RR L322 Petrol,budget of £12K - Opinions?
Discussion
Im looking at possibly getting a L322 with a budget of around £12K. The one thing that is putting me off are these reliability horror stories people keep going on about,where you end up with thousands of pounds of repairs - is it really that bad?
Also some questions about the L322 :
Which petrol engine - 4.2 or 5.0?
Can you get these without air suspension?
Also some questions about the L322 :
Which petrol engine - 4.2 or 5.0?
Can you get these without air suspension?
Yes you can have big bills, mine came with a 5 figure receipt from JE.
Any ten year old luxury car is likely to have some issues and reliability has never been Land Rover's forte.
But, better to break down in a Land Rover than to arrive in a Jeep.
Having said that, I've had Land Rover's new and old since I started driving in 1983 and I've been left stranded once.
Any ten year old luxury car is likely to have some issues and reliability has never been Land Rover's forte.
But, better to break down in a Land Rover than to arrive in a Jeep.
Having said that, I've had Land Rover's new and old since I started driving in 1983 and I've been left stranded once.
They are big, complicated cars that were expensive when new. Maintenance costs don't go down in line with depreciation. Parts prices not bad but due to the complicated design labour is the biggest cost.
I think most of the 'horror' stories are diesel related rather than petrol, but yes, there are lots of opportunities for big bills in suspension, electrics etc.
I'm on my third diesel Range Rover now, all with large bills, but can't find anything else that we are as happy in. Buy one with a proper service history, keep a bit of money aside for the maintenance costs and you'll be OK.
I think most of the 'horror' stories are diesel related rather than petrol, but yes, there are lots of opportunities for big bills in suspension, electrics etc.
I'm on my third diesel Range Rover now, all with large bills, but can't find anything else that we are as happy in. Buy one with a proper service history, keep a bit of money aside for the maintenance costs and you'll be OK.
Go for the 4.4/4.2 Jaguar engine. As I understand it, it’s the only one with no known major faults, although obviously minor faults can still give you a decent bill!
Don’t panic about the air suspension unduly. It’s essentially a fairly simple and robust system - I’ve had three air-sprung Range Rovers and the suspension hasn’t given a moment’s trouble on any of them.
Don’t panic about the air suspension unduly. It’s essentially a fairly simple and robust system - I’ve had three air-sprung Range Rovers and the suspension hasn’t given a moment’s trouble on any of them.
Yorkshire_LY said:
Im looking at possibly getting a L322 with a budget of around £12K. The one thing that is putting me off are these reliability horror stories people keep going on about,where you end up with thousands of pounds of repairs - is it really that bad?
Also some questions about the L322 :
Which petrol engine - 4.2 or 5.0?
Can you get these without air suspension?
You can't get one without air suspension and people who convert them to springs usually really struggle to sell them as well. Also some questions about the L322 :
Which petrol engine - 4.2 or 5.0?
Can you get these without air suspension?
Also why would you want one without air suspension??
I wouldn't discount the diesel versions. The TDV8 engines are really quite good, but there is of course chances of the usual diesel engine issues include Turbos, injectors and EGR valves.
Don't think the petrol versions are without issues either. A supercharger rebuild is about £800 and they are known to have issues if not serviced (which many aren't)
£12k should get you a facelift with the 8Sp box and with that you get Bluetooth streaming as well.
Service history is key though. You want to see what work is done and not just stamps in a book as a yearly oil change doesn't really mean much in 15 year old range rovers.
Be aware that prices on these are tumbling too. There is the reliability element and in a cost of living crisis, something that is £600 to tax and £160 to fill up just doesn't stack up well.
However...I bought my 2007 L322 TDV8 in August and it's not a perfect example. I've previously had a Discovery 3.
The L322 is a superb machine. Simply put, the best car I have owned to date. It's so good, I'll be selling my Series 3 in April and this L322 and just buying a newer L322 (4.4 TDV8 with the 8Sp box)
I've had two cars for about 10 years and I've decided that if I'm going down to one car, the Range Rover is the best choice. Family think it's great too and the engine is in another leave compared to the V6 in the Discovery. The Range Rover covers big miles with ease and yes it's not as practical as a D3/4, but the interior is much better built IMO.
Edited by bakerstreet on Friday 30th December 06:43
As others have said, 4.2 / 4.4 Jaguar engines are your best bet. The early 5.0s suffer from timing chain issues which can be hugely expensive to sort.
In terms of the air suspension, you need to decide what's most important to you, reliability or originality. People on here will say that you're destroying the car by doing a coil conversion which is a bit of an exaggeration IMO, but each option has its pros and cons.
I've had them both with air suspension and without. The fact is, the air suspension systems are old now, and there are so many lines, valve blocks, ride height sensors, struts etc that can all go bad which means keeping them leak-free is quite a challenge. A lot of people run them not realizing they're leaking, which results in them eventually burning out the pump as it has to work harder to keep the right amount of air in all of the components. It's also worth bearing in mind that a serious air suspension fault will leave you stranded as the car will need to be recovered. One solution to this of course is to replace the entire system with OEM parts (the cheap Chinese struts and pumps are junk), but that's not cheap to say the least.
If you install a good quality set of coils, such as the Arnott system, you avoid all of those issues. However, you will lose the height adjustability which some people value greatly. I have coils on mine, and it's set slightly above the standard ride height which I've found perfect for everything I do, including off road driving.
A Jag engined L322 on coils that's had regular engine and gearbox oil changes is about as reliable as any other SUV of that age, despite what you hear online. If you look at the horror stories, most of them involve non Jag engined examples, gearboxes that haven't been maintained correctly, or air suspension. I've seen several 4.2 and 4.4 examples in the US with over 300k miles which tells you all you need to know IMO.
I have a 2006 4.2 on coils that I use as a daily driver. We live out in the country on a dirt road so it gets a lot of off road work, it's often loaded with building materials etc, and gets driven in excess of 100MPH most days. It's literally never put a foot wrong, and I bought it in terrible condition so it's not like it was well taken care of before me. I paid very little for it, expecting it to last a few months at most, and it's now the most reliable car we have: I regularly take it on 1000+ mile road trips with complete confidence.
In terms of the air suspension, you need to decide what's most important to you, reliability or originality. People on here will say that you're destroying the car by doing a coil conversion which is a bit of an exaggeration IMO, but each option has its pros and cons.
I've had them both with air suspension and without. The fact is, the air suspension systems are old now, and there are so many lines, valve blocks, ride height sensors, struts etc that can all go bad which means keeping them leak-free is quite a challenge. A lot of people run them not realizing they're leaking, which results in them eventually burning out the pump as it has to work harder to keep the right amount of air in all of the components. It's also worth bearing in mind that a serious air suspension fault will leave you stranded as the car will need to be recovered. One solution to this of course is to replace the entire system with OEM parts (the cheap Chinese struts and pumps are junk), but that's not cheap to say the least.
If you install a good quality set of coils, such as the Arnott system, you avoid all of those issues. However, you will lose the height adjustability which some people value greatly. I have coils on mine, and it's set slightly above the standard ride height which I've found perfect for everything I do, including off road driving.
A Jag engined L322 on coils that's had regular engine and gearbox oil changes is about as reliable as any other SUV of that age, despite what you hear online. If you look at the horror stories, most of them involve non Jag engined examples, gearboxes that haven't been maintained correctly, or air suspension. I've seen several 4.2 and 4.4 examples in the US with over 300k miles which tells you all you need to know IMO.
I have a 2006 4.2 on coils that I use as a daily driver. We live out in the country on a dirt road so it gets a lot of off road work, it's often loaded with building materials etc, and gets driven in excess of 100MPH most days. It's literally never put a foot wrong, and I bought it in terrible condition so it's not like it was well taken care of before me. I paid very little for it, expecting it to last a few months at most, and it's now the most reliable car we have: I regularly take it on 1000+ mile road trips with complete confidence.
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