What's your opinion of landrover SUV?

Are there any car enthusiasts among members of this forum?
What do you think of the Land rover SUV? I am refering to recent model. I saw the new land rover LR2 which will be on sale in 2007.
http://www.cars.com/go/features/autoshow...p;amp;model=LR2

I want to get it as replacement for my old beat up honda accord because I am scared of driving in the winter weather. I equiped my car with snow tires of course. However, I always had a dream of owning a reliable SUV so I can load my camping gear easily.

Starting at $34,700 I think I would pass.

The RDX is also in same price range. I see alot of Acura RDX in Canada. they are selling like hot cakes from street vendor. I hope this land rover LR2 will be cheaper. it is definitely cheaper than BMW X3 for sure. X3 price is outrageous and it doesn't have all the features of LR2.

If you can afford the purchase price, I guess you could afford the repair bills. Just for fun, ask what an oil change/basic service costs at the dealership.

Sue, still driving the ole '84 Ford Ranger pickup

Nice looking vehicle, not much of an SUV but nice looking. Land rovers are known for having serious mechanical problems. Parts are NOT cheap.

IMHO buy a Jeep, any Jeep is better than a Land Rover. Take a look at the Grand Cherokee or Commander.

come on guys. landrover's aren't trash, and they sure as anything are better than any jeep. i dare say even the new models would outperform a stock jeep anyday. i personally don't like rovers because they guzzle gas and, from what i understand, similar to volvo, etc., there are certain year models that are more reliable than others. if landrover offered diesel model they'd be much more attractive.

Check out the reviews on www.consumerreports.com for the other Land Rovers. The bottom line, these are cars to avoid.

"New Car Prediction Much worse than average"

In '04 I was shopping for a new SUV and seriously considered the Land Rover Discovery. I did some research, asked owners myself, drove them, drove other brands. The main factors that kept me from buying one were:
Full time 4WD, don't need that feature.
Eats fuel, partly because of above feature.
Wears tires rapidly, again full time 4WD.
Repair costs were high, dealers were few, parts hard to get.
Under powered for it's weight.
Price was higher than some other vehicles that were better.
It is uggggly, which would have been overlooked if not for all above.
All that said, the Discovery in 2004 was a good off-road vehicle, or had the capabilities desired. The LR2 is basically a Ford Explorer (new type) with a different body and fittings. It has independent suspension front and rear, limited ground clearance and is heavier than the previous Discovery. I would truly not own one if you gave it to me, I would trade it immediately for something better, there are lots of better choices out there.
I won't recommend anything, I am surely not an expert, but take the time to carefully weigh your options, ask youself what you want the vehicle to be capable of and how much you are willing to pay out in the long haul on payments, repairs, and gas/oil. I'd be surprised if you buy a Rover.
All that I say and my dream vehicle is a LR Defender 110 Diesel. I also know I will never find one I can afford. Cheers!

Everyone always remember, the first Land Rover built was, after all, a rebuilt Jeep. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The company started producing after two Brits rebuilt their Jeep, which they had used for fun, started wearing out. At least that was what I remember the History Channel said.

This page also gives clue that this one prototype for some reason might have been destroyed. I dunno much about it.

http://www.lrfaq.org/NL.MM_firstlandrovers.html

I am concern about the gas guzzling feature of land rover too. I hope the LR2 will be lighter. I am also consider the Mitsubishi outlander 2007. Consumer reports indicate the new outlander has much improved in power, sound proofing, agility compare to 2006 model. Outlander 2006 is reliable and good on fuel economy.

I am getting older thus I want a cushy 4WD vehicle that can handle rough winter weather. I just don't want to stoop low into a car hauling my outdoor gear out. It is rough work on my back despite that I am still in fit condition.

Toyota RAV4 2007 look nice from exterior however its interior is a bit too spartan. The price of RAV4 is quite expensive in Canada. it isn't cheap SUV except for base model 4cyl. I am tired of driving a 4 cyl engine. I want a really quiet & serene V6 that absorbs road noise with aplomb while cruising at HWY speed. Besides, I have very sensitive hearing hence I can't tolerate noisy interior of any vehicle.

Try a Toyota Highlander, even a used one is OK. One nice feature is that the rear seats fold down flush thus creating a huge space, one can literaly sleep there.
Highlanders are of course more expensive then RAV4s

Has anyone tried the NIssan Patrol ?

How are you going to use it? Will it just be a street queen, off road means shopping mall parking lot, I'm sure it will do fine for that. But if your an outdoors type and will be going in the dirt and mud then your going to cry every time you have to get it detailed or buff the scratches out of the paint and you will be better off getting something a little more off road friendly like a jeep, or Chevy or Ford. At least in the USA most of your SUV's like the Landrover are $$$ Luxery cars.

It is a bright shinny object. Reliability is much more important!

I looked at all the 4x4 for several years and bought a 2006 Toyota Tacoma 4-door, 4x4, TRD. We put a cab top camper shell on it. I've had it for 6 month so far and am very impressed. It seems to do everything well. Great on long trips with 5 adults/teens, great off road, great for camping, etc. You don't have to cram your camping gear around your feet.

Something that stuck in my mind was that someone said that they mostly buy Toyota in third world countries because there are no parts stores or repair shops.

I also really like the 2007, 4-door Jeep Wrangler.

wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rover#Quality_problems

land rover doesn't get the best reliability ratings. that would worry me.

I'll pass that info on to all those guys I know who manufacture Nissan SUVs here in Tennessee. NOISY NOISY NOISY

Unfortunately I don't think they sell the Nissan Patrol in the USA. Just like the LR Defender, it is not "plush" enough for the US market. The powers-that-be think that all we want in the USA is leather/wood trimmed luxury, high-ride station wagons. There are a few more choices today from what I had in 2004, like now there is the Hummer 3 and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4-door. Most every other SUV available here is not much for off road use. Too low to the ground.
I am seriously considering a Jeep Unlimited 4-door soon, although the test vehicle used by Edmonds.com got only 14.5 mpg in combined driving:( They also say it is way under powered for it's weight. Then again, I am not looking for a rocket, just a good all around outdoor vehicle. Not sure I can live with 15 mpg if the gas prices go back up again, ya know they will!!
Meanwhile, I have an '04 Chevy Trailblazer that is a great highway wagon, gets 21 mpg and has 4wd for winter use. Not too good off road. I also have a '98 Isuzu Trooper for tearing around on the back roads, it does alright, it is paid for and it is semi-expendable. Lots of room inside. Mechanically it is a nightmare and expensive to repair. Engine is way too complicated and all aluminum to boot.
Sure hope you can find a SUV that suits your needs and is a good, reliable ride. Cheers!

Despite the over-deployment globally, they are way over-rated. I will stick with a Ford Bronco or a good CJ-7 if I can find one, then take it to my mechanic if need be and beef it up properly, and still be money ahead.

Now if you want a real SUV, for the money this'd be my recommendation:

Big Ben's SUV

Okay, maybe it costs a bit more than your fully loaded Land Rover, but it will get the job done...

I like the Toyota Hilux <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I am not pro Land Rover in particular, however the not-so-positive comments trigger a question . Land Rovers are used by British, Australian and other special forces

http://www.military-page.de/einheit/sas/sas_03.htm

My question is : If Land Rovers arent that reliable, would these countries use them in such life-or-death situations ?

BTW, here is a page about the Land Rover Defender

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~lloyd/4/LandRover/Defender/

The answer is yes. Product loyalty is apparently more important than top end quality. If it's made in England, you can be sure the English will be preferential to it, just the same as the French, Italians, Germans, Japanese, and yes even us Yanks are preferential to our own native manufacturers.

The best military SUV I've seen was the South African Wolf, at least so far as expeditionary grade goes. It beats out the Humv, the Land Rover, and all the rest. However, it is not the most practical rig for urban environments. If I were to go with an All Around rig, I'd probably get a Humv (not that domesticated poc hummer breed, but the real thing, if I were to want to stay in that size class.

I still think that International rig is the best way to go, though.

Lowest bidder?

I was in the same boat as you trying to replace my Jeep Cherokee. Money was sort of not an object (I could have gone up to 50k) and since I planned to finance the vehicle I was looking also at the possibility of modifining it without worrying about breaking lease agreement. I looked at landrovers at they were overpriced. Great cars and I rode quite a few but you are not getting enough for your buck. The new versions are much softer than original since they are considered a luxury SUVs. Now maintanace is also expensive and if you plan to keep the car around every freaking part cost a lot of money.

In the end I also looked at Toyota FJ which is a great car but too new to purchase and there is a lot of feedback in the field about problems with first year run.

I eneded up buying an Xterra Off Road edition. Great car, nice stiff ride and with few mods (better side skids, better rear bumper with extra tire, and skid plates and front gourd) it makes excellent all around vehicle. I'm taking it to Alaska this year.

Just my 2 cents....

nissan patrol isn't available in N. america.

hahaha. your red tacoma now has lots of holes in its body. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

the Wolf...man, that is one ugly truck <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
web page

The BBC TV programme 'Top Gear' did some destructive testing on one that may be of interest. (Google will find stuff.)

eeph

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All of the above reasons previously mentioned. Just because some government choose a particular vehicle, doesn't mean it's the best one for the job. I'm sure there is internal pressure from the government in choosing a vehicle for their own military. How would it look to choose a foreign vehicle over ones that your own country produces? Cost and availability probably have to be factored in too. I've heard that the reason Land Rovers were so poplular in Safari expeditions from a long time ago aren't neccessarily because they're great vehicles, but because there was no other option at the time.

Either way, I don't think I've ever heard the words "Land Rover" and "reliability" in the same sentence without some sort of laugh or degrading comment. But you can't ignore the obvious, they're consistently ranked last in reliability from almost every automotive source. All that negative publicity can't just be a rumor, there must be a least a little bit of truth behind it. It's just that for some people, reliability isn't very high on their list of priorities. Capability, looks, status, comfort, are all things Land Rovers excel at. For some, that's enough to outweigh the reliability aspect. Especially considering if you have enough money to buy a Land Rover in the first place, the cost of maintenance probably isn't a very big issue. IF I had the money, I wouldn't mind getting an older LR Defender.

Edmunds did a comparison test of small all-wheel-drive SUVs a while back. They compared the 2007 Mazda CX-7, 2006 Toyota RAV4 and the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. Might be worth a read. I read it when I was bored one evening and was a little surprised to find they preferred the Mazda. Here's a link to the report...
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/vdp/articleId=116618/pageNumber=1

Oh, and I like Land Rovers and Jeeps both. They are both extremely capable off road machines and if you want either one of them then buy one. However, reliability (as so many others have already mentioned) is not one of their calling cards.

What are you looking to use the car for again? If you were looking at the LR2, I think you might also want to cross shop the Toyota 4runner, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Honda Pilot/Acura MDX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, or VW Toureg. Those are all in the same price range and catagory. I know the BMW is also in the same catagory, but I consider it more of a sports car with a large storage area than an SUV.

For more serious off-roading, I think the Toyota's and Jeeps are the better choice, although the VW did get pretty good reviews from the 4wd magazines. They are more capable for offroad, as opposed to the car based Honda/Acura. The car based SUV's will generally get better milage and have a smoother ride though.

If you aren't really plannoing on off-roading where 4wd is a necessity AND you're concerned with gas mileage, have you also considered getting an AWD wagon? Something along the lines of a Subaru Outback or maybe Volvo XC70, or maybe even a CRV? If snow/light duty offroading is your main concern these would be a great choice. Handles and feels more like a car than a SUV, but can probably handle 95% of what most people use an SUV for anyway. They don't have a true 4wd, but the limiting factor for most vehicles is ground clearance and approach/departure angles, not so much the type of drivetrain it uses.

Any opinions on a Chevy Suburban? I work at Ft Detrick and just the other day I got a quick look at a beefed up black Chevy Suburban with Army plates. It had, what appeared to be a custom made heavy-duty roof rack, a heavy-duty rack on the rear left side with 2 Jerry cans and some pretty-elaborate lighting on the front roof. Anybody have an idea what other additions or modifications may have been made to the vehicle? It definitely had the appearance of being a usable off-road vehicle.

Pete

the toyota CJ has good offroad capability but its interior look very spartan, and doesn't look upscale at all.

I like a SUV that look refine and perform with grace on the road and offroad too in inclement weather.

Like the other big SUVs, the suburban is a decent platform to start with, but it needs some upgrades to make it something more than a soccer mom mobile. I had a 76 Suburban 4WD that was a real tank. It weighed in at three tons and was still mostly all metal interior and exterior. It had a solid frame and a good power train based on a 406 ci block and a good differential all time 4WD system. I beefed it up by rebuilding the block, adding an Edelbrock Dominator intake system and raising the compression slightly, and a better aftermarket iginition system and a good set of headers and pipes. It was a real goat up in the hills, and the only regret was I coulda used a couple inches more of clearance under the pumpkin a couple times. Otherwise it was about an ideal SUV for me. It only got about 8 mpg, but I was never concerned about economy with that thing. I wanted something that would get the job done. It also had enough cargo room with the back seat folded down that I could sleep comfortably in the back despite being 6'6" long. I ended up getting rid of it when I went to Iraq, but for the few years I had it I thought it was wonderful. Now I just have my extended cab pickup which is seldom getting driven with me being out of the country so much, but it works. If things go as planned, my next SUV will be one of those Internationals for sure. That'll git 'er done!!!

After owning 3 different jeeps, I want to say that they are the best off road and BOV that I ever owned. You can get one as inexpensive as you want or as expensive as you want. If you want whistles and bells, then buy a car (then buy a cheap jeep), I can replace anything on it including the frame. I like mine personally. It is fun, tough, stylish, my wife loves it, my son thinks its sooooo coooool, and it has never failed me. It gets 20mpg on the hwy, and about 15 in town. I can load up the roof rack and all the other accessories that I have put on it has made it mine. That is the best thing about it, it is mine like I want it and for what I use it for. Get a Jeep and make it yours. You won't be sorry.

I thought you were shopping for more of an all weather vehicle. In this case, I think you have to rule out everything that doesn't have low range 4WD.

Thats what I've learned. Sure you can take an AWD/4WD without low range off road, but to do it without overheating your transmission or going too fast you really need low range. Real off road isn't like you see in the car ad on tv where an AWD stationwagon/minivan can just fly across the ground unless you have the several large bulldozers like what uwas used to prep for the ad.