Ready the whole thread with interest.

I’ve had two L322 FFRR’s, MY2010 most recent and now my first L405 MY2017 Autobiography.

No regrets here with the upgrade. Absolutely love driving the L405, it’s so tight and smooth to drive compared to the L322’s. (although going back to the L322 wasn’t as bad a step back, after a week with the L405, as I expected -it’s a great car and a future classic i’m sure). I had an extended test drive of the Bentley flying spur (200 miles) and was blown away by the smoothness of the ride it just floated down country lanes. It seems to me that certainly the L405 2017 is delivering the same driving experience.

Yes i miss the sunglasses holder at the top but.. the new door pocket is a lot better than i expected - thought i might have to open the door to get to it - which I don’t.

My MY2017 has knobs for heated seats which seem to come on instantly and just need a push and twist to turn on seats. Although given the discussions here it does make me laugh that the latest ones 2018+ seem to be going backwards with a dedicated lower screen (with two knobs) for the climate controls...

The adaptive cruise control on L405 is much better than the L322 - it doesn’t cut out at 30mph like the L322 and i think it’s the stop / start / slow roll motorway driving which is the most draining of energy so this is a big step forward in my view. I drove five hours and arrived feeling much fresher than i would have done in the L322 where i would probably have needed a little down time before the next job. That’s partly down to improved ride, roll etc which puts less stress into the driver but also all the technology like adaptive cruise, lane assist, blind spot assist, collision avoidance etc etc all of which allow the drive to relax a little more than previously. That perhaps is most telling...

The aluminium body does worry me a bit - increased damage etc which might be seen by some cars BUT no one seems to mention that ALL of them won’t RUST!! That’s a pretty big plus - no? So if you wanted to hold them for a while (which is always my plan, but i don’t always manage , ) the body should stay good?

I miss my L322 and hope the forum member who bought it will look after it. But I wouldn’t want to go back.

Progress happens all across the vehicles - for example the turbo’s on my L322 had rubber hoses supplying air and diesel mist the the turbo - they split after 5 years of use - the new parts come with a mesh in them which strengthens the pipes and stops them splitting. This is a pretty invisible change but will hopefully mean newer cars don’t suffer that problem. Admittedly newer car may have introduced other items which may develop their own issues....

Anyway just my thoughts

Andrew --
On my third Full Fat RR
there's nothing like it.

I'm happy with my L405 but then I have been happy with my previous Range Rovers  Geoff

I'm very impressed with my 2014 AB L405. The only thing that my previous L322 had over it was the head restraint position. I find that I have to recline the seat in the AB slightly more than I'd like to avoid the head rest rubbing the back of my head. First World Problem!

I haven’t had a problem with headrests myself in my AB. --
On my third Full Fat RR
there's nothing like it.

Ok so just driven 1,000 miles in last few days.

The heated and cooled seat controls in the 2017 are great but a massage button for each of the front two seats would have been great too. You have the press the seats button, then the seat you want then turn on massage and then heat or cool if you want that while ur there and all of this is a distraction... (I know is a first world problem - but hitting something if distracted will be a very immediate problem)

Apple CarPlay is really great and works really well with audio books, Waze sat nav, bbc sounds, etc etc BUT if u want the car DAB radio you have to press the landrover app in CarPlay then navigate around to get radio and then go back to CarPlay and back to sat nav if using that. Controlling usb media is worse all the above steps plus navigating to artist or album (no playlists allowed in landrover incontrol) scrolling through artists (no jump to letter of alphabet) find the artist and then album is a real phaf. It’s much simpler to play music from iPhone but usb gives more music options. (Any app to navigate usb media via CarPlay????).

Andrew --
On my third Full Fat RR
there's nothing like it.

Called in at a local main dealer yesterday (Inchcape York) to view a perspective purchase (63 plate 3.0 L405).

Impressive new showrooms with JLR products. Was met by young salesman chatting to the receptionists who asked if they could help. When I stated I was interested in a used L405, the said young salesman spouted back " do we have to talk in codes" then started reeling off all the vehicles they had i.e. Discovery, Sport, Velar etc.......I stopped him and stated that's why I mentioned the L405 as that's what I want not I'm interested in the other models !

Anyway another sales gentleman who talked sense showed me the car and a short test drive ensued. Unfortunately the car was showing low battery and the air suspension warning came on mid test drive with the don't exceed 30 mph message. Car had been stripped of its fitted mats and was on the most obscure make budget ditch finder tyres you've never heard of before ! Shame.....

Not on the approved used scheme but an Inchcape used car.

However despite all this I could still get the feel for the L405 and when I do find the right car I'm sure I won't regret moving on from my trusty L322 !!! Will probably go for the 4.4 and hopefully one that's at least devoid of warning messages upon firsts viewing and driving!!! Current
2016 MY L405 SDV8
2018 VW Golf GT EVO
Previous
2002 L322 TD6
2004 Mercedes R230 SL350
1994 993 Carrera
Range Rover P38 x3
Range Rover 3.9 EFI

Obviously there’s some security buying through a dealer (you would hope) but there is normally a much higher price too. Private sales have risks but you can also get much better bang for buck.

As an educated buyer, a private sale can work out better.

Also consider what some one said earlier .. never buy the first iteration of a new model. Wait a few years for them to find and fix the problems. I wonder if a 2015 might be better?

Andrew --
On my third Full Fat RR
there's nothing like it.

Nope. Love my L405

I owned a 2011 L322 for 7 years the longest I ever owned a car,unfortunatly was stolen in Feb.This week bought a 2017 L405 4.4 and today started looking at ads for late 2012 L322 with low mileage.
The 405 is a bit souless,a bit Merc 500 S Class,it just seems out of step of the original design concept of being a utilitarian vehicle and although capable just doesn't feel like you would want to take off road.

I'm starting to lean towards the L405 after nearly 10 years of L322 ownership simply because I now like the look of the L405. It's taken a few years to grow on me and mature as a model but with the way prices are tumbling, it might be the time to jump across.

As to taking either model off-road, I've never done it in my L322, so I very much doubt I'd ever do it in a L405, should I get one.

In saying that, does a gravel drive of a nice country house hotel count as off-road?  Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

I keep an eye on MY16 & MY17 4.4 prices as possible replacements for my MY12 4.4 to which I retro-fitted a rear e-diff. However I'd be faced with the decision between the MY16's larger fuel tank for better off-road range but likely open rear diff or the MY17's smaller fuel tank for less range but standard rear e-diff for mostly better sand performance but also for my muddy 2km driveway whenever it rains. My L322 has seen fluffy sand headlands and inland sand-hills, deep mud bog-holes in my lane and lots of gravel and I'd have no hesitation in subjecting its replacement to the same. However my pockets won't be deep enough for a while yet if ever and the L322 is doing just fine.

The 405 seats are no where near as good as the 322! Besides that and the crappy trim discoloured silver bits plastic falling off left and centre.The 405 SdV8 is and probably will be the best motor I will ever drive.

Getting kind of interested in MY 15 year onwards. There doesn't appear to be too many moans about the SD V8. Started subtly sowing the seeds with my missus. If my SC passes it's MOT next feb then will probably not change for another 18 months (from now). Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984

No moans on here either from TDv6 owners AFIK 😂👍🏻

Generally happy with my car but still get irritating glitches with the software.

For example, the top screen takes anything up to a minute to come on and then sometimes both screens are blank on starting the car. Maybe this is a product of the latest SOTA update.

The worst thing is that I bought the car new in March 2018 and although all the dealers know there have been problems with software I have heard absolutely nothing, zilch, from the dealer since i drove it away from the forecourt. That, after having bought 4 cars from them. Never again!!

All very frustrating on a very expensive car! Might try another brand next time. All LR cars from 1984
2021.5 Vogue SE D300 Carpathian Grey
2018 Vogue SE British Racing Green GONE