Thread: How Reliable Is Land Rover Now?

So those graphs are pretty much pointless then. ...it’s really all about popular perception, servicing and word of mouth.

...and the brilliance of ‘unbreakable’ as advertising. As opposed to ‘Beyond’ I mean, what does that even mean? Above and Beyond what? ...’Beyond the showroom you’re on your own because we’ve closed all our regional service agents’? It doesn’t help.

While a 5 year warranty might give new buyers confidence I’ve often found that dealer servicing is pretty inept and warranty fixes often just repeat the problem, E.g.: Defender clutch and adapter shaft to name two. Both of which are better fixed by an Indi anyway.

The Land Rover bashing that goes on in this country is mind numbingly boring and predictable. I just smile and ignore it and keep on towing hilux and cruisers out of bogs with my Defender.

As Tombie and others have said, reliability is all about proper preventative maintenance, whatever vehicle you drive. Bad luck can strike anyone no matter what the brand, but most breakdowns are due to poor vehicle maintenance.

I would have to agree that, like so many statistics, it is all quite meaningless in the context of 4wd ownership in Australia. What people buying a 4wd vehicle with a view to remote long-distance travel are most interested in is whether the vehicle is likely to break down in a remote area and leave them stranded in a potentially life threatening situation. What these articles address is whether there is likely to be some issue that requires a visit to the dealer. Reliability will mean something very different to the person buying a compact sedan for the commute to the railway station vs someone preparing for the Canning.

I'll start with this as i don't want anyone thinking im a Toyota fan boy; I don't like Toyota simply because I believe they're over priced, not as reliable as people would have you believe abd because I always seem to meet a Toyota owner I can't stand on trips away..

Now my points;

How many LRs would get flogged like Toyota's?

For example Prius used as taxis/uber etc, Hilux/ tundra work trucks, LC overland vehicles, hiace delivery vans, Camry taxis/ uber, 70 series work trucks....I could keep going on and on but you get my drift.

LR does not make any utilitarian vehicle anymore and most LRs get used for the school run or as a status symbol. How many LRs actually get serious milage doing uber, taxis, used as work vehciles, etc? I know many on this site use their range rovers, discos off raod but the truth is most don't.

My thinking ; of these reported faults one would assume that if a vehicle is being heavily used more often than another that the wear and tear leading to a potential fault would be greater? I assume this to be a educated guess, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now i agree LR has improved is reliabilty but there is plenty of room for improvement. As a example needing to take the body off a d4 to change certain parts at a cost of over $10k plus depending on the part is ridiculous and stupid engineering. It's things like this that continue to feed the perception.

Again Toyota has many issues including it's flag ship 200 requiring a torque converter lock up kit amongst other issues to tow anything decent over 90kmph, otherwise the gearbox over heats. But it is still touted as Gods chariot for towing, go figure.

How relaible are LRs? Better than they used to be but not as reliable as Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia to name a few with plenty of room for improvement. Also things like warranty and serviceability cost need to be improved because these are also fueling the negative perception.

My 2 cents
Nando

My two cents.....

From my observations, it seems that when LR introduced an "L" into the models, eg L318, L322 etc, was when things changed.
The electronics changed, the looms, the connectors, build quality changes etc etc...
I don't know (read, can't remember) if that was when BMW or Ford took them over.

Bearing in mind that when one of those companies took them over, changes aren't actually implemented until future models, so years of ownership v changes to various models, will be out of whack... (Timeline)

From what I've observed over the years, Landies with an "L", in the model line up, is when things changed......

Having said that, my old man has had a 95 P38HSE that has never let him down. He's in his late 70s and owned it for bloody yonks.

Seriously, apart from EAS issues, it's never stopped, or left him stranded anywhere. It just keeps going and going....
....it's still taking him to the shops as we speak! Purrs like a 4.6 kitten should.
It even kept up with my D2a on a recent Lake Mountain trip. (Big cheeky grin)

Anywho, that's my reliability bit added.

We've had 5 LRs of different types.... 3 110 Defenders, 300Tdi, Td5 and a 2.4 Puma and 2 Discos, 300Tdi and now 2016 D4.
1 breakdown in the Td5 which required recovering from Newman to Perth. Not too many things on any of them actually requiring work apart from a new transfer case for the Puma under warranty.... and a new drivers seat frame.
Plenty of upgrade stuff though like new axles to all of them and a new output shaft etc. for the Puma.
BUT, our son's 97K 200 series needed, and after a long time got, a new transmission and lots of work done to the engine to solve the oil consumption work plus of course he had to upgrade the suspension so he could tow his boat. If I'd had that sort of problem with any of my vehicles I'd never have bought another Landie.
AlanH.

My young bloke worked at a Land Rover dealer on a pre apprenticeship recently and there were a lot of warranty issues. Also some design features that made parts replacement a major exercise. I'd have to speak to him to get more details.

Like others have mentioned, without seeing the details of the actual problems for each manufacturer the JD Power survey doesn't tell me anything. Some people like to complain, some problems will be minor, how many kilometers, was it regularly serviced etc. etc.
I'm sure a percentage of the general unwashed will believe the survey unconditionally and make their buying decisions without any real facts.

My daily driver has had a few items replaced under warranty and is about to get a part replaced just outside warranty (they organised it and told me when I picked it up from a service). The service team are a pleasure to deal with, if you have an issue you can drop in and a mechanic will come out for a drive to try to diagnose the problem. Service prices are capped.
I did have to 'train' them not to do any more than the logbook service as a lot of work I still do myself.
The car I'm running is no longer manufactured so after having 3 of them I have to now choose something else in a couple of years, probably from the same manufacturer because of the level of service I receive. If I received a JD Power survey I probably wouldn't bother as I'm looked after by the dealer.

Looking at the cost of current model Land Rovers and their service costs I'd hope that they have become more reliable..........


Colin

Originally Posted by 1nando

I'll star with this as i don't want anyone thinking im a Toyota fan boy; I don't like Toyota simply because I believe they're over priced, not as reliable as people would have you believe abd because I always seem to meet a Toyota owner I can't stand on trips away..

Now my points;

How many LRs would get flogged like Toyota's?

For example Prius used as taxis/uber etc, Hilux/ tundra work trucks, LC overland vehicles, hiace delivery vans, Camry taxis/ uber, 70 series work trucks....I could keep going on and on but you get my drift.

LR does not make any utilitarian vehicle anymore and most LRs get used for the school run or as a status symbol. How many LRs actually get serious milage doing uber, taxis, used as work vehciles, etc? I know many on this site use their range rovers, discos off raod but the truth is most don't.

My thinking ; of these reported faults one would assume that if a vehicle is being heavily used more often than another that the wear and tear leading to a potential fault would be greater? I assume this to be a educated guess, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now i agree LR has improved is reliabilty but there is plenty of room for improvement. As a example needing to take the body off a d4 to change certain parts at a cost of over $10k plus depending on the part is ridiculous and stupid engineering. It's things like this that continue to feed the perception.

Again Toyota has many issues including it's flag ship 200 requiring a torque converter lock up kit amongst other issues to tow anything decent over 90kmph, otherwise the gearbox over heats. But it is still touted as Gods chariot for towing, go figure.

How relaible are LRs? Better than they used to be but not as reliable as Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia to name a few with plenty of room for improvement. Also things like warranty and serviceability cost need to be improved because these are also fueling the negative perception.

My 2 cents
Nando

Whomever told you it’s $10k for body off is totally full of it. It’s only 8 hours off and on taking it easy. It’s the same for a Cruiser starter motor.

For usage comparison, here only 2 of the Y62s (and there’s several) have ever seen dirt. All the rest are Mums Taxi or Dads ‘tow the boat to the marina’ jobs.

We have a significant (by population) number of D3/4/5s in town and only one doesn’t see dirt - it’s a full black pack job.

And Defenders - hell, there’s a plethora of those!

All the lads are into Rangers, and get this, Old Discovery’s.

Rangers have a Defender engine and 300tdi Discos are tough and cheap.