thoughts on winter daily driver - 02' Range Rover

[EUROTEK//S4]

Ive been thinking about picking up a winter daily driver...I know nothing about Range Rovers....

are they reliable ? thoughts ? opinions ?

any good websites or forums for general info ?


2002 Range Rover - 90k miles Black/Black $10-16k

HSE 4.6 Bosch engine, All Wheel drive, Fully loaded, Heated seats, Factory GPS system, Highway miles, No accidents, Very clean interior, Looks & runs great, Second owner, New front end, New power steering pump, New shocks, New fog lights, New bulbs, New belt, New hoses, Full tune-up inc. Plugs, Wires and Coils, All liquids flushed, Only used synthetic Mobil One oil, New shifter and shift cable, Over $5000 invested, Ready for winter, My lose is your gain, I Must sell ASAP, Moving out of state and I can't take it with me.

[MacDaddy]

its actually a bored out 4.0L V8 "buick" engine don't know what buick, but its a GM engine none the less.
they have cylinder head gasket problems, super easy job to fix because its a pushrod engine, but if it hasn't been done i would keep a close eye on it or just replace it before it happens. if you install head studs when you do the head gaskets it will never fail again.

another big issue is overheating, if it overheats, the engines have been known to "drop cylinders" the cylinders are pressed into the block and with the added expansion of the metals due to overheating it has been known to cause catastrophic engine failure. Keep an eye on your cooling system (check level regularly) and replace any components at the soonest time of issue (say a malfunctioning t-stat, replace it asap) and you'll never have an engine failure.

the only other issue worth mentioning is sunroofs, they may leak, so its recommended you buy new updated seals from the stealership and silicone them to the body, problem solved.

other than that they are pretty reliable vehicles, stay up to date on your maintenance and you should have no issues. I know a mechanic who owns one he uses it regularly for off-roading, he never has any issues and he dosn't do anything over and above the regular maintenance.

[fusionx]

range rover

you'll end up in the service shop more than you will be driving it lol. All my friends familys who have range rovers completely hate them and on top of that can't even sell them. they find their cars getting serviced wayyy to much just a handful of problems

[ProOnThaSnow]

They look pretty dope but other than that I know nothing about them

[cerfus]

My buddy got one for his first car, he was in the shop more than anything ive ever seen. the car was a piece of shit.

[Jibberific]

The only thing i know about them is that they suck down gas like none other, insurance costs are higher than anything else that's comparable, and something involving electrical systems is always biting the dust.

But they sure do look and ride real nice.

[EUROTEK//S4]

from what Ive searched...I keep getting the same answer -> NOT reliable..


but WTF...I thought land rover's were great off-road cars...so they would be built to be some what reliable....because theres no Land Rover dealerships in the middle of the desert/rain forest/....:hmm:

maybe It would be safe to go with a $1-2k aftermarket warranty....If I decide to buy one....

[ProOnThaSnow]

I know its not in the same Genre, but I just scored a '97 Yukon for $4,000. Its loaded, with leather, and has 350 reliability. I bought it cuz I needed a work truck, and wanted something that would be cheap to repair, as I don't want to dump loads of cash or have to wait for parts if/when something goes.

Just a thought, reliability FTMFW.

[MacDaddy]

from what Ive searched...I keep getting the same answer -> NOT reliable..


but WTF...I thought land rover's were great off-road cars...so they would be built to be some what reliable....because theres no Land Rover dealerships in the middle of the desert/rain forest/....:hmm:

maybe It would be safe to go with a $1-2k aftermarket warranty....If I decide to buy one....

I don't think i would ask here for an unbiased opinion, yes they have problems, yes they are heavy on gas (25mpg). but if you take care of them they aren't something that will eave you stranded. eveyone here who says they are junk didn't give any reasons why, as usual.

the engine is a GM, so getting a yukon with a "reliable 350" won't be any more reliable than the engine in the RR aside from the already mentioned issues.
ride quality is not good, it has a solid front axle. its not awful and its smooth on the freeway but you'll feel bumps more than you would in a X5 for example.

Ask around on some range rover forums, I'm sure you'll get a more substantiated answer there, most likely they will tell you to get a 4.0L seriesII discovery, which IMO would be a better buy as it won't have the same possibility of dropping sleeves.

[EUROTEK//S4]

I don't think i would ask here for an unbiased opinion, yes they have problems, yes they are heavy on gas (25mpg). but if you take care of them they aren't something that will eave you stranded. eveyone here who says they are junk didn't give any reasons why, as usual.

the engine is a GM, so getting a yukon with a "reliable 350" won't be any more reliable than the engine in the RR aside from the already mentioned issues.
ride quality is not good, it has a solid front axle. its not awful and its smooth on the freeway but you'll feel bumps more than you would in a X5 for example.

Ask around on some range rover forums, I'm sure you'll get a more substantiated answer there, most likely they will tell you to get a 4.0L seriesII discovery, which IMO would be a better buy as it won't have the same possibility of dropping sleeves.

thanks for the info and good point, plus if I get a aftermarket warranty I should be fine...... where did you get 25 MPG ? edmunds.com has it at
11 mpg / 14 mpg City/HWY

[MacDaddy]

thats what the mechanics 4.6 gets.

11mpg sounds really bad, i would expect that from a chev 454 big block. (8.4L i beleive?)
If you find a LR/RR forum, i'd ask what they are getting for milage.

[flyinb501]

Those older style RR's are possible one of the worse cars I've ever driven! Go test drive one... I love the newer ones though, and they can be had for relatively cheaper as well, but I have heard they have horrible reliability.

[pyro]

weaker than weak.

if youre set on getting a rover, make it an old school one or a discovery.

[Howard Hughes]

Money pit...

[Militant-Grunt]

Huge money pit man, believe me, used to own a discovery.

[audimeister]

If you have an extended warranty, they can be OK. I had one. Something that costs $800 broke every other month...

[divide/zero]

the same word i keep hear in the "streets" is about close if not the same to what everyone keeps saying

[Monizzle]

range rover

you'll end up in the service shop more than you will be driving it lol. All my friends familys who have range rovers completely hate them and on top of that can't even sell them. they find their cars getting serviced wayyy to much just a handful of problems

x2

they absolutely hate them, and only because of the reliability.

[xxForgedxx]

They are like a dallas cowboys cheerleader with herpes.

[xxForgedxx]

a pretty bad ass paperweight though

[UGwagen]

a unreliable gas guzzler isn't good for a winter daily driver. Get a used Subaru Impreza or Legacy and throw on some snows--- that would be a better value for a winter DD

[Starting]

i love my hemi jeep. Get about 14-17 mpg but i drive it very very hard.