1997 Land Rover Range Rover 4.0 petrol

Summary:

Please Ford, build a better one!

Faults:

Exhaust failed at 32,000 miles.

Door locks failed at 25,000 miles.

Boot lock mechanism failed at 25,000 miles.

Alarm unreliable since purchase.

Oil leak at 30,000 miles.

Driver's door window motor failed at 28,000 miles.

General Comments:

Why is it still not possible for Land Rover to make a well built and reliable car? I am a confirmed fan of the Range Rover, no other car looks as good or carries the same prestige in this sector of the market, but Land Rover are trying my patience.

This is the fourth Range Rover I have owned (from a 3.5 1987 V8 to the latest, newer models). I was assured that the 1990 model would be an improvement on my 1987 one. In the end I deserted Land Rover in frustration in the early 1990's as this Vogue was as poorly built as the old one.

Returning to the fold in 1995 (assuming that BMW would improve things) I bought an ex-dealer demonstrator 4.0SE (new shape). I ran it until June last year to 80,000 miles. The catalogue of faults would be far too long to list here. I was assured by my dealer that the 1997 model was vastly improved and once again I took the plunge and purchased a low mileage 4.0 V8. The car I bought is absolutely basic spec. I see no point in paying for air conditioning, cruise control etc. etc. if it is going to fail (as it frequently did in my 1995 SE).

One year later my wife has driven the car for 8,000 miles. Again, despite caring ownership and constant maintanence the car is going downhill. The last straw was the exhaust failing last week with only 32,688 miles on the clock. This is a £700 (+VAT) job at the main dealer. Other problems like another seized lock, another major oil leak etc. and the bill is likely to be around £2000.00.

I can live with the high purchase price, I can live with high fuel and insurance costs, but I cannot live with a car that is so badly built. I am going back to Mercedes as I did in the early 1990's.

Please, please Ford, build a decent Range Rover and you have one customer in the wings already!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th July, 2001

27th Jul 2001, 19:09

Hello, I agree Range Rovers have their share of problems. I have a 96 and my list of problems is longer than yours, willing to place a wager? But what tops it all off is the dealers can be crooks. I bought a "demo" and it turned out to be a dealer buy back. Check into your vehicles history more if you still have it. For some reason the Land Rover dealers have lots of "demos".

View 23 more comments

1997 Land Rover Range Rover 4.6 HSE 4.6 petrol

Faults:

Couple of minor issues sorted during regular services - have only done 15,000 miles so have not really expected to see anything yet.

General Comments:

An exceptionally comfortable car with unrivalled off road capabilities. However even the new model still feels unstable at high motorway speeds (90+).

Service costs ridiculous from main dealers - not value for money!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th December, 1997

30th Jan 2001, 12:18

Sounds very comfortable, I would most definitely buy one. I'm in the market for a new car and I thought that the Porsche Boxster was a great deal, but maybe I should have second thoughts.

Tara

2000 Ferrari owner.

All in all a great review.

27th Jun 2001, 07:43

Tara, I have no idea who you are, but I have seen your comments many times around this site. Why would you go from a Ferrari to a Boxster? Defies belief...

6th Jan 2010, 21:10

My daughter bought a used 1997 HSE 4.6 Range Rover that has under 100k miles and a fresh rebuilt engine. Why did it have a rebuilt engine we ask ourselves now, but it seemed like a plus then. After less than 5000 miles, the new engine's idle quality degenerated from smooth to quite rough. Now, the truck is dead on our driveway, having been towed back from sudden engine quitting on the freeway. The truck no longer starts. It pops and snaps for two seconds at best. When it was running, turning on the ignition was met with bells and buzzers. It seemed like everybody knew and heard we were ready to go. Now, I just have no idea as to what is wrong. We do disconnect the battery, as the alarm system tends to run it dead in three days. It feels like the Rover wants to roll over more than run down the road.