Sub £20k L405/L494 Range Rovers - Massive Bork Factors?
Discussion
I'm half browsing for a replacement for my van which is great but after 9.5 years of ownership, my middle aged-ness yearns for something comfy to drive with loads of toys like my daily Merc has kicked in. During my browsing of AT, I've noticed quite a healthy number of "new shape" (I know they're not the current shape!) proper Range Rovers and Sports. They'd tick off the family duty stuff ok as the boots are massive aren't they? Assume they can take roof racks etc with no problem for bikes? So what are they like for reliability - everything I read about LR in general seems to be along the lines of "run a mile" but are they actually that bad?
Real life ownership stories welcome!
Real life ownership stories welcome!
Values are dropping like a stone at the moment due to insurance costs. At 20k maybe not affected as badly as higher price points. Sub £20k probably quite a risky purchase. Keep an eye on LR approved there are often a few that pop up for very low 30s if you can stretch, at that point it's fairly safe in terms of proper prep and warranty etc
Had mine 2 years now, had a few parts replaced under the warranty, maybe £2k worth so far mine's a 2015 but only 60k miles and was 1 owner AUC purchase so limited risk IMO. Any aging complex car won't be cheap to run/maintain so just comes down to your appetite for risk
Had mine 2 years now, had a few parts replaced under the warranty, maybe £2k worth so far mine's a 2015 but only 60k miles and was 1 owner AUC purchase so limited risk IMO. Any aging complex car won't be cheap to run/maintain so just comes down to your appetite for risk
Phateuk said:
Values are dropping like a stone at the moment due to insurance costs. At 20k maybe not affected as badly as higher price points. Sub £20k probably quite a risky purchase. Keep an eye on LR approved there are often a few that pop up for very low 30s if you can stretch, at that point it's fairly safe in terms of proper prep and warranty etc
Had mine 2 years now, had a few parts replaced under the warranty, maybe £2k worth so far mine's a 2015 but only 60k miles and was 1 owner AUC purchase so limited risk IMO. Any aging complex car won't be cheap to run/maintain so just comes down to your appetite for risk
Same. Approved used, one owner. Had mine 2 years now, had a few parts replaced under the warranty, maybe £2k worth so far mine's a 2015 but only 60k miles and was 1 owner AUC purchase so limited risk IMO. Any aging complex car won't be cheap to run/maintain so just comes down to your appetite for risk
Definitely want one with low owners and full service history.
None ULEZ cars are getting really quite cheap now especially in the home counties. If your budget can stretch to a 2016 Euro 6 car, that won't loose as much money in depreciation.
The 3.0 V6 is of course the cheapest to run, but that engine is a massive risk.
Its a Land Rover so you should approach it with extreme caution...
Suspension
gearboxes
Leaks
Electrical gremlins
Tyres that are £220 a corner...
Don't underestimate how big the L405 is. It hangs out of normal parking spaces a lot
The early cars infotainment is pretty shonky. It was dated when it was launched. 2016/17 cars got the Pivi Infotainment and also still has issues, its light years ahead of what was on offer in the early cars.
Budget at least £1000-1500 in maintenance per year and if you get the 3.0 V6, a new engine is £6k and upwards...Then there are the Turbos, inlet manifolds, injector and all the usual diesel issues
Range Rovers are brilliant though...When they are working.
The 3.0 V6 is of course the cheapest to run, but that engine is a massive risk.
Its a Land Rover so you should approach it with extreme caution...
Suspension
gearboxes
Leaks
Electrical gremlins
Tyres that are £220 a corner...
Don't underestimate how big the L405 is. It hangs out of normal parking spaces a lot
The early cars infotainment is pretty shonky. It was dated when it was launched. 2016/17 cars got the Pivi Infotainment and also still has issues, its light years ahead of what was on offer in the early cars.
Budget at least £1000-1500 in maintenance per year and if you get the 3.0 V6, a new engine is £6k and upwards...Then there are the Turbos, inlet manifolds, injector and all the usual diesel issues
Range Rovers are brilliant though...When they are working.
It all depends if you have at least some mechanical knowledge too.
Not that these are easy to work on, everything needs plugging in somewhere! But for instance I topped up the adblue in mine, which was a royal pain because the flow rate is so slow. A 20 litre drum of adblue on the Bay is under £20 and has all the right approval marks. I thought it would be a straightforward transfer via a syphon into the adblue tank. Nope. The adblue tank will only take a trickle (unless I was doing it wrong!) so I had to transfer 2 litres at a time to a jug and pour it in slowly.
The good thing is the adblue tank is 18 litres (it isn't, it must be bigger, I had 2k miles to go and it took virtually all 20 litres) and the adblue range is now just shy of 19k miles apparently.
Agree with the tyre prices. You don't want ditchfinders on these.
But services can be done by a good indy. They don't need to go to JLR.
I even changed the main battery on mine at the weekend.
Not that these are easy to work on, everything needs plugging in somewhere! But for instance I topped up the adblue in mine, which was a royal pain because the flow rate is so slow. A 20 litre drum of adblue on the Bay is under £20 and has all the right approval marks. I thought it would be a straightforward transfer via a syphon into the adblue tank. Nope. The adblue tank will only take a trickle (unless I was doing it wrong!) so I had to transfer 2 litres at a time to a jug and pour it in slowly.
The good thing is the adblue tank is 18 litres (it isn't, it must be bigger, I had 2k miles to go and it took virtually all 20 litres) and the adblue range is now just shy of 19k miles apparently.
Agree with the tyre prices. You don't want ditchfinders on these.
But services can be done by a good indy. They don't need to go to JLR.
I even changed the main battery on mine at the weekend.
bakerstreet said:
The early cars infotainment is pretty shonky. It was dated when it was launched. 2016/17 cars got the Pivi Infotainment and also still has issues, its light years ahead of what was on offer in the early cars
The earlier car’s’ infotainment is pretty basic, and most of the update “solutions” seem to be problematic, too. No L405 got Pivi Pro, though - the 2017 model year got InControl Touch Pro with the wider screen, then InControl Touch Pro Duo (motorised upper touchscreen and second lower touchscreen) for 2018 onwards.Can’t see buying one is much different from any other once-expensive car that could be on its third/fourth/fifth owner - few people that far down the chain will maintain them to a decent level.
Had my 2017 4.4 VSE for a couple of years now, bought privately at 13k miles, now has 46k on it. Apart from a damaged ABS sensor wire it's been completely fault free. Big bugger but just brilliant on European jaunts, not so great running around to the store, it's just too much car. Still, I do love it though.
It's pretty dire for oil dilution, some nerds on other forums are able to plug in a gadget to work when the regens are happening so they can avoid it but I haven't gone that far. I do my own in between oil changes otherwise it's £300 a go at a main dealer but still get the main services done at LR. My main dealer also does free adblue fill ups which avoids the pain as described by another poster (apparently there's a 90 degree turn in the pipework somewhere which is why it takes so long to fill up manually).
I have an Approved warranty but it's expensive at £1700 for the year. It does give you roadside assistance/recovery in the UK and abroad so that level of cover might be around £500 at one of the more popular providers? Looking at it that way, £1200 for a Range Rover warranty may not be so bad. You pays yer money, etc.
It's pretty dire for oil dilution, some nerds on other forums are able to plug in a gadget to work when the regens are happening so they can avoid it but I haven't gone that far. I do my own in between oil changes otherwise it's £300 a go at a main dealer but still get the main services done at LR. My main dealer also does free adblue fill ups which avoids the pain as described by another poster (apparently there's a 90 degree turn in the pipework somewhere which is why it takes so long to fill up manually).
I have an Approved warranty but it's expensive at £1700 for the year. It does give you roadside assistance/recovery in the UK and abroad so that level of cover might be around £500 at one of the more popular providers? Looking at it that way, £1200 for a Range Rover warranty may not be so bad. You pays yer money, etc.
NomduJour said:
Can’t see buying one is much different from any other once-expensive car that could be on its third/fourth/fifth owner - few people that far down the chain will maintain them to a decent level.
Not really. Land Rovers have been screwing it up since 1948. You should see some of the pics of the dealers going wild with the sealant gun trying to stop D5s from leaking. How about the 2.0 Ingenium engine? Another disaster. The 3.0 Engine's problems go well beyond the usual diesel issues. Larger independents have a 3 month waiting list for engine rebuilds. Make of that what you will.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
The good thing is the adblue tank is 18 litres (it isn't, it must be bigger, I had 2k miles to go and it took virtually all 20 litres) and the adblue range is now just shy of 19k miles apparently.
The Land Rover assist tech that came out to replace my ad blue injector warned that overfilling the tank causes issues, so recommends to only put it 10L when the car asks for more rather than the higher figure it states. Obviously means more refills but its what the man in the know said!
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