Hi,

I've just joined, as I'm thinking of buying an early (2003) L322 4.4V8. I live in a city, generally prefer manual boxes, and have never owned a 4x4 (daily drive is an AM V8 Vantage). However, I've always loved RR, so thought an early one as a cheapish runaround might be fun.

I'll have a look round the forum for purhcase advice, but a quick question...the early history on the car is apparently missing - Does Land Rover hold a centralised database of servicing, and if so are dealers usually helpful about checking this?

Thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome.

Its my understanding that if the early services were at a MD then yes it should be 'findable' and the MDs I have dealt with are generally happy to confirm.

Good luck. 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

As this would be your first RR etc might i be so bold as to suggest (if budget allows) to look at prices of early SC's sir? Far more of EVERYTHING!

Spec, kit, better engine, better gearbox, MUCH faster, far more RR for the money IMHO... Just my 2p worth sir...

im fairly new to RR and initially considered an early model ( 2002 to 2006) did a lot of research and reading up of the car and came to the conclusion that the gearbox issues with these cars was just not acceptable , these cars eat gearboxes ! harder and harder to find good cars with history and reasonable mileage. Im not sure if the manual boxes are ok or not but the autos are a big no no

I ended up going for a post 2006 car which was about 5k more than the early ones I was looking at . Its a v8 diesel and the gearboxes are much more reliable

No such thing as a manual L322 Viper

All auto's sir

Thanks guys, food for thought!

Cam-Tech-Craig wrote:

No such thing as a manual L322 Viper

All auto's sir

There's the odd P38 around with a manual box but they were phased out, along with cloth seats! Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

viper wrote:

im fairly new to RR and initially considered an early model ( 2002 to 2006) did a lot of research and reading up of the car and came to the conclusion that the gearbox issues with these cars was just not acceptable , these cars eat gearboxes ! harder and harder to find good cars with history and reasonable mileage. Im not sure if the manual boxes are ok or not but the autos are a big no no

I ended up going for a post 2006 car which was about 5k more than the early ones I was looking at . Its a v8 diesel and the gearboxes are much more reliable

Its also worth bearing in mind that one can get the wrong impression from forums. Nothing against forums at all especially this one I think its great but you do need to keep things in perspective. This forum for example has some clearly very knowledgeable chaps on it but collecting such a group together with a problem does give the impression its a major issue affecting more cars than not.

I kept my TD6 for 6 years sold with 90k on the clock FSH and never had a major issue.

Keep things in perspective - yes they are complex yes they might have issues but no - it does not mean they all do.

 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

viper wrote:

Cam-Tech-Craig wrote:

No such thing as a manual L322 Viper

All auto's sir

I did wonder that but as his first post he mentioned that he preferred manuals so maybe he had seen one? I think it was dropped for the l322 completely

talking of gearboxes , im still waiting for a response on supplying me with the transfer box oil , if you cant do this , no problem , just let me know

viper wrote:

im fairly new to RR and initially considered an early model ( 2002 to 2006) did a lot of research and reading up of the car and came to the conclusion that the gearbox issues with these cars was just not acceptable , these cars eat gearboxes ! harder and harder to find good cars with history and reasonable mileage. Im not sure if the manual boxes are ok or not but the autos are a big no no

I ended up going for a post 2006 car which was about 5k more than the early ones I was looking at . Its a v8 diesel and the gearboxes are much more reliable

That's a brave statement. The only people I physically know who have had gearbox issues have been on the V8 petrols. And I know a few people with td6's.

Don't kid yourself. They can both be troublesome...... 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

That may be but the GM gearbox was never designed for a car as heavy as the L322. I'm surprised there hasn't been a lawsuit. If they're both crap then we're all screwed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_5L40-E_transmission

The thing with forums is no one is going to come and here and post to tell everyone their car is changing gear properly, they're only going to come along and post when it stops doing it properly. So they do tend to paint a negative picture of everything.

I 'suspect' a lot of the problems with Range-Rovers and Land-Rover gearboxes is more to do with what they're used for, if it's been used for dragging a fully loaded or even over loaded cattle trailer or horse box around everywhere for example. The handbooks do state that you should move off in low range when towing a heavy trailer, i suspect a lot of people don't bother because it will move off in high range, but it's not doing the box much good. Obviously there are some bad gear boxes out there that fail prematurely even when looked after, but when we're talking about a 10 year old car in reality you don't really know how it's been abused by previous owners. A BMW X5 for example is far less likely to have suffered from dragging massive trailers about, because less people will buy one for that purpose, where as they would buy a Range Rover for it.