Land Rover Repair: Malfunctioning Alarm System, land rover discovery, car alarms

Question
I have recently purchased a Land Rover Discovery Mark II TD5 Diesel Automatic, year 2002 model. After a week from receiving the car from the dealership, the alarm system broke down for no apparent reason, and started to go off randomly. The car would also not lock, as when we used the remote locking system the horn would blare and not lock the car. We then found out that most of the electrical equipment on the car, including the fuel cap release, was not operational. We took the car to a Famous Four dealership, where we found out the problem was that the battery was not sufficiently charged. After returning from the dealership, we found that all of the electrical equipment, including the remote locking, was working. However, two nights after returning, the alarm went off again, and the remote locking refused to work again, recurring with the same problem that had happened before by where when the remote buttons are used, the horn sounds. We are forced to keep the car unlocked to prevent the car alarms from going off.

Any feedback or help that you could provide to help us with this problem would be much appreciated.

Yours Sincerely,
Peter


Answer
Hi Peter,

obviously the dealer did not take the time to look further than the battery.

If you live in the US, go to Advance Auto and ask them to perform a battery and alternator test.  They do this as a free service to customers.  Its possible that your battery is not being charged properly OR there is an electrical short somewhere that is draining the power from the battery.

Start by establishing if the battery is being charged properly by the alt.  Once this is verified, you'll have to find out if and where an electrical short may be located.  LR's are notorious for high maintenance costs, so be prepared if you have to go to a LR dealership.

Since this is a relatively 'new' used vehicle, why not return to the dealerhip that sold you this vehicle and ask for assistance.  Most states and provinces have 'lemon' laws that protect you from problems like this.  

Best of luck,

JohnMc