Thread: How Reliable Is Land Rover Now?

Ignoring the names of the 'most reliable' brands on both charts - Land Rovers are roughly twice as likely to break down as the #1 manufacturer...

[Note, this does not mean that they are 'unreliable' over all nor that they have not improved vastly in recent years.]

I think that the most important part about reliability is that IF something does go wrong with a vehicle (any brand) is the time and effort it takes by the owner to get that problem fixed.
If a brand doesn't have a good nation wide dealer network then the problems you have with your vehicle will take longer to be addressed and be more problematic.
A warranty isn't much good to you if your nearest dealer is 500k's away.

I paid quite a bit of attention to the LR reliability issue before buying my 2105 D4 TDV6 new. Its done 155, 000 km in 4.5 years, mostly on sealed roads (but some pretty crappy ones) and about half of those km towing a 2.5 tonne 6.5M boat, and often in quite remote places.

When I bought it I took out the extended warrantee and upgraded my RACQ membership to Platinum! Have used the former on a couple of things, but never had to use the latter!

The vehcile has been maintained to what I would consider the highest possible standard - by the local LR dealer (I dont think there is a well regarded independent available). Anything that needs done gets done!

What can I say? Its certainly more expensive to maintain than the SS Commodore it replaced - but then its a completely different type of vehicle and I expect it to do things that I never expected the SS to do.

$1,000+ services take a bit of getting used to - but I get no sympathy my mates who love to travel to the NT in it to go fishing, but say I'm a w##ker for driving it instead of a Cruiser!

It is the easiest cruising, easy big boat towing, km gobbling vehicle that I have ever driven!

It hasn't missed a beat - I luv it!

Don't know what I'm going to replace it with - watching the D5 and the new Defender with interest. In the meantime I am about to spend a bunch of $$ doing everthing that needs to be dome or would be useful to do now (camshaft belt replacement due), and keep it for a bit longer.

Everything is relative.
If you personally are the one with the car that broke down, whatever the brand, then it is not reliable, even if it was the only one of the type that ever had a problem.
If you car never broke down but every other one of the type did then, to you, it is reliable.
And lets face it, we don't even think about it when you get where you are going. It is only a problem or stressful (or expensive) when you don't.
Jonesfam

Question for those that may know - what is a 'Problem' on these surveys? Is it an unscheduled visit to a dealer for any reason - like a light globe, or problems that actually stop the vehicle? Being towed to a dealer?

Just interested.

Personally I think LR have improved dramatically from what I've seen over the years, but the perception is still from 20 years ago I think. Still don't think they are anywhere close to most of the Japanese or Korean brands to be honest. If they were they'd offer the same sort of Warranties rather than expecting punters to cough up for extended warranties. 3 years, 100,000KM is peanuts these days, that alone to me shows they aren't confident in their long term reliability.

5 Year, unlimited KM is the standard these days, Kia is 7 years unlimited KM, Hyundai are following suit here later this year, and others will follow. Sort of leaves LR in the dust IMO. In fact, just Googling I couldn't find another company that doesn't offer 5 years, unlimited KM in Australia, but I'm sure there are plenty, but that's the game you need to be in to get a reputation.

I bought up 100,000KM on my Hilux in 2 years, I'm sure I'm not alone in doing these sort of KM.

Originally Posted by Homestar

Question for those that may know - what is a 'Problem' on these surveys? Is it an unscheduled visit to a dealer for any reason - like a light globe, or problems that actually stop the vehicle? Being towed to a dealer?

Just interested.

Personally I think LR have improved dramatically from what I've seen over the years, but the perception is still from 20 years ago I think. Still don't think they are anywhere close to most of the Japanese or Korean brands to be honest. If they were they'd offer the same sort of Warranties rather than expecting punters to cough up for extended warranties. 3 years, 100,000KM is peanuts these days, that alone to me shows they aren't confident in their long term reliability.

5 Year, unlimited KM is the standard these days, Kia is 7 years unlimited KM, Hyundai are following suit here later this year, and others will follow. Sort of leaves LR in the dust IMO. In fact, just Googling I couldn't find another company that doesn't offer 5 years, unlimited KM in Australia, but I'm sure there are plenty, but that's the game you need to be in to get a reputation.

I bought up 100,000KM on my Hilux in 2 years, I'm sure I'm not alone in doing these sort of KM.

A failed bulb, a door handle thats a little sticky, a rattle in a trim panel all count...

So a Defender could have had 200 issues that never, ever, stopped it performing but the dealer had to do some work on.

And a Pugs could have had 1 catastrophic, side of the road failure rendering it immobile and still rank the highest reliability.


Regarding vehicle warranties... Interestingly... All vehicles in Thailand (made there or sold there) only come with a 12 month warranty. Thats it....
Least popular Dual Cab in Thailand - Hilux.

What chance does LR have of shifting the perception
Even owners on here with vehicles 2005+ still crack on about Lucas Electrics and Oil Leaks.


Almost all the common comments - LR leak oil, electrics are crap etc... are parroted by LR owners.
Most leaks in LR I have found are a product of LR owners not bothering to repair said issues correctly (until they leak like the Exxon V).


Until a Land Cruiser is so full of rust the owner doesnt care anymore - you'll almost always see their owners repairing any small leaks or problems.
In a Landy the owner just calls it character.
I call it lazy.


None of my Landys leak grease, oil, coolant or fuel - I take pride in sorting any niggles before they become more than such.

Originally Posted by Tombie

What chance does LR have of shifting the perception
Even owners on here with vehicles 2005+ still crack on about Lucas Electrics and Oil Leaks.


Almost all the common comments - LR leak oil, electrics are crap etc... are parroted by LR owners.
Most leaks in LR I have found are a product of LR owners not bothering to repair said issues correctly (until they leak like the Exxon V).


Until a Land Cruiser is so full of rust the owner doesnt care anymore - you'll almost always see their owners repairing any small leaks or problems.
In a Landy the owner just calls it character.
I call it lazy.


None of my Landys leak grease, oil, coolant or fuel - I take pride in sorting any niggles before they become more than such.

The facts above are from 2006 model year (2009) test year onwards. And point to continual improvement since then to the point they are on par with major competitors in comparable markets to AU.