RR 2002- are they really that unreliable?
Discussion
I've been looking into buying a 2003 RR TD6 , and after a brief search for review from various sources, it's put a dent in my confience of these cars..
of all the customer reviews i sem to read, well a good 70% of them anyway, seem completely disillusioned with the cars as they have had repeated rust/electircal/transmission/differential issues ..
is this just a case of those people with issues are the ones that actually bother to write these scathing reviews or is that really a fair reflection of what to expect?
any views would be appreciated..
of all the customer reviews i sem to read, well a good 70% of them anyway, seem completely disillusioned with the cars as they have had repeated rust/electircal/transmission/differential issues ..
is this just a case of those people with issues are the ones that actually bother to write these scathing reviews or is that really a fair reflection of what to expect?
any views would be appreciated..
There is a certain amount of the old adage about only bothering to write if you have something to moan about - think of PH: if you believed everything you read on each manufacturers forum you'd come to the conclusion that all cars irrespective of age, mileage and marque are inherently unreliable!
There are quite a few known issues with the L322, though it does seem on the whole they are vastly superior to the previous P38 which had all sorts of trouble. Its also not helped by recalcitrant dealers who'll be obstructive over warranty issues, then merrily do the work out of warranty whilst charging top dollar...
Like any purchase, going in with your eyes open, being aware of known issues and picking a car on condition, not colour or mileage is crucial. I waited around for about four months until I found the "right" car, and thus far bar a split oil hose which was more messy than inconvenient, it's been faultless. 2005 car, so one of the later ones - certainly the 02/03s seem to have suffered teething troubles, which can probably be put down to being early examples of the model.
IIRC there seemed to be more problems with the TD6 than the 4.4V8, and the fuel economy in my mind wasn't sufficently different to justify the loss in performance, hence why I ended up with the V8.
There are quite a few known issues with the L322, though it does seem on the whole they are vastly superior to the previous P38 which had all sorts of trouble. Its also not helped by recalcitrant dealers who'll be obstructive over warranty issues, then merrily do the work out of warranty whilst charging top dollar...
Like any purchase, going in with your eyes open, being aware of known issues and picking a car on condition, not colour or mileage is crucial. I waited around for about four months until I found the "right" car, and thus far bar a split oil hose which was more messy than inconvenient, it's been faultless. 2005 car, so one of the later ones - certainly the 02/03s seem to have suffered teething troubles, which can probably be put down to being early examples of the model.
IIRC there seemed to be more problems with the TD6 than the 4.4V8, and the fuel economy in my mind wasn't sufficently different to justify the loss in performance, hence why I ended up with the V8.
They're not all bad, but some niggling things turn up from time to time.
A simple £10 sensor can throw up numerous fault codes and symptoms if it fails.
The air suspension compressor doesn't like getting wet yet sits in a vulnerable spot in the spare wheel well in the boot and can quite often be found to be sloshing around in a small puddle! The issue here is to find and fix the (rain) water leak.
The front diff/prop failures on early cars is PITA. It's not actually the diff that fails but the splines on both the propshaft and input shaft of the diff wear leaving you with no drive - you'll need a tow home. The input coupler of the diff is the female receptor to the male propshaft and a small amount of sliding movement is allowed between them to account for vibrations etc.
It is possible to replace just the coupler and propshaft (clicky ) but the coupler is held onto the diff with a nut that also sets the preload in the diff bearings. This is a critical setting (there's no specified torque value in Service Notes) and is why the differential is supplied (from Land Rover) as a complete unit with the coupler already attached.
It's an engineering flaw and at the moment there's not a Factory backed solution. A poll running on a Range Rover forum is currently showing that 42% of respondants have experienced this failure.
However, it's a lovely place to be while waiting for the AA van!
A simple £10 sensor can throw up numerous fault codes and symptoms if it fails.
The air suspension compressor doesn't like getting wet yet sits in a vulnerable spot in the spare wheel well in the boot and can quite often be found to be sloshing around in a small puddle! The issue here is to find and fix the (rain) water leak.
The front diff/prop failures on early cars is PITA. It's not actually the diff that fails but the splines on both the propshaft and input shaft of the diff wear leaving you with no drive - you'll need a tow home. The input coupler of the diff is the female receptor to the male propshaft and a small amount of sliding movement is allowed between them to account for vibrations etc.
It is possible to replace just the coupler and propshaft (clicky ) but the coupler is held onto the diff with a nut that also sets the preload in the diff bearings. This is a critical setting (there's no specified torque value in Service Notes) and is why the differential is supplied (from Land Rover) as a complete unit with the coupler already attached.
It's an engineering flaw and at the moment there's not a Factory backed solution. A poll running on a Range Rover forum is currently showing that 42% of respondants have experienced this failure.
However, it's a lovely place to be while waiting for the AA van!
IMHO, skip the Td6, it's really not what the Rangie is all about. Buy the 4.4 V8. Yes, it's £100 to fill her up, but the smoothness and power of the V8 is what this car is all about. Also only buy a Vogue, the seats alone make it well worht the extra over the HSE (yes the seats are way different between the two.)
We drove a P38 RR for 2 yrs, and a Mk3 for over a year and never had any issues with either of them. (Aside a LR warranty on the Mk3. We took the warranty on a 10 month interest free loan from LR and just added it to our monthly running expenses.) Any one big failure on the Mk3 and it would have paid for itself staright away. As it was nothing ever went wrong and it was a waste of £1500, but the peace of mind to us was worth it.
G
We drove a P38 RR for 2 yrs, and a Mk3 for over a year and never had any issues with either of them. (Aside a LR warranty on the Mk3. We took the warranty on a 10 month interest free loan from LR and just added it to our monthly running expenses.) Any one big failure on the Mk3 and it would have paid for itself staright away. As it was nothing ever went wrong and it was a waste of £1500, but the peace of mind to us was worth it.
G
The front diff problem wasn'nt actually sorted till around 05-06.Bad design really.The problem arises from the diff being mounted to the engine.There is no allowance for movement in the the diff,hence worn spliens on the output from the box in to the diff and eventual diff failure.Has i have said before,when you get under the skin of both the 38 and L322,in some cases the 38 looks a better built in parts.The one big thing is that the L322 is a hell of a lot more expensive to repair.Another one with a failed alternator in this week.£800 thankyou.
Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Thursday 28th February 12:32
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