Hi all,

Thought I'd ask here since LCB is the wealth of all car knowledge!

I'm considering the purchase of an early (2002-2004 ish) Range Rover L322. Whats attracting me is the low cost of them and the obvious advantages of owning one (Towing mainly, but also comfort and off road ability). I'm aware it's not going to be a cheap thing to run, but they are rather lovely and I don't mind doing all my own work on it nor do I mind the 15mpg fuel economy.

What I don't particularly want however, is a mass of electrical problems or issues that I can't too easily sort. I don't mind rebuilding engines or changing suspension components, none of that bothers me. What I don't want to have to deal with is a faulty dash board that means the car won't start or the ECU giving up the ghost and costing me £3k to replace!

So, does anybody have any experience of these things? I'm aware of the gearbox issues and that it can cost around £2k to sort every 70-90k but as I understand it this is less of a concern on the V8 (what actually fails? Can I rebuild it myself? I've done plenty of manual boxes but never delved into a slush box).

Any advice or things to look for would be appreciated!

Cheers!

[Edited on 7/2/17 by computid]

Have seen a few over the years most have the same issues door locks / air suspension / and if the engine has been neglected they are not worth a light. A problem that we are starting to see more of now with these is immobiliser shut down. Its become a big problem for owners , you drive the car no problems stop then when you get back in it wont start, the cause is the frequency of the immobiliser is around the area that is very commonly used for lots of things now . So if it see to many signals near to its own it locks out you only find out its done this once you remove the key. The only way is to get it reset at landrover but its not a cure its only reinstates the system. Long term the only way is get a friendly landrover dealer to program ecu to Japan spec (no immobiliser)
Apart from the above they are good strong and one of the best tow cars made

I've got a later diesel V8, currently on almost 140K miles, of which I'm responsible for over half.

I'll be changing it soon, simply because the mileage is getting so high that if I hang on to it any longer it'll be completely worthless, but it's been pretty much faultless in my ownership. Everything still works as it should, and it's cost me virtually nothing beyond fuel and routine servicing.

My only complaint is that the cream leather is looking a bit tired and worn - it's nothing like as hardwearing as the leather in my previous Mercedes S-class - but I know people with black leather that seems to keep much better.

My biggest headache is trying to think of what to replace it with, except perhaps another RR.

Can't argue with your logic, but I'd imagine lifting and supporting something that size might take some bigger tools than normal. For the towing element there must be other cars out there. A good friend of mine has a 2.0 TDI B6 Passat estate and tows with it quite happily. That said it came with a tow bar fitted so he's not had the cost of fitting one.

noooooooooo don't do it!

As much as they look like a bargain you can end up in a world of pain

gearbox issue - you know about that already
air suspension
power brakes
electrics / wiring
RMS failing

among many others.

Unless you have a nice big garage with a ramp and hoist I would not bother.
Great cars when they are running but very costly to fix, even if you do the work yourself

I always fancied one, with a view to running it for a while, and then converting it with new bodywork, a la Dakar, or even fitting something ridiculous like an MGB or Cobra body. That used to be SVA/IVA exempt - is that still the case?

Mate had one and said it was great until the warranty ran out

He had quite a few electrical gremlins and an air suspension issue


Drives a Merc now

Air suspension is actually quite cheap to sort yourself, as I know from my old P38.

There are plenty of specialists for parts; as with most luxury cars, they gain their reputation for being expensive from numpties who think that the only way to maintain one is via the main dealer network.

Conversion a la Dakar is probably a non-starter, as they have a unibody instead of the separate chassis of earlier RR models.

Gearbox woes would be the big expense that would worry me with earlier TD6 cars, but this was sorted if your budget will run to a TDV8 (which also offers much better performance and economy: I get 32/33mpg from mine in general use, up to 37/38mpg on a run).