buying a RR TD6 SE - nervous!

[duggser]

hi all,

I'm about to get my hands on the dream of mine! Finally a RR will be parked outside the door. However, the more and more i research the RR TD6 SE of which is the one, I become nervous about parting with the guts of 20 grand. Its a 04 reg, and price wise seems good, but reliability, performance and cost of running seem a bit crazy. Not to mention the cost of parts/replacements all of which seem more common than not??!! Any positive replies???? Surley a unique 4X4 such as the RR has good points?? I need tips to look out for when handing over the cash, to ensure all is well. Any help greatly appreciated!

duggser.

[paoloh]

duggser said:

hi all,

I'm about to get my hands on the dream of mine! Finally a RR will be parked outside the door. However, the more and more i research the RR TD6 SE of which is the one, I become nervous about parting with the guts of 20 grand. Its a 04 reg, and price wise seems good, but reliability, performance and cost of running seem a bit crazy. Not to mention the cost of parts/replacements all of which seem more common than not??!! Any positive replies???? Surley a unique 4X4 such as the RR has good points?? I need tips to look out for when handing over the cash, to ensure all is well. Any help greatly appreciated!

duggser.

Do NOT buy an SE, get the Vogue. It may cost £2kish more but you'll get that back on resale. Only paupers buy anything less than a Vogue.

[GKP]

Yep. An SE is a billy-bog basic poverty spec car. A Vogue is the only way of making your purchase being worth more than a few quid at trade in time.

Unless we're talking about a later Vogue SE, of course....

Things do go wrong with the L322, but they have reached the point now where independants are willing to tackle them. Parts are expensive, but getting more prolific on the 'pattern parts' market.
There's a few jobs that will mean plugging the car into a laptop, but there's software available to allow you to delve into the vehicle's electwonic twickerwy at home. (Obviously at a price - but it's possible to save the cost of a dealer visit the first time you use it!)

[schmalex]

Don't buy an SE!! Only go for a Vogue or above. Also, seriously consider the V8 petrol. With Diesel being so expensive at the pumps now, you won't see an appreciable difference in your wallet, as the diesel does around 23mpg & the petrol around 19mpg. The big benefit with the V8 is that the car actually moves

[YamR1V64motion]

i was going to say £20k seems a bit steep for an SE, honestly dont buy one the spec list is probably about on par with my Saab 9-5 and shouldnt be what a Rangie is about at all, if your going to get one get the Vouge, and as the poster above said have you considered the V8 petrol?, i had a fair bit of driving time in a TD6 although i didnt own it i might as well have done for a while, and being hopelessly overtaken by a 1.6 Escort is a little embarassing.

[duggser]

Thanks lads. The deal is off. im gutted. So onto looking for a vogue model. Whats the real story regarding reliability and problems?? I rang a mate today (top mechanic) and his actual words were.... "i wouldn't by a RR in a million years, the only english to explain the RR is a big bag of sh*te!" I can't believe this????!!! Another quote of his is, that within the car trade, the RR is simply known as a "faulty bad product". Is it true?? I'm seriously concerned here.

thanks.

duggser

[BLUETHUNDER]

duggser said:

Thanks lads. The deal is off. im gutted. So onto looking for a vogue model. Whats the real story regarding reliability and problems?? I rang a mate today (top mechanic) and his actual words were.... "i wouldn't by a RR in a million years, the only english to explain the RR is a big bag of sh*te!" I can't believe this????!!! Another quote of his is, that within the car trade, the RR is simply known as a "faulty bad product". Is it true?? I'm seriously concerned here.

thanks.

duggser

For those that work on them,and have a wider knowledge of the product than a few owners,then there is some truth in what he is saying.Over complicated and hugely expensive to maintain comes to mind.

[schmalex]

duggser said:

Thanks lads. The deal is off. im gutted. So onto looking for a vogue model. Whats the real story regarding reliability and problems?? I rang a mate today (top mechanic) and his actual words were.... "i wouldn't by a RR in a million years, the only english to explain the RR is a big bag of sh*te!" I can't believe this????!!! Another quote of his is, that within the car trade, the RR is simply known as a "faulty bad product". Is it true?? I'm seriously concerned here.

thanks.

duggser

They are complicated cars, there is no doubt about that, but they are generally sound. When I was looking for mine, I was advised by a couple of the lads in the village to make sure I bought one with a good warranty, so I bought mine from a main dealer with 12 months LR warranty & topped it up with a further 12 months just to be sure.

In all honesty, I feel a whole lot more confident with the RR than I did with the Porsche that I traded in against it.

In general, go for it. Once you have driven a Vogue, you will not want to go back to any other car, as they are the most sublime way of getting from A to B. Guaranteed.

[duggser]

afternoon all,

Still on the hunt for a RR. Came across a few this week. 1st a 3.0D Vogue, 2nd a 3.0 TD6 HSE, and 3rd TD6 Vogue.

opinions on the best spec please?? They all seem to have same details and are roughly same price? Which is the ultimate?

thanks

[schmalex]

Of those, the TD6 Vogue

[YamR1V64motion]

ive been to look at a few over the weekend and the ones ive seen so far havent been in the best condition, got my eye on a few more so hopefully one of those will be right, at least they had the sense to not have tan leather on the L322, i remember when i was looking at getting a P38 a few years ago and would find one that exactly fitted what i was looking for only to click on an interior shot and find it had tan leather, i got so frustrated i ended up buying a CLK in the end!!.

[RedLeicester]

duggser said:

opinions on the best spec please??

Vogue + V8 = more performance, similar economy, destruction of the ozone layer.

Job done.

End of story.

If you must go for a logburner, then £12k or so should do it, £20k is a waste.

[Fulla]

RedLeicester said:

duggser said:

opinions on the best spec please??

Vogue + V8 = more performance, similar economy, destruction of the ozone layer.

Job done.

End of story.

If you must go for a logburner, then £12k or so should do it, £20k is a waste.

I agree. The oil burner is gutless and the economy is not that much more then the V8. I tried both and got a V8 which now runs on LPG, cost to convert was £1,800. MPG is down but with LPG at 58p it is cheaper to run then the oil burner.
Had it over a year and no problems at all. Not the most exciting vehicle to drive but if you want to sit in an armchair and waft it's this or a Roller/Bentley.
I am sure you can get a good one for 15/16k then spend the rest on an LPG conversion. Oh and you pay less road tax with LPG!

[ruaricoles]

Fulla said:

I tried both and got a V8 which now runs on LPG, cost to convert was £1,800.

Do you mind telling me where you got the LPG kit fitted, and if you're happy with it? I'm thinking of getting a petrol L322 now they're so (relatively!) cheap and fitting LPG seems a no-brainer. There seem to be plenty of 03 (even 04) cars on Autotrader for under £11k. Can't beat that!

Thanks,

Ruari

[Andrew_M]

My folks have a V8 vogue, it averages 17mpg which equates, at current rates, to 30p / mile in petrol based on 12k / year. The TD6 averages 25 according to press which equates, at the current rates, to 23p / miles in diesel based on 12k / year. An additional £840 / year.

Petrol Vogue 2003 29k miles: http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/LAND...

Diesel Vogue 2004 34600 miles [not the cheapest but best colour/interior of the cheap ones in my sub 40k criteria] http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/LAND...

So you pay £4-5k extra for a diesel. Residuals may be better, but I think the cost over 2-3 years overall will be around the same. So I hope you are sold on the petrol idea, but there is another issue. This is my post from a couple of weeks ago:

Andrew_M said:

I know this is an old thread, but I would like to add a couple of things. My folks drive a 2004 4.4 Vogue. They bought it new from the local dealer, where it has been looked after since. Once the warranty ran out they went to the expense of buying the LR warranty. This is has proved to be a good thing, as the diff has already been replaced/repaired. However the reverse sensors packed up, so they had it repaired and were charged a couple of hundred quid and told that they were not covered under the extended warranty? Is this correct?

Secondly, the car got stuck in 4th gear - so they took it to the back to the dealer again, they reported that the gearbox is fooked and a new one is required, this was this morning.

My concluding message, is DO NOT BUY A LR/RR WITHOUT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!

P.S The car has done less than 40k.

You may want to read this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I have to agree with a few others though, there is nothing quite as good as rolling around in a nice Range Rover

[ruaricoles]

Andrew_M said:

My folks have a V8 vogue, it averages 17mpg which equates, at current rates, to 30p / mile in petrol based on 12k / year. The TD6 averages 25 according to press which equates, at the current rates, to 23p / miles in diesel based on 12k / year. An additional £840 / year.

And (correct me if I'm wrong) an LPG conversion on the petrol car would then make the cost (say) 18p / mile if we assume gas is a bit over half the price of unleaded and consumption just slightly increased. So that makes it £600 per year cheaper than the diesel, the installation will pay for itself over the diesel in 3 years or the normal petrol in 1.5 years, and you don't have to suffer the TD6 performance.

And your road tax might be cheaper I think, but no idea how much. Probably offset by the insurance though, which goes up by £150 for me on a 4.4 Vogue once you declare an LPG conversion (according to the price comparison site I was on earlier).

Ruari

[ruaricoles]

Quinny said:

Buy a Land Cruiser and sleep easy at night

Isn't that like saying get an S2000 instead of a Griff though? ie. it seems more sensible, and it does much the same job, in many ways is probably a better car, but somehow it's less special and you don't want one anywhere near as much! I don't think anyone here will ever argue a big V8 Range Rover for £10k is a particularly rational purchase!

Ruari

[YamR1V64motion]

Quinny said:

Not really.

A Griff out performs an S2000 in every way, except maybe for handling.

Just like a land cruiser will out perform a RR in everyway, including kudos in my view

i think in off road etc ability thier pretty evenly matched, i think the Land Cruiser outperforms the RR on reliabilty, of course its going to 1 is a Land Rover and 1 is a Toyota!!, i think the RR has the Landcruiser in a corner on the interior though, and personally i think the RR has more style although i like both cars alot im going to go for an RR, and no doubt a few sleepless nights

[YamR1V64motion]

i like Land Cruisers too, i got offered a think it was a 1999 one, it was a large diesel engined one 4 litre or 4.2TD maybe?, anyway i had to seriouslt think about it because it was at a great price but in the end decided not to, i like RRs too but only the current shape and the classic, ive got off the P38 and in honesty ive never been a fan of the Sport.

[Mad Jock]

It's a personal choice, I know, but take the RR over the Toyota. I had a 2001 Land Cruiser Colorado, which replaced my 1994 Isuzu Trooper. I wish I'd spent longer test driving it. Utterly reliable, no faults, but I could never get comfortable in it. I had a 1989 range Rover Vogue V8 for some years, and it was NEVER uncomfortable. I replaced the Toyota with a TD6 Vogue last year, and have been delighted with it ever since. A main dealer purchase, it came with a full LR warranty, which was just as well, as I have had the steering column motor replaced, the air pump for the suspension, one air spring and the whole dashboard computer replaced. As I work offshore, all the work was carried out while I was away, so no real hassle. However, I have since taken out a Warranty Direct warranty, and reading through it, it covers everything that the LR extended warranty covers, at half the price.