Mustard
Having owed and run a V10 Touareg for the last TEN years i'd have to say they are a more engaging car to drive, especially when driven hard.. It is a car that doesn't make financial sense.. and one that need a good warranty in place. I've deliberated about changing to a FFRR for ages. Finally made the change last month..
Find my average speed over the last 1,000 miles has come down from 34 Touareg to 27 with the FF. Fuel consumption risen from 20 to 23 not great, but still a 10%+ increase.
I'm still not sure if the FF is living up to expectation I'll update in another 1,000 miles.
Reliability appear to be on par with the FF, build quality is miles better on the Touareg everything just feels well put together.
Apart from servicing, brakes and tyres my warranty claims value amounted to some 15,000. Would recommend a 4.2ltr rather than the 3. does everything a 4x4 should and in sport mode shows a clean pair of heels to any FF

I know I might get criticised for saying this, but have you considered the RRS? I have had two a 2007 TDV6 & 2012 SDV6 RRS both of which were great cars.

The 2012 RRS with the SDV6 engine & 8 speed gearbox was fanatastic, and the one to go for. Both of my RRS's were both reliable although I had a few small niggles with the 2007 one but my 2012 RRS was totally fault free and it had covered 40k miles before I had traded it in for the L405. 2014 SDV8 Autobiography

Gone: 2012 RRS SDV6 HSE, 2007 RRS TDV6 HSE

Just got the wife a BMW X3 , granted its a 2.0 litre xdrive so not a big guzzler of fuel and still 4 wheel drive , you get about 48mpg you still have the ride height although not as high as a FF , plenty of room inside for the wife , daughter , 2 granddaughters and their gubbins , nice car to drive £145 a year road tax .... So it will do her for the time being ....

In the same situation myself. Have scoured the country for another BMW 4.4 engined , under 70,000, FFR for an LPG conversion to replace my current one. Looked at at least 5 which fitted the criteria ranging from 2004 to 2006 lower tax bracket. Every one had serious corrosion problems on the rear wheel inner arch area nearest the door shuts. Two had the dreaded top boot rust problem as well.

Seen one Jag engined 4.4 on a 2006 plate and that was rusty as well. There is the derv option but a mate has one ( TDV6) and despite being treated with gentle ease, he rarely turns more than 28 mpg. Plus there is the growing revolt over dirty diesel and I can see some shock emergency VED turn around coming in the next budget, not to mention Cities are itching to start charging extra to enter newly formed diesel zones.

Turned my attention to the Disco 3 but same problem, virtually no petrol models for conversion and equally thirsty diesels.

mzplcg wrote:

Well I'm all ears here. Same dilemna. Where exactly does one go after one of these? I really don't think I'm ready for a L405, not least because I can't see the 30 clap difference in price, and let's be honest, they still have those standard Land Rover "issues"

Can't bring myself to buy an Audi, just don't get the whole Audi "thing". BMW are well made machines but the one which I do like (the 5 Series GT) isn't available with X-Drive. Merc don't really do it for me except the S Class which again, has no 4WD and I really do need it in the winter where I live. Absolutely nothing French and the rest are just Euro-boxes.

The only 2 I could seriously consider are the XC90 or the Tourag TBH.

The Audi 'thing'....I do get that, I even agree...it's hard to explain. My A8 is, to date, the only car never to let me down, ever. It did everything I asked. It's a mediocre looking german bus BUT they are so well built (I dont think A4/A6 are anywhere near as well built). The Quattro system is perfectly adequate for normal and winter roads. The air suspension is useful for lifting on fields or for extra clearance...it has/had a lot of plus points.....

The XC90..... I had my D5 SE Lux for 9 months and it was nothing but hassle.... Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

X5s are very heavy on brakes and suspension bushes. Both people I know who have owned them ended up replacing these components. Even uprated polybushes didn't seem to last.

Having said that, the X5 does drive very well (even the earlier E53 version) and had a more 'car like' handling feel on the road.

And apart from having to regularly replace worn suspension & bushes, like most BMWs, both have been extremely reliable.

One of the lasses in the office has a brand new X5 with some sport pack and bits on after chopping in her shoddy(like most of them!) RRS, and she said its not broke down yet but then its not the rangey either...

In my eyes its better to spend the money on a slightly better nick SC and the money saved goes towards fuel. Repair bills i bet are slightly lower than the diesel overall as well as less bits to go wrong. A remap could help with LPG a little, especially if you stick to high octane fuels as well.

just my two penneth worth but the rangey isn't pretending to be something else, the rest are pretending to be a rangey  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

lawsey wrote:

Mustard
Having owed and run a V10 Touareg for the last TEN years i'd have to say they are a more engaging car to drive, especially when driven hard.. It is a car that doesn't make financial sense.. and one that need a good warranty in place. I've deliberated about changing to a FFRR for ages. Finally made the change last month..
Find my average speed over the last 1,000 miles has come down from 34 Touareg to 27 with the FF. Fuel consumption risen from 20 to 23 not great, but still a 10%+ increase.
I'm still not sure if the FF is living up to expectation I'll update in another 1,000 miles.
Reliability appear to be on par with the FF, build quality is miles better on the Touareg everything just feels well put together.
Apart from servicing, brakes and tyres my warranty claims value amounted to some 15,000. Would recommend a 4.2ltr rather than the 3. does everything a 4x4 should and in sport mode shows a clean pair of heels to any FF

So the Toerag was great......apart from £15k in warranty work  Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

I think, the only car to have after an l322,


is another l322!

Agree the Range has class more than any other and the presence on the road that nothing comes close than any of the yuppie pretenders out there! _____________________________________________________
Zambezi silver Vogue Se unique

Mustard wrote:

I like the command driving position and the ground clearance so don't really want to return to a car. Im looking for a low maintenance motor to drive for a while whilst I deal with moving home.

Ive ended up at the same place in my mind again, I cant replace the dam thing

Now its dark and the weather is the motor is coming into its own again, makes me remember why I got one to start with. All in all I think I would go for a Toe Rag however I totally get the 'everything else is trying to be a rangy' comment

Maybe I should get the oil burner remapped to make me feel like something has changed (instead of been fixed) and keep smokin' round in it for a while longer. I really want another newer rangy (TDV8) but the rust thing me off a lot and the costs involved with the turbo failures frighten me.

Guess for now I'm staying then

Get it chipped and then pay out for a full valet and detail and it will feel like a new FF.....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Chip and gearbox tune should help shave some time off the 0-60 dash and in gear performance.

Failing that just get an SC and know that the rust issues can be sorted and used to negotiate a cheaper price... FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

I'm in the same position really with my TD6 keep thinking of changing it but it really is a great car.

Would love a 4.4tdv8 but I would need to hand over around 25k+ plus my car, a lot of money, looked at a 1 owner 12 plate 4.4 autobiography recently done 40k miles and my TD6 was actually in better condition

I have spent around 4K on mine recently replacing lots of parts and getting the paintwork done and is now cleaner than many late models.

Also fitted an up to date set of alloys, new black diamond brakes all round, painted the exhaust and Calipers,new windscreen and new tints by pentagon.

Updated the sat nav to 2012 maps, Fitted a private plate and replaced various rubbers and lights. On the inside I replaced the normal parts that get worn (drivers window switch,cup holder,steering colum surround,rear heated seats panel and had the steering wheel retrimmed in Nappa leather with new spokes) New rubber and premium mats, new supercharged pedals.
New suspension rubbers and bushes, new battery and hunter wheel alignment

Fitted dynamat sound deadening all over the car and a noise killer engine blanket
Once all this was done I had the car fully detailed inside and out
The biggest improvement was a really good service and a Terraclean this made the world of difference. The car now returns 30mpg with ease.
After doing all this I think I would be mad to sell at the moment as someone else would just get the benefit.

If you know your car well sometimes it's best to stick with it for a while, perhaps a freshen up would be a good idea. I would never buy a cheap Range Rover as now they are getting on a bit alot of them just get abused with just the bare minimal of work done to get them buy, you just end up with a car in need of a ton of money spending on it