Possibly a salty debate incoming…

I’ve owned a 2017 5.0 SVR FF for about five months now. I bought it with a full service history, and it was immaculate inside and out—a real credit to its two previous owners.

In that short time, I’ve racked up around 20,000 miles, using it as my daily workhorse, and it hasn’t missed a beat—well, apart from one occasion when it threw its water pump pulley and left me stranded. That was a pain, but otherwise, it’s been flawless.

Servicing it isn’t cheap. I change the oil every 5,000 miles, which isn’t exactly a budget job. I’ve also replaced the gearbox filter and oil, plugs, fitted new Brembo discs and pads all round, swapped out the coolant pipes—you name it.

So, why do Range Rovers get such a bad reputation for unreliability?

From what I can see, there’s one main reason:
People buy the nicest second-hand Range Rover they can just about afford, and haggle for the absolute lowest possible price. Then, with that “cheap” mindset, they cut corners on maintenance. Things inevitably break, repairs are done on a shoestring, and the cycle repeats.

My experience has been the opposite. Mine’s been fantastic—two trips to Austria—and it doesn’t skip a beat. I mean literally not a hiccup - 15 hours on the autobahn at 90-100mph, and that V8 just purrs hour after hour. I’ll admit, though, maintaining it properly is definitely an expensive hobby.

Curious to hear other opinions—are there genuinely “bad years” for RRs, or is it all down to how they’re cared for after that crucial first 3 years under warranty?

I did own a P38 many years ago which was horrifically unreliable, despite my absolute best efforts to maintain it, but i have a feeling it was poorly maintained by its previous 30 owners so despite how much one owner tries to maintain it; if its had a string of crap owners who dont care, it'll never recover.

Agree completely, it was the same with TVRs, they drift down the market as they age, to be purchased by folks who can’t really afford to run them, or pay attention to servicing pre-emptively, and probably have never even looked underneath a car.
However, your average FFRR forum member does not probably fall into this category, so I don’t exactly predict a heated debate here, only nods of agreement. We have owned our 2017MY for 3+ years, and it’s never missed a beat, not a single thing. However, it’s cost a fortune in servicing and pre-emptively replaced parts far over & above the LR servicing regime. V6 Vogue - “Less is More” - less to go wrong!

Sort of agree...but I also accept the evidence. In reviews/surveys JLR are less reliable than others. The cheapskates dont maintain these other marques either - but buy a Toyota and you'll most often get away with it.

My own experience has included the extremes. Having had over 40 cars in a long driving career my 2002 L322 was the least reliable car I ever owned incl bangers as a student - and in my ownership was looked after as it should have been. My 2007my 4.2 SC was the most reliable car I've ever owned. 5 years and 60k miles and it never missed a beat even once.

My belief is that we are most vulnerable to the complexity in the electronics. Most of the issues - even those that manifest as a mechnical issue - have their origins in the elcetronics not working as intended. Mike - MPx

2017 5.0 V8 Supercharged SVAutobigraphy Dynamic SVO Palette Grey (2021-...)
2012 5.0 V8 Supercharged Autoboigraphy Orkney Grey (2017-2021)
2007 4.2 V8 Supercharged Vogue SE Tonga Green (2012-2017)
2002 4.4 V8 Vogue Bonnatti Grey (2008-2012)

It certainly does help that your car/s have been looked after properly of recent Mike. That and you have the budget available to keep them tip top does help sir...

JLR don't help themselves with things like the cracking front knuckle farce which should have been handled much better. The main dealers don't help, on more than 1 occasion I've had a warranty claim "rejected" by JLR which I subsequently found out hadn't even been submitted to JLR by the dealer.
As has been said above I reckon it's the owners who are most to blame.
A quick scan through this forum will find post after post of people asking where to get the cheapest oil/filters/parts etc.
We'll never know how many engines/gearboxes/diff etc. have been wrecked by a cheap "equivalent" fluid that a previous owner used to save £50 a year on the running costs.
I seem to recall a member on here arguing the merits of running a rangerover on used Chip shop oil!

ive had 4 (2002/2004/2011/2016) in the last 16 years and none have been any trouble (save for inlet manifold cracking on 2011 TDV8). Other than that have always spent on upkeep and changed bits when told.

on my 2011 TDV8, worked out I spent £8,000 in 7 years on servicing, replacement parts, tyres etc. not exceptional (and better than my neighbour's Cayenne which had 3 gearboxes in 3 years!! )