Land Rover LR4 Feedback

[JodyHighroller]

Hi all,

Anyone a current or former owner of a Land Rover LR4? What are your thoughts and impressions?

I’m looking at a 2016 LR4 with the Landmark package. It’ll be a daily driver/beater. I’ll be getting an extended warranty with it, of course. If I’m not able to find one I like I’ll most likely just order a new Defender.

Any feedback is appreciated.

[Laszlo]

We had an LR4 and loved it. Never had any issues with it. It had the V8 though and off road package as standard. I believe when they went with the V6 the off road package became an option and a lot of dealer ordered versions didn’t get that option and honestly no point in owning one if it doesn’t have that option. Also make sure that you’re prepared to replace tires every 15,000 miles or less and brake pads. Especially rear. She’s one heavy vehicle.

[Chester01]

Not sure, but the reliability on pretty much their entire line is lacking making one wonder why a range rover?

[breitlings]

Personally I would look for a 2009 L322 Autobiography. 2007-2009 Supercharged and special edition derivative have really solid running gear and good reliability. Very solid offroad, already has the locking rear and center assuming USA spec. L3 I'd try to get the 4.4 V8.

There are some beautiful examples hitting the market as the Bronco looks good and some of the G wagons come down in costs.

I would also look a G wagon, at least consider it. Triple locking differentials, very solid MS build quality.

Check out my site offroadrover.com

[Mountains]

My wife had a 2011 model, chosen for the extra row of seats when the children were younger. It was a fantastic car, very reliable, very practical and she was happy with it.

Upgraded to the RR vogue in 2016 when the extra seats weren’t needed ... and it was an electrical disaster from the start. Trunk hydraulic problems, small glitches, visits back to the dealership to reset the computers etc ...

As soon as it finished the warranty period she changed for an Audi Q7. Boring, but reliable, is her summary!

As for me, I’ve been satisfied with my land cruiser throughout!

[breitlings]

Land cruiser with supercharger is solid. But no locking diffs on late models. A g is much more capable.

[vman]

LR4 is probably one of the best SUVs Land Rover created. It is what a Land Rover should have always been. Despite that, I would not recommend LR4 to anybody but a true Land Rover enthusiast. These cars are way to demanding for an average driver. And forget about the wilderness image... Subarus and Tacomas can do the same but with less headaches.

I am an LR guy, and while I've seen many good specimen of LR4 out there, there are units that should have been lemons on day one. I may get an LR4 simply because I know cars in and out, but my brain says that a Land Cruiser would be a better option.

[breitlings]

Tacos with rear diffs and 4runners can. Subarus cannot. I have a video or two i can show u. We tried. Brought the best subaru and a 2011 range rover supercharged thru colorado trails, forest trails, mining tails or whatever it is called. They are more impressive than one might imagine though.

[vman]

Originally Posted by breitlings

Tacos with rear diffs and 4runners can. Subarus cannot. I have a video or two i can show u. We tried. Brought the best subaru and a 2011 range rover supercharged thru colorado trails, forest trails, mining tails or whatever it is called. They are more impressive than one might imagine though.

For an average driver that hits a random fireroad (i.e., not a diamond rated trail) to get to a fishing or a camping spot, Subaru will do just fine. I've done it many times in NE. Would not want to do any serious off-roading in a forester.

Btw, if you need lockers... you're in a special category. Conquered many advanced trails without lockers with a bit of patience and thinking. Anything above those grades, would be considered rock crawling, which I will pass on.

[~JJ]

Originally Posted by vman

For an average driver that hits a random fireroad (i.e., not a diamond rated trail) to get to a fishing or a camping spot, Subaru will do just fine. I've done it many times in NE. Would not want to do any serious off-roading in a forester.

Btw, if you need lockers... you're in a special category. Conquered many advanced trails without lockers with a bit of patience and thinking. Anything above those grades, would be considered rock crawling, which I will pass on.

I’ve had wranglers and fj40s with and without lockers. Wheeling with lockers is so much easier/fun, plus I’ve never had to walk out of the woods when my ride has had lockers. I will always pick lockers in my wheelin ride.

[breitlings]

Lockers are extremely helpful. Torsens are likely the next best. Then some sort of viscous coupling. Then quite far down the list is brake assisted, finally open diffs.

The reasons why open diffs are not really good for high performance cars or offroad vehicles is because they send all the power to the wheel with least resistance, i.e. without traction.

An AWD vehicle with fully open diffs, will send all power to the wheel that has no traction.

A 4WD vehicle that has a center lock but no front or rear lockers, will send power to the two wheels with least traction. So if one side of the road is icy and one isn't it will send all the power to the side without traction.

Adding a rear locker to a 4WD vehicle: the front will send power to the wheel with the least resistance, in the rear both wheels will be given power and the car can move forward even as long as one rear tire has traction. If the rear has no traction and the one front wheel has no traction again there will be no movement.

A vehicle with three locking differentials means that even if one tire in the front or back has traction it can send all the power to that wheel and continue to move.

I write a lot about this on my old blog offroadrover.com. You can see the trails I go on there.

TLDR: I agree with ~JJ

[JodyHighroller]

Thank you all for the feedback!

Originally Posted by breitlings

Personally I would look for a 2009 L322 Autobiography. 2007-2009 Supercharged and special edition derivative have really solid running gear and good reliability. Very solid offroad, already has the locking rear and center assuming USA spec. L3 I'd try to get the 4.4 V8.

There are some beautiful examples hitting the market as the Bronco looks good and some of the G wagons come down in costs.

I would also look a G wagon, at least consider it. Triple locking differentials, very solid MS build quality.

Check out my site offroadrover.com

I am looking through your site now. Thank you for the link!

It’s funny, the L322 is my favorite gen. I think the 2012 model year was the best for the Range Rover model. I didn’t really consider it before because of the age and most I’ve come across on the market are ragged out. Which was one of the main reasons why I was leaning towards the 16’ LR4. I will definitely add the 2012 RR to my search over the new few months. Hopefully a clean Autobiography example comes around.

The LR4 is my favorite due to the boxy nature. I test drove the s/c V6 variant the other day and I was fairly impressed. Had quite of a bit of low end torque and overall good pickup given the weight.

Originally Posted by vman

LR4 is probably one of the best SUVs Land Rover created. It is what a Land Rover should have always been. Despite that, I would not recommend LR4 to anybody but a true Land Rover enthusiast. These cars are way to demanding for an average driver. And forget about the wilderness image... Subarus and Tacomas can do the same but with less headaches.

I am an LR guy, and while I've seen many good specimen of LR4 out there, there are units that should have been lemons on day one. I may get an LR4 simply because I know cars in and out, but my brain says that a Land Cruiser would be a better option.

This is good info. I’ve only owned German previously, so I’m no stranger to demanding/high maintenance vehicles. Hoping to come across a clean example of 16’ LR4 with the Landmark and Heavy Duty package. All the ones I’ve found doesn’t have the HD package. Seems it wasn’t a very common add on.

[vman]

^ Jody, consider scanning CarMax regularly. Their warranty and return policies allow you to get a car, inspect it, bring it back with no questions asked within 7 days. 90 day warranty is standard and you can buy optional warranty too. Something that is not to be ignored on Rovers.

HD package is desirable, but you have to ask yourself, why do you want it? If you're into mild offroading such as simple overland travel, fire roads, or paths that require high clearance and 4x4, you can do them in a stock LR4 without issues.

When I overland, I usually go with people who do not wrench and we take a single car (mine), I typically pick trails that are interesting without being too challenging because my goal is to travel and not to fight the rocks. I could do so without lockers, winches or other special equipment. The bottom line is this: you gotta be realistic about what you'll do with the car.

[904VT]

Originally Posted by breitlings

Personally I would look for a 2009 L322 Autobiography. 2007-2009 Supercharged and special edition derivative have really solid running gear and good reliability. Very solid offroad, already has the locking rear and center assuming USA spec. L3 I'd try to get the 4.4 V8.

There are some beautiful examples hitting the market as the Bronco looks good and some of the G wagons come down in costs.

I would also look a G wagon, at least consider it. Triple locking differentials, very solid MS build quality.

Check out my site offroadrover.com

These are great, but pricing has gone insane vs a number of years ago. The triple locking diffs are not as great as you would expect.


Btw own a 2009 L322 Supercharged myself. IMO best mix of price/capability out there. The Supercharged (Autobiography included) all have rear locking diffs. In my experience the Terrain Response, mixed with a rear locking diff in most cases beats the G Wagon off-road in almost all cases. The G Wagon does not have the ground clearance and/or off-road angles to fully compete with L322 Supercharged or Rubicon off-road. The LR3/LR4 with rear locking diff is imo a nice option to fall between L322 and Rubicon. The LR3 has most flexibility other than Wranglers. You can find snorkels, and lift kits along with winches for the LR3. The LR4 and L322 Supercharged though good luck.

I placed a set of Terra Grappler G2s on my L322 Supercharged and it gets most anywhere on any trail it can fit width wise. G Wagon though build quality is another level. I went with the compromise L322 of Ford electronics, BMW design, Jaguar engine. From my research and experience those 08-09 LRs are most reliable.