L322 buying advice

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youmitegetian

youmitegetian

Active Member
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822
Location
evesham
Hi all
As the title suggests I'm after some advice on buying an L322 Range Rover
I've currently got a TD5 disco and fancy an upgrade
I hear gearboxes are an issue, should I budget for a gearbox? Are they really that bad?
I've had a P38 in the past and had most if not all of the common issues so I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty but it's nice to know what your getting into before you jump.
What sort of mpg are they achieving?
My jag only does 17 so again it's not an issue but I would like a petrol one but not if they do single figure mpg.
Also I may have the chance of a car known to me at a good price but high miles, do they do big miles without serious issues?
Any help would be useful so thank you in advance
 
Know little about the L322 but the gearbox is supposedly a little better on the petrol than the diesel (which seem to eat themselves between 80 - 100k). I would have thought MPG would be low teens around town & reaching 20 on a good run.
As with any car really, check the servicing, recalls have been done (front diff). Electrical issues on an L322 can be seriously frustrating ........& expensive!
 
Here's my two penneth from my personal experience as I'm only approaching 10 months of ownership. What has been said before certainly is true especially the front diff recall, that cost me big time. Watch out for the n/s/r quarter leak as that can knock out your sat nav and your dsp amplifier and that can be hundreds to fix second hand off fleabay or thousands at a main stealer. :eek:

If you're not doing high miles, V8 over diesel any day of the week (personal choice) and if possible LPG (I love the stuff but it splits opinions on here). I've heard the diesel gearbox isn't made of firm stuff and the danger area is between 85k to 130K when it starts to tear itself apart so again the V8 box is made of better stuff. Obviously still no guarantees but you stand a better chance! I've discovered that gearbox issues can be split into two categories of the gearbox themselves or simply the torque converter. One was a £2K repair and the other a £900 repair so not the end of the world.

Yeah it's a scary car and the chances are that things will go wrong with it unless you are very, very lucky but that will never take the grin off your face. I have probably spent more in the last 10 months on mine than any other car in the last God knows how many years but thats the price you pay for owning (what I consider, and I'm not on my own) one of the most luxurious 4x4s out there. You can't have a switch for moving your headrest up and down without having electrical gremlins on the way can you :)

With all this in mind, you won't regret buying one but make sure you don't spend every penny on buying the car as sadly repairs are inevitable.

Have fun.

Scott

PS Oh and one final thing, leave yourself at least £200 aside for buying the All Comms from RSW Solutions, absolutely essential for RR ownership ;)
 
One final thing about the mpg. With the miles I do (less than 5K per year), it is cheaper from me to run an LPG V8 than a diesel and it's getting cheaper as LPG just keeps dropping around here. I hover around 12.5 - 15 mpg around town depending on how heavy my foot is on the day and 21+ on the motorway with cruise on :cool:
 
Thanks for the advice, think newer than 2006 will be out of my price range but I'd prefer V8 power anyway and I can live with 12.5-15 mpg as I only do a few miles,
The running costs do worry me a little and I almost considered a P38 again as I can get most parts for very little as a friend breaks them but they just don't have the same appeal as the L322
 
youmitegetian said:
Thanks for the advice, think newer than 2006 will be out of my price range but I'd prefer V8 power anyway and I can live with 12.5-15 mpg as I only do a few miles,
The running costs do worry me a little and I almost considered a P38 again as I can get most parts for very little as a friend breaks them but they just don't have the same appeal as the L322
Click to expand...

L322 parts prices are horrendous.
 
The V8 gearboxes are still prone to failure...Torque Converters friction material wears out dumping ****e into the box if not sorted out, it ruins the rest of the drive clutches.

Mine is on its way out and will need to be done very very soon.

The L322 is a great car to drive but the parts prices are stupid for some parts, others not so bad.More and More parts are getting available at realistic prices as the car ages.

12-15 is what you can expect. I run LPG which is around 12-15% less efficent and I have never got more than 17.5mpg on a run which would be close to 20-21 on petrol.

If 2006+ is out of the price range then petrol is the way to go for gearbox longevity...that being said the diesel engine is fairly bombproof, it is just the gearbox that is the issue, replace this with a remanufactured one with a Sonnax valve block and you pretty much eliminate the issue.
 
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