Buyers beware this ebay seller!

[eco 45]

If you have a passion for diesel powered Rovers avoid this seller. In the UK he goes by "The Landrover Workshop" in the US/Canada and Ebay he goes by "Land Rover Import" aka Duncan Goodchild. Claims to sell rebuilt Defenders however they come with rather tired parts. In the process now of rebuilding several components on a turn key truck from this company. They also seem to sell engines on Ebay quite often, just be prepared for a rather tired engine if you make a purchase. On a positive side it is a legal import however I am or have completed the following repairs:

--wiring
--brakes
--rebuild rear axle
--speedometer cable
--heater not functioning
--stock temp gauge doesn't read correctly
--spring sag
--coolant leak
--oil leak
--back lash in running gear
--new door window guide seals

The truck did drive nice for 18 miles till black smoke started to come out of the dash. Maybe "turn key" by the owner of the company Duncan Goodchild means that only the key moves freely in the ignition switch and nothing else is supposed to happen.

668266816683

[ThePhotographer]

If you have a passion for diesel powered Rovers avoid this seller. In the UK he goes by "The Landrover Workshop" in the US/Canada and Ebay he goes by "Land Rover Import" aka Duncan Goodchild. Claims to sell rebuilt Defenders however they come with rather tired parts. In the process now of rebuilding several components on a turn key truck from this company. They also seem to sell engines on Ebay quite often, just be prepared for a rather tired engine if you make a purchase. On a positive side it is a legal import however I am or have completed the following repairs:

--wiring
--brakes
--rebuild rear axle
--speedometer cable
--heater not functioning
--stock temp gauge doesn't read correctly
--spring sag
--coolant leak
--oil leak
--back lash in running gear
--new door window guide seals

The truck did drive nice for 18 miles till black smoke started to come out of the dash. Maybe "turn key" in the UK mean that only the key moves freely in the ignition switch and nothing else is supposed to happen.

668266816683

Well, at least now you know it's a true Land Rover...

[SafeAirOne]

You didn't mention what you bought. Can we presume that it's a 25+ year old rover? Your list of maladys seem to be pretty much on target for what would be expected for an old rover. Pretty normal, really. Even the smoke.

Without seeing the original seller advertisement/claims, it's hard to say to beware of a seller if he sold you something that is in as-expected condition. Claims that it is a turn-key rover sound pretty accurate. Any claim that it is restored obviously isn't accurate, but I think you said 'rebuilt,' which doesn't really mean anything, unfortunately. It could very well have been rebuilt--Rebuilt form several other old Rovers.

There are sellers in the UK that specify exactly what work was done in the rebuild and will sell a Rover as-is, refurbished or completely restored, based on what the buyer desires and is williing to pay for. They'll provide a thorough and professional inspection report/evaluation to the buyer and complete any work desired of the buyer, to the buyer's specification, including paintwork. These firms work closely with the buyer throughout the process so that the delivered vehicle is EXACTLY as the buyer specified.

Without knowing, I suspect your seller wasn't one of these type of places and I suspect the price of the vehicle you purchased reflected this as the businesses that build/restore/refurbish to suit, charge appropriately higher prices for their higher-quality vehicles.

I know you're disappointed and I'm not saying you're not justified in your complaint here; You may be right-on, but the fact is that without seeing the seller's claims/advertisements/selling price, I don't think we have enough information to condem the business that sold you an old Rover that's in the condition one would expect of an old rover. Do you have a link to the original listing on e-bay?

[SafeAirOne]

Apologies for the two-in-a-row postings, but I just had a look at the e-bay feedback profile (http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ftab=AllFeedback&userid=landroverimport&iid=-1&de=off&interval=0&items=100) of user "landroverimport". The last feedback entry was June of 2011. All the feedback is positive.

Did you buy your Rover from him off e-bay? When did you buy it?

Looking at the Rovers he bought and sold (there was a lot more stuff, but these are the rovers):

March 2011: LAND ROVER DEFENDER 200tdi 90K miles, warrantied (#180473920730), to member wwiimb for $4,200 USD Feedback: transaction was cancelled

June 2009: Land Rover : Defender (#180353073787), sold to member bshipp7 for $9,300.00 USD Feedback: Some bumps in the road but all seems to be working out in the end.

December 2007: 1988 LAND ROVER 110 4C REG DT DIESEL BLUE (#180174584810) sold to member mvderheij for 1,200.00 GBP Feedback: top seller no complaints

I don't see any e-bay sales by Land Rover Import in over 1 year, and all the feedback is positive. I'm puzzled. Is this the same seller??


[EDIT]: What is his name on ebay.co.uk? I couldn't find anything on member "landroverworkshop" or any variant over there. Now I'm really baffled. It's difficult to verify the facts in this case, and I think that's pretty critical in these type of posts!

[eco 45]

Here is a copy of the build list so you can see what was expected:


new galv chassis
new plastic fuel tank
new brake lines
stainless bolt kit
new chassis and suspension bushes
rebuilt rear axle (the existing one doesnt look so hot)
fully stripped and repaired doors and bulkhead
fully serviced brakes
rebuilt transmission
paint re-finished
rebuilt 300tdi
rebuilt lt230

So this would fall under restoration more than rebuild. Maybe he just forgot to rebuild the rear axle and included the one that "didn't look so hot" as he put it. Truck originally was promised back in 2010 and it landed about two months ago.