September 14 1997

>     Angry owners sue Land Rover over corrosion

>                                                    [Image]
>                 by Jonathan Leake
>              Transport Correspondent
>                                                  
> 
>   LAND ROVER, manufacturer of choice for the     
>   upwardly mobile 1990s family, is facing a      
>   lawsuit by owners who allege some of its       
>   top-selling models suffer from an in-built
>   tendency to corrode.                      
>                                             
>   The motorists claim construction of the       
>   models, popular with families keen to foster  
>   the notion that they spend their weekends
>   indulging in energetic outdoor pursuits, are   
>   based on an outdated 1940s design which they   
>   argue leads to corrosion within a few years    
>   of purchase.                                   
>                                                  
>   Sales of the Defender, Discovery and Range
>   Rover have boomed in recent years on the       
>   back of the demand for four-wheel-drive        
>   vehicles, taking Land Rover out of its         
>   traditional rural setting and into the urban
>   jungle. Last year the company sold 68,500      
>   vehicles.                                      
> 
>   The lawsuit, which could eventually cost       
>   Land Rover millions in legal costs,            
>   compensation and lost sales, has been          
>   brought by three disgruntled Land Rover        
>   owners in America as a class action, which     
>   means owners across the United States could
>   use it to make claims of their own.        

>
> The company, which sold more than a third of
> its models in America last year, is
> vigorously fighting the claims and says its
> cars are no more prone to corrosion than any
> other marque. The American claims are,
> however, backed by some dealers and owners
> in Britain.
>
> One owner, Paul Wynter, a telecommunications
> expert from Brighton in East Sussex, was so
> angry he set up an Internet web site
> complete with close-up pictures of the holes
> in his corroding vehicle. Land Rover paid
> him more than #10,000 for the vehicle
> provided he dismantled the web site. "I
> bought the Land Rover to impress customers
> but within a few months it was starting to
> corrode," he said.
>
> The American case was made possible by
> legislation there which says firms cannot
> market goods which are inherently faulty,
> including vehicles prone to excessive
> corrosion. In Britain, by contrast,
> corrosion in motor vehicles is regarded as a
> natural process, however fast it happens.
>
> The case hinges on the claim that Land
> Rover's use of aluminium body panels bolted
> to a steel chassis and body frame is known
> to encourage corrosion.
>
> The method was introduced in the late 1940s
> to save steel, which was still rationed. The
> writ says the company has long known that
> joining the two metals together sets up an
> electrolytic chemical reaction that makes
> corrosion inevitable.
>
> It adds: "Land Rover consumers are buying a
> ticking timebomb, for the vehicles will
> eventually corrode, leaving their owners
> with either a useless pile of metal or
> thousands of dollars in repair bills."
>
> Such claims are supported by a number of
> independent British Land Rover dealers. They
> say the trouble spots include the engine
> compartment, door panels and tailgate.
>
> Ken Sole, of Peterborough Four-Wheel Drive,
> a Land Rover specialist since 1967, said
> corrosion problems were widespread: "They
> market their vehicles as being very tough so
> everyone thinks Land Rovers will last for
> ever, but sadly they rot much faster than
> most ordinary saloons. Every engineer knows
> that joining different metals together is a
> recipe for disaster."
>
> Steve Drawater, a probation officer from
> Canterbury, who bought a Land Rover Defender
> in December 1995, has already had to replace
> the rear door after it began corroding. He
> now has a similar problem on the near-side
> wing. "I think Land Rover are a victim of
> their own success. They cannot cope with the
> demand and are sacrificing quality for
> quantity," he said.
>
> A Land Rover spokesman accepted there had
> been a limited problem with corrosion on
> some models, mainly Defenders, but said it
> had since been solved: "We are trying to
> deal with all those who suffered problems in
> a very sympathetic way. We changed our
> construction methods so that, wherever
> possible, aluminium and steel do not come
> into direct contact."
>
> Additional reporting: Mark Macaskill