A lesson learned....Stay away from Platinum Motorsports in KY

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
Let start off by saying some of you may burn me for this post but, I feel it's important to tell this story, so that people that have a Rover or are in the market for their first don't get screwed the way I did.


Earlier this year I began searching for my first Rover. My main quest was to find a Discovery 2. I had done all of the research and had looked at probably 5 or more. I couldn't find one I could settle on and ended up finding a nice looking Discovery 1 at Platinum Motorsports in Lagrange, KY.



When I test drove the vehicle the ABS light would not go off. Daryl, the guy showing the vehicle to me really seemed like a true enthusiast, which gave me a good vibe about the place. I decided to pull the trigger on the Disco and was told that the ABS would be fixed before I picked it up. He was sure it was just a "gap" issue. Which after a little research I found that it's possible for that to happen. I picked the car up the next day and the light was still on, I was told that since it was so cold maybe it would take a couple of days to go off and if it didn't I could bring it back and he'd replace the sensor. Just like he said the light started to go off and I was under the impression that everything was good.

A couple of weeks later the light came on and stayed on. The ABS system also started engaging under light braking as well. I called Platinum Motorsports and Daryl told me to bring it back and they'd fix it. So, later that week I dropped it off to be fixed. A week went by and I gave them a buzz, they told me the sensor was on it's way and it'd be a few days more. A few days went by and no Disco, I called back again and there "had been a delay" with the shipping and it would take another day, I expressed my gratitude for them keeping their word and the next week I finally got my Disco back. Let me be clear that I'm not the type to nag and complain about that taking longer than usual. I merely called a couple of times just for updates. I had another car at the time, although it was a pain to cram 3 kinds into (S197 Mustang), it got me through.

Now, here is where my inexperience with the Discovery 1 and Land Rovers as a whole came into play. With the majority of my research being geared towards a D2, and being a domestic gearhead, a light illuminated on the dash to me was a bad thing. When I picked up my Disco the ABS light was off, from the moment of starting, driving, and stopping. I incorrectly assumed that the problem was resolved. Go ahead and take your shots, I deserve it on that one.

Well, last week I took a different freeway home, one that can get crowded at rush hour. As you have seen many times people tend to drive like idiots in rush hour traffic and I found myself in an emergency braking situation when someone pulled into my free flowing lane without looking. The brakes locked up and I went into a skid. Luckily I didn't panic and let out and went back into the brake pedal and stopped with no accident.

Fortunately, I hadn't found myself in an emergency braking situation until then. I was even more lucky to NOT have my kids in the car.

Over the weekend I took to the task of figuring out what was going on. After looking into ABS problems with the D1, I seen that the light should be on at every start. This threw the red flag immediately. I checked the fuses first and all were good. Then I had a gut feeling to check and see if the bulb was even in the cluster anymore. Here is was I found......



The empty hole you see circled is where the ABS light bulb should be. They didn't fix anything, just pulled the bulb and gave it back to me.

Now, let me be clear in saying that I fully understand that my Discovery was sold to me AS IS. The agreement we had to fix the ABS was merely verbal. I put trust in the fact that Daryl and Nathan at Platinum were enthusiasts and wouldn't try and screw me over. I was wrong.

What has been the most frustrating thing about this is, when I bought the Discovery, they knew I had kids. One of those kids being a 2 month old baby. I made it very clear I was buying the Disco to have a unique car to haul them around in. Why the hell would you put children in danger??!! They knew the ABS was nonfunctional and still gave it back to me knowing that I would be driving with young children in the car. What kind of sorry excuses for humans do that??

Moral of the story here is, bring an enthusiast with you when looking at Rovers. If you have an agreement to get something fixed, get it in writing, no matter how good of a vibe you're getting. Oh and stay away from Platinum Motorsports, apparently a few bucks saved on an ABS sensor is way more important than the lives of an 8-year-old, 4-year-old, and 2 month old baby.
 

98WhiteT4R

Adventurer
Dude that's ridiculous! I've heard (and seen) places do some shady stuff but that's probably the craziest. Glad nobody got hurt
 

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
Dude that's ridiculous! I've heard (and seen) places do some shady stuff but that's probably the craziest. Glad nobody got hurt

Me too. Even worse is the fact that we had just had plenty of snow. Once again I got lucky that i didn't hit a slick spot on the way home and get killed. I really do like the car, but it feels tainted now.
 

98WhiteT4R

Adventurer
I've been there man... I had a bad experience with a dealer that left me with buyers remorse for a few weeks (even though it was the people bothered me not the car). I would just try to forget about it and enjoy the Disco. It could always be worse...
 

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
I've been there man... I had a bad experience with a dealer that left me with buyers remorse for a few weeks (even though it was the people bothered me not the car). I would just try to forget about it and enjoy the Disco. It could always be worse...

Indeed it could. I have enjoyed the Disco up until this point. Just have to get out the tools and make it right. I just wanted to share, so someone didn't make the same mistake I did.
 

mtnbike28

Expedition Leader
Not saying you got a bad deal, but why wait so long to post this? I don't think KY got snow this month?
 

The Rover Shop

Explorer
Not sure how it is in your state but tampering with or disabling emissions, SRS and abs equipment is a MAJOR no-no in some states..especially for an auto repair shop..
 

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
Mtnbike28,

I just noticed the bulb out over the weekend. I said in the original post how fortunate I was to just NOW have found myself in an emergency situation last week.
 

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
Not sure how it is in your state but tampering with or disabling emissions, SRS and abs equipment is a MAJOR no-no in some states..especially for an auto repair shop..
You may be correct. It would be hard to prove without a written contract to prove it was them. Without that contract I'm really "up ******** creek".
 

Ray_G

Explorer
I feel bad you were mislead; personally I think they should have told you D1 ABS is notoriously unreliable with age unless you want to drop $$$ into it-and that what many of us do is pull the fuses and then the bulb. You should have gotten the chance to do that instead of them putting you unknowingly at risk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Ryan Graham

New member
So...your abs issue went from light on with excessive activation to no bulb and no activation? Sounds like they did more than pull the bulb or you would still have your excessive activation issue?
 

IthrowWrenches

Adventurer
I feel bad you were mislead; personally I think they should have told you D1 ABS is notoriously unreliable with age unless you want to drop $$$ into it-and that what many of us do is pull the fuses and then the bulb. You should have gotten the chance to do that instead of them putting you unknowingly at risk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah that information would have been fantastic. I'm a pretty easy going guy and if they had just explained the in's and out's of that I might have just pulled it myself. But, giving me the car with no warning that the system was disabled is nuts. It's not that I can't handle a car without abs, it's just the fact that they didn't warn me.
So...your abs issue went from light on with excessive activation to no bulb and no activation? Sounds like they did more than pull the bulb or you would still have your excessive activation issue?
I think you hit the nail on the head. That's why a code reader will be my next purchase.
 

Ray_G

Explorer
Is the fuse still in place? I haven't done it in awhile (but did it on all three of my D1's), I seem to recall pulling a couple of fuses to ensure no ABS functionality.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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