to buy or not to buy that is the question

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shrekfeet

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Hello folks, new to this forum and need a bit of guidance please.
I live on a farm, do some shooting and need an off roader. I've been eyeing up used Range Rovers for a while now. Really fancy one but have yet to bote the bullet. My budget is around the 10k mark and I'm thinking that will get me an 02/03 new shape, high miles petrol vogue or maybe a diesel HSE. I know the MPG is bad but I have another car for the long journeys.
My worry is maintenance and general running costs. My wife says I should bite the bullett. Other advice says that the repair costs will be astronomical.
I just wanted to get some feedback from the people who know - you guys. Can they be maintained by my local mechanic or is it all going to be main dealer trouble. Any other feedback of what to look for and what to avoid?
Cheers
 
Personally for that money, I would buy a TD5 defender. they are much better off road, it doesn't matter if you get the interior ****ty, the running cost are much less, they break down less and cost less to fix when they do break.
 
shrekfeet said:
understood.

But not really interested in a defender. It's feedback on a RR I was hoping for
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Do a search there's a thread on here called how much has your rangie cost you or summat along those lines. They are not very reliable especially if going to be used off road regularly. I'm afraid the 1st reply you got was very good advice. & you might want to test drive a td5 defender before dismissing them outright. Personally I'd recommend a discovery as they don't have the electrical/air suspension problems that a RR has and are generally much cheaper to run and maintain whilst offering a reasonable level of comfort.
 
Ok, if it is a Range rover you have got your heart set on. They are very expensive toys. Before you get to the running costs it will be £400 a year just to tax it. The fuel costs are enough to make you cry, and when they do break, you had better have deep pockets or a deep overdraft. Having said that, they are very competent off road, fairly reliable (as much as any landrover can be) they are beautiful to drive on the road and can be serviced by any competent mechanic. If you buy one fully expecting for it to cost you a fortune, then it will serve you well, but there are vehicles out there that will do the same job better and cost less.
 
thanks, but being new to the site I'm struggling to find the thread you refer to about running costs. Can you help?
 
For what you are planning to use it for, I would say a 2003/04 TD5 Defender Commercial. £185 a year tax, superb off road, reliable, easy to fix if it does go wrong and you dont need shares in BP/Shell to run it. Other choice is a Discovery 2. More comfortable than the defender, better and more reliable off road than the rangie and cheaper to run. Although they do have a few problems with their air suspension. Best to go for one with a coil spring conversion, or buy a conversion kit and do it yerself.
 
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Don't listen to the defender boys, they're just blinkered/jealous/biased :)

All Range Rovers are excellent off road although sadly most of them will never be used that way.

The L322 shape RR is apparently much more reliable than the previous model. Find yourself a decent independent to service it and it won't cost you a bomb to run. Avoid the main dealers like the plague unless you're rich. Just make sure you get a good one in the first place.

Petrols can be converted to lpg to make them much cheaper to run (or better still find one already converted).

Disco 3 might be worth considering if you could find one at that price - they're almost RR comfort levels and very very capable.

Guy
 
kooky_guy said:
Don't listen to the defender boys, they're just blinkered/jealous/biased :)

All Range Rovers are excellent off road although sadly most of them will never be used that way.

The L322 shape RR is apparently much more reliable than the previous model. Find yourself a decent independent to service it and it won't cost you a bomb to run. Avoid the main dealers like the plague unless you're rich. Just make sure you get a good one in the first place.

Petrols can be converted to lpg to make them much cheaper to run (or better still find one already converted).

Disco 3 might be worth considering if you could find one at that price - they're almost RR comfort levels and very very capable.

Guy
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Not blinkered at all. I said the range rover is very good off road, but the defender and the disco are better. there is no doubt that the disco and defender are both more robust and hardwearing. the range rover was designed as a luxury vehicle that can be used off road. The defender and discovery are utility vehicles that can be used as everyday transport.
If you see a Disco 3 for 10 grand avoid it. At that price it is likely to be an ex repmobile or company car. It will probably have been thrashed mercilessly and serviced whenever there is a solar eclipse.
 
martin1512 said:
Not blinkered at all. I said the range rover is very good off road, but the defender and the disco are better. there is no doubt that the disco and defender are both more robust and hardwearing. the range rover was designed as a luxury vehicle that can be used off road. The defender and discovery are utility vehicles that can be used as everyday transport.
If you see a Disco 3 for 10 grand avoid it. At that price it is likely to be an ex repmobile or company car. It will probably have been thrashed mercilessly and serviced whenever there is a solar eclipse.
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The defender might be slightly better off road but I doubt the Disco is unless it's been modified. Pretty sure Rangeys were designed to be good off road 1st and luxurious 2nd.
I suspect that in reality there is nothing in it reliability wise.
 
martin1512 said:
Not blinkered at all. I said the range rover is very good off road, but the defender and the disco are better. there is no doubt that the disco and defender are both more robust and hardwearing. the range rover was designed as a luxury vehicle that can be used off road. The defender and discovery are utility vehicles that can be used as everyday transport.
If you see a Disco 3 for 10 grand avoid it. At that price it is likely to be an ex repmobile or company car. It will probably have been thrashed mercilessly and serviced whenever there is a solar eclipse.
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Debatable! Side-by-side tests show RR is only beaten offroad by Defender 90 by virtue of it's bigger approach/rampover/departure angles, and P38 has strongest chassis ever built by LR. LR always ensure that RR is exceptional offroad as their flagship motor. Admittedly Defender/Disco owners might be more prepared to put their vehicles in more compromising positions, so you don't see so many seriously offroad, but there are some cracking clips on youtube etc. that show what you can do if you choose to.
 
kernowdragon said:
Debatable! Side-by-side tests show RR is only beaten offroad by Defender 90 by virtue of it's bigger approach/rampover/departure angles, and P38 has strongest chassis ever built by LR. LR always ensure that RR is exceptional offroad as their flagship motor. Admittedly Defender/Disco owners might be more prepared to put their vehicles in more compromising positions, so you don't see so many seriously offroad, but there are some cracking clips on youtube etc. that show what you can do if you choose to.
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That may be partly true, but in tight, twisty situations, the rangie is too long, wide and heavy. I have seen several range rovers unable to follow other vehicles simply because they are too big to fit between obstacles or too long to turn tight enough. On open off road courses, they are a match for almost anything though.
 
The L322 shape RR are prone to drive train problems (gearboxes, diffs etc). I regularly go out to them after they have suffered loss of drive or they have wound the transmission up to the point it's locked up solid. Most of these people I go out to absolutely love their vehicles, Unfortunately they also often tell me how much they've spent on keeping them on the road. Those I go out to generally quote spending between £2.5k and £5k a YEAR on repairs.

I also have to add that I only see the vehicles once they've gone wrong so in that sense my view can be seen as biased. From my own experience of them I wouldn't buy one unless I had £5k sat in my account to keep it on the road.
 
This is certainly getting interesting and well worth reading.
Let me be clear about useage, I'm not going to be greenlaning in this new vehicle, simply running to school to collect the kids a couple of times a week (when my wife has the car). Taking it to shoot each Saturday in the season and generally trying to enjoy the comfort of a really high spec vehicle that someone else has taken the financial hit on. I already own a S3 109 ex military soft top that I currently use to get my up the drive when it snows and for picking up logs etc around the estate.
I'm looking for some comfort and if it's not a RR then is likely to be a Jeep or something for the East. I'm just not keen on the Disco and the Defender is too rough a ride for my on-road thinking.
Just wanted to see if people said things like 'avaoid at all costs, bag of **** etc etc'
Please keep comments coming
 
Shrek, in Aug 2009 I bought a 2002 TD6 HSE with 76,000 for £12,200 from auction. Bought it sight unseen. Didn't even test it b4hand. Had a RR indie specialist give it the once over and he gave it 8/10. Put 4 brand new tyres on for £300 and had an oil service done for £40 by indie mechanic (I bought oil from Opie oil and filter pack from Britpart, £130 in total) Have had the usual minor niggles (radio doing its own thing sometimes and water in spare wheel well) as well as EAS malfunction (got a second hand compressor for £100, fitted it myself and it's worked perfectly since). Tax is only £215 (post 2005 (?) vehicles are £400). Get 25 mpg overall. I drove it 2000 miles to the alps in March and it cruised at 85mph and returned 26.8 mpg!!
Have had a love affair with it ever since and I am one who sees cars as just a way of getting from A to B. I love driving it and when i climb in I smile every time. True, I was probably lucky. An old chap had it last and had obviously not been thrashed. I've had 10,000 miles of otherwise glitch-free motoring. Mechanically the engine is very tough but things can go wrong. I know people with 2006 RRs who have had nightmares. Just choose one and investigate it thoroughly. and my next car is going to be ?...... another newer RR of course (when I can afford it). Just go for it but look hard and long and choose well.
 
I had a friend who had a 4.6 RR. It was a beautiful vehicle, he used it mainly on the road but some light off road use round his farm. Pulling a horse box it managed about 8-10mpg, otherwise about 20.

I remember he took it for a routine service once, and the service cost him a very unexpected £3000! I think what martin1512 said is right-go into it expecting it to cost you money, and it won't be as much of a shock when it does.

(My friend had the optional shagpile carpets in his...luuurrrvely!)
 
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