[SwpR]

So I have been considering the Range Rover Sport but many have been talking about suspension issues when you hit 75k miles and the usual "its unreliable and a money pit" feedback.

My questions are the following:

1) is there a big difference in the infotainment system from the 14/15 and the 2016 model?
2) any other big differences?
3) is it worth getting extended warranty 3yr/$5,000 for a 2014/15' model?
4) I love the RRSport Dynamic but apparently impossible to find one used. Is this something thats fairly reasonable to do on my own? For ex. black room, black front grill, black grill on the hood, black fender grill, black rims...anything else?

5) I had a 5 series that was a money pit, that thing cost me $1,300 yearly in maintenance issues. Is the RRSport in the same ball park?

 

[SwpR]

For example, I do know the 2015 infotainment lags when you select items. Wich model year received the better infotainment where lagging isn't an issue?

 

[littlehandegan]

Wrong forum section.

If $1300 a year running cost was too much I would look at a Lexus

 

[SwpR]

So why do some ppl say there car never gave them issues? $1300 is considered an issue.

if you can elaborate that would be more helpful Lol. Pointless post.

 

[littlehandegan]

I dont have a crystal ball on whatever used RRS you will be buying, but betting on a 4-5 year old range rover having $1300 in repairs and maint a year is a sure bet.

Brakes will run $1,000+, tires $750 or so, air strut go bad figure a $1,000. Then of course oil changes, cabin and air filters etc

Your 5 series is produced in far higher numbers making parts cheaper and issues well documented. No air suspension either/

 

[lear60man]

I bought a RR with a factory warranty for a reason. During that period I can asess and budget what will be needed if anything. $1300 annual running costs is a good starting point and I would get the $5k warranty you mentioned for peace of mind. Brakes, Tires and oil can be managed to a cost effective point. Its the little things that will kill you. 6 years is a good life for air shocks and they run $600 a pop just for the strut. Not a hard job to do if you can turn a wrench, but will be $1600 an axle at an indy.

 

[Keralis]

Hell I pay $1200 a month in gas..
Tyres are $1000 for a good set..brakes at the dealer are over $2,000

Air suspension I've noticed many dealers replacing the struts..

Oil changes are easy but if you have a warranty and have to do them at the dealer it's $500..You're going to want at most 5,000 mile oil changes so there's $1000 right there.

You're going to have brakes every 15,000 miles, 3 oil changes for 15,000 miles, so minimum of $3,500 a 15k mile year for just maintenance unless you do it yourself.


Dynamic adds the TFT screen for the gauge cluster mainly.

 

[aeggroup]

I don't understand why you pay above prices.

I got my RR when it had 18K miles on odo and right away changed my 21" tires to Pirelli.
Tires cost at that time - $800. Now 3 years later the car has 50K miles and I still have about 5k-7k miles before I will change them. This time I'm thinking to get Atturo, which will cost about $550 for a set.
Oil change - I do it every 7k-8k miles at my indy shop and it cost me $40 for labor and about $100 for oil and filter with shipping. I had an issue with air bag light and needed to go to the dealer for warranty work. They never asked me why I do not come to them to do scheduled maintenance.
Brakes – I change front pads first time when the car had about 25K miles and the cost was about $150 for parts and labor. Recently at about 48K miles changed all 4 rotor and pads.For parts I paid about $600. It was Zimmerman rotors and I think Fedoro pads. Labor – paid about $200.
In general – Land Rover wants you to visit their dealers for scheduled maintenance, but its
not required as long as it is done using LR approved parts and you have a proof of labor. Just save all receipts and you’ll be fine.

 

[SwpR]

thanks for the reply!

I did some research and my numbers matched yours. I don’t know where or how people got $500 for an oil change. Maybe at the dealer. I got quoted same price range as you.

 

[Hodog16]

I have about 66,000 miles on my 2016 RRS I've had since new in October 2015. I paid for the 4 year maintenance plan so can't quote how much each year but the dealer told me about $300-400 for each visit. Oil changes are recommended 12 months/16,000 miles, so that's what I do. I just did the last pre-paid service and next go round will probably go to an indy instead of the dealer.

I had the brake pads changed around 28,000 miles and just did the pads only (rotors were fine). Ceramic pads were ~$350 a set and labor was like $150 at a tire shop. I just changed the pads again and the rotors around 60,000 miles and got the same pads and OEM rotors for 20% off list from the dealer. Labor at a tire shop was a bit more due to the rotors, about $300.

I change the 22" Continentals every 25,000 miles or so when they get to 4/32", they are about $330 a tire so that's easily $1200 each go-round.

I did buy a 6 year/100,000 extended total warranty at delivery which I've only had to use once so far, due to leaking rear differential fluid which would have cost me $900 out of pocket.

As much as I love this vehicle, I would not own it out of warranty unless I was willing to dump it as soon as a major problem came up.

 

[f10m5]

If you do your own maint or have a cheap mechanic and are good at googling and spending time shopping for the cheapest parts it won't cost much to operate.

I have had a bunch of land rovers and high end mercedes, bmw, audi, etc and only time I went to the dealer was when it was a warranty claim. I have never taken any car to the dealer for service. Even small warranty items like a fuse or a belt I would spend the couple hundred and have it done under my watchful eyes rather than some high school junky who doesn't give a **** about my vehicle.

 

[Dutchneon]

I have about 66,000 miles on my 2016 RRS I've had since new in October 2015. I paid for the 4 year maintenance plan so can't quote how much each year but the dealer told me about $300-400 for each visit. Oil changes are recommended 12 months/16,000 miles, so that's what I do. I just did the last pre-paid service and next go round will probably go to an indy instead of the dealer.

I had the brake pads changed around 28,000 miles and just did the pads only (rotors were fine). Ceramic pads were ~$350 a set and labor was like $150 at a tire shop. I just changed the pads again and the rotors around 60,000 miles and got the same pads and OEM rotors for 20% off list from the dealer. Labor at a tire shop was a bit more due to the rotors, about $300.

I change the 22" Continentals every 25,000 miles or so when they get to 4/32", they are about $330 a tire so that's easily $1200 each go-round.

I did buy a 6 year/100,000 extended total warranty at delivery which I've only had to use once so far, due to leaking rear differential fluid which would have cost me $900 out of pocket.

As much as I love this vehicle, I would not own it out of warranty unless I was willing to dump it as soon as a major problem came up.

Mechanicly these cars are fairly easy to work on, and parts are not expensive at all, if you DIY you can do a oilchange with all filters and pollenfilter for less than 100$
Diffs are super easy to service, just drain and fill up. Brakes are easy to service, just need a rewinder for the rear brakes and you can do the job for less than 600$ with rotors.

Tires sure are expensive, but there's cheaper options in 21" and definately in 20". A set of beefy rubber might be cheaper than a standard tire.

 

[SwpR]

I have about 66,000 miles on my 2016 RRS I've had since new in October 2015. I paid for the 4 year maintenance plan so can't quote how much each year but the dealer told me about $300-400 for each visit. Oil changes are recommended 12 months/16,000 miles, so that's what I do. I just did the last pre-paid service and next go round will probably go to an indy instead of the dealer.

I had the brake pads changed around 28,000 miles and just did the pads only (rotors were fine). Ceramic pads were ~$350 a set and labor was like $150 at a tire shop. I just changed the pads again and the rotors around 60,000 miles and got the same pads and OEM rotors for 20% off list from the dealer. Labor at a tire shop was a bit more due to the rotors, about $300.

I change the 22" Continentals every 25,000 miles or so when they get to 4/32", they are about $330 a tire so that's easily $1200 each go-round.

I did buy a 6 year/100,000 extended total warranty at delivery which I've only had to use once so far, due to leaking rear differential fluid which would have cost me $900 out of pocket.

As much as I love this vehicle, I would not own it out of warranty unless I was willing to dump it as soon as a major problem came up.

Why would you without warranty if from the sounds of it, you haven’t really used tire warranty outside of that one time?

 

[Hodog16]

Because really of the unknown--I'm afraid of what can happen after 100,000 miles - especially the air suspension. If it costs just $900 to fix a simple rear differential leak, I don't want to think about how much it would cost when something substantial goes bad.

 

[Dutchneon]

Because really of the unknown--I'm afraid of what can happen after 100,000 miles - especially the air suspension. If it costs just $900 to fix a simple rear differential leak, I don't want to think about how much it would cost when something substantial goes bad.

Its a complex car, but you have to see it in the correct context. U can have 2 complete front arms for less than 2000 and the car will do another 140k miles with them.
of course you will get more repairs than new, but you will have less depreciation

 

[wrpercival]

Wrong forum section.

If $1300 a year running cost was too much I would look at a Lexus

So why do some ppl say there car never gave them issues? $1300 is considered an issue.

if you can elaborate that would be more helpful Lol. Pointless post.

I'd make a couple of points that I think are relevant to this discussion and more broadly, the cost of ownership:

1. My wife originally bought our RRS. At the time, I pleaded with her not to since I deal with all of the fallout that extends from "stuff that breaks", regardless of who owns it, or who is accountable for it. I adopted my wife's RRS about 3 years ago and it now has 195,000 miles on it. It has been the most reliable vehicle we have ever owned. However, I'd further qualify that statement by saying that it has, by far, not been the least expensive car we have ever owned.
2. There is maintenance and then there are unexpected failures. If your vehicle is above 75,000 miles / six years old, you are probably going to begin experiencing normal, mileage-based, maintenance issues that should be expected and preferably, proactively addressed. $1,200 a year is close to what I have been experiencing for maintenance that extends from wear and tear.
3. Range Rovers, like any luxury vehicle, tend to command high labor and parts costs. You can mitigate these costs somewhat by finding a reliable independent mechanic and purchasing parts directly from online vendors that focus on Land/Range Rovers. Even better, check out You-Tube. It really helps in navigating DIY repairs if you are so inclined.
4. Many "unexpected" failures actually have some predictability. Thoroughly reading the forums pertaining to your model and year will provide an indication of what others have experienced. Assume yours will reflect the averages and hope that it actually ends up being better.
5. Someone mentioned in this thread, or I interpreted to infer that having your oil changed every 5,000 miles is appropriate for older/higher mileage vehicles. Assuming you are using quality, synthetic engine oil, 5,000 miles is too frequent and actually bad practice given the detergent cycle of modern engine oils. Assuming you drive more than 10K per year, changing your oil more frequently - e.g with less than 10K on the oil - could marginally increase your engine wear. It definitely will not decrease it, or better protect it, unless all of your milage happens to occur in a desert that also has frequent stoplights. This is a long discussion but rests on the fact that the lubricants we use today are vastly different and improved from those our fathers used 30+ years ago.
6. Resist the tendency of most people to view their vehicles as an inaccessible black box. Try to get to know it. Knowledge and information is power when it comes to managing repairs and navigating through BS. I frequently overhear stories from people I work with regarding their experiences at dealerships (in particular) when it comes to maintenance churn. I can't count the number of people who have been told they need complete brake jobs when they have less than 5,000 miles on their existing ones.
7. This may sound like minutia, but based on both personal experience, as well as that of many others, find out whether the A-pillar drain lines for your sunroof utilize rubber grommets to route water to the outside of your vehicle. If it does, replace the grommets proactively with something that will not degrade due to time and heat from the engine bay. I replaced mine with PVC elbows. They cost $0.25 to proactively fix. Alternatively, you can wait and pay a dealer $400 after they fail, followed by another 3 weeks that will be needed to dry out the fully saturated interior footwells of your car.

 

[rico168]

Someone mentioned in this thread, or I interpreted to infer that having your oil changed every 5,000 miles is appropriate for older/higher mileage vehicles. Assuming you are using quality, synthetic engine oil, 5,000 miles is too frequent and actually bad practice given the detergent cycle of modern engine oils. Assuming you drive more than 10K per year, changing your oil more frequently - e.g with less than 10K on the oil - could marginally increase your engine wear. It definitely will not decrease it, or better protect it, unless all of your milage happens to occur in a desert that also has frequent stoplights. This is a long discussion but rests on the fact that the lubricants we use today are vastly different and improved from those our fathers used 30+ years ago.

I would generally agree with this statement and oil is always a touchy subject in these forums. However I have had a dealer service interval for both the L405 and L494 at 6 months or 5000miles for oil changes. Much more often then what I am use too which is 12-15k/1year as a rule of tumb. Where I am from the first 4 years of ownership dealer would cover the oil changes so I had no problems having them change it that often, its free after all.

However on the 5th year I bought the workshop manuals and did my research JLR, does have different service interval depending on countries and climate. These include different filter replacement cycles. If I am not mistaken the 5k/6mth service is for cars regularly driven in climate at 35C or above.

Don't always take the word of the dealership and do your own research depending on where you are in the world these might be different. In this case I have to say the dealership is correct. Although I do my own oil changes now.

 

[tonypjr]

I dont have a crystal ball on whatever used RRS you will be buying, but betting on a 4-5 year old range rover having $1300 in repairs and maint a year is a sure bet.

Brakes will run $1,000+, tires $750 or so, air strut go bad figure a $1,000. Then of course oil changes, cabin and air filters etc

Your 5 series is produced in far higher numbers making parts cheaper and issues well documented. No air suspension either/

Brakes at a dealer for both axles go for 2200+. If you live in area with a lot of stop and go traffic and hills. Figure about 14-17k miles you will get out of a set.

 

[totya]

However on the 5th year I bought the workshop manuals and did my research JLR, does have different service interval depending on countries and climate. These include different filter replacement cycles. If I am not mistaken the 5k/6mth service is for cars regularly driven in climate at 35C or above.

We spoke about this very subject somewhere else recently. This is the dealer's conundrum: if they're exceedingly cautious and try to prevent timing chain problems (or other problems) by recommending frequent oil changes: they're greedy. If they follow the base manufacturer's recommendation (12 mo or 15k miles), and problems arise: they're incompetent.
As you said, service interval depends on climate, quality of roads, driving behavior, and a million other things. A decent technician and/or SA should have seen literally hundreds of cars before ours, and should have a good idea of what's appropriate for us.