JLR turns to second-hand parts to clear repairs backlog

The owner of a Range Rover Evoque has accused JLR of repairing her vehicle using second-hand parts, as the company struggles to source new, replacement components for thousands of its customers’ cars.

As first reported by Car Dealer, a trade publication, around 10,000 customer cars across the UK are awaiting replacement parts, with around 5000 of them off the road at JLR dealerships. The crisis, which originated at the firm’s newest parts facility, Mercia Park, was revealed by Andrew Woolliscroft, UK client director at JLR, during a dealer summit in October. 

“Mercia is a bottleneck and we have a backlog of orders,” said Woolliscroft. The shortage of parts had “nearly stopped workshops from being able to operate,” he added. 

He said the company had run out of courtesy vehicles as well as the space required to store customers’ cars for repair and predicted the crisis would last until the end of November.

Among those owners waiting for a part was Bob Archell. His Range Rover Sport P400e was diagnosed with a faulty wiring harness in April. 

“I was on the phone so much to Land Rover, I think they lost patience with me,” he said. Its new replacement finally arrived in September but by then, Archell had rejected the car. His case is ongoing.

Meanwhile, an employee at a JLR dealership has told Autocar that to beat the waiting list for new parts and speed up repairs, the manufacturer has instructed dealers to use second-hand parts. 

“JLR has told retailers to source non-genuine parts to get cars fixed and out of their workshops for the last six months,” he said.

 “One JLR senior manager even suggested we use secondhand parts if necessary, although this was ridiculed by retailers.” 

Autocar contacted the employee to verify his claims but he did not respond.

However, they are backed up by an owner’s experience of her four-year-old, diesel-powered Range Rover Evoque which, after it broke down, was repaired by an official Land Rover dealer using second-hand parts.

The owner, Laura Brannock, who lives in Castle Douglas, says her car first broke down in April. It was eventually inspected in June by the dealer who told her the new replacement parts it required wouldn’t be available until early December. 

In August, Brannock, who relies on her Evoque to take her son to regular hospital appointments, contacted Reject My Car, a consumer advocacy service, for its assistance. 

Following its intervention, within days the parts became available and were fitted to the car. Brannock then drove it to RMC’s offices near Glasgow so the company could inspect the repair.

Its engineer reported that it had been fitted with a refurbished engine and turbochargers, had very little oil and was displaying 23 fault codes. 

“In our experience, the number one complained-of brand is JLR, with its failure to fix, due to lack of parts, the number one cause of customer rejections,” said Ian Ferguson, founder and managing director of RMC. 

He has advised Brannock not to drive the car while the firm pursues her case.  

The dealer did not respond to Autocar’s request for a comment but a spokesperson for JLR said that only genuine Land Rover parts had been used for the repair of Brannock’s Evoque, that her vehicle was out of warranty and that she had been kept mobile at no cost to her. 

Regarding the use of second-hand parts, they said, “It is JLR’s top priority to resolve the temporary parts delays some of our retailers are experiencing and minimise the impact to our clients. 

“The use of parts locally sourced by our retailers for replacement and repair is a long-established practice in exceptional circumstances, provided those parts are fit for purpose and meet JLR specifications. This is clearly stated as part of any warranty agreement.”