Land Rover SUV - Anyone have one in their family?
 

Considering the purchase of a very slightly pre-owned Land Rover. I plan to keep it at a rural property for use in a country environment - not necessarily very much off-road, but the gammet of weather extremes. Both desert/mountain, winter and summer. Any good things, or not so good to say about the Land Rover that you may have personal experience with?

Our family has owned several Jeeps, and their reliability is the big question when owning one for several years. The Land Rover seems to have made a big resurgence, so I wanted to be open to upgrading from the Jeep brand.

I'm just not interested in owning a Japanese, Korean, or German SUV.

~Thanks for any input on the Land Rover brand only.

I'm not sure it is an upgrade in reliability from Jeep. If you get one with the aluminum body that would be an upgrade on the body.

I had a friend with a fairly new one. I just remembered seeing it seep around the front diff hub.

According to the reviews (I've never sat in one) they drive and ride very nicely.

I have driven jeeps though and ridden in them and to me they ride and handle surprisingly well.

Are you talking about new, used? what age and model? My brother ownes a LandRover in England. It's more reliable than his Jaguar, which does't say much as thats currently off road till he can find enough money to try and fix it's litany of problems. That will likely take some time though as the LandRover just cost him many thousands more than he expected when a service turned out to be a lot more. Frankly I don't think "british" and "reliability" can be used in the same sentence.

- Peter.

They are junk, the only vehical IMHO your better off leasing. Let the dealer deal with it.

Although the Defenders are pretty nice.

Used, a one to two year old off-lease, in-warranty LR. They experience such massive depreciation, I'd want one with 30K miles or less. Mid-sized LR3? or the big V8 - not necessarily the supercharged model. I'm not intimately familiar with their models.

The Jeep brand as it ages, can run some serious parts/repair costs. I was thinking the Land Rover might have less as it ages. Maybe I'm wrong. The Jeep brand I would be tempted to buy new. A loaded Commander or Grand Cherokee.

There is a high-volume off-lease Jaguar, Land Rover, MB dealer over in Dallas, Texas - www.texascarsdirect.com that specializes in off-lease LRs. They literally have dozens of them in-stock and incoming. A buddy of mine bought an LR3 from them, an S3, a Jaguar 4.2 convertible, and a Mercedes-Benz CLS 550 from them - over the past three years. -Loves doing business with them. That's what got me interested in them.

Go with the LR3. I've been shopping both those and the Discoverys for awhile. The main problem with Discoverys is head gaskets going. The LR3 was a completely new design done by BMW. The Discos date back decades and can have some of the British quirkiness.

2001 Discovery. It has been a dependable vehicle. I have even driven it though trails that my jeep can not go through.

Expensive as hell to have repaired.

I have three. They are pretty expensive to fix unless you do it yourself. While I have had no major problem in any one, there is always something broken. Either the three amigo lights are on or the Service Engine Soon light or the sunroof is leaking or the back seats will not go down or the lights in the dash are not working or the valley gasket has a leak - down to needing a new head gasket. Aside from the repair expense you should expect to get about 11-12 MPG in town and maybe 16 on the expressway at 70-75 mph. They are good looking cars and you can get a lot in the way back. The Land Rover Only forum is really good and so is the Peachparts Land Rover forum. We all love them and we all hate them - at the the same time. If you do purchase one it will be an ownership experience that you will never forget. And do not lose the key - the stealership will rip you for a replacement.

All vehicles have their quirks, but it seems that Land Rover ownership requires an ongoing relationship with the dealership service department. Jeep dealers are relatively commonplace, while Land Rover dealers are a bit thin on the ground. How far is the nearest Land Rover dealer from the property in question, and how long does it take to get parts if the local dealer doesn't carry what you need?

I worked for a multi line luxury dealership, and there were very few repeat LR buyers...funky mix of Ford, BMW and "olde English" design and engineering, massively overbuilt axles and driveline, but other issues galore.

I'd be much more comfortable with a domestic product, especially in a rural area...who the heck will want to work on a Rover except the dealer, and can you deal with downtime waiting for parts?

GL320CDI perhaps?

My mother got her Range Rover new in 2006, and has had zero problems. Its a very stylish, capable vehicle, but it looks like alot can go wrong. It shares alot with parts with BMW, and the 2003 X5 I had was a nightmare.

I think the LR3 has a traditional spring suspension rather than air, correct? One recent Land Rover model, the Freelander, has earned its place with the crappiest cars ever made. If you could get the sunroof to open and close 3 times in a row without breaking you had a good one. It also had electrical, top end, bottom end, and transmission issues. Google will give many corroborating stories. Land Rover never aknowledged the pile of crap the unleashed on the world, but did a quiet ground up redesign that is much better.

Probably the best vehicle to park out in the middle of nowhere and never having to worry about starting would be a Land Cruiser or Lexus equivalent. I see alot of those parked up at the airport near the ski house. My father keeps a Jeep at his second home and its been fine as well. Its a 2007 Wrangler Rubicon long wheelbase 4x4. It barely has 2000 miles on it because it sits so much. :eek:

SO, you'd rather have an Indian one? Well, owned by a company from India and built mainly in GB. Not really a combo I think of when I think serious reliable inclement weather vehicle, especially with how street-oriented they have become.
Personally, you'd be much better served buying an old Range Rover LWB, drop it off at a reputable capable off-road performance shop for a few modern upgrades and maybe a diesel swap, and drive it till the wheels fall off. You'll be into it for less than half the cost of a lightly used LR, and will have a much better vehicle.

LR3 has air suspension.

Oddly enough i've driven ML-Classes with both coils and air springs...I think it's the only time that I'd rather have air suspension over traditional coil springs.

I have had two Discoverys, one went 345 thousand on the original engine. Quirky, but awesme off road. LR3 is more complex, I'd go witha late Disco 1, or a Disco II with an upgraded 4.6 in it. They can be had dirt cheal and can be worked on by anyone. Stay away from the dealers or repair and service. Massive tech info at www.discoweb.org. Also have had several early series vehicles, primitive and not worth the trouble for what you are doing. Late model, I like the RR Sport.