Would you buy another L322?

Yep, I'll add to the YES vote, our 03 4.4 Vogue has been a great car so have not all that long ago bought another one, an 08 supercharged this time.

Have got the 03 up for sale but have been giving serious thought to keeping it and getting rid of one of our other cars instead, although to make this practical we'd probably have to stick it on LPG which is still a pretty expensive proposition for the conversion.

I can see we'll probably be on the lookout for a 2011/12 5.0 Supercharged in 3/4 years or so when the values drop sufficiently. I prefer for someone else to have taken at least the first $100k hit of depreciation first, and the early cars are now an absolute bargain for such an accomplished vehicle that most people can't really tell apart from the current year.

Both of ours are silver, the 03 with navy/cream inside and the 08 with charcoal. I would probably have preferred not to have another silver one just for a bit of variety but buying on condition and history is much more important than colour choice I think unless it's a colour you really can't stand.

Have to agree with ariddell – buying on condition and history is far more important than colour. When I was looking colour was completely irrelevant, I ended up with silver with black inside – after 2 yrs IMO it’s the easiest combination to keep clean by far. Wifes VW is Black with cream and it’s terrible, shows every spec of dust outside and every scuff, hand print, shoe mark ect inside.

To answer the original Q, I would definitely buy another, don’t be bound by colour and don’t be scared to travel, I drove 1260km (return) to inspect mine, no other option to get there and I’m sure that’s why It hadn’t been snapped up, a gamble that could have seen us come home empty handed, $ and time wasted, but what we found was a fastidious country owner with an immaculate car that wasn’t my first choice in colour! 2yrs on the only other problems I’ve had is the pixels in the MID and the steering wheel tilt.

Factory Satnav was absolute crap, you will find one but don’t bother, there many options available that will upgrade you to latest tech for your ICE. IMHO the “plug and play” options available aren’t very good, cheap Chinese units that don’t fit the L322 (they are for the X5 and don’t marry up to the L322 dash).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harlie

IMHO the “plug and play” options available aren’t very good, cheap Chinese units that don’t fit the L322 (they are for the X5 and don’t marry up to the L322 dash).

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Powerful UK do 2 units - one unit hangs over the dash, and looks like crap, but the do do a smaller version that can be made to fit very well with a bit of modification to the cradle. The how to video he does isn't great, as he modifies the top of the cradle only, and the bottom sticks out a bit, but having looked at the cradle in my car, there is no reason why you couldn't get a better fit if you spent a bit of time on it - not the 30 seconds he did with a grinder...

IMO both the Dynavin and Hualingan look cheap and half arsed in the L322. Compared to a double din unit from the likes of Pioneer/alpine (whoever) their sound quality and processing speed is not as good. We have a Hualingan in our Golf, They are a cheap unit, but in most installations fit well (the version for the VW looks factory, colours match, fits perfectly, ect)- it was plug and play but the satnav (actually all software) is unsupported and unlicensed (pirated windows CE + iGo or TomTom Nav) and maps quite hard to get - if at all. iGo8 (nav software most came with) will not support new maps now so the nav software must now be updated which to this date has been unsuccessful after quite a few atempts, and it came with old maps to start with. With all the infrastructure building in SEQ it is virtually unusable now less than 3 yrs after it was installed...

Those of us who have purchased a L322 have done so for several reasons – I don’t believe that any of us would be happy with a cheapo unsupported pirated Chinese head unit in our Rangie, in appearance (the light colors are all red to match the X5) or (future) functionality. BTW - I can get one for under $400 depending on exchange on the day, and I still would not do it.

I am going to Fit a double din unit. I know it doesn’t look factory but there are very neat facia panels available that are purpose made for the L322 and actually fit. Exact model not decided on yet, really want digital radio (another item missing on the cheap units) and I’m leaning towards leaving satnav out of the head unit for the reasons experienced with our Golf.

The research continues...

Colour "preference" has certainly changed,

Interior:
I'm more interested in interior with grey/black seats due to the mentioned issues with cleaning... however i would still prefer the dash etc to be of a tan colour.

Exterior:
Black still stands out however the darker greys and Silvers are on my list along with the Midnight Blue... but the whites reds etc really don't intrust me!

Now for a further question...
Diesel or Petrol?

Personally i have always been a fan of Diesels, this Diesel in particular seems to have a fantastic history when it comes to economy, performance and reliability.

However i am questioning the V8 mostly due to the greater spec level of the Vogue and also the greater variety/lower Kilometers for the same/similar price.

Here is a little list of to check items i have made and extras found in the Vogue...

* Items to check

• Diff Recalled
• Gear-Box Serviced
• Transfer Case Serviced
• Air Suspension
• Alternator/Battery
• Steering Wheel motor
• Rain Sensor
• Ensure all electric systems work
• Pixels
• Amp/Sub
• Locking System

Vogue Extras

• 12 Speaker Stereo
• 19" Alloy Wheels
• Colour Display Screen – Front
• Digital Sound Processing
• GPS (Satellite Navigation)
• Headlamp Washers
• Headlamp Wipers
• Headlamps - Bi-Xenon (for low & high beam)
• Power Door Mirrors – Folding
• Radio Cassette
• Rain Sensor (Auto wipers)
• Steering Wheel - Heated
• Sunroof - Electric

Hit me with your opinion on the motors/specs ;)

Kind Regards, James.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grover-98

The research continues...

Colour "preference" has certainly changed,

Interior:
I'm more interested in interior with grey/black seats due to the mentioned issues with cleaning... however i would still prefer the dash etc to be of a tan colour. My interior is grey, but has the cherry trim, which really sets it off, and breaks up the grey nicely.

Exterior:
Black still stands out however the darker greys and Silvers are on my list along with the Midnight Blue... but the whites reds etc really don't intrust me!
Mine is the very midnight blue - great looking colour, but a ***** to keep clean - if you don't mind washing it all the time, the darker colours are the go IMO

Now for a further question...
Diesel or Petrol?

Personally i have always been a fan of Diesels, this Diesel in particular seems to have a fantastic history when it comes to economy, performance and reliability.

However i am questioning the V8 mostly due to the greater spec level of the Vogue and also the greater variety/lower Kilometers for the same/similar price.
The diesels are very economical for the size of the car, but are a bit noisier on acceleration. The petrols have a bit more power, and they are a bit smoother, but the reason they generally have less KM on them, is they are expensive to run... The diesels have the GM box in them, and the petrols have the ZF box.

Here is a little list of to check items i have made and extras found in the Vogue...

* Items to check

• Diff Recalled
• Gear-Box Serviced
• Transfer Case Serviced
• Air Suspension
• Alternator/Battery
• Steering Wheel motor
• Rain Sensor
• Ensure all electric systems work
• Pixels
• Amp/Sub
• Locking System

Vogue Extras

• 12 Speaker Stereo - the 9 speaker unit in my HSE still sounds great
• 19" Alloy Wheels there are HSE out there with 20's on them if you look (like mine):)
• Colour Display Screen – Front The factory sat nav is crap - as Harlie has posted - other options are available that will out perform the factory unit
• Digital Sound Processing
• GPS (Satellite Navigation) see above
• Headlamp Washers
• Headlamp Wipers
• Headlamps - Bi-Xenon (for low & high beam)
• Power Door Mirrors – Folding
• Radio Cassette
• Rain Sensor (Auto wipers) available on the HSE
• Steering Wheel - Heated
• Sunroof - Electricavailable on the HSE

Hit me with your opinion on the motors/specs ;)

Kind Regards, James.

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A lot of the higher end specs are available on the HSE - there are plenty out there with the 'Convienience' pack, they almost match the Vogue spec, so I wouldn't count an HSE out of the equation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harlie

IMO both the Dynavin and Hualingan look cheap and half arsed in the L322. Compared to a double din unit from the likes of Pioneer/alpine (whoever) their sound quality and processing speed is not as good. We have a Hualingan in our Golf, They are a cheap unit, but in most installations fit well (the version for the VW looks factory, colours match, fits perfectly, ect)- it was plug and play but the satnav (actually all software) is unsupported and unlicensed (pirated windows CE + iGo or TomTom Nav) and maps quite hard to get - if at all. iGo8 (nav software most came with) will not support new maps now so the nav software must now be updated which to this date has been unsuccessful after quite a few atempts, and it came with old maps to start with. With all the infrastructure building in SEQ it is virtually unusable now less than 3 yrs after it was installed...

Those of us who have purchased a L322 have done so for several reasons – I don’t believe that any of us would be happy with a cheapo unsupported pirated Chinese head unit in our Rangie, in appearance (the light colors are all red to match the X5) or (future) functionality. BTW - I can get one for under $400 depending on exchange on the day, and I still would not do it.

I am going to Fit a double din unit. I know it doesn’t look factory but there are very neat facia panels available that are purpose made for the L322 and actually fit. Exact model not decided on yet, really want digital radio (another item missing on the cheap units) and I’m leaning towards leaving satnav out of the head unit for the reasons experienced with our Golf.

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You make some good points Harlie, do you know if the better double DIN units will intergrate into the CAN bus for the steering wheel controls? Also, do you know who might sell a facia to make the instal look more factory looking?

Cheers - Gav

Is the GM gearbox the more reliable option?

I have noticed many HSE variants have some of the higher spec options of the Vogue... some of the ones which are not included such as heated seats etc... don't really worry me... i see them more of a "oh and it has this" whilst talking about the car rather then a "My rear end is cold ill put on the heated seats"... I may be wrong.

Hmmm... Maybe a nicely Speced HSE is the go...

Kind Regards, James.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grover-98

Is the GM gearbox the more reliable option?

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Ummm - No. The ZF box has its faults too, but not anywhere close to the GM box. Do a search, or just look at a few threads in the L322 section, and you will see that the trannies on the diesels can be an issue.

Putting my own horror storey aside, the problems in these boxes stem from them being under speced to the torque that the diesel is capable of. That, and that LR advertised these transmissions as 'sealed for life' meant that not many people bothered to get them serviced.

They seem to fail at about 150,000KM or so, give or take and cost big $$$ to fix. Having said that, there are many out there that are going fine, and have given no problems - as they say, you only hear about the bad ones, but do your homework on these - see if the box has been rebuilt or changed at some stage - if it hasn't, and has big KM on it, you may want to haggle the price down a bit - try $5K - that's what it will cost you if it goes bang...

Don't let that put you off though, they are a great vehicle, and my jaded opinion on the transmissions shouldn't be taken as gospel...:)

Cheers - Gav

I will be sure to concentrate on the gearbox and the life it has been given... and be sure to have the box serviced immediately after purchase to perhaps help prolong its life...

If they fail due to being under specked was there a year where they were strengthend at all or are the upgrade options after failure or is it as simple as brake it buy the same wait another 150 +/- for the bang...

The Gearbox/Transmission has been my biggest concern buying one of these...