Is this the most impressive followup on warranty for a 4X4 that you’ve seen? We think it is. Imagine the scenario, one that any
remote-area 4WDer dreads: mechanical failure that leads to immobility. This happened to a couple along the Canning Stock Route recently, just south of Well 25. This is almost bang-on halfway along the Canning, amongst the Harbut Ranges. In other words, you’re pretty damned remote.
The Earthcruiser, based on an Iveco Daily 4X4, suffered a problem with the transfer case, locking itself out of high and low range. What to do? Make a Canning Stock Route warranty callout?
After a couple of (satellite) phone calls, a plan was quickly put into action, with impressive results. Because towing wasn’t really plausible with a vehicle of that size in the kind of remote country it was in, Iveco WA instead chose to whip a good transfer case out of a new Daily 4X4 they had in the yard and send it express to Newman, 1,200 kilometres away.
That’s impressive, sure. You often hear other manufacturers quote weeks of wait for a new part. But what they did next was even better. Two mechanics representing IvecoCare, Tom and Cameron, loaded the transfer case and other neccessary gear into a 4X4 ute, and headed out of Newman to meet the stricken Earthcruiser along the Canning. Two days of 4WDing, including three hours to cover the last 85 kilometres, had the team working on the 4X4 at 10pm.
At 1am, the transfer case was out. By 8.30am the next morning, the new case was in, and the 4X4 was once again mobile. A three day turnaround for a Canning Stock Route warranty call. Hats off to IvecoCare, and Tom and Cameron the mechanics for getting the job done. If only all new vehicle warranties were this good!