I had a 100% reliable Audi for nearly 6 years and it wasn't much fun or very interesting even though it did everything I wanted from a car. Reliability isn't everything. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Maybe a full fat is like a stately home.
Magnificent, but needs constant maintenance, costs a lot to run.
And normal people don’t want one. 2003 4.4 V8 Vogue. Oslo Blue.
2003 TD6 SE, Adriatic Blue, no sunroof, no heated seats, but I did love it.

I love my car  2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

Gotta remember mate people only come on here when they have problems with their motor.

No ones interested to read a thread that your car is running sweet.

Other way too think of it is say there's 2,000 active members on this site. How many threads go up over a month for people looking for help due too breakdowns. Let's say 100 over a month. That's still a running rate of 95% on the road.

Oilee wrote:

If they are so bad, why is there a waiting list as long as your arm to get one.

I can’t sign up to that.
I’ve had six, one new and five second hand, overall they been more reliable that previous cars and a lot more comfortable and fun to drive. As for build quality, I find it excellent and my Autobiography is superb.
Over the years I’ve spent very little on repairs and have claimed almost nothing on warranty.
I service ahead of the schedule and always use original parts and recommended oils and fluids.

If you hold that opinion I can’t understand why you own one.

Bean19844 wrote:

Gotta remember mate people only come on here when they have problems with their motor.

No ones interested to read a thread that your car is running sweet.

Other way too think of it is say there's 2,000 active members on this site. How many threads go up over a month for people looking for help due too breakdowns. Let's say 100 over a month. That's still a running rate of 95% on the road.

7 months ownership with 3 problems I needed to have LR assist out, but I still love this car  2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

Landphil wrote:

I can’t sign up to that.


If you hold that opinion I can’t understand why you own one.

I dont!  BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

I can only speak from my own experience, so here goes.
Have been a long term Toyota Landcruiser Amazon owner having had 5x over the years.
Unfortunately when time came to change could not get a euro 6 Amazon and did not want the smaller Landcruiser.
Decided to look at a L405 with the V8 diesel.
Looked at some of the online owners reviews and very nearly did not buy as they were so off putting.
Ended up buying a 2 x year old L405 4.4 AB .
3 x years down the line now with over 90k on clock the car has not missed a beat or put a foot wrong.
The reliability has been on par if not better than the previously owned Landcruisers.
I appreciate my experience of the L405 may not coincide with that of others but I can only speak as I have found.
How ever I will say the LR dealer experience can leave a lot to be desired.
My local LR dealer from who I purchased the car is less than 2x miles from me yet I travel over 30x miles away to get my servicing done.
From this you will possibly understand how impressive the buying experience with them was.

I have them because they are the most capable cars available and a lovely place to be. I have always spent a lot of time in my cars - I'm not looking for it to be the cheapest way to travel, I want it to be a place that I'd like to spend my time in.

Sadly the cars sell themselves so the dealers don't have to. The MD who sold me my SVA couldn't have made me feel any less valued if he'd just stuck two fingers up at me. I've been lied to by four different MDs Service managers and charged for work not needed and/or not done. The customer experience outside the car is just plain awful. I've now had 4 out of a total of about 30+ cars. 1 was the least reliable car I've ever had including student days - kept 4 years. 1 was the most reliable car I've ever had - kept 5 years. The other two haven't been perfect, but have been more than acceptable given my use and milage. So you can get a lemon and that's painful, but there's plenty that are just fantastic cars. You just need to find a good indie to look after it.

Its the lemons that form the bulk of internet noise...but that's the internet for you. Look up your favourite restaurant, washing machine, beach, whatever - and you'll find plenty of 1* reviews explaining how awful it is. Mike - MPx

2017 5.0 V8 Supercharged SVAutobigraphy Dynamic SVO Palette Grey (2021-...)
2012 5.0 V8 Supercharged Autoboigraphy Orkney Grey (2017-2021)
2007 4.2 V8 Supercharged Vogue SE Tonga Green (2012-2017)
2002 4.4 V8 Vogue Bonnatti Grey (2008-2012)

AJGalaxy2012 wrote:

Landphil wrote:

I can’t sign up to that.


If you hold that opinion I can’t understand why you own one.

I dont!

Can’t get them out of your head though….

I’ve only had 2 x MD experiences, buying the car and getting it serviced. The whole purchase experience was excellent from the start when the salesman got all 3 cars out I wanted to have a good look at (different rear seats, fitting cichlids seat, pram space etc) and left me to it, letting me solo test drive the 2 I was interested in and all contact from that point was excellent including the contactless handover / video. The dealer who serviced it was pretty much faultless, just charged me for washer fluid which I’d only just topped up (still the same price as I’d been quoted), but as soon as I mentioned it they apologised and gave me a couple of bottles so no issue. MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

This is true, they are an amazing people and the enthusiasm of the owners is incredible, a great bunch of people (well most of em LOL). BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

I will be honest and say I bought mine because I always have proper 4x4 vehicles and due to ulez I can’t keep my Toyota 4x4 any more. I did some research and bought a 4.2 SC L322. This represented the most cost effective ulez compliant off roader available that I could live with.

It had almost 140k on the clock and I have spent a few bob on it so far, mostly things that go like wear items , front air struts, etc.. have done about 8k in it in 5 months and it’s been pretty reliable.

I am not an LR fan as any one that knows me in person can attest to but also I have realistic expectations, you can’t have a supremely off-road capable vehicle with reasonable on road performance with out some sophisticated engineered solutions. These do go wrong for a variety or reasons some admittedly due to poor build, but on the plus side it’s a supremely comfortable place to be. It’s the 1st time in my driving life that I have stopped browsing auto trader after buying it.

JayGee wrote:

I had a 100% reliable Audi for nearly 6 years and it wasn't much fun or very interesting even though it did everything I wanted from a car. Reliability isn't everything.

I don't get it. My L322 5.0 Supercharged I bought unseen and was the cheapest at the time, looked good on the pictures, and worse that could happen was I had to buy another train ticket home.

And yup I had my first fault on the way home A coolant low message, turned out it was a host underneath the supercharger. No big deal on a 10 year old car, and to be expected. Taking the super charger off it was clear there was a bit of play in the plastic coupler, so just changed that at the same time, and also changed all the other hoses underneath. To me it is normal for the age.

The other thing was a fault with the active dynamic suspension, just the typical loom that snapped after 10 years. Very easy to fix.

And for the rest just brakes, tyres and that is it. I don't even have the tensioner issue that if you believe the internet they all have

LOL I like it so much that for my daughter we bought the cheapest Range Rover Evoque 3 Door Dynamic +. The 'dealer' was useless, the dynamic plus wasn't working, the shocks were rock hard, non of the four wheel drive modes worked. But managed to get a bit of money off if I was to fix it myself, took the risk, and bingo another wiring loom issue at the bottom of the dynamic shocks for these and all driving modes came back to live and the car was beautifully driving again.

I think too many people get 'scared' by these kind of little issues, I love them as you can snap up bargains