A Negative to a Positive | Range Rover Water Leak Video

This is an excellent example of a problem car and how everything worked out splendidly in the end.

This well-worn and leaky Range Rover had a hard life out in the countryside, doing what Range Rover's do best.

Then it sprang a leak, creating a puddle in the passenger footwell, so the customer decided to get that fixed and asked if we could make the car like new again.

We guessed they had already looked online for the cause of the leek and seen the many reports of leaking windscreens and had that refitted, but it didn't do the job, so they brought it to us for our 28 point check, so we could find the cause of the problem.

Somehow they knew about all the other services we provide and asked us about some other issues the car had. It had lots of scratches from driving down narrow country lanes and getting caked in mud and Gary suggested we do cosmetic repairs, which is essentially to touch them in with a paint stick. They were also concerned about damage to the leather trim and inner door panels by the seatbelts, so while the car was here we had Alan fix the leather.

The wheels were a bit scruffy, and it can make a huge difference to refurbish them, so that's what we did.

The result of the inspection showed us that the drainage pipes for the front sunroof were blocked, which is a common problem on just about any car with a sunroof. Over time, the soft flexible pipes become stiff, and they shrink, making them more likely to get blocked by debris. So we replaced them with new ones and dried the car out.

Once the water was sucked out of the floor pans and the carpets dried, the seats were put back in and the car was given a partial detail to remove some of the marks on the interior.

At this point, we would normally give the car a wash, but the car wouldn't start. So the AA were called, and it transpired that a recently fitted alternator was faulty. This was completely unrelated to the leaks and just one of those things. Therefore, the car was collected on a transporter and sent off to the dealership for repair.

Then three months later, they came back because a car had a leak in exactly the same place. We checked our work and the new pipes were still connected properly, but pine needles had blocked the drainage holes, causing the water to fill the sunroof cassette and overflow. Technically, there was nothing wrong with the car, it was the pine trees that were the problem.

We could, of course, just unblock the pipes, but there's every likelihood that they would just get blocked again. So James had the bright idea of building a whole new drainage system with wider pipes and without the narrow connectors. Hopefully, this will do the trick.

The customer decided to take advantage of our special offer and spruce up the rest of the car (pun intended). As the paintwork was so badly scratched, it required a six stage machine polish, and then to protect the shine, we gave it Matrix Black Ceramic Coating.

They promise us this Land Rover is in semi-retirement and won't have the harsh life it had, but it is a country car and a ceramic coating will help keep it clean and resist the kind of scratches you get from brushing against overhanging shrubbery on narrow lanes. In addition, they get all the other benefits of having ceramic, such as it needing to be washed less often.

We are very pleased with the results. The customer turned a negative into a positive, we took on a car which was a problem and handed them back a car that they can love.