I hate the phrase 'if you have to ask, you can't afford a range rover' Are these beautiful vehicles that expensive to run that you have to be earning £150k a year to run one? If so then bye! haha

On a serious note, I'd absolutely love one of these, I'm currently finding a freelander 2 perfectly easy to run and on a decent self employed income. I'm a single gent with no family commitments and have about £2k spare cash coming in not being used at the mo so was wondering what sort of 'spare cash' people estimate these things to need per month? I'm not too worried about fuel consumption, besides fuel and tyres/tax is there a big difference in repairs/parts for these? I'm looking at 3.6 TDV8 2007 with warranty,

Is it realistic to be able to run one on £1-2k a month spare cash or am I dreaming up the wrong tree? lol

don't think mine costs much more than that in a year......though if you drop for 2 air bags and a few silly bits like a driveshaft, you'll soon be over a grand.

If you buy a nice tidy one, and you go bankrupt in a few months, you can always sell it........  2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

In my experience the only things that you will spend more on than your freelander will be tyres, pads and discs. Other than that unless you buy a bad car you should be good. Rear calliper's can be unreliable and sticky so on a 2007 car you might wanna budget for a pair. Also alternators can be flaky so keep an eye on voltages.

But as an example I bought a 3.6TDV8 last year and got it well serviced and its done 12k with not a single hiccup or penny needing to be spent.

I would recommend you invest some money in preventative maintenance like gearbox oil change, radiator flush, brake fluid change and diff oil change etc. especially if you intend to keep the car for a while. You might also end up spending some money on getting the rear wheels arches re-sprayed as they seem to suffer rust from stone chips underneath.

+1...insurance (for a 40 year old with no points and decent NCB) around £400 / year. warranty incl recovery ( if you want one) £1000/year , servicing around £3-400 / year plus fuel ....and tyres every once in a while It's not too bad really  GONE 2010 Facelifted 3.6 TDV8 - Stornoway Grey + 22" Overfinch Olympus
HAVE 1999 Discovery 2 GS 4.0 V8 - Silver - Off Road Toy
GONE 2013 L405 4.4 SDV8 Vogue. Black with Silver roofline and 22" s
HAVE 2015 Jaguar XF.

Last edited by paulmoran2 on 26th May 2014 8:32pm. Edited 1 time in total

Thanks guys, Excited now,

I'm a stickler for preventative maintenance and have always paid for stuff to be fixed as soon as it needs it! I guess with a 2007 model there are plenty of reconditioned parts and independent specialists that'll keep repair costs down hopefully.

Oh one thing that will be more than the Freelander is Road Tax at £500

I bought an 07 TDV8 with 71k on the clock in June 2012

Other than routine servicing (budget £250-300 at a good independent) I have had the following work done:

New battery £100 (original was 6 years old and got flattened by fuel burning heater)
Replace rear brake hoses for MOT (corroded) £250
Replace split turbo hose £100
Replace fluid in auto box £450 (precaution, thought I had a gearbox problem which turned out to be the split turbo hose)

I've done some other things too because I wanted to (supercharged grill, vents and alloys) and a new passenger side mirror due to a parking incident.....

I've now done 96k miles and have no worries about reliability (although going in next month for a service, fix leaking air con and replace a weeping radiator hose)

Read the buyers guide and this forum, take your time to find a good one and you should be fine!
That said, I ran a Fiat Coupe for 12 years - fantastic car, but you need to make sure the preventative maintenance gets done!

If my RR was costing me more than £150 per month in maintenance (over a year) then I'd be driving something else! 2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

This is the first time a service and MOT cost me about £2k (normally £300), road tax £500, Insurance £300 and fuel. In the three years I have had the car I have had to replace two tyres (got Nexens at less than £100 each) and rear brake callipers also did the rear discs and pads.

All the rest has been "pimping" my ride

All in excluding diesel and "pimping"over three years easily less than £200/month

Depreciation is however another matter altogether  Geoff

+1 if you panic and drop the car into a dealers as soon as your heartbeat goes up, ie a 'problem' then you might be spending some decent money. but trying to understand your car and finding popular remedies to typical problems, using this and other forums... then you can be assured that you can have champagne lifestyle, on sparkling wine money.....
these cars are epic, but their size and presence can be spooky to the uninitiated, -its just a big car.
yes using a trusted independent, and some typical servicing, as recommended by fellow enthusiasts (on here) you will be wondering why you were not driving one already.
top tip though, buy or borrow a diagnostic lead -around £300 fix/diagnose/reset/calm yourself
on the model you have in mind, remember that you are not losing anything like the money the previous owner lost in depreciation, whilst being a 'vasalene lubed' slave to the dealers etc.

Find a good local mechanic who can take care of the standard stuff and replacing the simples.

Mine is a bit like triggers broom tbh, but im a bit picky mechanicals wise, in 2 1/2 years it has had in addition to regular servicing

New fbh
New alternator
2x rear calipers
Front lower arms
Front upper arm bushes
Inner and outer track rods
Heater control panel.
Transfer box reseal
Hi low position sensor seal

Service items
20k worth of services
Front discs
Front pads
Rear pads
Diff oils
Auto box oil
Brake fluid

So there is a fair list, but quite a bit of the replacement parts were Under warranty. I reckon in total about £5k over the time, so not too bad, i reckon its lost about £12k in that time in depreciation as well, but as its a keeper thats not too much of an issue. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

When you say '20k worth of services' do you mean 20 km distance or 20k as in £20,000 spent on service costs ? the latter seems impossible for 2 years but thought I'd clarify lol

20,000miles....👍 There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

hah thank god for that, thought as much, thought to myself, "how the hell would I afford £20,000 of servicing in 2 years'

thanks to everyone who has commented, and helped put my mind very firmly in the direction of the 'start looking' mode now, these kind of costs really aren't anywhere near what I was expecting so the info is much appreciated.

The warranty will be a definite though for extra peace of mind.

Prop wrote:

Oh one thing that will be more than the Freelander is Road Tax at £500

If fuel is not a big issue, why not go for a petrol version. They seem to have fewer issues in the engine bay (with the 2006 models the oil coolers can pop as happened on my 4.2 SC and that is expensive after it happened, preventive replacement is far less costly). The TDV8s have issues with turbos/EGRs/hoses etc. Most of the issues don't turn into major issues but still, the petrols are super reliable (the odd valve timing chain tensioner issue aside).

Plus that the SC versions are quite "quick" to drive and no hint of diesel noise, just a pure supercharged V8 soundtrack.

When they get older the suspension airbags are going (8 years seems to be a time where they start going) and that is about 500 GBP in parts (two complete new Delphi OE struts) plus a bit of work. The rears not sure, on my 4.2 they are still alive.

Rear calipers are cheap and I would replace them as a preventive measure. I paid 70 Euro each on the 4.2.

Other than that no issues that you should worry about, just get a good car (Gary Elliot is an excellent RR finder, he got me my 5.0 SC). MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!