1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Man have I been down this road. I have had 5 Saabs since 1986. They have always been great cars and inexpensive to own b/c I do all my own service.
I have always liked Land Rovers. SO when the time came for me to get a new car a couple years back, I bought a 1995 Range Rover County LWB with 60K. Nice truck...in excellent condition, had a pre-purchase inspection at a dealer...all fine, etc.
Lets just start by saying I lost my ass on this one. Every time I blinked, there was something new wrong with the car. I can't even begin to list the issues I dealt with in one year and 7000 miles of ownership, but I put at least $2500 into it in parts alone, doing the labor myself.
Many poorly designed parts...many poor build quality issues. Don't expect too much refinement, many interior parts don't fit together well, rattles, vibrations, etc.
Other annoying issues like the airbag light needing to be reset by the dealer every time you disconnect the battery...and the lack of availability of independent service for any electrical issues (which are many!) Not to mention the 12MPG highway.
So your thinking...maybe he bought a lemon???
Well, I participated daily in a BBS for Land Rovers similar to this one (http://www.roversnorth.com) and it seems this is the trend with all of them. Most people on there with Discos, Classic RR's, and 4.0/4.6 RR's are constantly posting with problems and frequent stuck by the side of the road issues.
I met one guy with a 1998 Discovery he bought new and in 30K miles and 2 years took 29 trips to the dealer for service.
If you are still going to get one, I suggest you look in to a 100K mile extended warranty and make sure you are near a dealership.
Land Rover's off-road prowess can't be touched, so if you plan is to use it as an off-road only vehicle (as many purist owners do), then this is the car for you, but I would not recommend it as a daily driver. Do not expect it to be as reliable as your Saab.
Keep in mind that Land Rover is a "hot potato" which as been passed from owner to owner in the past 8-10 years b/c noone can seem to turn them around and make the company work. This is reflected in their vehicles. Maybe Ford (new owner) can now make it work, b/c BMW (94-01) tried and failed.
Hope this helps.
Nick.
posted by 214.1....
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