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!! )

The surveys such as JD Power don’t really prove anything much because the results are much too generalised, in that they combine results across all the different manufacturers’ model ranges. I bet if you compared Range Rovers only against other luxury/upmarket vehicles with complex electronics, and also factored in the volume sold, there wouldn’t be that much difference, especially comparing older vehicles.

I admit, LR do make a vehicle which is 90% great, then let it down badly with lack of attention to little details like using badly-painted carbon steel brackets, steel bolts into aluminium, pressed steel undershields, carbon steel pushnuts on aluminium heatshields, etc.  V6 Vogue - “Less is More” - less to go wrong!

There is another reason that is easy to explain; in every forum, regardless of the vehicle brand, only the problems are written about, there are actually hardly any or no positive comments about the respective vehicles. This results in a picture of unreliability.
I myself am no different, I drive to Andalusia 3 - 4 times a year, sometimes with and sometimes without a trailer, and have never had the slightest problem on my trips, but have never posted a positive report about it. We should also report on the good and pleasant things, then the general opinion of the vehicle will also change.

Am on my fourth full fat Range Rover, my daily driver is a 2011 TDV8, I bought it 5 years ago in August 2020, and even though it was full main dealer history, I forced myself to put £200 a month into a Halifax bank account ( which is used as a piggy bank for the car )

To date this is what I have spent (includes MOT, tyres, running repairs etc ) - and it comes to over £10 grand in 5 years, just to maintain the car

I only do about 10,000 miles annually - so quick math, its costing me 20p a mile to maintain the car, PLUS whatever it costs me annually in diesel and then on top - the VED ( Car Tax ) - which is currently £735, and £600 in car insurance, in the cold light of day it is just simply bonkers !

It is a stupid car to own, makes no sense, only to us crazy people on the FORUM

Repairs and Maintenance
2020 Total £875 mileage 150,000 August 2020
2021 Total £1313
2022 Total £2448
2023 Total £1936
2024 Total £2438
2025 so far £1000 - mileage is now nudging 200,000 miles

None of this has been for any bodywork, nor rust prevention, nor wheel arch repairs, subframe or sills, but I know these will all need looking at in the next few years just to pass the MOT, so I will not bother, and have resigned myself to buying a nice 2017 L405 SDV8 when the time comes ( it will be my fifth and last RR I will own) , the L405 will have much lower VED ( annual car tax ) , and we will probably have moved house by then to the country with a postcode that reduces my car insurance significantly

I've had my FF for nearly 2 years, and in that time it's been my daily drive. Only let me down once [gear selector] 15K miles a year, and approximately 4K in maintenance bills, I'd like to run cheaper cars, but I just don't like any of them.
I'm nervously awaiting the return of my other car, expecting a £3-4K bill (DB7 V12 VV).
Both British cars, well origin anyway.

You can't take it with you i suppose!

My last 2 have been lemons. A 2014 5.0ltr S/C and a 2017 Sport.

The Sport has been a crock of S##t. It’s currently having its 2nd new engine fitted. 1st at 58k miles which lasted 4k miles. In 4 years of ownership it’s been attended by the RAC/AA on 9 separate occasions including 3 tow truck recoveries

I always ask the patrol man if they get called out to Land Rovers more than anything else. 4 said without doubt Yes, 3 said probably, 1 said it’s hard to tell because other makes have lots more cars on the road but probably yes and 1 wasn’t sure

Not scientific I appreciate, but these guys are on the front line.

One thing they all agreed though, they are fantastic vehicles when they work. They just happen to go wrong a lot

There seems to be at least some consensus of opinion here, like I said 90% great, but badly let down by 10% of sh*t components, probably as a result of bean-counter influence, plus a bit of previous-owner ignorance, not to mention emissions/economy requirements, and outsourcing to asian countries.

It would be so easy to fix, and possibly only add another £30K onto the price of what is already a lot of car for the money.

I doubt the L460 will break any reliability records for JLR. V6 Vogue - “Less is More” - less to go wrong!

i spent my time as an apprentice at a rover agency many years ago.
i was asked to look at a range rover, over in the posh area of town. i said no, i didnt know anything about them, they were not even maid when i was working at the rover agency.
three month later, it arrived on my lawn, look at this will you.
the engine was rattling that bad that they hadn't driven it for some months.
i went for a drive in it, the superstition was no the rocks and had a massive amount of other problems.
i thought it was fantastic, they never took it away because i bought it,
the service book was full of criticism, lack of service comments.
BMW quoted almost $5000 for the parts to replace the timing chains and about the same for labor.
then i told them it was a range rover and they wouldn't do it any way, not that they were going to get the chance.
well i fixed it my self, its not perfect, but i would be prepared to travel around Australia in it. its never let me down, apart from a air bag went
its a great car to drive and i love it.
lack of service is what put it in the state it was in, the previous owner had it for i think 12 years, i have had it for over 8
when i first fixed it i changed the engine oil every time i filled up with fuel for about the first 10 fills RR 2005 4.4 petrol
Any spelling mistakes are the fault of spellchecker
Previous MG J2, CITROEN light 15 x 2 gone unfortunately
Present MERC 180e, RANGE ROVER L322, JAGUAR XJS, MERC 280SE, MG F, JAGUAR S-Type 6v 2003, jaguar s-type 8v 2004, Ford Cougar