I post rarely, but lurk quite often. That being said, I would appreciate any feedback regarding my problem(s). Thanks in advance!

2006 Range Rover Sport
Current mileage 82,000. Approx 76,000 on Jan 10.

In January I noticed a "knocking" sound coming from what appeared to be the front driver wheel well. Needing an oil change I took it to the only place I have ever had my car serviced, the dealership (January 10). I had the extended warranty, but I was roughly 1k over in mileage at the time (75k cutoff). While my car was being serviced, the service manager informed me of my need to replace the pads and rotors on the front, I gave them the go ahead as I knew it was time. I showed up later that afternoon and was informed that I would need a new control arm assembly at a cost of $1300 USD. I was also told that it would take around 2 weeks for the parts to arrive. The service dept assured me that the vehicle was safe to drive and travel long distance in, and that they would call me as soon as my parts arrived to set up a service appointment.

Fast forward to March 25...

This is the part that irritates me the most. After not hearing a SINGLE word from Land Rover, I picked up the phone to find out why no one had bothered to give me an update. "Your parts are on back order" was the only excuse I was given. Magically, my parts showed up a few days later after complaining about the length of time that has passed. The following is an itemized list (in order) of what transpired between Jan 10 and March 25:

- knocking sound returned within a week of the service dept "servicing" the control arm issue to buy time until parts arrived.

- (yellow) suspension faults began occuring within 10-14 days. These faults continued on an almost daily basis, and at times well over 50 times per day. In fact, the suspension faults seemed to occur any time I came to a stop, but would go away once the vehicle was in motion. While stopped, the suspension seemed to try and adjust itself constantly.

- Random car alarm faults. The alarm goes off almost daily. When I check the screen, it informs me that the bonnet is open. I release the latch, open and close, and the problem usually goes away after about 5 tries.

- (red) suspension fault occurred on March 25. This prompted a heated call to the service department. I was driving approximately 50mph when the fault occurred—if you have experienced this, you know how violent that ride becomes.

So after a long rambling, my questions are:
1) Are control arms an issue on these vehicles? I'm not sure about the UK, but here in the states I couldn't tell you the last time I heard of this type of issue on an SUV let alone a luxury SUV. I had zero problems with my LR3. I've purchased 2 vehicles from Land Rover in the last 3 years.

2) Could Land Rover's 74 day delay, in addressing the control arm problem, have been a contributing factor to all of the suspenion issues?

I know this is a rambling post, but I'm grasping for answers here. Thanks in advance for any help!


Cheers!
Gordo

Hey bud, sorry to hear you are having problems.

Never heard of a control arm problem on RRS. Knocking problem is common, but it is usually caused by different parts, specially the front bushes. You can find a lot of information about in technical section. There is a topic called: "Warning does your suspension knock", it's all in there.

Goodluck. Vadim A.

Control Arm bushes are a regular problem on the mid to high mileage Sports, i have two lower control arm bushes fitted to mine at approx 70,000 KM's. I think the cost for both was to the extended warranty company about 1600 Aussie Dollars (on parity with US).

Thanks Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

MY20 Defender 110 SE P400 Eiger/Ebony
MY10 3.0 RRS TDv6 Fuji/Ebony/Anigre

Zilch wrote:

Control Arm bushes are a regular problem on the mid to high mileage Sports, i have two lower control arm bushes fitted to mine at approx 70,000 KM's. I think the cost for both was to the extended warranty company about 1600 Aussie Dollars (on parity with US).

Thanks