Me vs The Mrs. Range Rover 4.2 SC vs Lexus RX350.

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,626
Location
Wargrave, UK
OK, having a bit of an issue here with the family car buying and am now stuck.

I would like a 2006 ish Range Rover 4.2 Supercharged Vogue SE on about 100k miles.
The mrs would like a 2008 ish Lexus RX350 SE-L on about 40k miles.

Both are around the same price range (£16k ish) but we can't agree. She's kind of left it up to me to decide now and I just don't know. Both have their relative merits and weaknesses. So, what would you choose and why?

Rangie pros:
Is awesome
Is fast
Is super comfortable
Makes a great sound
Nothing has the same road presence of a Range Rover
Huge enthusiast community to turn to for help when it goes wrong

Rangie cons:
Abysmal on fuel (12mpg but not really fussed about this)
Will go wrong, a lot
A bit pretentious
Have to buy privately or through an independent at the price range I'm looking at

RX350 pros:
Excellent stereo and satnav system
Will not go wrong very often
Will have a Lexus approved-used warranty
Not terrible on fuel

RX350 cons:
Dull to drive
No sense of occasion
Slow
Toyota parts prices

My head is telling me to buy the Lexus. My heart wants the Rangie though.
 
What about the RX400H or something? Or is that no faster than the 350?

The Rangie is no doubt the better vehicle but I can't help but think it's going to be a much, much bigger liability over the ownership period than the Lexus. You just can't knock the 'dependency' and extra peace of mind that the Lexus is going to offer, especially for a family.


Can you get some sort of Range Rover all-encompassing warranty?
 
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I may be getting this completely wrong but didn't you get frustrated with constant niggles and issues with a 7 series and A8? TBH of those two I'd be picking the Lexus every time.
 
I understand your interest in the 4.2 SC RRS. They are fantastic hunks of metal and can be had for fairly silly money now - But there are various reasons for that.

Buy carefully and set aside funds to repair it when it does throw up issues and you will have an immensely enjoyable Chelsea tractor to hoon around in which even to this day is still an accomplished performer on the road and one as you say already has massive road presence*.






*Just don't look at the trip computer too often. :D
 
Out of those two models/years, it'd be the Range Rover.

The Mk2 Lexus RX is ugly IMHO. Also I don't really see the point in the Lexus unless you're buying the Hybrid version - and then it's probably only gonna be for tax reasons as a true hippy isn't going to want 2.7tonne wagon with a 3.5 V6 that does mid 20s MPG.

That said though, the warranty could be an important factor and after six months with our MY13 RX450H I have to give the Lexus dealer top marks on customer service :cool:.
 
Whilst the warranty and probable (but not guaranteed) reliability of the Lexus are a big plus, given your not bothered about MPG by your own admission, the fact it's only other plus is a decent stereo pretty much - for me at least - sums up what a poor choice it would ultimately be!

Coming from premium Audi & BMW's, I think you'd soon hate the Lexus, if its as bland as you make it out.

I'd far rather a few issues reliability wise if in return I had that "sense of occasion" and all the other plus points of a Range Rover.

Ones a wannabe, the other is the real deal.

Fuel is the killer for most buyers, not you though....

Off you go & get it!!!!! ;)
 
I've looked at the 400H by the way but they seem to be poor value for money as for the same money as a 2008 RX350 SE-L you're looking at a 2005 - 2006 example with double the mileage. They aren't any faster than the 350 (faster than the older 300 though) and aren't exactly brilliant on fuel either.

I always keep a £2k slush fund available for car repairs. It seems to cover most eventualities and should be sufficient to keep a Rangie on the road. Well, assuming it doesn't break down every 5 minutes.

Lordrobs, yeah I did get annoyed with the A8 and 750i but those were from main dealers and under warranty. I was more frustrated by the lack of care by the dealer than the fact that they had niggles. The A8 was junk though. Friday afternoon car I think.
 
Not sure its even worth me answering this thread as my opinion is obvious. But i will.

The Range Rover is by far the nicer car, it will be more hassle and more expensive to own, but in my opinion it is completely worth every penny extra. The toyota is a bland generic SUV which isnt even on the same page.
You wont like the lexus and will end up moving it on after 6 months due to it being so forgettable. The Range Rover will be a keeper and will be a nice car for as long as you want to keep it (look at 2002 models, with a couple of updated trim parts they still look quite at home here in the cotswolds like no other car of that age could).

You don't see the royals shipping lexuses over to california for their tours do you? ;)
 
You make good points as always Jez. I do really want a Rangie but am I going to regret it when it's left me stranded at the side of the road? Hmm.

If you were buying an L322, what would you buy Jez? A 2006 ish Supercharged for £16k ish or a 2003 4.4 V8 for £10k ish?
 
Its funny you say that, i am viewing with the intention to buy a 2005 4.4 V8 Vogue SE this weekend for a shade under £11k, thats about a confident an answer as you could hope to get..

If you go for a non supercharged model (the power means nothing to me, the 4.4 has 300HP anyway which is fine for a truck) then go for a late 2004 on model. These are upgraded with Jaguar electronics, meaning touch screen navigation, dvd based mapping, HFP bluetooth, visual 4x4 system parameters on the nav screen, dashboard obc screens which dont lose pixels randomly etc :) Ofc supercharged models are all Jaguar anyway.
 
BTW rilot, i doubt the stereo in the Lexus is better? The late 2004- RR Vogue+ models have Harmon Kardon Logic 7 as standard?
 
Jez said:
Its funny you say that, i am viewing with the intention to buy a 2005 4.4 V8 Vogue SE this weekend for a shade under £11k, thats about a confident an answer as you could hope to get..

If you go for a non supercharged model (the power means nothing to me, the 4.4 has 300HP anyway which is fine for a truck) then go for a late 2004 on model. These are upgraded with Jaguar electronics, meaning touch screen navigation, dvd based mapping, HFP bluetooth, visual 4x4 system parameters on the nav screen, dashboard obc screens which dont lose pixels randomly etc :) Ofc supercharged models are all Jaguar anyway.
Click to expand...

I can't work out exactly when they switched to the AJV8 engine from the BMW M62. Is there a way to tell visually?
I did think that if they had the touchscreen nav then they had the AJV8 engine but there seem to be a few kicking around with the new nav but the old engine.

What do you think of this one by the way? http://www.usedvehicles.landrover.co.uk/search#/details/2001429
 
Gorgeous, best colour combo and almost the best specification available.

I think the M62 changeover was in the MY06 models but i am not 100% sure (not a specific reg, you know how you always get weird early reg's etc). The Jaguar electronics were MY05 so there are a lot of "hybrid" cars out there. Interestingly even the much later cars use some old BMW switchgear for the seat controls etc, so it all seems a mish mash to me.

Edit: Visually, its luckily pretty easy, i am almost 100% sure that the AJV8 was not fitted to any cars with a pre facelift front end; therefore in theory all AJ fitted cars will look like this:
media
 
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Right, thanks. Now I know what to look for.

I think I might give that main dealer SC one a punt. I'll make a silly offer and see where I get.
 
If I'm being honest I'd say neither.

If I had to pick one of the two cars you've suggested though it would be the Lexus purely because it is less likely to break and leave you stranded and that would be a massive dealbreaker for me.

You could just get something like a Discovery but seeing as you're trying to choose between a Lexus and a Range Rover it suggests to me that snobbery would prevent you from doing that ;)
 
Has to be the RR; I couldn't even compare the two. Has your wife been for a drive in a RR? Surely she'd change her mind after driving one?
 
grimm said:
You could just get something like a Discovery but seeing as you're trying to choose between a Lexus and a Range Rover it suggests to me that snobbery would prevent you from doing that ;)
Click to expand...

No snobbery. I wouldn't be looking at Lexus if I were a snob. I drive a Honda as my daily drive.
 
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