Any Range Rover experts or enthusiasts out there?

Wife's Infiniti G35 coupe is getting old and trust me.... it's the most hideous G35 coupe you'll ever come across. It's been hit 4 times, none of them her fault (not getting into the whole ordeal.)

I am thinking about trading this POS in and get her a Sports Utility Vehicle. Something safer for her and something nice. I thought about the Honda Pilot or Acura MDX but this time around I want something classier. Benz ML class looks terrible and I'm not about to spend 50k+ on a SUV that's fugly..... the X5 looks nice but they're a dime a dozen out there....

so I narrowed it down to Range Rovers........
what specific models are good and reliable?

Range Rover HSE
LR3
LR2

I don't know much about it, but I've seen a few Rovers on the road.... the black exterior looks very classy.

thanks

 

The new ones I'm not sure, but my friends 2001 4.6 HSE has had a ton of electric problems, as well as the air suspension crapping out.

 

ive been told they lose their value mighty fast

I have a buddy that worked at D&M auto leasing. He told me that the most upside down hes seen people are ones with Range Rovers... dunno.......

 

really........ hmmm
so far "NOT so good"

 

I have a 2003 Discovery II and no problems to date. The LR3 took the place of the Discovery's in 2005 and now they have the new Ford based LR2. For the off-road enthusiast, they don't like the newer Land Rovers, their too pretty. Land Rovers were expedition vehicles, now their soccer mom vehicles. I would like to have a new Range Rover HSE, but their just too high priced for me. Get an 04-05 used MB G500 for about $20k less than a new Range Rover and you won't have too many of them on your street.

 

Neighbor has a 2006 Range Rover Sport (non-supercharged version) and hasn't had a single problem. I've driven his and also test driven both the standard version and the supercharged version - both I thought handled well, but the SC version was night/day compared to the non-SC version.

I've contemplated the RRS as my next daily driver since I'm able to obtain Ford discount pricing.

 

I'm not going to get the supercharged edition. The SUV won't be for me and I personally don't want to own a SUV if it's just for me. S/C'd SUV or turbo SUV (Porsche Cayanne) to me is just ghey ass.... why put a boost in a already heavy car that isn't meant for racing. I just find those who get them a bit

I am going to go for a test drive this weekend to see how it handles... and like Bdog said
that's the whole point. The wife someday will turn into a mom and that's the whole point of me getting one for her Since she can careless about cars, I bet she'll just tell me to get her an accord or civic... but I much rather her drive a SUV, plus I can write it off as my business expensive. Plus a doctor needs to ride in style, not some civic... but that's just me.

I like the whole new Rover look, that's why I'm considering it. H2 looks too bulky for a woman and it's not very practical. I can give her my TL and get myself a vette but last year I promised her no muscle cars until 2008

 

rangerovers.net/forum

from reading that forum i'd say its hit or miss

 

reliability is terrible and vvalue drops like a rock

get a rx350 or mdx

 

Volvo XC90 offers the best lease payment to MSRP ratio.

 

What did I tell you before if she cant drive the G why you gonna get her something heavier and bigger Nah bro get an MDX or something like they said those depreciate faster than Dodge

 

stick w/ the mdx. i've seen alot of horror stories w/ range rover.

 

One of the best looking SUV's out there right now. Everytime someone asks for opinions on Rover they automatically get dogged right away. I'm not saying their wrong, but I think there's more to the story. Don't get deterred so fast from checking them out. I like the new Escalades too, in black of course.

 

Why don't you wait until you have kids? I don't think there's anything wrong with the Civic or an Accord. No need to spend all that money on something only ONE person is going to use at any one time.

I guess it's just me, but I don't get how people want an SUV when they don't go off-roading and they don't use it to haul more than themselves. I think the SUV epidemic is crazy...

For example, when my first child is due in October ( ), I won't be getting another car. Not even when we have two or three kids. Once we get more than three kids, and that's a big if ( I don't want more but wife does, now I'm trying to get her down to three as she's from a large family), we might get an SUV (a pilot or by that time a hybrid or something like that. Nothing more than what we don't need like a Yukon or monstrosity like that).

With that said, I would look at the Pilot, or the MDX. The GMC Arcadias are relatively nice too!

 

I would stay far far away.

Just echoing everyone else... horrible reliability and resale value.

According to JD Power and Associates:

Overall Quality - Manufacturing - 2/5
Mechanical Quality - Manufacturing - 2/5
Body & Interior Quality - Manufacturing - 2/5
Feature & Accessory Quality - Manufacturing - 2/5
Overall Quality - Design - 2/5
Mechanical Quality - Design - 3/5
Body & Interior Quality - Design - 3/5
Features & Accessory Quality - Design - 2/5


So as a brand they scored 18/40 or 45% on the 2006 Initial Quality Study. Tied for Last with Mazda. Even Suzuki scored higher!

 

I wouldn't want one.

 

Why not get her something *she* wants since she'll be the one using it every day? It would only make sense to consider her thoughts.

Plus, the whole SUV being safer isn't always true. Aerodynamics on SUVs suck, and so does the centre of gravity....and so does handling....and a lot of the time, so do the brakes....etc.

 

<----------- always wanted a Defender... wish they bring it back in the U.S... I don't know how they drive or as far as reliability goes... I just like the way they looked...

 

Risk of having problems is too high IMO.

 

The Defender is a bares bones brute. A friend has one. No power anything, no real radio, & the AC sucks. No way I would spend the $ for that.

 

thanks very much for the response folks, greatly appreciated The comments so far are actually very useful. I'm going to tru to test drive one this weekend to see how it feels first. But according to most of you, the car is basically an overpriced unreliable SUV

The older MDX had tranny problem, and the new ones looks fugly to me... that's why I weed the Acura out.

Escalades is way too big and seems like a rap star kinda SUV. I know she hates the Escalade with a passion.


I'm thinking of surprising her when she comes back next month. I know she would want a civic coupe for sure or she might even insist a Toyota Prius...really.
This is her sitting in my supercharged sedan.....
"why is it so whiny? That sound is so annoying Jack."
"slow down honey, the sound scares me."
"why do you go to car meets, come shopping with me."


holy shit that's some bad reviews....
congrats!!

 

[QUOTE=BoostedJack]

I'm thinking of surprising her when she comes back next month. I know she would want a civic coupe for sure or she might even insist a Toyota Prius...really.
This is her sitting in my supercharged sedan.....
"why is it so whiny? That sound is so annoying Jack."
"slow down honey, the sound scares me."
"why do you go to car meets, come shopping with me."

QUOTE]

pofl: HAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAA That's hilarious! 'Why do you go to car meets? Come shopping with me!" HA!

I would say, "Hand me that spoon over there."

She: "Why?"

Me: "So that I can shove it up my ass because the pain of going shopping with you is a lot worse than the pain from the spoon."

LMAO.

What supercharged sedan do you have?

I think that would be neat to suprise her with a new Civic or Prius. The new Civics are pretty nice looking, and they're safe too. Get one with navigation, and you're set!

 

nice one. When I first met her, she wasn't into shopping. If she wanted a pair of jeans, she would go directly to the jean section and pick a pair out, try it on and pay for it and head straight home. Now... holy fuck! I don't even want to get into it......
anyway.... civics are cute but are they safe? they are cute... but the key word is cute..........

and no way in hell am I getting a Prius for her

supercharged 2004 Acura TL

 

Dude, a HSE and a LR3/2 are two totally different types of trucks. Maybe narrow down what you are looking for.

Rovers especially the HSE are notorious for having problems. And they do lose value quick, a new loaded HSE is 70k+ easy. 1-2 years old maybe $50k.

Get her a 4 runner... or better yet don't buy an SUV if you don't need it. Why do you want to piss $$ away in gas and maintenance?

 

1) Agree w/everyone else here- Land Rovers look nice inside, just don't expect reliability, performance, good gas mileage or good resale value.
2) Unlikely that your wife will be much safer in an SUV than a Civic or a normal coupe/sedan, so get her a 3-series coupe, Volvo S60, Accord Coupe, Toyota Solara or some car that is more economical, handles better and is more reliable than a Land/Range Rover, yet "cute."

 

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/veh...1reliable.html
Forbes listed both of their models in this list.

 

Stay far away from Range Rover. They're nice to look at on the road, but not fun when you're the person dealing with the issues that come with owning one.

 

For Range Rover, I suggest you lease one. My cousin's husband traded in his X5 lease early and for no money down, he got into a S/C Range Rover loaded. The ride is smooth, but the passengers don't get much room (NOTE: He is 6' 5" and I sat behind him; me = 6 ' 4"). Leasing takes the reliability issue out of the spotlight (at least in terms of pocket book hit).

I say go with the RX350, since it combines excellent luxury, reliability and you can get it loaded for less than 50K.

 

Yes, leasing can take reliability issue out of the spotlight, unless your car goes to the dealer due to a problem and you get a smaller car as a loaner. For instance, getting a VW Golf as a loaner when having the Touareg repaired (taken from Forbes). I would be hating it if it ever happens not me.

I did have some small issues with my 06 XC90, but I got an 07 XC90 V8 as a loaner. Now, that was worth every penny of my lease payment.

 

i/we had a land rover discovery 04. in the shop once a month. nothing that left me (or i should say the wife stranded) airbag lights.. then all the dash lights.. then no power windows. etc. all fixed under warranty with a loaner car . then i went and got dumber and got her a range rover sport. (but honey its so pretty, and your car sucks!) the range was fun to drive... but in the shop every other week. we have to have a 4x4 so getting a sedan for her is not an option. i just got her an rx400h. two months no issues and no lights! still goes where we need it too. just my

 

My oldman had an 04 HSE, lux. package and oem 20s. Only put 16k miles on it, but had no real issues.

A very nice vehicle, but I'll agree on the leasing.....he took an absolute bath selling it. The CPO manufacturer programs are making private sales of highend vehicles a real pain in the ass.

This was a cherry, garaged, 16k mile 2004......couldn't get a private buyer in the needed time frame and sold it back to the dealer.

 

April 2007
The best and worst used cars

CR Good Bet: Toyota Prius $20,000-$24,000The response to our 2006 Annual Subscriber Survey was overwhelming. We received responses on more than 1 million vehicles. Because of that, our data paints a more expansive reliability picture than ever before.

This year 59 models made our CR Good Bets list of typically reliable models that have performed well in our road tests.

Our 2006 list of CR Bad Bets, models that are considered especially risky buys and that have exhibited several years of below-average reliability, has 42 models.

CR Good Bets and CR Bad Bets are based on our larger lists of Reliable used cars and Used cars to avoid (available to subscribers). These comprehensive lists give you a rundown of all the models that were found, from our data, to be above or below average in reliability. Owners reported on any serious problems they had had with their cars, minivans, SUVs, and pickup trucks in the previous year.


CR GOOD BETS

These models, listed alphabetically, have performed well in Consumer Reports road tests and have had several years of better-than-average reliability according to our survey respondents.



Acura Integra
Acura MDX
Acura RL
Acura RSX
(except ‘06)
Acura TL
Acura TSX
Buick Regal
Chevrolet Prizm
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda CR-V
Honda Element
Honda Odyssey
Honda Pilot
Honda Prelude
Honda S2000
Infiniti FX
Infiniti G20
Infiniti G35
Infiniti I30, I35
Infiniti QX4
Lexus ES
Lexus GS
Lexus GX
Lexus IS
Lexus LS
Lexus RX
Lexus SC
Lincoln Town Car
Mazda Millenia
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda Protegé
Mazda3
Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima
Nissan Pathfinder
Pontiac Vibe
Scion xB
Subaru Forester
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Impreza WRX
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Solara
Toyota Celica
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Echo
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Matrix
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Tundra




CR BAD BETS

These vehicles showed multiple Used Car Verdicts that were much worse than average, according to our survey respondents. They consistently had more problems than other models overall.



BMW 7 Series
BMW X5 (V8)
Chevrolet Astro
Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet Express
Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Chevrolet Venture
Chevrolet Uplander
Chrysler
Town & Country (AWD)
Dodge
Grand Caravan (AWD)
GMC Jimmy
GMC Sonoma (4WD)
GMC Safari
GMC Savana
Infiniti QX56
Jaguar S-Type
Jaguar X-Type
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Kia Sedona
(except ‘06)
Land Rover Discovery
Land Rover LR3
Lincoln Aviator
Lincoln Navigator
Mercedes-Benz CLK
Mercedes-Benz
M-Class (V8)
Mercedes-Benz
S-Class (V8)
Mercedes-Benz SL
Nissan Armada
Nissan Titan
Oldsmobile Bravada
Oldsmobile Cutlass
Oldsmobile Silhouette
Pontiac Aztek
Pontiac Trans Sport
Pontiac Montana
Pontiac Montana SV6
Volkswagen Cabrio
Volkswagen Jetta
(turbo, gas)
Volkswagen Jetta (V6)
Volkswagen
New Beetle (4-cyl.)
Volkswagen Touareg
Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.)

 

lexus gx470

 

I'd suggest an FX35.

 

but as much as I LOVE my FX45, the rumor is... the FX is getting a facelift in 08' (possibly on sale as soon as this summer!!), both getting a HP/torque upgrade... guys over at the FX forums are predicting something like 3.7 V6 and 5.0 V8, and also possibly a 3rd roll seating...

 

Well if one is leasing, you can't beat an FX35......the 24 month program is killer.

2007 Infiniti FX35 AWD - March Rates

24 mo/15k mi – Residual Value 69% of MSRP – .00122 Money Factor Buy Rate
36 mo/15k mi – Residual Value 58% of MSRP – .00142 Money Factor Buy Rate
48 mo/15k mi – Residual Value 48% of MSRP – .00191 Money Factor Buy Rate
60 mo/15k mi – Residual Value 39% of MSRP – .00249 Money Factor Buy Rate

Add 2% to Residual Value for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms

 

I was just going to say... because of the new model (possibly) coming out.... they are probably trying to unload them with great leases...

 

+1. My vote would be MDX

 

From what I read on the Consumer Reports, all range rover models have horrible reliability.

My wife is a claims adjuster and she says Range Rovers are one of those cars that you NEED to take to dealerships for any electrical problems since electrical problem will trigger the vehicle's security system most of the time. She said something about the vehicle completely locking itself out when the security system triggers. This means that if there are any electrical problems with the car you will incur some serious expense after your warranty runs out.

If you are looking for safe and something for your wife, purchase a RX350. you can't go wrong with Lexus.

 

I totally forgot about the RX350... I will also look into that this weekend. Looks like I'm 2% going for the Rovers now after reading all those comments