Help....Wife wants another Range Rover......

I highly reccomend either RR supercharged...
Quality is up , this is my second full size ford manufactured.

If you really want to hear that Jaguar Engine purr...Do what I did...Borla twin Exhaust and replace supercharger pully with smaller performance pulley..

This baby should be packing 450hp Now...And sounds great, when shifting manually, the override Burbble on engine braking exhaust is pure sports car.

Its a tuxedo with Adidas on.
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Range Rover. Love 'em. But they can certainly be temperamental.

I have a '96 4.6HSE showing a present mileage of 178,XXX on the original engine and gearbox. It's been a damn fine rig, and gets a fair amount of usage on the "greenlanes" towing my flatbed, etc... I've looked into the Mk.III (2003-up) and have spent some decent seat time in one, and my ending impression is that they no longer possess the original Land Rover character, or in other words, don't ride like trucks

BUT...

I love the older Rangies, and my '96 is of the final generation ('95-'02, P38A chassis) that was still built using the old school Land Rover body-on-frame with beam axle setup, which, when it comes to using it off road, can't be beat. The L322/Mk.III uses a monocoque structure and independent suspension, which of course is "tighter" and offers a smoother ride, but is less capable in off road conditions, and that's been proven over and over again. If you never intend on putting your rig off road, then the Mk.III is probably the better bet, but IMHO what's the sense in having an RR if it can't reliably do what it's meant to do best

The Mk.III is filled with plenty of gremlins, lots of electrical issues, BMW Vanos valve timing problems, continuing air suspension quirks and most scary of all, troublesome front differentials, although fortunately Land Rover issued a recall on all Mk.IIIs on the front diffs after enough people filed reports with the NHTSA and MoT over in England.

Some people don't have many problems with their Mk.IIIs, and others (most) have a lot of problems. And it's a shame as they're by far the best riding SUV on the market. That EAS (air suspension) makes for the ultimate "magic carpet ride". When I was considering adding a Mk.III to my stable (alongside my P38 of course), I decided that even with as cheap as they are, I didn't find it was worth it. Parts are still expensive, you need a Testbook to diagnose anything on them, the interior trim is cheap plastic that breaks often, and the BMW engine, although an "improvement" over the old boat anchor 4.0/4.6, still seemed to have its share of problems, not to mention the electronic ZF/Mercedes gearbox "fail-o-matic".

Sorry, but the P38 is considered by many LR folks as the last true Rangie

Here's a shot of mine, circa 166K, when we drove 1,500 miles to Hilton Head, SC to retrieve my '56 MGA..

Cheers,
Aaron
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Great Pic. When the range ruster breaks down, is there a tow hitch on the convertible to pull it?

 

Well, then you'll love this photo Here she is again, helping a fallen comrade!
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You may save some money by returning it, then buying it used from the dealer.
I work for an Audi dealer, and someone recently brought in their '05 A8 that they were leasing. The buy out on the lease was $33k. He returned the car, Audi North America sold it to our dealership for a reasonable discount, and we sold it to the customer as a used car for $29k. He saved $4k and got a free detail, and we made money too.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread,, but how much are 2003 Range Rovers going for, and how much will they be going for, about a year from now?

 

I agree with this concept, However in some cases as with the Range rover I turned in this past summer, the dealers usually send the car to a wholesaler immediatly for auction....Rarely , I Think, do dealers keep lease turn ins on their own lot!!

 

I tried the same thing. The dealer was adamant that they could not sell the car for anything less than residual amount agreed to in the contract. The car went to wholesale. This was a few years ago, so maybe things have changed, but my impression was that it was some sort of Land Rover policy, FWIW, I have heard the same thing from other manufacturers/dealers I have leased from in the past.

Of course, all of this occured before the economy flatlined.

Now,where the residual on my LR3 is 42K, and the wholesale value is just under 20K, I imagine they must be getting a little more flexible! To bad, I rather drive a Lada then spend another day with my LR3.

 

I've got a 2003 Vogue BMW V8 car bought new ,best car i have ever owned,goes and goes great tow car.Will keep it for years to come,I like the BMW running gear.
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In our case, Audi USA would have had to pay to ship the car to them (not cheap from Alaska), then it would have gone to auction where it may have sold for $12k-$20k. It makes better sense financially for them to just resell the car to us. We just did the same kind of deal with a VW Passat this past week.
I would think for Range Rovers, since the depreciation is so bad, it would be a similar situation where Land Rover would rather not take a huge hit at the auction. But I don't know their policy on lease returns.

 

You can bag an '03 anywhere from $15K for a high miler to $23K for an average mile example.

 

well worth buying IMO bullit proof.

 

Far from bulletproof, they are hit or miss.

 

what issue's with the camshaft belt?

 

What would be with a 2009 G550? Drove some times with a freinds 08 Range S/C and yesterday with a freinds G550 and must say that I like the G much more than a Range Rover. Any update of your choice would be great!

 

Skip the Range...get a QX56 if you are looking for something big or an XC90 V8 if you are looking for something smaller.

I own a 04 RR HSE and it has been a serious problem. I bought it in 07 as a CPO with 36,000mi it now has 56,000. By my tally, it has spent 20% of my ownership at our local (Annapolis) dealership. Under warrantee, it has had the following replaced:

-Front Diff
-Rear Diff
-Front Drive Shafts
-Front Suspension (airbags)
-Radiator and overflow tank (overflow tank blew, radiator cracked)
-Air suspension control module
-Transmission
-Both Cats

The truck has not been abused and has averaged about 9k mi per year since I got it.

Don't get me wrong, there is not a better looking truck or a better cruiser out there but it just seems to be hit or miss with reliabilty. I have fellow RR owner friends that have had no issues and I have some that are in the same boat as me. I will not get another one after my CPO is up because it is alot of money to pay to drive a dealer loaner for six months of the past 2.5 years.

 

PALEASE...do not compare the BMW powered car with the Jaguar supercharged car..

Ford truly upted the Anty when they took it over...
Even though Tata owns it now not much has changed

Never thought I would say anything good about Ford, but this version is the best.

 

You can polish a @#$% as much as you want, and all you get is a bright shiny @#$% still broken down on the highway waiting for a tow. Think about it, what marque do see disabled more than any other on the side of the road?

 

Don't get me wrong...as I said before I do love the truck. However the BMW vs. Jag ownership argument doesn't really hold water. The reliability of the RR has not really changed from BMW vs Jag according to most sites that track it. I appreciate the fact that you have not had any issues with your RR but I one of my friends has an '06 HSE and has had similar issues as me. I also have a coworker with an '04 identical to mine that has experienced none of the issues that I have on mine. While wouldn't say that all RRs are sh^tboxes on the side of the road, I would call their reliability record spotty....JMHO

 

Not true anymore.

I used to have the P38A Range Rover. It was in the shop every three months. (At least)

In 2006, I traded it in for the Jag powered Range Rover Sport HSE. The car has had ONE software problem in three years. Not a single other issue. (Knocking on wood.)

The latest Rovers are the best in my opinion, and I will be getting another Range Rover next year.

 

I would say your experience is not the norm...
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Jaguar is the 2nd most reliable vehicle, yet a Range Rover which is basically all Jaguar parts is nearly last. I can't believe people are stupid enough to believe these surveys.

The LR2/LR3 which are also not as reliable are hurting the Range Rover image by bringing down LR as a company. Believe it or not after so many years, there is finally a reliable Range Rover and that is the 06+ Range Rover.

THE 03-05 Range Rovers are very problematic, the 06+ (Jaguar) Range Rovers are solid cars.

 

said it before and I will say it again LOUD = Range Rover's SUCK!!! Worst car ever made, I know I have suffered long with one!