LDV D90 Problems

Let’s start with the concept of a dealership charging for a problem that is probably a warranty claim in the first place. Warranty repairs shouldn’t cost the owner anything, so the dealership is skating on thin ice in the first place.

But secondly, this doesn’t sound like a problem at all. In fact, I’d say it’s perfectly normal behaviour. What’s happening is that the car’s computer is looking at how much fuel the vehicle has used in the immediate past, and calculating how far you can go on the fuel you have left, at that rate of consumption. When you switch from stop-start running to highway driving, your consumption per 100km falls. When the computer notices this, it recalculates how far you can go with your reduced consumption, and the estimated range on the trip-computer goes up.

Fuel range is the inverse of fuel consumption, when consumption goes down, range goes up. And since the car’s computer models the range based on your recent consumption rate, highway running will usually cause the range to creep up. Eventually the range will plateau and then begin to fall. When you hit the city, the range will begin to fall more quickly. The dealership should have been able to explain this to you rather than threatening to charge for taking a look at it.

This might sound like a long shot, but are you sure the fuse was okay? Sometimes, these delicate little fuses might look fine, but can still be blown. To make certain, change it for a new fuse anyway and see if that returns things to normal.

However, modern car components like display screens are no different to any other modern electronics (except they live in a much more hostile environment than the TV in your loungeroom). Which means, of course, they can simply die for no apparent reason. At which point, this becomes LDV’s problem as it’s a pretty straight-forward warranty issue. Take the car back to the dealership, tell them the problem and it’s their responsibility to fix as per Australian Consumer Law. LDV can choose to fix the screen or replace it, but it must be returned to fully working condition at no cost to you.

It’s often the case that the spot you see water entering the car is not where the actual leak is located. Water can take all sorts of interesting routes on the way to where you can see it, being driven by both the air passing over the car and following the odd shapes and profiles that make up the bits of a car’s body you can’t see.

But believe it or not, one of the best ways to find the source of a leak is to sit in the car while somebody on the outside trains a garden hose in specific places. As the aim of the hose moves, you might find the leak increases and decreases, helping you pin-point the source.

This cause of a water leak can sometimes be as simple as a small twig or leaf stuck in a door rubber, but it can also be the result of a damaged seal, body damage and even a replacement windscreen that has not been sealed properly.

This is a complex issue and CarsGuide does not give legal advice on matter such as this. However, from a practical standpoint, water on the road in puddles could conceivably enter the engine and cause damage if you managed to hit just the right puddle at just the right speed and at just the right angle to force water into the engine’s air intake system.

In any case, this would likely (as you are discovering) be considered accidental damage rather than a warranty issue as the problem wasn’t caused by a fault in the car’s materials or manufacture. Which means you might be better off tackling your insurance company to see if such damage is covered by your vehicle policy. Damage to a vehicle from (flood) water is much more likely to be an insurance job, so start there.

It's less common than it once was, but still not unknown for a particular car to be more problematic than the ones that came off the production line either side of it. Presumably, you've just been unlucky and got lumped with the car that had dud components from the start. Hopefully, though, replacing those parts will be a permanent fix.

LDV vehicles are definitely built to a price, and overall quality, materials and fit and finish are not as good as some better-known brands. But, like any of the Chinese manufacturers, LDV's quality is on the up and the later the build-date, the better. Perhaps that's why your partner's newer LDV has been more reliable.

The best advice is to keep a very close eye on the vehicle and make a note of anything that seems amiss. Then, take these potential faults up with the dealership you use as a way of alerting them to any pre-existing conditions. That way, even once the five-year,/130,000km warranty has expired, those faults will still be fixed under the LDV warranty terms and conditions as they occurred while the warranty was still current.