Wheel fell off my brand new £52,000 Range Rover... while driving: CRANE ON THE CASE:

In March, I bought a new Range Rover Evoque from a Jaguar Land Rover dealership.

The vehicle cost £52,000. I paid a £5,000 deposit and agreed to pay £500 per month on finance.

I drove the car home which was about 170 miles, then did a few more short journeys over the next week or so. I noticed the car was making a strange noise.

Then, after driving only 200 miles, one of the wheels fell off while I was going over a speed bump. Luckily, this happened on a quiet road and I wasn't seriously hurt.

When the AA arrived to the scene, they said the nuts on the wheel must have been loose. They also said the axle was bent so they couldn't put the wheel back on.

The car was returned to the dealership. To say I'm upset is an understatement and I would like to reject the car and either be given a new one with a higher specification, or be given back the money I've paid so far plus compensation.

But after several weeks I'm still not clear who is taking responsibility for this and whether the car will be replaced. I'm also still paying £500 per month. E.D, Leicester

Helen Crane, This is Money's consumer champion, replies: I am sorry to hear you had such a frightening experience.

I dread to think what could have happened if you had been driving on a busy motorway.

Jaguar Land Rover could certainly have had a more serious case to answer to - so I was surprised that neither the dealership, JLR head office, nor its car finance arm had taken swift action after you got in touch.

I would have thought they would be falling over themselves to make this right for you, but instead you said you were passed between different departments and couldn't seem to get a straight answer.

You and your dad, who helped you try and solve this, even said some of the staff you dealt with were rude and dismissive.

This accident was a nasty shock and caused you to need some time off work.

In addition, you purchased a high-specification car from a luxury brand, and expected far better not only from the vehicle, but from the customer service.

To make up for this, there were two resolutions you said you would be happy with.

One was to be given a new Evoque with a higher specification, such as additional features such as a better sunroof or an upgrade to 20-inch alloy wheels.

The other was to be given your money back so you could purchase a new car, with £4,000 compensation on top.

But none of the offers made to you came anywhere close to this. After a couple of months of trying to sort it, you contacted me.

As the situation was taking so long to resolve, and with you needing a car to get around due to a health issue, your dad gave you the deposit to buy a new Range Rover, which totalled £7,157.

After I got in contact, Jaguar Land Rover reviewed the vehicle and could not conclude with certainty how the axle was damaged, and why the wheel came off.

It therefore agreed to refund the money you spent on the faulty Range Rover, including your £5,000 deposit and the three monthly payments you had made totalling £1,500.

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You also told me it refunded the £7,157 you paid as a deposit towards the new vehicle, as a goodwill gesture. You told me you are pleased with this as it accounts for more than the £4,000 compensation you initially wanted.

All in all, you have received back more than £13,600.

When asked for a statement, JLR said it did not comment on live cases.

This sadly isn't the first problem I have heard about when it comes to cars from the Jaguar Land Rover stable.

Back in March, I assisted a reader who experienced a catalogue of issues with her brand new £88,000 Land Rover, including that she couldn't get it to lock.

I was also recently contacted by another reader, P.V, from the West Midlands, who told me that, alarmingly, his seven-year-old Land Rover Discovery had caught on fire.

He purchased it in 2017, and had several issues beginning in 2022. The car cut out without warning while merging on to a motorway in late 2024, and this culminated in him being told the vehicle needed an engine replacement which would cost £18,500.

The mileage at the time was 43,000 - lower than the UK average of 7,400 miles per year or 51,800, so he complained.

Diagnostic tests were carried out and the JLR dealership ultimately agreed to pay for the replacement of the powertrain control module - the 'brain' of the engine - free of charge.

On the test drive after the repair, though, the car burst into flames - as seen in these terrifying images. Luckily, no-one was hurt.

P.V received a payout from the dealership's insurer, but this only amounted to £25,500 - the car's present-day value.

While that is normal practice for insurance claims, P.V thought he deserved more, due to the catalogue of problems he'd experienced with the car over the years, and his suspicion that the vehicle had a manufacturing fault all along.

I should say this suspicion has never been confirmed by JLR, but a car combusting mid-drive is certainly far from normal.

I also took this case to Jaguar Land Rover, which said it was not privy to the details of the insurer's settlement, and had not been able to inspect the vehicle before it was disposed of by the insurer.

The car was held at a vehicle removals company for just under four weeks before being destroyed, and JLR said it could not organise access and an engineer during that time.

JLR therefore declined to offer any redress for P.V, and said: 'Vehicle and client safety is our top priority - our vehicles undergo stringent testing and are made with strict adherence to safety standards.

'We recognise how difficult this experience must have been for the client, but we are not able to comment on the specifics of this case without inspecting the vehicle, which was disposed of by a third-party.'