LandRover dealership visit

paultap

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys.

I went into a Landrover showroom today, having a bit of time to kill. I sat in all the new vehicles they had on show, the Defender was as quirky as ever, steering wheel about 5 inches from the side window, odd positioned handbrake and with a clutch pedal weight thats about 4 times as heavy as a modern car. Every panel that had rivets in it looked to be dented too. Still, they have an appeal that's hard to deny.

They have a new model out now called the Discovery Sport, which looks like it should be called the Freelander Sport to me as it bares little resemblance to the discovery, well to my eyes at least.

Oh, I also sat in a couple of Rangerovers too, a Rangerover sport priced at £87k and a Rangerover vogue priced at an eye watering £108k, beautiful cars, but Jesus they are pricey to say the least. I bet they are both very capable off road (road tyres aside) but unless it's a company vehicle, I can't see one being used for anything remotely challenging for fear of damaging the thing.

I have never owned a Landrover but from what I have read, reliability could always be an issue. Still, if I dropped the Euro lottery jackpot the Rangerover looks mighty tempting... Backed up with a Defender to have some fun in of course!
 
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Its not just buying it thats expensive my vouge went in for its service yesterday bill was nearly £1500.00. To be fair they did fit new brake pads and washed it at the same time!!
 
I must admit I've never owned an unreliable or costly Land Rover
Baught a 2005 RR vogue SE Baught at 2 years old and I did 125 k in that other than general servicing only items to fail / wear were steering rack , a/c condenser , rear calliper , 2 x suspension pumps
 
I must admit I've never owned an unreliable or costly Land Rover
Baught a 2005 RR vogue SE Baught at 2 years old and I did 125 k in that other than general servicing only items to fail / wear were steering rack , a/c condenser , rear calliper , 2 x suspension pumps

ha ha ha ha :rofl:, brilliant !
 
Its not just buying it thats expensive my vouge went in for its service yesterday bill was nearly £1500.00. To be fair they did fit new brake pads and washed it at the same time!!

I see what you mean!.... I remember once my brother told me that his father in law put two Mercedes cars in for a full Main Dealer service at the same time (his and his wife's)... He was presented with a bill for nearly £4k... After a lot of heated words on his part, they somehow managed to knock £2k off the bill!
 
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they are so last year ,nice and comfy for taking rugrats around the corner to school,on the plus side you can bump up pavements no problem,
 
I know they are expensive but at the same time they do serve a purpose, i can drive from essex to scotland to do some climbing or stalking and the journey is comfortable and no stress or i can cut across the fields to go to the local pub without having to drive on public roads whatever the weather and it handles it no problem, but then as well as the RR Vouge I also have an old series 3 landy which i love driving, perhaps im just a safistic land rover addict
 
they are so last year ,nice and comfy for taking rugrats around the corner to school,on the plus side you can bump up pavements no problem,
So what is so "this year" lurking in your garage? The LR range are probably the best vehicles on the planet. Horror stories on here can be dragged out about any make or model?
 
Been driving landowners for 20yr at work, treat them well and they're great, treat them bad and they'll divorce you, bit like the ex, maybe I should've changed her springs more often instead of going shooting, oh shame.
 
So what is so "this year" lurking in your garage? The LR range are probably the best vehicles on the planet. Horror stories on here can be dragged out about any make or model?

The problem is though rd , landrovers shocking reliability and build quality is well documented in the outside world and they have that hurdle to cross before they can even start to catch up (my 12 plate rangerover has broken down more in a three months than my 05 Toyota landcruiser Amazon did in 6 years and 250k ! ) doesn't look like much has changed from the two I had ten or twelve years ago that were the worst vehicles I ever owned , ten recoverys in three years just doesn't cut it nowadays !
 
Been driving landowners for 20yr at work, treat them well and they're great, treat them bad and they'll divorce you, bit like the ex, maybe I should've changed her springs more often instead of going shooting, oh shame.
I serviced one myself and one I had LR service , the one LR serviced was the worst vehicle I've ever owned !
 
As a proper 4x4 land rovers are far past their due date, sorry to say. There are almost none I would actually consider proper off-road 4x4's and or overlanders apart from older and customised newer toyotas
 
I drove a Discovery for four years, I liked it a lot and it gave little bother. However, I found it a bit sluggish for its fuel consumption.

I went back to estate cars and have no regrets.

I could justify the Disco when I was self employed, but I'm back as an employee now, you couldn't fund it from post tax income.

If if I won the Euromillions I would be straight out for a Vogue, and bugger the cost.
 
Out of the box the Defender with ABS/Traction control will get through terrain no Jap tin could.. Residuals are fantastic and if they are good enough for HRH they're good enough for me.
 
Out of the box the Defender with ABS/Traction control will get through terrain no Jap tin could.. Residuals are fantastic and if they are good enough for HRH they're good enough for me.

No they will not. Plus, they will spend most of their time in a garage being fixed for oil leaks, faults with their electrics, engine failures and after two years of ownership you need to be competent in welding the rusty things. I know, I owned one. Never again...
 
Oh goody. The monthly Land Rover thread. I do so look forward to them. :rolleyes:

Here's my experiences on them:

1. Had a 2000 TD5 Discovery. Not the most reliable. Brake calipers, air suspension (changed for springs), Active Cornering Enhancement (dropped it's oil in a cloud of smoke that would rival a WW1 battleship), leaking sunroofs, power steering all gave problems. Lovely when it worked though and I did work it. but not overall a good or cheap experience.

2. Glutton for punishment, got a 2004 TD5 Discovery. Absolutely delightful. Trundled across the shoot, towed all sorts, drove daan saaf and as far up as Orkney. Never missed a beat. But I did get it with springs, no sunroof and normal roll bars (not the troublesome ACE).

3. Encouraged and with a bit of a rush of blood to the head, bought a 2010 Discovery 4 XS (3000cc twin turbo). What a fantastic car. Better off road than the previous two while still on road tyres (put A/T's on the others, haven't on this yet). Plush as anything but still gets used lugging mucky dogs, pheasant food, quads on trailers, caravan, grandkids, etc. All this and it'll still embarrass the unwary BMW driver with his cap on backwards. That can be just a tad funny. Off the roundabout onto a dual carriageway and the Beemer behind takes the outside lane, thinking he'll knock the trundling Land Rover off in a matter of seconds. A thousand yards later he gives up and pulls in behind. No doubt suitably smaller in the trouser department. Of course I stop accelerating at the legal limit and if he goes past after, well he knows it's hollow.

So the moral of this little missive is that reliability in the marque has increased in leaps and bounds in my experience of late. The actual driving experience simply can't be matched by the Orientals or a pickup of any sort. But it's right, they ain't cheap.
 
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