1997 Land Rover Range Rover review from UK and Ireland
"Please Ford, build a better one!"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Exhaust failed at 32,000 miles.
Door locks failed at 25,000 miles.
Boot lock mechanism failed at 25,000 miles.
Alarm unreliable since purchase.
Oil leak at 30,000 miles.
Driver's door window motor failed at 28,000 miles.
General comments?
Why is it still not possible for Land Rover to make a well built and reliable car? I am a confirmed fan of the Range Rover, no other car looks as good or carries the same prestige in this sector of the market, but Land Rover are trying my patience.
This is the fourth Range Rover I have owned (from a 3.5 1987 V8 to the latest, newer models). I was assured that the 1990 model would be an improvement on my 1987 one. In the end I deserted Land Rover in frustration in the early 1990's as this Vogue was as poorly built as the old one.
Returning to the fold in 1995 (assuming that BMW would improve things) I bought an ex-dealer demonstrator 4.0SE (new shape). I ran it until June last year to 80,000 miles. The catalogue of faults would be far too long to list here. I was assured by my dealer that the 1997 model was vastly improved and once again I took the plunge and purchased a low mileage 4.0 V8. The car I bought is absolutely basic spec. I see no point in paying for air conditioning, cruise control etc. etc. if it is going to fail (as it frequently did in my 1995 SE).
One year later my wife has driven the car for 8,000 miles. Again, despite caring ownership and constant maintanence the car is going downhill. The last straw was the exhaust failing last week with only 32,688 miles on the clock. This is a £700 (+VAT) job at the main dealer. Other problems like another seized lock, another major oil leak etc. and the bill is likely to be around £2000.00.
I can live with the high purchase price, I can live with high fuel and insurance costs, but I cannot live with a car that is so badly built. I am going back to Mercedes as I did in the early 1990's.
Please, please Ford, build a decent Range Rover and you have one customer in the wings already!
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| Great fun, but far too unreliable and expensive |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1997 |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 4.0 petrol Automatic |
| Performance marks | 6 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 8 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 6 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 3 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 24000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 33000 miles |
| Previous car | Land Rover Range Rover |
| Date of Entry | 13th July, 2001 |