Air suspension system! When that fails, the car is next to dead.
Heated front screen, patchy demisting.
Air con died.
A physically huge machine! Massive road presence!
The turbo whistle is gorgeous, but basically, this car is Brian the Snail. The six cylinder turbo diesel unit is massively under powered.
The comfort levels are unsurpassed in my view. Big arm chair seats and lots of leg room. You could travel from Mercury to Mars, and be very comfortable indeed.
Load capacity... Hmmmmmm, there are lots of intrusions from wheel arches and window sills, and the rear seats don't fold flat or come out. The ceiling is high, but do you really want to load it that high? There are no securing points in the floor either.
The split tail gate... good or bad? Great for cooking on, sitting on but for loading, it's a pain, you have to stretch into the boot. The height of the 'tank' means no bending, but I'm not sure about how much of that cavern is usable.
The Range Rover handles like a 1930's cinema, but that could be part of its charm. The build quality is questionable, the old cart vibrates at certain revs, and rattles and squeaks.
All the above being said, the Range Rover is a fifteenth century pile, full off wood, leather, and personality. It's all the wooden beams and bits that don't make sense. It's annoying and brutally slow; the North American continent will out accelerate this monster. Definitely a tug you buy with your heart and not your head.
The 4x4 ability is fantastic! But, how often are you going to challenge this beast?
Buy a Volvo XC70, it is a better machine in every way with the exception of REAL off road stuff.
I agree - It's a shame that the Land Rover brand has such reliability issues. I have recently sold a Freelander HSE with 60k miles and was plain nervous to drive it anywhere in case something would fail. In contrast, I now drive a Volvo with double the miles and feel like I could drive it anywhere!!!
Definitely! May be my first encounter with the legendary Landrover Range Rover has been one with a Friday afternoon bus. My year 2000 DSE is gorgeous but, I've had it six weeks and the suspension has failed me twice!
My old V70XC had twice the miles on it, had a more powerful engine... but that's not hard, the Volvo had more torque and, apart from MAJOR off road stuff is/was a vastly superior car!
I love the size and presence of the Rover but, basically... oh Dear!
Couldn't agree more. When the Range Rover is performing, it's unbeatable but, the Volvo cross country is a vastly better car in terms of 'everyday' conditions. The Volvo is reliable, comfortable, adequate off road, miles better on road and, basically, superior in every way. I certainly would take the Volvo to places I didn't know. The range Rover, I wouldn't take to the super market!!! When they are good, they are very good, when they are not, they are lethal!! Lots of people fret about the Volvo's complex power delivery system but, in comparison to the Range Rover, it is very reliable.
I agree, buy a Volvo, or something Japanese. Nissan Patrols are very good if you need to go off road a lot, as are Land Cruisers and Hiluxes. The Hilux though is a dog, a tough dog but a dog!
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