There are only three types of commentators in Range Rover Videos. Those who've never owned one but wish they had and feel the need to make a comment about reliability as their reason for not buying one. Type two are those skinflints that bought the cheapest, poorly maintained Range Rover they could find then cry their eyes out when the find out it's not as cheap as a Fiesta to maintain. Lastly there are those of us who do own one. In most cases we've owned several and we loved them all. We know how capable and reliable they are and how practical they are. If you don't like Range Rovers or cant afford one, don't buy one, it's that simple.
I think you've given yourself the best chance in RR ownership here. You've chosen the most recent, best spec'd car available with the best engine, good service history even with that mileage. By this time, Land Rover had been making these for 10 years. Rangies are like TVRs in that sense - the longer they made them, the better they got. Also the better chance you've got of keeping corrosion at bay, although I'd deal with your small patches ASAP. Small bits become larger very quickly. It's still over 10 years old, so you can expect air suspension issues as rubber ages, but actually, these bits are not that expensive in the greater scheme of things. Turbos not so cheap, so best to get them checked and EGR valve history also.
There have been Range Rover's in my family longer than I have been here. In all those cars, early classics, late classics, P38's L322s there has genuinely not been a bad one. Never needed recovering from the side of the road. Yes there have been some large bills etc. given it is a big complex heavy car. These cars are not the problem, its the previous owners and what they have avoided doing maintenance wise.
It seems like one in every 10 people who buys an L322 now, puts up a RU-vid video of their purchase. That’s not so bad, but the videos are always about what a “brave” or “crazy” decision they’ve made. No doubt, every fault and cost will be in a new video. I just wish someone would do a series of videos on these cars which celebrate the joys of owning one rather than the pitfalls. We all know they can be unreliable and expensive to run. There are plenty of channels which bang on about that. The almost addictive attraction of owning one is what’s more mysterious. I’m on my second L322. It’s a 2011 4.4 TDV8 and I love it. It just cost me a fortune to have fixed and no doubt it’ll keep costing me a fortune to fix…and I still love it! Welcome to the world of full fat Range Rover ownership. Get ready to accept that the rest of humanity actually wants you to have a miserable experience with it!
And that’s what I want to get to the bottom of … if they’re so unreliable, if they cost so much to run, and owners go on and on about it, why do many keep buying them? What is this attraction/love affair that keeps loyalty? Let’s find out ….
@@stop_lying_bro that’s probably why my channel is so small, as I don’t dramatise ownership across any of my cars. I just say what I feel, tell you what goes well and what goes not so well. Good job it’s only a hobby! 😂 I’m hoping that I’ve bought well, researched heavily, sourced one with a full service history, annually serviced with (almost) everything working. And because my videos tend to be a few weeks in advance I’ve already done around 2,000 miles in the first 6 weeks of ownership with no problems as all (ps just don’t tell anyone!). I’m already loving it, being such a contrast to my other cars also emphasises some of the great points of the full fat RR. But I better not reveal too much before my Owners review in a few weeks time. Thanks for watching 👍🏻
@@FastandFun Haha. amazing! Keep on enjoying it and you just got yourself a new Sub. I'm waiting on the spec i want to pop up on the Market here to buy. I've driven a few and i love them.
Best thing you can do is go to a specialist and change every fluid on the car regardless of history from engine to brakes, every fluid and filter in sight.
IMO, FWLIW, I think this is the right decision. You will hopefully be lucky, but all of your options could throw up a big bill. I really don't think the Range Rover is any more unreliable. And it's built for the role you need it for, whereas the others simply weren't. As far as the cosmetics, you've got that thousand you saved to tart it up and give it an oil and fluids service, which is key. My only concern would be the 24k miles over the hundred going forward. One thing I see with Range Rovers is that the engines often don't do the miles that you expect of an engine these days. And, IME, it's always been the case, going back to what are now called the Classic. Anyway, IMO, the secret is to do an annual oil change. And to probably change all the fluids every three years going forward. In that way, you give yourself the best chance of having a good ownership experience. All the best!
Interested what you say about the 124k miles. I do have a perception that a big V8 diesel that spends most of its time below 1.5k revs should do 200k no problem! But maybe that’s not true! The big tick for me was its annual servicing since new. That should give it every chance. And IMHO it’s not normally the engine/gearbox that give the problems. Will be interesting to see ….
Had the same year and model, the biggest problem I had was the DPF which kept blocking and was a pig to clear, to be fair that was probably down to me doing to many short journeys but we don’t all live on the motorway. You will be in the governments rip off tax bracket with that as well, on the plus side no other vehicle will drive like them.
I’ve just bought one. Just the Vogue. Unfortunately since I bought it it’s been in a garage awaiting a starter motor from the UK. I live in Italy. Just hope they can fix it 🤦♂️
Yep, I agree, Auto Trader is the only place IMO, I don’t look any where else. Brave and Resilient maybe a better mantra to RR ownership. I view reliability in a RR as a bonus not one of the core reasons. The balance of cost has long gone for me, I just get things fixed when they break despite regular maintenance and annual gearbox servicing etc. Mine is nearly 20 years old with 214k and a daily driver. I have spent a ‘kings ransom’ over 7 years of ownership and I look at other newer cars and just don’t get the same vibe. If I do ‘upgrade’ at some point I would like to try a petrol RR. Looking forward to your journey and to see if like Matt from High Peak autos you catch ‘Range Roveritis’!
I only ever view AutoTrader so your testimony only cements my decision. Great analysis and commentary as well as some great points from your viewers. I have had my RR for 7 years and it has now done 213k. During that time it has been off the road cumulatively about a month a year. It gets serviced about 3/4 times a year with an Annual gearbox service and all other non- engine oils/fluids about bi-annually. I have spent a king’s ransom thus far and will continue to do so as far as possible. If (when?) it suffers a major break down I will probably get a another one, later petrol model. It’s not d
There's better colours 😅😂nearly every other youtuber bar 7% I would love one not black yet would have grey blue green or bronze for me yes certainly one day just enjoy the highs and the lows👍
Well, I wish you the best of luck. I owned this exact model for 12 months and did a similar thing of trying to get the best I could, but then spent £10k in the first year. I did however spend money on the bodywork to resolve the tailgate/wheel arch issues. They weren’t bad but I wanted to catch them early. I had turbo problems which cost £2k and a number of other things that I chose to do such as ceramic coating, wheel refurbishing in order to protect the car. Expect suspension work which I had to do. Arms etc, they are heavy cars. The air bags were ok. I felt the car was then sorted and I loved it. They are great functional comfortable cruisers. The problem is that as they get cheaper, owners tend not to look after them and unless they have proper preventative maintenance they can be trouble. I really enjoyed the car. Find a good Indy and be prepared to spend some money looking after it and it will be fine. Enjoy.
I bought a 2011 TDV8 a year ago and I have spent around £7k on big service (all fluids) plus new bushings in front suspension, new drive belt and rollers , new a/c compressor and circulation pump for the fbh. I live in Sweden so cost of maintenance and parts a lot higher than UK. However I still got work to do with the rear arches and tailgate. Any recommendations on how to approach the bodywork issues? Car has 100k miles on it.
It depends on how far gone the bodywork is. Mine was showing signs of bubbling so I had both rear arches and the tailgate repaired and painted at my local LR specialist. Cost me around £750 as I recall.
I bought my Vogue 3.6 tdv8 L322 about 3 months ago and i always thought that Vogue was the highest spec, that SE stands for Standard Equipment, and that HSE meant High Specification Equipment.. I also always thought that Westmeinster and Foundry were some later versions top of the line, just above Vogue. Are you sure that it is not like that,? Cheers from Northern Italy
It may be different in other countries but in the UK the spec order for late L322’s is Vogue, Vogue SE, and then Autobiography at the top. The end of the line was the Westminster which sat somewhere in the mid-spec range (parts bin special). But there’s very little between all the specs; cooling seats, headliner, leather, etc that’s about it! Nothing that would deter me from anyone.
