There are many in my area, most drivers would not repeat the decsion, apparently they break down alot and the depreciation is like going long on webvan.com in Feb of 2000.
Wrong the 2003+ Range Rovers (MKIII) are very realaible. The previous generation non BMW/FORD Range Rovers had various problems, and were considered unrealiable. I had a 2003 Range Rover it had 56,000 trouble free miles when I turned it in when the lease ended earlier this year. I have a 2006 on order, I love these cars so much, the looks, the ride, and the off-road capability make for the perfect suv. Go drive one you will for sure like it, but don't come complaining about power, because it is non existant. Range Rover = slow, comfortable and capable. If you want a SUV, and want power and all of that go with the Cayenne Turbo, or G55. Here is a nice thread that shows you what the Range Rover can truely do off-road. http://www.exotixboard.com/showthread.php?t=2008 Before I forget, don't put 24" rims on your Range Rover!! Is breaks my heart to see such a off-road monster crippled by bling bling wheels.
There are two versions of the Range Rover. The Range Rover Supercharged, and the Range Rover Sport Supercharged. Two completly different vehicles IMO. The "sport" is based on the LR3 chasis, and IMO is no where near as nice on the inside, or outside when compared to the "Supercharged". The supercharged is based on the MKIII, and has a Bentley like interior, and also shares the same 4.2L 400hp supercharged Jaguar V8 that the "sport" does. Both cars come with Brembo brakes, and 20" wheels. My opinion? The "sport" and supercharged are both a waste of money, you can get a Range Rover HSE which is the same car, but it doesn't have the 4.2L supercharged motor, 20" wheels, and brembo brakes. I my self for one perfer the HSE over the supercharged and sport models because I like to take my LR's off-road. 20" wheels and brembo brakes + off-road don't match! BTW nice 360 MarkyMark!
There are also 2 more versions, the non supercharged versions. The Range Rover supercharged is very hard to find, at least in Illinois. I spent some time looking for them. The sport model you can find. I also agree with FerrariSlave when he said after the year 2003, the Range Rovers are excellent. 2003-2005 they have the BMW engine in them, and in 2006 the have the Ford engine in them. Excellent SUV, although I prefer my G55.
You also mentioned depreciation... This is still a huge problem for the range rovers. The only suv's they have made that hold there value is the defender. Lease Lease Lease. You will be glad you did! jason
They don't seem very reliable, looking at this web page. http://www.rangerovers.net/rrmkiiiremedies.html
We haven '04 Alveston Red/tan HSE. The car has had two mishaps as of now, the second one got fixed today. THe first problem was the navigation system. It just broke, so they replaced it under warranty immediately. The second, a wind deflector went bad, so we got a reverberation at 55 mph-- an easy fix. The is certainly and amazing piece for an SUV. We had a cayenne S, which in all candor was trash (don't even get me started). The Range Rover is very big... both in handling, and presence. Everything seems quality and rugged, but stylish. I love the car, it's by far the greatest SUV we've had. I would certainly suggest getting one. Handling is great (for a 6k lb truck), acceleration is quick and smooth, the ZF transmission is excellent, and the brakes are uber-powerful. Looks good, drives well, the only consistantly bad thing- gas milage. Great car. -Joe
here is a bit of a story for you. A customer of the dealer I do a lot of work for arrived on a Saterday afternoon with her brand new RangeRover Sport. Getting out of the truck, she was walking fairly briskly towards the dealership door. She bursts in and says "I think somthing just flew off my truck on the highway"!!. No way I thought, she must have ran over somthing. She tosses me the keys and I take it for a ride..hummm not even 70km on the clock!! yup she hit somthing.. A small chattering of the truck is all i could feel so I slowly drove it back to the dealer, parked and took a look undernieth. All I see is grease everywhere on the front left hand side of truck and all over the inside of the tire and rim. The front driving CV axel is gone!!! not even there in the truck..completely gone!! Now I have seem them snap and twist etc..but never fully exit the truck!! I tell her my findings and we call the Rover dealer..not even they could belive it. Needless to say she got a brand new truck and now has returned that one because of other issues and has been given a full refund. She got the truck with 50km on the clock..she put 20km on it and the front axel falls out of it..STAY THE **** AWAY FROM ANY RANGE ROVER OR LAND ROVER PRODUCT NO MATTER WHAT THE YEAR OF IT IS!!! THEY ARE JUNK!!!
I'm a week into my Range Rover Sport and very happy. Waiting for the Honeymoon to end. I'm addicted to my air suspension.
I have about 4900 miles on my 05 HSE and I couldn't be happier with the choice. One of the best everyday vehicles I have ever had. I know that I haven't had mine for long, but no problems as of yet. (knock on wood).
My mother has had 2 current model HSE's, and neither had a single problem (unless you count the deer she introduced to the front fender). I've borrowed them occassion as I always have rwd daily drivers, and sometimes the inclement weather dictates borrowing an SUV. I find them to be solid, attractive, and pretty special for being an SUV. I don't enjoy driving them all that much though, as they are pretty boatlike and they sit extremely high. The Sport is quite nice as well. It's RR-lite. I drove a pre-prod model for a few days, and it was much more car like. I may get a blown one next year, but I've heard this model suffers from electrical gremlins thus far...
I am 4 months into my Supercharged. Air suspension is GREAT.. No Problems so FAR! Today was first Major Snow...All Go! Pic is taken with Suspension UPPPP Image Unavailable, Please Login
I will share a few stories.... My brother just bought the Range Rover Sport Supercharged. He is in love with the car, he has had it for about 2 months. With no problems, and I recently took it to Vegas and thought the drive was very nice. Air suspension was cool. Last night I saw a custom Sport Supercharged with black 23's and everything painted which looked amazing... My neighbor just got the 06 RR, she had a problem with the air suspension. She has had it for a couple weeks but still overall loves it despite that problem... A buddy of mine got an 03 Range Rover for his 18th birthday and has had it for 2 years now with about 35k miles and has had absolutely no problems.. A girl I know has a 2004 HSE and loves her, she has 22" rims on it and the only problem she has had is a rear window not working... Another girl I know who sadly is 16 has a 2003 with 23" rims, she hasn't had problems with hers either. Her mom gave it to her then went out and bought the new Supercharged HSE with no problems to date... Another buddy has one and he has about 40k miles on his 03 and has had no problems... There are many "mom's" around where I live who have the Range Rover, driving down PCH I could count probably 10+ just going one way over a 2-3 mile span. I plan on trying to get an 03' or a used RR Sport in the next couple months. Everyone says first year cars of a model are the worst, but if you are interested with an 03' check the date it was manufactured. The first batch of them for 03 have problems, but the ones made later in 03' are fine...
Mike, great choice. I love the new design of the wheels esp. Why sadly? You can just look at the display and see if the car has DSP or Logic7. Logic 7 means its a later 03, DSP means it an earlier.
Have you ever ridden on rough roads in a Range Rover with a failed air suspension? Torture, I tell you. Mr friends in Costa Rica have been loyal to RR for years, they have finally given up. After air-suspension failures, leaky head gaskets, etc. They traded in for: Cayenne, Hummer H2, and Mercedes G series (except for keeping one old war horse; an '86 Range Rover with 300,000 miles on it, at least 1/2 of those off-road. This one is still running on the original engine which is pretty unbelievable). The Cayenne is amazing; fast, good brakes, handling is good, but without the off-road capability of the RR. The Hummer is more just for fun, and isn't expected to out-do the RR's. It has an engine upgrade kit and all options. This thing is fast and handles OK, brakes good, but too big for the off-road use it is needed for, so it will be used only on the typical dirt roads, not the narrowest ones. It is just too big. Even though the engine is a tried-and-true GM (ha ha) it suffered an oil pump relief piston sticking at only 1,000 miles, resulting in oil pressure failure. This is a much bigger PITA then I thought it would be. It required removing the hood, grill, radiator, front transfer case, serpentine belt, water pump, etc. just to get to the oil pump. All this because the pressure relief valve piston stuck in it's bore. The Mercedes is the most amazing of all. I don't like the fact that it has no dash-top at all; the windshield comes down flush with the face of the dash. It also feels a little narrow inside, which is uncomfortable for long drives, but the car is fast, handles great, and has very good brakes. What's best though, is the off-road ability. It is very capable, and this is where the narrowness is a plus. It does have a lot of electronic gizmos though, and after one deep-water crossing we had a series of reset requests from the on-board diagnostics system (Time will tell if these new electronics-heavy cars will hold up to rigorous use). This one is a turbo-diesel, but I couldn't believe the power it makes, it's fast! Also, it returned 20 mpg on a 250 mile roundtrip that included speeds to 110 mph and some tough off-road (4 hours worth).
I call B.S that just doesn't happen. Don't say to stay away from LR unless you have had your own experience with them. There could be 100 different things that she could have done to cause the CV axle failure. A serious component failure like that doesn't happen from normal driving. My 2003 HSE was flawless. I have a few friends with Range Rovers and they have been flawless for them as well. I have had mine off-road various times, no not off-road as in gravel rocks, but as in rock crawling, deep ruts and various other terrains. IMO the RR is in its own league! I also ordered a custom set of tires: Goodyear MTR's from the UK (they are no available in the US). There has been a few minor issues with the 2006's, like a Air Suspension warning that just requires a simple computer re-flash; most dealers are doing it now before delivering any new 2006's to customers. Other wise they are bullet proof. The Jaguar V8's are very nice and get better gas mileage then the previous BMW 4.4I. The Cayenne and H2 cannot compare to the RR in luxury, comfort, and off-road performance. The H2 comes in pretty close, but it's size is a disadvantage off-road. The only direct competitor to the RR, is the Mercedes G-class. Which IMO is another great choice. Teak 360, I would kill for some pictures or video footage of your friends trucks off-road in Costa Rica. I remember visting a few years back and seeing driveways at like 45 degree angles and incredible jungle terrain. Let me know if you have any pictures, or can get some!
My family has been loyal Range Rover fans since 2001. I suppose that isn't too long in hindsight, but we are yet to have any more problems with our RRs than any other car we've owned. Our 2001 RR was very reliable, virtually no serious problems for the 2 years and 70k miles we owned it. Our 2003 has proven equally reliable. Compared to the audi, BMW, mercedes, and porsche cars we have simultaneously owned, the RR had the least number of problems by far. Audi having the most problems with porsche a close second (shouldn't be a surprise as they are both VAG products). The one time we deviated was when I picked up a Porsche Cayenne S when I lived in Boston for part of the year. Let me tell you, that was the worst purchase I have ever made. I am used to riding a motorcycle, so I would like to think that I am not too picky about ride quality, but the Cayenne over Boston roads was painful. To make matters worse, using the navigation was like playing russian roulette, it honestly worked for less than half of the year that I owned the vehicle. I finally gave up going to the porsche dealership because they had such terrible attitudes and could not fix the problem even after replacing the PSM navigation unit. Transmission lag, burning smells, squeeky brakes, steering vibration, the list goes on and on. Fortunately, I traded the Cayenne in on a Range Rover Sport SC after less than a year of ownership (expensive mistake) and the RRS SC has been nothing short of perfect. Many RR owners frown upon the RRS for some reason. My RRS SC was the same price as a RR HSE roughly, and while the RR certainly has a nicer interrior, the driving experience in the RRS is incomparably better. The RRS has more plastic inside than I would like to admit, but I find everything very ergonomic and the seats very comfortable. I also prefer the dimensions and looks of the RRS, but that is of course subjective. Given our relationship with the local RR dealership, they were kind enough to sell me one of the first RRS SCs on the lot in the exact specs that I requested, regardless of a supposed waiting list. I have owned my RRS since early August and have over 5,000 miles on it without a single issue. Everything works exactly as it should and I am pleasantly surprised with it's performance in the snow (big step up from cayenne again). Mine is one of the first generations, which typically means it should be problem-stricken, but I have honestly not had a single fault. Maybe my family is just lucky with RRs and unlucky with german cars. The jaguar engine is not only more economical, but it is also considerably quieter. the transmisison has also been changed for 2006 and felt smoother when I test drove an 06 RR HSE (did not test drive a RR SC but expect the same to be true). A few family friends owned H2s during that craze but got rid of them prior to or during the gas price spikes over the summer. At 9mpg highway, it was averaging over 1$ per mile for some friends (when insurance and varios other expenses were factored into the equation). They also had a number of problems, but of course no vehicle is without some faults. G classes are very nice but after 2005 they will not be imported into the US anymore and the 2002 MY was known to suffer from a lot of electrical issues. The electronics were sorted out post-2002
