Agreed the facelifted ones are very nice. I was more thinking that those push the budget a bit data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I definitely need to up my budget to get what I want. This is meant to be a car that will have to last us a good few years to come. After spending all the money on house, move and car, we will have a hole in the budget for a while. Therefore, I will be looking for a nice example, low-ish millage, post facelift (so that the interior is not dated straight away), bigger engine. When it comes to engine, I think it will have to be a diesel. I was hoping I could get a large petrol engine and convert it to LPG to keep the costs down, but these cars don't seem to be taking LPG installation well from what I read. So it looks like it will have to be a diesel.
Thankfully I still have some time, so I hope I can up the budget in the meantime.
I'm not sure about the 3.0 diesel engine. I have read bad things about the V6 engines they used. I would much prefer to stretch to V8 diesel if I can (or if I feel rich, to V8 petrol).
From the aesthetic point of view, I'm not a massive fan of the back of FFRR. I prefer the looks of RRS, but at this stage I am considering both. I think RRS is more fault prone than LLRR, but of course it all goes down to previous owner and how well he / she looked after the car, so both could end up being a money pit... or not.
Do you anticipate your typical journeys will favour a petrol or diesel more?
I wish I could answer this question with a 100% certainty, but it is going to be such a big change for all of us, that I simply don't know. I suspect I will be spending a lot of time in the car. I suspect there will be quite a few long distance drives. I also suspect there will be many short distance drives... I just don't know data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 However, I should more know soon and as mentioned I still have time to make the decision, so that's not too bad.
Let me put it this way, I would prefer a V8 petrol engine, but for economy reasons, I suspect diesel would be a better choice (though I heard they could be more problematic than petrols).
Issue with these is a facelift petrol carries a serious premium.
You will pay 50% more and to me that puts them in the “far too expensive for an 8 year old car category”.
Plus the range is annoying.
They need 98ron, the supercharged have a 104l tank, so £140 to fill up, and many owners are getting 11/12mpg so around 220-240 milesfrom £140.
You need to do the maths, you could be in a new shape RR diesel and cost you less a month overall if you do 15k miles a year.
Yes, that's why I think diesel would be better. The thing is though, you never know with these cars, one issue with a turbo could eat any savings I could potentially make going for diesel. Plenty to think about data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
In general, I'm a smooth driver. Of course, at the beginning my leg would be probably made out of lead, just for fun. But after a while I'm sure I would settle down into my relaxed driving mode and only press harder while overtaking. I actually never owned a diesel. I always disliked the tractor like sound diesel engines make. However the V8 diesel in these seem to be making a nice noise while revved (still sounds like a tractor while idle).
You don't see many farmers around the Brecon Beacons driving Range Rovers, Audis or BMWs. If they haven't got a Defender then the Toyota Landcruisers seem to be second favourite. Even then if it snows heavily the small lanes soon become impassable and it's the farmers' tractors that come to the rescue.
So forget a rugged 4x4 and go for something like an Audi Quattro and make friends with your nearest farmer. A foot and a half of snow in a steep lane will defeat even the legendary Defender with winter tyres.
Well, I don't plan on becoming a farmer data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 And to be serious, as mentioned before, other than snow capabilities, I am also looking for comfort and safety. While I have absolutely nothing against Audi, I think they are quite delicate machines. And are they that much cheaper to maintain, it being a "premium" brand? At this stage I don't discount anything though. Who knows, maybe we will end up with an Audi? However, we both talked about something that will be more rugged, more safe and more comfortable than a normal car. As mentioned before - a comfortable tank. Still, Audi All Road is still a contender. So as other more "normal" cars.
Don't get a dAudi!!
Seriously, great looking cars, but so fudgeing dull to drive it is untrue.
I have fallen for Audis so many times, but they are all so boring, last one for me was the S4 Avant. It was amazing just how bad it was.
Same with the petrols though, these are not the old reliable NA engines of old, they are highly strung supercharged beasts that could throw up a £10k bill within weeks of ownership.