The Range Rover is also a pig to maintain. Parts and labor costs put them out of the running as used vehicle choices.
Watched a tv show about a group of off-roaders in Moab, testing a new Jeep prototype. There were about 3 Jeeps and a solitary Rover ... guess who kept getting stuck?
I would have thought that all these celebrities drove cars that didn’t use gas.
Oh, they just want us to drive vehicles that don’t use gas.
You have to have more money than brains to buy a Range Rover.
They look nice though.
I know some Rover fans and I’ve ridden in them, but put me down in the “not impressed” category. They’re nothing short of terrifying at expressway speeds, IMO.
~a Subaru Outback owner, who has to street park in Chicago
Must admit, I do snicker, just a little in my heart, when I see some yuppie launching down the road with their nose in the air in a Road Ranger... LOL!
And lots of room for ellipses. Don’t forget that part.
New Ad for RR: You can't Win A Darwin Award With a Range Rover!
The current model Range Rovers do look nice, but the author is clearly unfamiliar with the marque. They’re certainly not small, but they’re not huge. The English parlor look went out a while back, much more modernist inside these days.
The Land Rover, on the other hand, lost a lot in translation to the current body style. Very bland. But, they’re smaller than the Range Rover despite having little improvement in gas mileage, so the author no doubt approves due to symbolism.
Neither of them hold resale value well, like that other British marque, Jaguar. Hideously expensive to maintain. Not particularly reliable. Horrible gas mileage. Even repair of body damage is more expensive than the norm due to aluminum bodywork.
Me, I’m not too worried about impressing people. Give me a 2.5 Sube Outback or a 2.7 Tacoma 4 x 4 with the Offroad package any day, over either of them.
Used to work next to a Range Rover dealership. It always amazed me how many vehicles they towed in everyday for repairs. They must break down a lot.
The parts are sometimes more than German cars.
It's possible they get stuck because the drivers are too confident of the RRs abilities and attempt obstacles they shouldn't.
Overall, however, they're great and comfortable which is important if you're travelling deep into brush or on long haul trips.
All that being said, I have no idea why anyone in LA would need one.
I was in England about 20 years ago, and Rovers were used as workhorses everywhere in the countryside. They were more like Army jeeps, and they weren’t pretty - only one color combo: tan and blue.
Are the gentrified ones currently sold in the U.S. just sporting the name? The dealers here are located in affluent burbs. I don’t see the farmers using them.
Though I’ve never had a Range Rover, I do have a 2001 Discovery II that’s now got over 200,000 miles on it. I don’t use it for off-roading; never had any intention to. I did intend for it to get me around on snowy and icy, hilly roads and it’s done a good job at that. It’s a great driving machine, too. It can be an expensive machine to repair if you have the dealer do it; if you buy your own part and get a non-dealer mechanic to put it on, it’s not much more expensive than any other vehicle. It is true that the gas mileage is poor; they are very heavy machines.
When my 2001 dies, I’ll likely get another Rover. It’s the most enjoyable of any vehicle I’ve ever had.
As a Range Rover approaches 100K miles you can expect the following to occur: failed water pump, leaking power steering pump, worn out suspension bushings (this is normal, however, due to the deliberate design of the bushings), brake caliper pistons seeping fluid, restricted flow in the radiator due to scale development, malfunctioning power door locks, and a whole host of minor electrical problems. If the vehicle was operated in a state where salt was used on the roads, or in a humid, salty environment (Florida, etc.), you can expect the rear frame crossmember and tailgate to have a potentially severe rust problem. Some of these things you can fix, others, like the two pumps and the bushings, you can only replace. If you are prepared to do the work yourself, the cost is reasonable other than your time. If you are going to have these things done at a dealership, the cost will be many thousands of dollars ($800 for radiator replacement, $800-$1000 for new (read rebuilt) front brake calipers, $600 for a “tuneup” assuming they find nothing wrong, and so on.
Very few independent mechanics know how to work on a Range Rover. It’s not that they’re rocket science, but they are different enough and require enough specialized tools that most independents won’t touch them. The factory service manual is excellent, however, and is a requirement if you are contemplating buying a Range Rover (the manuals, like everything else, are expensive, $100+).
The Rover V-8 is extremely picky about having the correct anti-freeze solution in it and having regular oil and filter changes every 3K miles or so. The need for the oil changes stems from the hydraulic lifters in the valve train. They clog at the slightest excuse and stick, which results in rapid wear to the camshaft if the problem isn’t corrected. Dirty oil is a prime cause of sticky lifters, either through dirt or through the formation of varnish. A Rover V-8 with a ticking valve is headed for a very expensive repair if the problem can’t be corrected through chemotherapy. One of the most effective cures is to add a quart of automatic transmisson fluid to the oil and run it until the next oil change. If this doesn’t cure the sticking lifter, nothing will except replacement of the lifters, a multi-thousand dollar job.
DO NOT buy a Range Rover County LWB (the stretched classic Range Rover sold in the US from 1993 to 1995 or so). The 4.2 engine has a major design flaw, and the first-generation air suspension is what Land Rover used to learn how to make an air suspension properly, which they introduced on the new model which came out in 1995. The best years (in the US) for the coil sprung Range Rover were 1991 and 1992, in my opinion.
The aluminum bodywork is very soft, dents easily, and is VERY expensive to repair. In fact, it’s probably cheaper to buy a new body panel and replace the damaged one altogether, assuming you know how to do this and have access to a paint shop that knows how to prime and paint aluminum.
The Rover V-8 MUST use premium fuel. At 14mpg around town and 17-19 mpg on the highway, this gets real expensive real fast given the direction fuel prices are going these days.
http://www.fixya.com/cars/t595794-range_rover_vs_jeep_grand_cherokee
- JP