The worst vehicles by one of the worst dealerships‎

Posted by mbaybrit on 12/26/2008

I have always owned BMW, porsche and Toyota vehicles. I thought I would give Land Rover a try and purchased a new Range Rover. Only to have ongoing problems that this dealership could not resolve. They obviously cant service the vehicles they sale. Multiple problems, multiple repair attempts only to have purchased a lemon. The dealership is also very unresponsive to customer complaints and to the fact they sold a lemon vehicle. But down take my word for it, here is an article from Forbes and JD Powers that published August 6, 2006: Range Rover and LR3 Rated "Least Reliable" Luxury Vehicles A new "top ten" compilation by Forbes Magazine, using data from both Consumer Reports and J. D. Power, rates the LR3 and the latest 2006 Range Rover as the least reliable luxury vehicles sold in the US. This will come as no surprise to many owners of the new Jaguar-engined Range Rover which seems to be plagued by significantly more problems than its BMW-engined predecessor. Consumer Reports usually refers to models with the lowest reliability scores as "less reliable than average," but in October 2005 it described the LR3 and Range Rover as flat-out "unreliable." J.D. Power gives the 2006 Range Rover below average ratings for all its manufacturing quality categories -- mechanical manufacturing quality, body and interior manufacturing quality, and feature and accessory manufacturing quality. Most problem reports we have received at Rangerovers.net are not disabling, but are quite annoying to owners who have paid somewhere between $70,000 and $100,000 for a new Range Rover and expect it to be reliable transportation. The frequent problems are also rather embarrassing in a vehicle that is supposed to be suitable for expeditions in the remote backcountry. Systems such as the air suspension, which are most likely to disable the vehicle off road, are among the least field-repairable of any vehicle, since even if a failed spring is replaced the vehicle remains on its bump stops as its computer cannot be reset without a trip to the dealer. Good luck getting a flatbed truck to take you to the nearest dealer when you are halfway up the Rubicon Trail! Land Rover is undoubtedly aware of its longstanding quality image problem, and keeps saying it is striving to overcome it. Although its record has improved somewhat in the years since the Ford takeover, its competitors have improved more, leaving it stuck at the bottom of the heap. The latest substantially new Land Rover vehicle, the new Freelander, is to be produced at the Jaguar factory rather than the traditional quality-plagued Land Rover one in Solihull, so it will be interesting to see if this ploy serves to improve reliability. With overhanging issues like the continuing unresolved premature front differential failures on 2003-2005 Range Rovers, and the new spate of problems with the new Jaguar-derived drivetrains in the 2006 models, the Rover reputation will unfortunately persist for some years to come even if it miraculously starts producing reliable vehicles today. Save your time and save your money, buy a BMW, Mercedes, Porsche or Lexus.