Am I just asking for trouble?

[Skyedriver]

Looking to replace an aging Volvo (actually wife is looking more than me and I find most modern stuff soul less)
One consideration of mine is a Range Rover but everywhere I look I read tales of woe.
I don't want to be paying £600/ annum VED and need to be getting about 30mpg or better so it would seem a diesel is the answer but worry about a dpf if fitted.
Am I wasting my time looking at stuff less than £10K?

ie something like a Range Rover Sport 2.7 HSE with 110K miles and a rebuilt engine (due to a broken crank apparently, can't remember the last time I heard of one breaking outside of motorsport).

Thanks for your input.

[paintman]

Skyedriver said:

Looking to replace an aging Volvo (actually wife is looking more than me and I find most modern stuff soul less)
One consideration of mine is a Range Rover but everywhere I look I read tales of woe.
I don't want to be paying £600/ annum VED and need to be getting about 30mpg or better so it would seem a diesel is the answer but worry about a dpf if fitted.
Am I wasting my time looking at stuff less than £10K?

ie something like a Range Rover Sport 2.7 HSE with 110K miles and a rebuilt engine (due to a broken crank apparently, can't remember the last time I heard of one breaking outside of motorsport).

Thanks for your input.

Known issue on some TDV6 engines.

[anonymous-user]

paintman said:

Known issue on some TDV6 engines.

Although I’ve had 2 and done 250k miles without an issue with either engines. So not exactly common in my experience.

Bigger mistake is to think you can run one on a shoestring. You can’t, they are expensive and require regular servicing. Then they are fine.

[Skyedriver]

wormus said:

paintman said:

Known issue on some TDV6 engines.

Although I’ve had 2 and done 250k miles without an issue with either engines. So not exactly common in my experience.

Bigger mistake is to think you can run one on a shoestring. You can’t, they are expensive and require regular servicing. Then they are fine.

Thanks
Happy to cover servicing, done it all myself in the past but getting too old for that now so will have to go to an indie.
Just not happy about shelling out large amounts of money on VED & fuel taxes which I'd rather spend on keeping the car right.

[bakerstreet]

You won't get 30mpg average out of an early 2.7TD Sport and pre 06 cars are quite rare and I can assure you buying something of that vintage you will have issues

Suspension
Gearbox/torque converter
Glow plugs
General electrical gremlins

The 09 onwards RRS got the 3.0 engine and they are the ones known for crank issues, but engine is more refined, and more powerful. Interior is in another league too

£10k will get you an 09 onwards HSE, but get a warranty and expect it to break 🙂

[anonymous-user]

wormus said:

Bigger mistake is to think you can run one on a shoestring. You can’t, they are expensive and require regular servicing. Then they are fine.

This, always this. Landrovers are pretty much all very expensive to run but (utility versions apart) often quite cheap to buy. So people buy the cheapest one they find then start complaining about them when it inevitably goes expensively wrong. A Rangy or Discovery priced at a few grand often will have spent years without proper maintenance or servicing which makes the odds of an expensive failure very high indeed.

[Bill]

Is it your car or your wife's?

IMO it's definitely heart over head, and you've (she's...) really got to want one.

[KPB1973]

bakerstreet said:

£10k will get you an 09 onwards HSE, but get a warranty and expect it to break ??

Whilst I agree in principle, the usual warranty providers at this end of the market tend to be those who will exclude gearbox & transmissions over 10 years old - as well as fluid leaks and anything else they can attribute to wear and tear.

Unfortunately that'll generally mean they can sidestep most issues on a 13yo LR product.

I just had this issue with a gearbox fault on a 2011 FFRR ZF8. I offloaded it rather than take the hit, although I now see that the same dealer has bought it back through the auctions and is reselling it.

[bakerstreet]

KPB1973 said:

Whilst I agree in principle, the usual warranty providers at this end of the market tend to be those who will exclude gearbox & transmissions over 10 years old - as well as fluid leaks and anything else they can attribute to wear and tear.

Unfortunately that'll generally mean they can sidestep most issues on a 13yo LR product.

I just had this issue with a gearbox fault on a 2011 FFRR ZF8. I offloaded it rather than take the hit, although I now see that the same dealer has bought it back through the auctions and is reselling it.

Some warranty companies will still cover the cranks, but as you say the cars are getting pretty old now and recon engines can be fitted for anything between 4-9k depending where you go, but the crank is just one issue. There are Turbos, inlet manifolds and the usual modern diesel gremlins such as injectors, EGRs ect ect

2011 is the 8Sp box and they are meant to be considerably better than early 6Sp unit.

In summary LRs are nice...when they work. I still have my Series, but that is currently n the garage for a new clutch. I recon the bill will be about £1k all in and some of that is redoing the work from the previous garage

[Skyedriver]

bakerstreet said:

You won't get 30mpg average out of an early 2.7TD Sport and pre 06 cars are quite rare and I can assure you buying something of that vintage you will have issues

Suspension
Gearbox/torque converter
Glow plugs
General electrical gremlins

The 09 onwards RRS got the 3.0 engine and they are the ones known for crank issues, but engine is more refined, and more powerful. Interior is in another league too

£10k will get you an 09 onwards HSE, but get a warranty and expect it to break ??

This is part of the modern problem isn't it?
I started driving in 1970 with my first car, an MG Midget, in 1972.
Cars back then started to rust at 3 years old, were often scrapped at 6 or 7 years old as engines lasted maybe 60K miles (my minis) to 75K miles (average Ford motor) before a rebuild by which time suspension bits were knackered, and along with other worn parts the car was uneconomical to repair. Now cars last 20 years easy as far as bodies go but mechanicals are doing many more miles and are also much more complex. Even with better quality materials (sometimes) they are still going to fail and being more complex and often more inaccessible costly to replace.
Add to that the parts are subject to more extreme loads yet made lighter they are going to fail.
Whatever car I look at, they all have problems from gearboxes made of chocolate, to suspension components designed to fail, electrics that work sporadically, "rubber" belts running in a bath of oil, auto boxes that need regular services etc.

Bill & Newarch car would be for me as the "family" car.

[A.J.M]

You won’t get 30mpg in regular use.
Expect 25 or so and you won’t be disappointed.

The other issue is at that price they are out the bracket of the majority of owners who will spend to keep them in top condition, but aren’t classic yet.
So they are in that middle ground where someone can buy one for mondeo money but only have a mondeo budget and not a RR budget.

But there is a decent amount of specialists to keep them good.
Plus plenty of online guides for some of the regular works.

[Skyedriver]

Thanks for all input, time to consider.

[KPB1973]

bakerstreet said:

Some warranty companies will still cover the cranks, but as you say the cars are getting pretty old now and recon engines can be fitted for anything between 4-9k depending where you go, but the crank is just one issue. There are Turbos, inlet manifolds and the usual modern diesel gremlins such as injectors, EGRs ect ect

2011 is the 8Sp box and they are meant to be considerably better than early 6Sp unit.

In summary LRs are nice...when they work. I still have my Series, but that is currently n the garage for a new clutch. I recon the bill will be about £1k all in and some of that is redoing the work from the previous garage

Yep, agree with all of that - plus of course pretty much every warranty company will do whatever they can to avoid paying a big bill.

For what it's worth, i've had 5 cars with the ZF8 (3 x BMW and 2 x LR) and i've had gearbox problems with 2 of them - m135i with 'siren' whining in 3 gears, and the FFRR which took 3 attempts to get into 3rd gear, which then whined very loudly under load.

Likewise i've had 1 car with the ZF6 and that had a torque converter problem.

In fairness, I think the FFRR had been left too long without a change (107k miles) which probably contributed to the issue, although I suspect it was a 2nd hand replacement box given some yellow painted lettering on the bellhousing.

[A.J.M]

Would you consider a Freelander 2?
For around your Budget, you can get a SD4 HSE spec car of 2010-11 era.
£265 for ved, will do over 30mpg.
HSE spec gives lots of decent kit.
With all season tyres they will get around in adverse weather without drama.
They enjoy a better reliability record and don’t have as much to go bang in a huge way.

I have a 2014 metropolis spec one, I picked it up for under 10 grand because it needed some work for its next mot.
I’ve done 16k in it and it gets about without drama or issue.

The boot is on the smaller side though.
Which is why I have my Disco 3 still with me and waiting for it’s restoration.

[Bobupndown]

Agree with above.

[Skyedriver]

Just popped back to see anymore comments as you'd just about talked me out f any JLR product
I'll have a look at the Freelander 2 although it's boot space I need for two dog cages.

[Gramrugby]

I just noticed your post. We currently have a Discovery 4 with 270,000 miles on the clock. We have had it from new and it has been a brilliant vehicle. Most of the mileage has been trips between Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire. It is still in excellent condition, having been maintained properly. Good ones are getting harder to find and given your location probably even more so. Best of luck with your search.