Range Rovers - What are they like?

Bluecube

Bluecube

Bluecube

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2011
Posts
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Out of idle curiosity I’ve been looking at what Range Rovers (the proper ones - not the Sport or Velar ones) are available on Autotrader and a couple of nice ones caught my eye. They’re all about 5 or 6 years old with around 40k miles on the clock.

My thinking is that vehicles of this age and mileage should any niggles ironed out by now so I may be able to get something decent. What are folks opinions?

BTW, I’m not interested in comparable cars ie the X5 or Q7. They just don’t do it for me
 
I've heard bad reports about Land Rover reliability/quality both in terms of reviews/surveys and from people I know who've owned them. Also, even if you can buy a 5 year old one for less than a family hatch/SUV bear in mind they still have the parts/servicing/running costs of a £100,000 car.

If a 5 year old premium/luxury car seems cheap and looks like a really good deal in my experience there's normally a reason! In fact, the folk I know who bought them have only ever kept them for a couple of years and then switched back to either a more economical mainstream SUV brand or one of the usual Germanic luxury brands.
 
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My local JLR service centre also services Nissan. Their workload is 80% JLR.

I know not what you're looking at but I had a 74 plate RR Sport and it was absolutely massive, felt a bit of a bell driving it and the boot space was ridiculously small given the size of the vehicle. It was fun but wasn't sad to hand it back.
 
They've been known to be very expensive to insure or uninsurable in some cases, due to thefts. Where you live and everything else are all factors too of course.
 
Nice cars to be in in terms of comfort but wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.

Family have had 2, always breaking down. On one, the engine literally seized in Sevenoaks High Street, complete write off.

Experience has shown me that most drivers seem to be rather self entitled in terms of driving style.
 
Inb4 Nashers usual negative energy.

Excellent cars but if you buy, have some cash in the bank for things that could go wrong.

You’ll hear zero support for JLR here so it’s honestly not worth wasting your time. Look up review videos on Youtube (try High Peak Autos) and owners forums instead.

Pre-2019 engines had a weak timing chain design, listen out for rattles on test drives and potentially budget to have the kit replaced in future.

For what it’s worth, I know a few people that buy RR’s (full fat and sport) for themselves or their other halves, swapping every 5-7 years and I’ve never heard a single horror story. Just the usual maintenance or things breaking that could happen on any other brand. On the flip side, I’ve heard horror stories about other premium brands. Just your luck, I guess.

Currently looking at SUVs for family duty myself and will likely get another Velar, around a similar age. I was that impressed with the one I had a few years ago. That’ll be to run alongside my current ingenium Jag.
 
Sadly known for their electrical gremlins and some engines have significant issues. Generally not a case of if they go wrong but when and how badly.
 
shifty_uk said:
What issues? Other than the timing chain I mentioned? Genuinely curious.
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The V6 3L diesel engines snapping their cranks. The V8 diesels leaking from the oil cooler in the V, leaking oil turbo feeds. Issues in general rear calipers hand brake motors failing, gear selector solenoid failing resulting in the car disabled as you can't select a gear, satnav system crashing/rebooting, rear coolant pipes corroding to rear heater matrix causing a total loss of coolant and the retractable steps motors seizing.

For V8 one and issues that's what the father inlaw has had over a couple of V8 diesel full fat Range Rovers all common issues, there was more but I can't remember them. Luckily all repaired under warranty, it is a good car when working especially comfort wise and he'll replace his current with another but he'll never have one out of warranty.
 
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shifty_uk said:
What issues? Other than the timing chain I mentioned? Genuinely curious.
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The biggies are the timing chains, as you say. Chain guides rather than just the chain itself are another. On the v8s water pumps and heater matrixes can be a problem.
 
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