Range Rover Sport (or similar)

=adrian=

Is it one of the new ones, or older one? I was looking at one from 2005 - 2010.

un1eash

Pretty sure its a 2007 2.7 diesel.

=adrian=

Thanks. Read quite a bad things about that engine TBH.

noiseboy72

Training is about safely driving a vehicle with a higher centre of gravity, with greater weight and more driving modes.

You will also get the thrill of driving down impossibly steep tracks and at angles you thought were beyond insane, but it's the safety and general vehicle characteristics that's of importance.

Modern 4x4s like the RRS have all sorts of electronic aids to mitigate the weight and high centre of gravity, but it's good to know the best driving techniques all the same.

cabbie19

Hi Adrian, i am not, and maybe never will be in the position to own a RRS, i do however own a 22 year old RR P38a which is rapidly approaching 200K miles. It is not a cheap car to own, but the same can be said for pretty much all high end cars, in the last 2 and a half years i have replaced 2 x air springs, rear diff, starter motor, alternator, MAF sensor, and battery, the only unexpected item was the rear diff, although bearing in mind age / mileage i guess it was fair enough. It is the 4 litre V8 petrol with an electronic sequential LPG Gas conversion, and averages 18  mpg on local runs, and up to 25 mpg on long motorway runs (60 - 65 mph), so with LPG @ 68.9 ppl it's affordable. The car is very comfortable, seats 5 adults and easily accommodates 3 large dogs in the boot, will go pretty much anywhere short of extreme off-roading yet rides very well on our rapidly disintegrating road network. It hasn't been any more or less reliable than the wide range of other cars i have owned which includes the likes of Volvo's, Saab's, Subaru's etc.
The key thing to remember with forum's etc is that people are most motivated to post / talk about problems they have with things, and rarely post to say how "nothing" has gone wrong......
You often hear Landrover owners complaining about unreliability / expensive repairs, but they nearly always buy another one, there must be a good reason for that  
Only thing i can say is that since buying my RR, i don't find myself browsing car sales / Auto Trader any more, i love my rangy and the only reason i might look at replacing it is if i get wealthy enough to buy a newer one.
Good luck in whatever you decide to go with.

Regards
Jamie.

=adrian=

Hi Jamie,

Thank you for your post.

The idea for this thread was to find LR/RR(S) owners to read about real-life running costs. I know internet is full of people complaining about things they bought and not a real indicator if something is a good buy or not, hence this thread. Thank you for taking part.

I really would love to buy one, but to be honest, I am scared. I am scared that it will bankrupt me While I am in position to buy one, I am not sure if I will be able to keep it running if repairs really go into thousands. And we all know that older cars could less reliable simply because of their age.

I really need to think about it and still hope an RRS owner eill find this thread and tell me more. Thankfully, I still have time to make a decision and at this stage considering all the options.

Thanks a lot.
Adrian

nobbyclark

A big, fairly old car will cost money to run. I had an early Disco 3 (same platform as the RRS for a while). Had no end of problems with the air suspension. Then had a proper Range Rover for a while and it was great when it started, but often didn't due to a persistent desire to discharge its battery. Also had a Cayenne for a few years and it was reliable in comparison. But bills were expensive for servicing and parts. If I was going down this route again, I'd go for a Shogun or Land Cruiser. If you want to drive to the desert, take a Land Rover; if you wan't to drive back, take a Toyota.

marksovereign

My brother in law is a LandRover technician and there is no way that he would own a Land Rover vehicle without manufacturers warranty on it. They are ridiculously expensive to repair out of warranty!

cabbie19

A thought......see if you can find a reputable LandRover specialist in your area, and have a chat with them, they should be able to give you some real world ideas on likely failures and repair costs.
The one i use is called Mansfield Motors in Bury St Edmunds

=adrian=

Problem with Land Cruiser or Shogun is that these cars don't excite me. Especially the older ones, they just look boring and dated. If I bought one of them, it would be purely a tool to get us from A to B.

So I heard. A repair bill can very easily go into thousands.

That's not a bad idea at all. I'm not sure how open they would be to talk about LR/RR reliability but maybe it is worth a try.