well.

On Monday, my Dad had our 2005 LR3 HSE delivered. After a long search for a Blk/Blk Loaded HSE, it came from Land Rover of South Denver, and was trucked out to us in Southern California. The trucking company dropped it off at around 2:30pm Monday afternoon. The car has all the Standard HSE goodies, as well as Adaptive Lighting, Cold Climate Package, Heavy Duty Package, Rear Climate Control and the Rear Seat Package. MSRP was $54,720. A couple grand more than a similarly equipped ML350, and cheaper than a similarly equipped ML500. The X5 is no comparison to this, in my mind its just an oversized Wagon. Not to mention its very pricey.

I got to play with all the gadgets, figure out the Nav and see some of the features the car has. The Nav is easy to use, and very straight foward. Although i will say i liked the NAV better in the new ML series Mercedes. It had more features, such as you can browse through all the restaurants in the area, much like a phone book. The Rover does not, you have to physically search for the exact restaurant. Not a big deal though.

The Air Suspension is pretty sweet. It works great, just make sure you dont use it too much in a short time, as it will overheat the motor (learned that on a test drive at the dealership). I've yet to get to try the Terrain Response Control as the car only has 65 miles on it so far (more on that later).

Overall the car is great. Drives like a car, very comfy and handles the bumps great, and it doesnt have SUV like body roll. I believe the Air Suspension is to thank for that. Interior is great, VERY roomy. and with all the seats down, it has TONS of room. i was able to fit a few bikes in the back without having to take any wheels off or anything. Not even our Ford Expedition could do that, and this LR3 is a smaller car. Very impressive.

If you are looking for a smaller full-size premium SUV, i highly suggest the LR3. Like i said, it was slightly cheaper than the comparable ML Series. And personally, i like the looks more.

Now for the Negative.

Like i said, the car only has 65 miles on it at the current time. Well, thats because after only having the car for only 18 hours, it currently sits in service at the local Land Rover dealership, and instead of our brand new car, we have a POS Chevy Aveo rental.

At 8:00am the next morning, my dad went to get in the car and the rear view mirror was hanging off the window. The wires for the garage door opener were keeping it attached. Later that day i drove it in to the dealership, and they came to the conlusion that they cant just glue the mirror back on the car, but they have to replace the WHOLE window. Hopefully we get the car back today. I hope that isnt a sign for things to come of this car. I still cant even get over that a car with 65 miles on it is already breaking, had to have been a bad batch of glue at the factory.

still, overall the car is great. we are all really pleased with the car.

thanks for reading,
Brent

Worst of both worlds: Ford + British = TRASH

1. Later that day i drove it in to the dealership, and they came to the conlusion that they cant just glue the mirror back on the car, but they have to replace the WHOLE window.

2.Hopefully we get the car back today. I hope that isnt a sign for things to come of this car.

Brent

1. That's BS.
2. Sadly, it is.

1. That's BS.
2. Sadly, it is.



i'm affraid you are correct. :(

I think that those are decently built cars. My cousin had his Range Rover in the shop and they gave him an LR3 for the loaner car, on the raod it was very comforatable and quite, we took it off road and beat the shat out of it. We tested all of the cool electronic setting for the 4 wheel drive (mud,sand,snow,uphill,downhill,...)

I would have to say that it held up really well to all of the beating.

I think that those are decently built cars. My cousin had his Range Rover in the shop and they gave him an LR3 for the loaner car, on the raod it was very comforatable and quite, we took it off road and beat the shat out of it. We tested all of the cool electronic setting for the 4 wheel drive (mud,sand,snow,uphill,downhill,...)

I would have to say that it held up really well to all of the beating.


See how the thing is in 30k miles. Probably have nuts and bolts falling out of it while driving down the street. :D

we took it off road and beat the shat out of it.


What's your definition of "off road" in SoCal? A parking lot? :rolleyes

i'm affraid you are correct. :(

That's unfortunate. My buddy has a Discovery II that's he's driven for ~40k miles without a hitch. I keep telling him to keep the lube ready, but so far - no problems.

What's your definition of "off road" in SoCal? A parking lot? :rolleyes

It's off of Lincoln st. In Corona, It's a service road in the National Forest but there are some side trails that are really gnarly and steep, four wheel drive only in some parts. It's no Lions Back in Utah but it's pretty demanding.

You are the man if you took a loaner car off-road. Or retarded. Either way, rock on!

You are the man if you took a loaner car off-road. Or retarded. Either way, rock on!
The rental jeep I had in hawaii saw parts of the world most animals have never seen

It's off of Lincoln st. In Corona, It's a service road in the National Forest but there are some side trails that are really gnarly and steep, four wheel drive only in some parts. It's no Lions Back in Utah but it's pretty demanding.

Ok, I know there are some good spots in the Corona area.

Most SoCal people think driving on a gravel road is "off-roading".

I don't think the mirror falling off is a sign of things to come. Just unlucky. They'll glue it back on and it will last ten more years.

Having owned 3 Rovers I can say that most problems appear pretty quick and taken care of right away. BS on the shitty loaner though. I always got a Rover for a loaner. The normal Rover things will appear overtime but they are normal and part of the charm. Oil leaks, steering leaks, electrical failures, oil leaks, air suspension failures, oil leaks, and oh yeah. Oil leaks. I am kind of kidding. I would pick up another in a heartbeat. My last Rover was a '87 Rangie that had 245K on it and ran well with cold a/c and the fucker went anywhere. I even pulled a H2 of a trail one day. Oh, it's nickname was Drippy!

touareg>lr3

touareg>lr3
Defender>Disco1>DiscoII=My Jeep>LR3>Toureg :shifty

I can't believe they gave you a Chevy for a loaner. That's shameful.

I'm sorry to hear about your "isolated" incident with the LR3. I say isolated because I frequent the LR3 forum at muddyoval, LR Chronicle and LR World, and I have yet to hear about your problem with the rear view mirror. Ours has been trouble free, and have yet to experience even some of the more common faults, such as stalling or EAS fault. Even then, these faults with the LR3 are very uncommon. This car is an amazing vehicle even in stock form, you can go on some challenging offroad trails one minute and be rolling down the freeway at 80mph so effortlessly and seamlessly...here are some pictures of our LR3 with custom painted moldings, bumpers, and wheel arches...

Check out the articulation of the LR3's suspension...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f39fa3bba00000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ

Another one...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f39fbba8b00000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ

Check out the articulation of the LR3's suspension...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f39fa3bba00000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ

Another one...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f39fbba8b00000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ

that looks great with the painted flares. was that something you did aftermarket, or was that a dealer "installed" option?


and i cant wait to get this thing fully broken in. i'm dying to take this sucker offroading!!!!! there are some great areas in our local mountains for that.

We did that custom through a bodyshop that specializes in Land Rover...our car was the first car they worked on since we bought the car the week of its official release.

Here is the articulation from the back, I believe the suspension had little bit of travel left on this shot, and that ridge was far from the bigger ones we encountered that day offroading...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f418fbac300000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ

This is where we backed up into about a 45-50 degree slope with loose sandy soil that would have left other cars spinning their tires trying to get up...the heavy duty package with the optional rear lockers did the trick...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d803b3127cce920f418dbac100000016108AYtWLNo5cNZ
:buttrock

What's your definition of "off road" in SoCal? A parking lot? :rolleyes

Check out my posts, despite what you think, SoCal has some great offroading spots within an hours drive from the city...

Whoa, that looks mighty scary big fella!

Whoa, that looks mighty scary big fella!

not really, the LR3 makes it look easy... :worship:

That's unfortunate. My buddy has a Discovery II that's he's driven for ~40k miles without a hitch. I keep telling him to keep the lube ready, but so far - no problems.

ignorance is bliss ain't it?

ignorance is bliss ain't it?
Am I ignorant or is he?

Am I ignorant or is he?

it was a joke about your friend. yeah, for his next birthday, get him a bottle of astroglide courtesy of LR.

i would have gotten a Range Rover but OMFG.... it's worse then E38's!

We have had ours for seven months, and so far it s been a super 4x4. One trip to the dealer for a new sunroof switch. I'll live with the new model bugs, it is a great 4x4! It gets me back to some super Alaskan fishing :)

it was a joke about your friend. yeah, for his next birthday, get him a bottle of astroglide courtesy of LR.

i would have gotten a Range Rover but OMFG.... it's worse then E38's!

Hard to detect where that was going over teh intarweb. Some of my parent's friends have had LR is the past and all of them seemed to have some sort of recurring problem as the car aged. In addition to the KY, I'll have to get him a stick to bite down on when he gets that first major bill.

Hard to detect where that was going over teh intarweb. Some of my parent's friends have had LR is the past and all of them seemed to have some sort of recurring problem as the car aged. In addition to the KY, I'll have to get him a stick to bite down on when he gets that first major bill.

I admit LR had various problems with it's models in the past, but the LR3 is the model that they say will change that. The LR3 was developed over 4+ million miles of various terrain during it's testing phase...and NO car is without fault in it's first year anyways

a chevy aveo? oh no

these cars used to be the sturdiest things

I am Driving a Range Rover for the winter, we've had several and have always been happy with the ownership. They can have issues, but that sort of comes with the territory.

I can't believe they gave you an Aveo, I would be mad if I got a Freelander though. The Dealer in Centerville, Utah has alway given us another Range Rover or Disco, LR3 more now. They are one of the best service departments I have ever delt with.

Tell your dad to be ready to take it in for check engine lights with various misfire and or lean or rich running condition fault codes in the future. ;)

Having owned 3 Rovers I can say that most problems appear pretty quick and taken care of right away. BS on the shitty loaner though. I always got a Rover for a loaner. The normal Rover things will appear overtime but they are normal and part of the charm. Oil leaks, steering leaks, electrical failures, oil leaks, air suspension failures, oil leaks, and oh yeah. Oil leaks. I am kind of kidding. I would pick up another in a heartbeat. My last Rover was a '87 Rangie that had 245K on it and ran well with cold a/c and the fucker went anywhere. I even pulled a H2 of a trail one day. Oh, it's nickname was Drippy!
+1 Especially for warranty repairs requiring the vehicle stay over 4 hours - LandRover will even pay this! Sorry you had to suffer. I was a Service Advisor at Hummer for a while and one of the new SAs was one at LandRover/Jaguar. They ALWAYS have loaners available so you don't have to get jacked in a crappy car.

At Hummer if we didn't have a loaner we let them drive a brand new one, or we'd rent one from Enterprise if they had one in stock (in Bellevue WA the Enterprise actually has 2 H2's and an H3).

I'd complain about that BS...maybe they'll give you a full detail that you can use in a few months after the Winter shits on your car. :D

one of the new SAs was one at LandRover/Jaguar. .




lolz... this is where I work! what was his name?

1. That's BS.
2. Sadly, it is.

+1

My dad has a british car collection, all of which are pieces of junk mechanically. Just thinking of all the extra hours sacraficed to fix things on these cars that you would normally never have to worry about on most cars makes me cringe. They look nice though...Brithish cars i mean.

7 months for mine purchased brand new. Problems encountered:

1. faulty air suspension compressor at the rear after a month from delivery
2. wiper blade (glued on to the wiper frame) - glue gave up and separated from the frame 6 months after delivery
3. moisture in passenger door signal lamp cover - since brand new

All replaced and taken care of under warranty by dealer which also happens to be our BMW dealership.

So far, everything else is working perfectly.

Oh, there is an occasional fog in the inner lens of the driving lights (which is an optional add-on) on rainy days but disappears after a day out in the sun.

UPDATE:

we keep having issues.

the big ones, there is something wrong with the engine/tranny. crusing at 70mph on the freeway, give it a little gas to accelerate (not enough to trigger a downshift) and the car shudders, almost seems like the engine is missifiring, or the tranny is messed up. at this point, the car has slowed down, so you have to give it more gas to trigger a downshift and the you can accelerate. multiple dealers "cannot replicate the issue." i even took my friend (who is a sales manager at a dealership) out and replicated the issue so he could show the service guys how to do it and still no fix.

15k miles on the car, and the tires are shot. i believe the air suspension caused a change in toe-angle and killed the tires. my friend's super swampers on his chevy are quieter on the highway.

the front suspension clicks. something is rattling, not sure what or where it is coming from. my spherical bearing camber plates on the m3 are quiter (and they arent exactly quiet)

and to top it off, we had to spend $500 to buy the tow bar and towing lights for the car that came equipped with the towing package. go figure that one out......

ther have been some other things too, such as the windshield cracked ($900 to replace, going to wait until the window actually shatters to fix that), one of the speakers blew (not sure how my mom pulled that off). my dad wants to get the car lemon law'd before the engine cuts out completely and we get screwed.

I used to sell Jags and Land Rovers right up to when the LR3 first came out. Sadly, the build quality as you have now discovered, is not very good. I still hear from old coworkers that most people that bought them have had to bring them in for repeated service for mostly little things. The LR3, however, was not as badly built as the Jaguar X-Type wagons. Those things grenaded diffs like it was part of the driving experience. I have never seen so many angry customers in my life. We presold 11 over two months, and 7were back for a new diff within 2 months. I haven't heard of any such fundamental design flaws with the LR3 but as your experience indicates, lots of little stuff just falling apart. I'm sorry to hear about your experience and can only hope you find comfort in your warrenty.