Wanted to share my Google Review of Freeway Service Centre on the Isle of Sheppey.

Total bill was £1k for major service, lower ball joint replacement and megaflush on 2012 tdv8 Westminster with 83k mile"

Did a lot of research for a reliable independent local Land Rover specialist and after having a chat with Ollie it was clear that they knew Land Rover vehicles in great detail and were worth the short trip over to Isle of Sheppey.

Quoted me a very reasonable price for a major service and gearbox megaflush. On arrival I was warmly welcomed and saw no less than 4 other similar age-spec Range Rovers being worked on. This is always a good sign.

In addition to the work quoted I also advised them of a knocking in the suspension, probably from the lower offside balljoint - and they said they would try to fit this in.

As soon as I got home I got a call from Leroy advising that it was indeed a lower balljoint, giving a quote to fix immediately with off the shelf OEM parts. The gearbox flush was very definitely worthwhile. Gear changes are noticeably smoother and you can see from the photo that the old fluid was degraded and dirty.

Overall I was very impressed - the total bill was a fraction of what I would have paid at a main dealer and very thorough, with a well itemised invoice. Freeway have paid to sign up to LR's online servicing portal and uploaded the service record for future owners to see. (not even LR bother to do this!)

What they achieved in a few hours was impressive. Labour is £85 an hr but they quoted only one hour for the ball joint - which can be a pig of a job to somebody unfamiliar with the task.

Click image to enlarge

Will have to bear these in mind when the time comes, was using an indy just outside of Sittingbourne, but feel I had my pants pulled down at my last oil service, thanks for the review.