LandRover vs. other SUV's (1 Viewer)

[Karl_Luph]

Does anyone have some experience owning one of these vehicles for awhile? I know they've won various awards over the years, but I was wanting to know how their dependability and maintenance cost compare to owning a domestic SUV. Thanks all!

 

[Charles J P]

Without pulling up a lot of statistics, they are historically known for being one of the few SUVs with true off-road abilities, but they are known for horendous quality problems. They are probably little worse, quality wise as many domestic SUVs, but I wouldnt buy one of those either. I would avoid them.

 

[CameronJ]

Karl,

I owned a '99 Disco (Series II) from 99 - 2002. I loved it. Great truck, excellent off-road, in the snow and ice, etc. Drove relatively well on-road.

That being said, the maintenance was an issue. I got rid of it once the warranty was up, as I had visions of it sucking money out of my wallet.

If you plan on leasing one, or only plan on owning it a few years (and out-of-warranty service wouldn't be an issue) I would definitely recommend one.

In a few years I may revisit the Disco, we'll have to see what quality changes Ford makes.

 

[Mike__D]

Kinda OT, but the History Channel had a show about Jeeps and Land Rover. Did you know the very first Land Rover was a modified Jeep? I can't qoute the exact model or year, but it is an interesting fact.

Mike D.

 

[Craig Robertson]

i have relatives who owned one, while it was under warranty LR ended up paying more money for repairs than the original selling price of the vehicle!
i'll be in the market for a new (to me) car in the near future and was talking to a friend of mine that sells used cars for a BMW dealer. he sells the "pre-owned" vehicles that the new car side of the dealership takes in on trade. he told me just two days ago that he wouldn't sell a Discovery to a friend no matter how much money he made on the deal.
both my wife and i have wanted a Discovery for a long time, but given LR's reliablility issues, i'm afraid that we'll have to pass.

 

[Bill_D]

I own a Range Rover and it is a maintenance nightmare. It is constantly in need of repair. Please note that I have never had a problem with the engine but everything else just gives up the ghost.

I have several stories about this vehicle but this one is funny .... now. The gas latch on '97 Rover can only be opened from an electronic switch in the cab. The switch failed and we found out that there is not emergency pull or anything ....so me and the wife and kid were riding on fumes and ended up stranded. We called the roadside service that comes with the car and they rescued us and the Dealership sent a brand spankin' new 2001 Rover for us to use while they figured out how to put gas in the car. The new Rover broke down too, dead, nada.

We made them rent us a Buick Regal from Hertz.

I have found a buyer for it and he has seen the maintenance/repair notebook for the car and doesn't seem to care.

How do you spell Hallelujah!

 

[Ted Lee]

i have a friend who knows someone who owned the range rover. he said it had so many problems (including massive oil leaks) that he was able to get the dealership to buy it back.

 

[Charles J P]

Despite the overwhelming evidence portrayed here, someone will be along shortly to say "I've had x number of Land Rovers and they were all maintenance free dreams. You guys must be doing something wrong." Mark my words.

 

[Masood Ali]

The only people richer than Land Rover owners are Land Rover mechanics.

 

[DaveBB]

I worked at rental company that had Discovery II in our fleet; we had 8 to 10 of them at my branch. They were easily the worst vehicle when you looked at days rented and available vs. in the shop. When they did get to the dealership for work they would have to sit there forever while other Land Rovers got worked on. The Land Rover dealership we took it to also carried Audi. There would be times the Audi service area would quiet because no cars were in while the RR side was always busy.

 

[KyleS]

Everyone makes jokes but they are known for a lot of issues. I really like the look of the new Land Rover free lander but I too am afraid of the possible repair bills and I believe that my wife and I will be opting for the Honda CRV-EX.

KyleS

 

[chung_sotheby]

If you are talking about the new Range Rovers, the Discoverys, the Freelanders and the new automatic Defenders, then stay away. If you are looking at the manual transmission, pre-1999 Defenders, then I would say go do it. The earlier standard transmission Defenders could be left in a pool of mud for a month and still be able to run. Also, it is so basic that it never has the small problems that plague the other Land Rovers.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

For SUV reliability and low repair costs, go Japanese first (except for Mitsubishi), Domestic second (and getting better all the time), non-Brit European close third, and British dead last.

 

[Karl_Luph]

Wow, this was more response than I expected on an off thread. I've always heard about how the Land Rover won a bunch of off road awards, but I guess they still can be cantankerous like alot of British vehicles. I still have a feeling that if you lived out in the sticks and most of your driving was on unpaved roads this would be the vehicle to get. I used to hear that the Nissan Patrols were like that too.

 

[Justin Doring]

Land Rover makes some of the best, if not the best, SUVs in the world, but reliability is not their forte. The new BMW designed Range Rover has replaced the Mercedes G55 AMG as my dream SUV.

 

[Bill_D]

I guess one good thing about my Rover is that when it would break down it would always let you safely limp along at about 30 mph. When the EAS system (Electronic Air Suspension) goes the beast is stuck about 4 inches off the ground and the ride feels like riding a bull in the Rodeo.

One guy asked me if I had it "slammed"?

No, it's just broken again.

 

[Mark Romero]

Toyota is the way to go. Either the Highlander or the Sequoia. I have a 2002 Sequoia Limited and it rocks.

 

[Jay H]

I can't complain about Land Rover, because I sent away for information on their new Freelander long time ago and they sent me an invitation to test drive a '03 Discovery and get a $75 gift card. Can't pass up $75 so I went to my local LR dealership and had them sign the thing and I got it last week and already spent it at Campmor on some ski pants..

Jay

 

[Chris Derby]

http://www.discoweb.org/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi

 

[Walt N]

There are a lot of good "Mall Terrain" SUV's out there, but for off-roading reliability is everything. Getting towed out when you're 20 miles from pavement can be difficult to arrange and is likely to do some serious damage to the wallet. For that reason alone I'd rule out the Rovers. (Smart wheelers wheel in pairs, smart Rover owners wheel in packs!)

You can't beat an old CJ type Jeep for mudding and rock crawling, they set the standard, but if you want the best of both worlds the Toyotas are tops IMO. The Landcruiser (aka - The Iron Pig) has a solid front axle which is very strong and can obtain some great articulation off-road with small mods, but they're heavy and it's an awfully expensive beast to beat up which leaves the 4Runner. They have the highest stock ground clearance of anything out there and their road manners are not bad for a truck that's highly capable in the rough stuff. In stock form they'll easily keep up with a stock Rover, but with a few minor mods (starting with tires) they'll go from "capable" to "amazing" off-road, especially if equipped with lockers front and rear. I don't know that much about Nissan or domestic SUV's but I'm sure they're quite capable as well, or can easily be made so.

If one isn't planning on going off-road though, I honestly wouldn't recommend anything in this category unless you have *very smooth* roads where you live. 4Runners, Cruisers, XTerra's, etc. have annoyingly harsh rides on old roads. It seems to me that a softer SUV that's built for street driving with occasional snow like a Highlander, Lexus, or even a minivan would be much more comfortable and livable as a daily driver.