RR 4.4 TDV8 - anybody got any experience of yet?

[philcray]

I know they have just come out but I wondered if anybody had any practical experience of the new 4.4 diesel - too soon I guess to get a handle on reliability but things like day to day fuel economy and general driving experience would be interesting. I am looking at changing the ML and there are a few 4.4's on Autotrader so I am toying with whether I should go for an 09 TDV8 Vogue (seem to be about £45k for good colour, main dealer, low mileage one) or splurge the extra on the 4.4 and enjoy its claimed 30mpg?

Any thoughts welcome!

Cheers

Phil

[budrover]

A friend had a drive in a 'black' autobiography last week.... excellent --went like st off a shovel - great handling - and that was stepping out of an 07 TDV8.

[clorenzen]

I have an 07 Tdv8 with 30k miles and was considering a renewal but the 10 MY has gone up in price quite considerably and you will do well to find a FFRR below 80k where it was 70k a couple of years ago. Rear View Entertainment is now an extra even in the SE so they have "worked" the options list. Normally a FFRR was just that but with 10MY you still need to add a considerable amount of extras. Also with an all new model looming in the not too distant future I think the 3.8litre tdv8 will be the better "investment" if there is such thing when talking RRs.

Edited by clorenzen on Wednesday 27th October 16:49

Edited by clorenzen on Wednesday 27th October 16:50

[Schermerhorn]

I'd wait till next year personally. The depreciation on these things is going to be immense. I bet they're going to be floating around the £50k by the end of next year (maybe even lower).

[philcray]

Thanks for the feedback, my thoughts are to hang on for a year or so as prices seem to be softening once again - they do still vary a lot but a nice looking TDV8 on a 58 plate can be had for sub £40k which seems reasonable value

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

which I guess is about £30k cheaper than a 4.4 for a 2 year old car.

[Keith Currington]

I bought a 2007 RR V8 TDI Vougue SE a year ago for my wife.

She never drives it (too intimidated), and so I started to use it to justify the purchase. It has become my favourite car by far. It has an X-factor that makes me grab its keys (in preference to my other cars), every morning. I have averaged 24mpg in 15K miles and the engine re-map (£400), was a worthwhile spend.

To get to the point and answer your question: I would definately not buy a new one. The first two years depretiation is not for the fainthearted. It has a new engine and has a lot of new tech gadgets for Range Rover, which I am nervous might not be problem free. Official Range Rover dealers are very corporate these days and I don't see them standing behind any problems outside of warranty. Much better to wait for 24 months and let others do the test for you.

In the meantime, look up a 2007/8 TDI V8 Vogue (get the SE spec if you can), and a tow bar. (In my opinion a Range Rover without a tow bar is like a church without an alter)! You will pay less than £40K now and get most of it back when you are ready to make your decision about the latest model, once it has a few years to prove itself.

[GeraldSmith]

I've had a 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography Black for a few weeks now. It is excellent. I've had two 3.6 TDV8s and the performance of the 4.4 is a big leap forwards, the lag is pretty much gone, the 8 speed box is very smooth. At the moment I'm getting 31mpg on my usual route which is 80 miles of dual carriageway and motorway. If it's like the 3.6 it will get a bit better with age (my 3.6 used to average 27 on that route).

The 2011 also handles better than my previous ones, and is really well spec'd. The sound system is excellent with built in DAB and iPod support and of course it has automative everything, even the full beam/dip headlights can be automatic if you want them to be.

Obviously too early to say anything about reliability other than that it has managed a few weeks and a couple of thousand miles without a problem.

[philcray]

Thanks again, funnily enough my wife is also a bit wary about driving a RR as she thinks it is too big (and a bit flash, although she drives the 911 with no qualms...) however I do think she would soon adapt to the size of the RR.

My thoughts are an 08 or thereabouts should offer the best combi of price, mileage, warranty etc. As an aside, i was looking at the front end of the new facelift RR on that Coogan / Brydon comedy thing on TV last night, is it just me or does it look too much like a Freelander now at a quick glance?