Member Since: 11 Jan 2010
Location: London
Posts: 40
Reliability concerns
I'm looking to buy a car and on paper the LR4 is perfect for my needs. It gets excellent write ups in all magazines and road tests, I've gone to the LR dealer and had a look at one and the family all love it. However after reading these forums and other sites, I have concerns over reliability. Reliability is very important and one of the main reasons for getting a newer car.
I can understand that with a new model there are always likely to be teething problems. But are those issues all resolved now? It doesn't make sense to get a second hand D4 when I can get a new one for pretty much the same price from someone like Motorlogix. So if I buy a new D4 are the problems all sorted out now?
If I'm paying £40k+ for a new car I don't expect to be on first name terms with the dealer.
18th Feb 2010 9:56 am
ELD70
Member Since: 28 Jan 2008
Location: Romford.
Posts: 901
Its been said a lot of times.....people do not post on forums when their car/boat/fridge etc.. is working ok.
Just look at the problems on all the car forums, you would never buy a car. No car ticks all the boxes as a D3/D4, any new car of high value is a complex beast and may have the odd issue.
The key is to have a good dealer, if you get about by one then change dealer, we know most of the good ones Now driving BMW 330d Touring....misses D3...but not when at traffic lights
18th Feb 2010 12:10 pm
bigdave Site Sponsor
Member Since: 04 Jul 2008
Location: Cornwall
Posts: 9868
Hi Tinkerman and welcome to the site.
I agree that these forums do attract the problems rather than 'my LR has worked perfectly in the last 12 months'.
There are people on here with D3's with mega miles that havent missed a heartbeat - by the same token I have an early build 2005 D3 thats had its fair share of problems but i still love it and its never left me stranded!!!
Dont forget the LR 3 year warranty is very good.
I got 12 months from the stealer and had nearly 5k's worth of work done on it.
Great cars - you wont regret it.
Lets face it youd have thought Toyota were 100% wouldnt you! All things shipping, storage, transport. UK and worldwide.
Member Since: 10 Nov 2008
Location: Bomber County
Posts: 4547
bigdave wrote:
Lets face it youd have thought Toyota were 100% wouldnt you!
At least your Landrover won't try and kill you!2014 D4 XS
2005 D3 SE - Gone
18th Feb 2010 12:21 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
The D4 is only a facelifted D3, it's marketing spin to call it a D4!! You'll potentially have the issues from the D3 along with those of the new turbo arrangement. At least the original D3 turbos waited til the car was out of LR's warranty before failing, "new" D3 is doing it from the start!
Cynical, moi???
18th Feb 2010 12:32 pm
addicted to nurburgring
Member Since: 30 Sep 2009
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 139
DSL wrote:
The D4 is only a facelifted D3, it's marketing spin to call it a D4!! You'll potentially have the issues from the D3 along with those of the new turbo arrangement. At least the original D3 turbos waited til the car was out of LR's warranty before failing, "new" D3 is doing it from the start!
Cynical, moi???
My wife has had her Disco 3 for 3.5 years, it's been 100% reliable, no break downs, just couple of things replaced under warranty. We have close friends who also own 1 - 4 year old Land Rover products (3 x Disco 3, 3 x RRS and 2 x FL2) and non have experienced any major issues. All would buy a land Rover product again. We are in the process of ordering a D4. I was intending to change ours at 3 years old however, like all new cars, the first couple of batches tend to have teething issues, hence the reason for ordering a 2010.5 model year car.Current:
2014 RRS 3.0 HSE
Porsche 997 GT3
BMW 118d SE
Past:
D4 HSE 3.0 TDV6 Auto
D3 HSE 2.7 TDV6 Auto
18th Feb 2010 4:35 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
I've driven LRs since 1981 and owned a dozen or so since 1988 but none (nor any of the other dozen or so cars I've owned) have been as unreliable as my D3, SWMBO's D3 is also getting there. My parent's D3 has been faultless but that's not my experience and it's my experiences that will make me have a long hard look at what else is out there. If I buy another Disco it will be because the ability of the car (living in the Highlands with proper winters) outweight the poor reliability and build quality. I'll buy one inspite of its quality but not because of it. Also there shouldn't be a rubbish build quality as it is just a facelifted D3, it's not a RRS2 which is built on the same line with loads of the same parts.
18th Feb 2010 4:53 pm
TinkerMan
Member Since: 11 Jan 2010
Location: London
Posts: 40
Thanks for the replies. I test drove a D3 and D4 today and was mightily impressed with both, particularly the D4. That extra turbo really makes a difference and the handling was much improved in terms of body roll. The sales guy admitted that some of the early D4s had come back with electrical related problems, but "there weren't as many problems as they had been expecting". I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing!
19th Feb 2010 7:39 pm
dick dastardly
Member Since: 29 May 2007
Location: wiggleigh bottom
Posts: 1112
major weaknesses of the d3 should have been addressed in the d4. For example, placing of EGR valves in a cooler position should improve longevity. The EPB has been redimensioned and hopefully improved. Many parts have been waterproofed (aircon compressor)
only downside is that Turbos were a weakness on the d3, the d4 has 2 !
My experience is that the engine / drive train is very reliable. Some bolt on component might fail causing a loss of power and/or a light to flash, but you'll still get to where you need to.
OK when you have a warranty, apart from the inconvenience.
Wish LR would tighten quality control on suppliers.There's one wheel on my wagon, but i'm still rollin' along, it's the cherokee, they're after me, but I'm singing a happy song
19th Feb 2010 10:07 pm
Zermatt Vulgaris
Member Since: 12 Jan 2009
Location: aberdeenshire
Posts: 511
Agree with DSL's comments the Vehicles ability is awesome the reliability less so; SWMBO has a subaru that just does not go wrong. We will have a real hard look round when it comes to change but there are very few vehicles that do what the D3/4 do.
when it comes to replace SWMBO's subaru it will just be a case of deciding whether we get another imprezza or a forester.
Keep on meaning to ask BCP how he is getting on with his XC90....... ( Tin Hat time)Visiting from rrsport.co.uk
2011MY Zermatt Silver Range Rover Sport HSE 3.0 TDV6
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about by one then change dealer, we know most of the good ones 
