Range Rover L322 - are they really THAT bad?!
Discussion
I've just watched another excellent episode of 'Harry's Garage' where he extolles the virtues of Range Rovers. He mentions that he's had about eight of them over the years, used on his farm and as a daily driver.
He currently has an L322, which he shows you round and gives you an idea of what it's like to live with. Despite saying that yes, they are quite expensive vehicles to own and run, he also states that he's not experienced any major failures with any of the models over the years, despite working them hard and doing reasonable mileages.
So, off I trot to AutoTrader for a butchers, and I truly can't believe how cheap they are. Harry mentioned his was worth around ten grand - however there are lots on the Trader starting at three, four thousand, mostly with decent service history, with MOT's and no advertised faults.
I was thinking that one around ten thousand might be a good buy, but now I am wondering if 3 grand sunk into something that looks half decent might be a winner? I mean, even if you get a year of decent service from it, and then it grenades, at 3 grand it can then go in the bin, no?
Would be really interested to hear other's thoughts. Cheers!
He currently has an L322, which he shows you round and gives you an idea of what it's like to live with. Despite saying that yes, they are quite expensive vehicles to own and run, he also states that he's not experienced any major failures with any of the models over the years, despite working them hard and doing reasonable mileages.
So, off I trot to AutoTrader for a butchers, and I truly can't believe how cheap they are. Harry mentioned his was worth around ten grand - however there are lots on the Trader starting at three, four thousand, mostly with decent service history, with MOT's and no advertised faults.
I was thinking that one around ten thousand might be a good buy, but now I am wondering if 3 grand sunk into something that looks half decent might be a winner? I mean, even if you get a year of decent service from it, and then it grenades, at 3 grand it can then go in the bin, no?
Would be really interested to hear other's thoughts. Cheers!
As with many hi end cars people get put off buying older ones because of the potential for huge bills.
I have had 5 Range Rovers both new and used all were a great way to get around and all worked hard, the 4.6HSE P38 was the only one that lived down to the reputation all the others were faultless.
Don't buy the 6 cylinder diesel, the later v8 is good as are all petrol versions.
I have had 5 Range Rovers both new and used all were a great way to get around and all worked hard, the 4.6HSE P38 was the only one that lived down to the reputation all the others were faultless.
Don't buy the 6 cylinder diesel, the later v8 is good as are all petrol versions.
Mates brother has been a JLR tech for 20 years, he bought a 3 year old one back in the day, having been looking for two years. He got rid last year, it was OK but even in his hands he never got to the bottom of a discharging battery it developed later in life and it ate EGR valves, There are two and one is a swine to get to I understand. Suspension air was ongoing but easy. He carried a boost pack and a laptop at all times.
He probably didn’t do much preventative stuff as he could deal with reactive, but if all that was workshop time it would have been very expensive.
Laugh is he leased a brand new quashai on a cheap deal and it’s also discharging its battery regularly as he tries to get the lease company to take it back
It was a 6pot diesel.
He probably didn’t do much preventative stuff as he could deal with reactive, but if all that was workshop time it would have been very expensive.
Laugh is he leased a brand new quashai on a cheap deal and it’s also discharging its battery regularly as he tries to get the lease company to take it back
It was a 6pot diesel.
I guess it depends if you are looking to get one that drives OK, or one where everything works fine.
Driving OK may be fairly easy assuming you don't get gearbox/txb or air suspension issues (oh and check the front diff recall is done on early l322 I should imagine it probably is).
However there are so many things to go wrong, especially on a high spec one, that having a faultless car might be more of a challenge, heated and cooled seats, complex HVAC, common door lock issues (had a rear door stuck locked shut on mine in less than 1 week of ownership), in car entertainment issues, theres just so many things to break down... and sadly some things do and can be very expensive to resolve.
I have a 2010 Autobiography SC, fortunately its still under extended warranty.
I'd not buy one for a few k as the chances are it'll throw a ton of issues within a very short space of time.
Driving OK may be fairly easy assuming you don't get gearbox/txb or air suspension issues (oh and check the front diff recall is done on early l322 I should imagine it probably is).
However there are so many things to go wrong, especially on a high spec one, that having a faultless car might be more of a challenge, heated and cooled seats, complex HVAC, common door lock issues (had a rear door stuck locked shut on mine in less than 1 week of ownership), in car entertainment issues, theres just so many things to break down... and sadly some things do and can be very expensive to resolve.
I have a 2010 Autobiography SC, fortunately its still under extended warranty.
I'd not buy one for a few k as the chances are it'll throw a ton of issues within a very short space of time.
Yes, they really are that bad.
I imagine if you are like Harry and have plenty of money and a great relationship with a quality mechanic and lots of other cars to drive when it goes wrong, then ownership is no more than minor trouble. If you can hand it over to someone and open your chequebook, not a problem.
For the rest of us, they are a bloody nightmare.
If you are not careful, you end up with Stockholm syndrome and start to enjoy it, and end up with a lot of high viz clothing, sleeping with one eye open on christmas eve, waiting for that call.
I imagine if you are like Harry and have plenty of money and a great relationship with a quality mechanic and lots of other cars to drive when it goes wrong, then ownership is no more than minor trouble. If you can hand it over to someone and open your chequebook, not a problem.
For the rest of us, they are a bloody nightmare.
If you are not careful, you end up with Stockholm syndrome and start to enjoy it, and end up with a lot of high viz clothing, sleeping with one eye open on christmas eve, waiting for that call.
Don't buy a Rangey if you can only afford to run a Mondeo of similar purchase price.
My Sport has had it's problems, lunched three fuel pumps until it was discovered that Solihull built a batch of Supercharged Rangeys and wired the auxiliary pump up backwards. Therefore the pump in the tank was fighting against the auxiliary one all the time. And it's demolished three electric handbrake assemblies at £1k a time. Other than that it's just been consumables (mostly unleaded) and upgrades.
My Sport has had it's problems, lunched three fuel pumps until it was discovered that Solihull built a batch of Supercharged Rangeys and wired the auxiliary pump up backwards. Therefore the pump in the tank was fighting against the auxiliary one all the time. And it's demolished three electric handbrake assemblies at £1k a time. Other than that it's just been consumables (mostly unleaded) and upgrades.
I had a early(04) bmw engined 4.4 petrol,it shat it's gearbox at 80k,in 12 months I lost around 6k on repairs and upkeep.
My last one was a 07 facelift 4.2 supercharged, low miles,sublime history,a thing of beauty,I ran it faultlessly for 14 months spending no more than petrol money on it.
Lost 6k on it when I sold it.
I'll probably get another in the future as there is nothing comparable to driving a full fat unfortunately.
Probably lose 6k on that also.
If you do less than 5k a year,go for a jaguar engined petrol in either 4.4 or 4.2 supercharged, the engines and gearboxes are much more reliable.
The 3.6tdv8 eat's egr's and turbo's for fun,the later 4.4tdv8 not so much.
My last one was a 07 facelift 4.2 supercharged, low miles,sublime history,a thing of beauty,I ran it faultlessly for 14 months spending no more than petrol money on it.
Lost 6k on it when I sold it.
I'll probably get another in the future as there is nothing comparable to driving a full fat unfortunately.
Probably lose 6k on that also.
If you do less than 5k a year,go for a jaguar engined petrol in either 4.4 or 4.2 supercharged, the engines and gearboxes are much more reliable.
The 3.6tdv8 eat's egr's and turbo's for fun,the later 4.4tdv8 not so much.
Edited by crispian22 on Wednesday 29th April 08:47
Speaking as someone who has had a "bottom of the market" L322, it's a tale of two halves.
One half is the majesty of driving around in something so imperious, so special, that you feel like a king every time you get behind the wheel. Nipping to the shops is as much of an occasion as driving to Monaco. The power, the grace, the elegance, the smooth ride, the high driving position... All incredibly intoxicating, and somewhat addictive. All other cars will be ruined for you after driving a Range Rover. Nothing else comes close.
That sounds great, doesn't it? You need to be aware of the other half...
Mine wanted a full gearbox rebuild at about 120k miles, work on the air suspension, ride height sensors would play up just for fun, and the boot lock decided it no longer wanted to be a boot lock any more, letting the tailgate flap around like a fish out of water. To cap it all off, the hydraulic cam chain tensioners got sludged up, as a result of a previous owner cheaping out on crappy oil. This meant horrific timing chain slap, effectively writing off the engine (BMW 4.4 V8 petrol).
Bought for £4k, sold as "spares or repairs" for £2k.
Despite all of that, I absolutely loved that car, and would have another in a heartbeat.
One half is the majesty of driving around in something so imperious, so special, that you feel like a king every time you get behind the wheel. Nipping to the shops is as much of an occasion as driving to Monaco. The power, the grace, the elegance, the smooth ride, the high driving position... All incredibly intoxicating, and somewhat addictive. All other cars will be ruined for you after driving a Range Rover. Nothing else comes close.
That sounds great, doesn't it? You need to be aware of the other half...
Mine wanted a full gearbox rebuild at about 120k miles, work on the air suspension, ride height sensors would play up just for fun, and the boot lock decided it no longer wanted to be a boot lock any more, letting the tailgate flap around like a fish out of water. To cap it all off, the hydraulic cam chain tensioners got sludged up, as a result of a previous owner cheaping out on crappy oil. This meant horrific timing chain slap, effectively writing off the engine (BMW 4.4 V8 petrol).
Bought for £4k, sold as "spares or repairs" for £2k.
Despite all of that, I absolutely loved that car, and would have another in a heartbeat.
Exactly. The problem is not the Rangey being a second hand purchase per se, it's owners not being able/unwilling to maintain them properly.
Your ten year old Mondeo will happily bang around with bits falling off and getting a rare £150 back street service for years. A Rangey won't. They like the best things in life. Plenty of aftermarket stuff is better than original - thinking discs, pads, air suspension, etc. But there's an awfully large number of cheap crap too that ultimately is false economy.
Your ten year old Mondeo will happily bang around with bits falling off and getting a rare £150 back street service for years. A Rangey won't. They like the best things in life. Plenty of aftermarket stuff is better than original - thinking discs, pads, air suspension, etc. But there's an awfully large number of cheap crap too that ultimately is false economy.
If I were to have a bargain-basement L322 again (which I probably will, because I'm a glutton for punishment), I'd buy a car with the following paperwork:
- Full Service History (with at least the first five years being done at JLR. After that, a stamp is a stamp!)
- Invoice detailing a gearbox rebuild (they all seem to need one after 100k miles)
- Invoice(s) detailing extensive air suspension work (after about 10 years, the whole lot seems to need refreshing)
- Lots of other big bills for work done (the theory being that if previous owners paid for it, I won't need to... For a while, at least!)
In addition to the paperwork, I'd also want:
- Four matching decent-brand all-season tyres (which are expensive, and therefore says a lot about the seller)
- No evidence of bodges under the bonnet (cable ties holding stuff together, etc.)
- No evidence of crappy aftermarket ICE installations (check the left side pod in the boot - a rubbish install will be self-evident)
- Decent MoT history (a car that fails every year, then has remedial work done to pass smacks of the owner(s) treating the car as a shed)
- No warning lights on the dash (car will need to be driven from cold, right up to temperature to prove this)
These are all lessons I have learned from "cheap" L322 ownership. I'm convinced it can be done, but I've not managed to crack it just yet!
- Full Service History (with at least the first five years being done at JLR. After that, a stamp is a stamp!)
- Invoice detailing a gearbox rebuild (they all seem to need one after 100k miles)
- Invoice(s) detailing extensive air suspension work (after about 10 years, the whole lot seems to need refreshing)
- Lots of other big bills for work done (the theory being that if previous owners paid for it, I won't need to... For a while, at least!)
In addition to the paperwork, I'd also want:
- Four matching decent-brand all-season tyres (which are expensive, and therefore says a lot about the seller)
- No evidence of bodges under the bonnet (cable ties holding stuff together, etc.)
- No evidence of crappy aftermarket ICE installations (check the left side pod in the boot - a rubbish install will be self-evident)
- Decent MoT history (a car that fails every year, then has remedial work done to pass smacks of the owner(s) treating the car as a shed)
- No warning lights on the dash (car will need to be driven from cold, right up to temperature to prove this)
These are all lessons I have learned from "cheap" L322 ownership. I'm convinced it can be done, but I've not managed to crack it just yet!
As above, it varies so much. I loved my 2004 L322 4.4V8 but, 18 months after spending £2000 on the engine, I was faced with another £3000 bill for the autobox and torque converter, so sold it for spares/repairs.
It didn't put me off though, hence the 2006 4.2V8 S/C sitting outside on the driveway. This has been completely reliable for the three weeks and 96 miles that I've owned it.
It didn't put me off though, hence the 2006 4.2V8 S/C sitting outside on the driveway. This has been completely reliable for the three weeks and 96 miles that I've owned it.
I’ve had a couple of them that didn’t give me any major issues and one that did, although to be fair that one was a Sport.
If you’re going to get one, either go for the Jag 4.4, 4.2 Supercharged or 5 litre Supercharged, make sure they’ve had the gearbox oil and filters done on time, they’re not sealed for life.
If you do want a diesel try and stretch to the 4.4 TDV8 as this engine doesn’t tend to blow turbos like the 3.6 can plus has the better and less fault prone ZF 8 speed auto as opposed to the earlier 6 speed.
If you’re going to get one, either go for the Jag 4.4, 4.2 Supercharged or 5 litre Supercharged, make sure they’ve had the gearbox oil and filters done on time, they’re not sealed for life.
If you do want a diesel try and stretch to the 4.4 TDV8 as this engine doesn’t tend to blow turbos like the 3.6 can plus has the better and less fault prone ZF 8 speed auto as opposed to the earlier 6 speed.
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