. She was extremely helpful and provided me with the history of my truck (based on my VIN) even though it was imported from Germany. That is how I know the truck was built on October 26, 1998.

So far my dealings with Land Rover of Richmond were just over the phone. But I had the opportunity to drop by the other day in order to see if they could find some trim parts. Roxane was extremely helpful and the prices were very reasonable. I also noticed a very cool banner hanging in the parts department ... A "50 years of Land Rover banner .... 1948-1998"!(what a coincidence ... My truck is a 1998 year).

Today I get a call to say my parts are in, so I drop by for a second time. Once again the service was great! And I get all the small bits and bobs that I need for my truck. I again notice the sign and ask Roxane if they would sell it. She points out Jennifer who was sitting in Otto's office and said it would be best to ask her. I am not shy by any means, so I interrupt Jennifer and Otto and tell them how perfect the banner would look with my 1998 Defender. After five minutes of listening to me rambling about how cool my truck is Jennifer and Otto go to the back parts room and take down the banner and hand it over to me. This would never happen anywhere else!!! Only at Land Rover Richmond.

Thank you very much Land Rover Richmond!!

http://www.members.shaw.ca/petewlee/defender50.jpg

What a great story. I've also found them very friendly. :D

That's a great story, they just gave you the sign for free? Really nice of them.

The dealership here in Victoria seems to be "ok" but I've only dealt with them a few times and it was never really for my truck. Once was to look at a Defender they were selling and another time was to look at an LR3.

The only parts/service experience I have with them is kinda funny. I called in and told the guy on the other end I just needed them to unstick my oil pan drain bolt for me as it was stuck on and I didn't want to wreck it. He told me they'd have to do it as a basic service (oil change and whatever else they do) and that it was like 300 dollars. I told him as politely as I could that there was no way in hell I was EVER going to pay 300 dollars for an oil change, especially on a $1500 truck. I said I'd just figure it out myself and we both had a laugh about it, I'm sure the guy understood how steeply priced that is for a simple oil change.

I ended up unsticking it with a big wrench and my personal favorite tool, the BFH (big ------- hammer).

Nice to hear you had a good experience with Land-Rover of Richmond. The club has a pretty good relationship with them and their staff. Welcome aboard and we hope to see you and your defender out at some events.
Bill

They are pretty good over there. I just grabbed some stub shaft seals from them, and to my surprise, they geniune LR seals worked out to be cheaper than aftermarket ones. Weird how that works.

MCL is very similar. Chris in the parts department started saving all of their old Landy stuff for me. He handed me posters and framed prints, and even a little pewter Discovery.