Most reliable US spec Land Rover?

T-Willy

Well-known member
This is not a trick question.

For LR enthusiasts: Among US spec models, which has proven to be, or is regarded to be, the most reliable?
 

LRNAD90

Adventurer
Probably the LR3, as long as they are well maintained, and they require a fair amount of maintenance. But I've seen stories of 2-300,000 mile examples on original engine driveline..
 

douglastic

Member
LR3 for sure for engine/drivetrain reliability
I have almost 200k and it runs like a top with only reg scheduled maintenance

I believe a dry climate is key to longevity
Things like the EAS, electrical gremlins, water ingress, control arms, brakes, and other expected items are well known and documented by now, so preventative maintenance is $ well spent
 

Gnomad

New member
Another vote for the LR3, at least with the 4.4. The local dealer told the highest mileage example they maintain has 340K miles on it, original drivetrain.
The problems are well known by now, and prices are about as low as they are going to be.
I'm on my third one, sold the wife's to buy a Bronco Sport and sold mine to buy a Bronco. We sold those and now back to Rover, hers a Disco Sport and mine a 2008 LR3 with a locker in the back I bought for $500 and I'm been burning time and dollar bills on it since I bought it.
 

DieselRanger

Well-known member
My 2017 Discovery 5 HSE Td6 has been rock solid. I lost all of my money on my extended warranty - I've never used it. I now have about 85k miles on it. It was one of the earliest ones delivered in the States.

Mechanically, US / NAS L494 and L462's seem to be consistently well behaved. Early on before OTA updates were applied, the InControl Touch Pro infotainment was buggy, but they have sorted that. You'll see lots of issues overseas with 2.0 4cyl diesels (SD4 and Ingenium 4cyl diesels) so if you look around on forums, make sure you verify which engine a poster is talking about. Those engines were never available here, nor was the SDV6, which was also very reliable over there.

My local shop says the Si6 (supercharged 6cyl gas) was also quite reliable. (EDIT: unless they were modified - there are aftermarket chips and pulleys that can push them well over 450hp).

All LR's of this era (Discovery, RRS, RR) have the ZF 8HP transmission, which is perhaps one of the best auto boxes ever made, and my EAS has also been perfect in spite of my best efforts to break it off-road.
 

DC DII

Member
From my travels, and different shops, I have always heard the 2008 LR3 4.4l is the most desirable. My wife has been driving ours for over 12 years and from the northeast, south Texas and the German autobahn it has been great. We just by luck found a 2008 HSE Lux back in the day and as stated through different events and shops they always talk highly of that year, engine, etc...

Not sure exactly what years that engine was in LR3's/DIII's or the Range Rover...

Minus the instrument cluster needed the expected repair and the dash cracking it has been a solid truck.


Erik
 

Ash@Geared

Member
Got 260k out of my LR3 before finally starting to see a minor transmission shudder. Very uneventful ownership experience and probably commonly regarded as the most reliable.

Just ticked 80k on my Td6 D5. I don't expect the same kind of longevity but thus far it has been drama free.
 

rgallant

Adventurer
Well my 04 D2 is just about to hit 300000 KM, so about 186000 miles. I did have to head gaskets but other than that just 20 year old parts starting to fail. It has served me well.
But really it is about maintenance, I see a lot of Toyota product overheated or broken down on mountain passes here in BC,and Jeeps just busted. There are far more of them (jeeps and Toyota's) but if you don't look after it, it will break no matter who made it.
 
I have an lr3 that has 225,000 miles on it that has been pretty amazing actually. It's not the things don't go along with Land rovers or any other car for that matter but that the things go wrong with Land rovers are very predictable and because of folks like this forum you can make a very quick Google search and find exactly what's going on with your car and often fix it if you have the idd tool.
 

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