I feel safe saying this in here, among like-minded people. But I have to be honest. I’ve had my first FFRR for less than a week now. And today, it dawned on me…a creeping, not-quite-identifiable, but deeply disturbing sense of overwhelming disappointment.

I’d lusted after a (proper) Range Rover for years. Oh sure, I scratched the itch – sort of – a few years ago, buying a brand new Sport. It was a terrific car, in many respects. And for many people, something they could only dream of. Eminently capable both on-road and off, we’d taken it on adventurous outback expeditions, my wife and I, towed many a boat to exotic, remote fishing locations, cruised the vineyards of the south west, parked it outside cafes to glint in the sun while we sipped lattes. My wife liked driving it, too. Different, but no less pleasing in its own way that her little roadster. But for me, it was always an interim proposition.

So when I saw the white 2012 Vogue Luxury advertised online a couple of months ago, I was taken aback. This was the very same car that had tempted me in the new car showroom less than 12 months before. And now it was for sale, its well-heeled owner having already succumbed to the new, all-singing, all-dancing model. I had to have it. I immediately put the Sport up for sale. Ten days later it was gone, and three weeks after that, I had my dream car.

The difference in ride, in comfort, in spaciousness, in sheer presence between the Sport and the Vogue was apparent as soon as I took the wheel. It was as night is to day. The softness of the seats, the compliance of the suspension, the torque of that big V8 diesel, the sumptuousness of the cabin, the eye-poppingly delightful electronic trickery. That Saturday morning, my wife experienced her first small dose of Vogue Widow, as I cheerfully washed, waxed, polished, vacuumed, wiped and buffed. For hours.

Then, today, that awful sense of…let-down. During the day, I park my Rangie under cover in the small warehouse behind my office. It’s close at hand if ever I feel like wandering out there just to gaze over that gleaming paint, admire those classic lines. It was during one of those small moments alone with the FFRR that it began to dawn on me.

Clarkson is right. It IS the greatest, most capable, most remarkable piece of automotive engineering in the world. And that’s the problem. I’ve climbed Everest. I’ve forded the fastest flowing river. I’ve cured cancer.

There’s nothing left to aspire to. This is the best it will ever be. There are no other automotive goals worth achieving. From here on, there will be no Great Leaps Forward. It’s the Law of Diminishing Returns, magnified. Like Usain Bolt measuring new records to ten decimal points.

One of my best mates bought a new Touareg a few months ago. He raved about it, with good reason. Well finished, solid, comfortable, more smart stuff in it than a smart phone. Nagged me about buying one, as soon as I sold the Sport. But I couldn’t quite see myself being…chuffed, driving a VW soft-roader.

Yesterday, he drove to my warehouse to see my new car. Sat in it. Felt the leather stitching. Ran his hand over that glassy-smooth paint. Absorbed the ambience of that admittedly dated, but still magnificent cabin.

Then he nodded in understanding. Looked at his Touareg. “The Toe Rag’s a very good car, all things considered,” he said.
“It is,” I said. “There’s only one very small thing wrong with it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s not a Range Rover.”

We understand each other. 2012 L322 TDV8 Luxury
2013 VW Polo GTI
Gone: 2010 RRS 3.0 TDV6, 2007 Audi TT 3.2V6 Roadster

Yep, you fell into the trap and there is no escaping it anymore. You have done an Edmund Hilary (sorry for using a Kiwi for this metaphor), climbed to the top of Everest to realize that there is nothing left to "lust for". You have reached the ultimate in car ownership so whatever you get next is going to be less and you know it.

So you now do what we all are destined to do for as long as our lives stretch, hope that some day JLR builds an even better one  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Not quite the same but I have had 2 previous attempts at owning a FFRR. Attempt number one was years ago when I drove a painfully dreary P38 2.5DHSE...how LR managed to de-tune that BMW engine to the level of a 1.3 ford fiesta is beyond me...at the time a 4.6 was just out of my affordable limit. Attempt number 2 sees me heading into a LR main dealer to see an L322, 2003 in blue with cream trim...I drove it and the salesman said "out of interest what about a Discovery 3"....which I then bought, the tdv6 felt so much nicer than the td6 in the L322....

After a month in my TDV8 I couldn't be happier  Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

The term "preaching to the converted" comes to mind and Greg did just that in very prosaic form MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I'm with you on this Greg...

But everytime I get that feeling, I just spend some time in a Land Cruiser and when I'm back with my FFRR, that bliss just starts all over agian.. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Yep, couldn't agree more, mines a similar story to the OPs... wanted one for years, and finally got one in April this year (just in time for second bout of snow). Nothing else comes close... I find myself looking for excuses just to go for a drive! Love it to bits  Better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.

2010 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 Santorini Black, Jet/Ivory interior

Extremely well put, Greg, King of the Road  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

After many years of Ford Granada Estates, Sierra XR4x4's, Alfa Romeos, we bit the bullet and bought our first Range Rover, a 1985 3.5 V8 Classic, Manual 4 speed, carburettor. We used to show Rottweillers and travelled all over the country towing a caravan, which the Rangey didn't feel.
After the first we moved onto a 3.9 V8 Classic, Auto box which was a step up from the manual box, we had that for a couple of years without too many problems, then got a newer 3.9 Classic V8 which we had resprayed, wood interior trim and Brooklands spoiler kit added, then we part ex-ed it for a 4.6V8 P38. We had that Rangey for 11 years, and apart from a new short block (cracked block) and having the air suspension replaced with coils, had not an ounce of trouble with it.. Until....
In March 2010 we part exed the P38 for a 2003 L322, Petrol V8 (hate diesels!), we paid £11500 for the car, which was reasonable, but since then have spent roughly £18,000 in servicing and repairs, including, gearbox (twice) air bags, fuel pump, alternator, compressor, numerous batteries, radiator, trans oil cooler, the list goes on!

My wife wants to swap it for a 5.0litre supercharge, but as I keep saying to her, we've got almost a brand new car on the drive!!

Still love them though! And at least it makes some people happy!

as i say to my friends, show me another car with the abilty to pull up at a theatre/hotel, and a celebrity/royal or ordinary people get out of, show me a car that is at home on the motorway as its at home in a field. show me a car, pulling another of its kind on a trailer, with a pair of canoes on the roof(s) and a washing machine in the boot and four fat passengers. -show me a car thats got sleeping passengers at 90mph. and disposes of the hot hatch crew. -show me a more subtle beautiful crafted timeless body shape its a whole pack of top trumps cards, in a sensible box.

 03 4.4 V8 petrol / lpg. 1st of many hopefully. I love my Rangie

I had 3 top of the range Shoguns before my 1st ff and they were very good but the ff is just that little bit better, I can't quite put my finger on quite eat makes it better but it just is! My 2012 4.4 really is better though!

nice storey, waiting for the next one ... ... - .- -.




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Carly Simon summed up the Range Rover perfectly.

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest......