Range Rovers - What are they like?

CaptainCrash said:
My favourite used car review channel (L405 model, 2012-2022):


Summary: "My God no. Do not buy one."
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Tldr; Weak timing chain and other gremlins which were all fixed post 2020 so doesn’t apply to the OP.

As I said in my first post, don’t buy a car that was 100k new with a crap service history, run it on a shoe string and expect it to do you well, it will end in tears. Expensive things will need replaced as the car ages, which on these will likely bite harder than other brands.

If OP is that concerned with reliability and running costs, I agree that he should go with something else.
 
Have had an L494 autobiography dynamic since new in 2019. Absolutey no issues whatsoever, its been completely reliable. Fantastic car !! Thought about changing it but I don't really know what to! Only thing I kind of fancy is a Cayenne S, but not sure if it'll be as comfortable!!

Had free security updates last year from JLR to deal with the theft issues.

Genuinely curious as to how many people who have replied with negative comments on reliability, running costs etc have actually even sat in one let alone owned one!
 
We had an L322 4.2 supercharged for a while. I really enjoyed it as a car. I didn't enjoy the fuel economy though which was absolutely shocking. 15mpg on a run. 8 around town.
 
As someone who has recently got burned from a JLR product and will never own one again. I get the appeal, when driving one they certain give you the feeling of opulence and I can imagine a Range Rover is a step up from my Jag. I loved my Jag, with its 3L v6 diesel, plenty of torque and power. But spent 9 months in the garage due warranty company issues etc.

I specifically wouldn’t touch anything with an Ingenium engine, they are a grenade waiting to go off, that comes from friends and former colleagues who have been testing them for years. At the end of the day the it’s your choice and as I said I get the appeal. If you do go ahead and buy one I would make sure you have some savings to one side as they can throw you some big bills. Good luck.
 
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Hades said:
How on earth does simply owning a RR open up social circles? There will be a correlation between wealthy people who can afford an expensive car and those in certain social environments. But why does simply buying a particular car open up opportunities? If I get an RR on a lease that I can't really afford then will those circles open up to me too?

EDIT: I did once lease a new baby Range Rover (Evoque). It was undoubtedly a lovely place to sit... when the various electrical issues weren't driving me mad.
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The local drug dealers and mechanics working at the dealer :D
 
I should probably explain the "electrical issues" my brand new Evoque had.

1. The head unit took aaaaaages to turn on, it was that slow. Then is was very buggy.
2. When parked in the garage, if there was anything too close to the front of the car it wouldn't let me reverse out. WTF!?
3. After a few weeks the rattles inside the dashboard drove me mad. By the time I returned the car at only 4,000 miles it sounded like there was someone having a party inside the dash.

The dealer network was awful too. Despite there being a dealer relatively near me I had to drive it to a service hub in the middle of nowhere, leave it there and collect it at the end of the day. It was nowhere near a station. It also felt like a factory line when handing over the keys and collecting them later in a queue of people doing the same. For such an expensive car it didn't feel like the staff cared about the customer experience. Admittedly this was only the baby RR and the dealer experience will vary from franchise to franchise. The car never actually broke down on me but it was a poor experience for something brand new. It was a nice car to lease but I declined their offer to extend it or to buy it.
 
Are the JLR models not made on different production lines and/ or factories? I wouldn’t have thought that issues with the likes of the Evoque would apply to Range Rovers or even Jaguars for that matter.
 
Hades said:
I should probably explain the "electrical issues" my brand new Evoque had.

1. The head unit took aaaaaages to turn on, it was that slow. Then is was very buggy.
2. When parked in the garage, if there was anything too close to the front of the car it wouldn't let me reverse out. WTF!?
3. After a few weeks the rattles inside the dashboard drove me mad. By the time I returned the car at only 4,000 miles it sounded like there was someone having a party inside the dash.

The dealer network was awful too. Despite there being a dealer relatively near me I had to drive it to a service hub in the middle of nowhere, leave it there and collect it at the end of the day. It was nowhere near a station. It also felt like a factory line when handing over the keys and collecting them later in a queue of people doing the same. For such an expensive car it didn't feel like the staff cared about the customer experience. Admittedly this was only the baby RR and the dealer experience will vary from franchise to franchise. The car never actually broke down on me but it was a poor experience for something brand new. It was a nice car to lease but I declined their offer to extend it or to buy it.
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That's why people going from a £100k+ RR to a 30k German or Japanese car often feel like it's an upgrade. Their quality control is ****.

Sending customers to a black site looks like they don't want potential victims being put off by the long queue of people waiting for their car to be fixed lol
 
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Nasher, you do realise the Evoque isn't a £100K RR model though, right? Hades' experience was with an Evoque, which is the cheaper baby RR.
 
Nabinium said:
Nasher, you do realise the Evoque isn't a £100K RR model though, right? Hades' experience was with an Evoque, which is the cheaper baby RR.
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OFC not. The Evoque is a designer handbag. But they are all a liability.
 
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Hades said:
How on earth does simply owning a RR open up social circles? There will be a correlation between wealthy people who can afford an expensive car and those in certain social environments. But why does simply buying a particular car open up opportunities? If I get an RR on a lease that I can't really afford then will those circles open up to me too?

EDIT: I did once lease a new baby Range Rover (Evoque). It was undoubtedly a lovely place to sit... when the various electrical issues weren't driving me mad.
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That is what I was told! I assume it’s because people think/assume “like us” or useful to know.
 
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Open up social circles ? nope. don't think so. Can't say in all the RR's I've had over the years that the car itself has done that. I find it tends to bring out people's unfounded assumptions about you. A bit like some of the assumptions on here about the RR itself. Can it go wrong ? yup. there are bad apples in every tree ... you can't tell me that other brands/dealers are perfect either.

Are they expensive ? yes and no. If you get a dealer to do the work, yes, it'll be expensive. If you do the work yourself ... it's not really significantly worse tha other brands. DIY oil and filter change on mine ? £55-60 ... and the bulk of that cost is cause it needs 9 litres of oil.

Parts are easily available, and if you shop around, they aren't necessarily disproportionate in price to parts for other brands and cars if you factor in the size of the parts. Discs, pads, suspension arms are physically big items on things like a RR ... of course they are going to cost more than a small car. There is also an ever increasing community and body of help through forums around them to help figure out and fix issues. They are complex cars, but beyond a lot of the electronic guff, most parts bolt on and off ... just like most other cars.

All that said, they are also great cars ... nice drive, nice cabin, great view out, comfy on long trips. Wouldn't change it. Wouldn't want an x5 or other brand 4x4.

Just do your research.
 
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