Rory said:
Any 4x4 is only as good as it's tyres. Take any 4x4 off road or in ice and snow on standard road tyres and you'll get the same result, its all about tyres. Technique comes into play once you can put the power down.
camerafodder said:
I have yearned for a RR for about forty years but it was never the right time for one reason or another. The ONLY thing holding me back is concerns over reliability. I would hope that a three/four year old L322, being at the end of it's model life, would be pretty much sorted but it is difficult to sort true life experiences from 'Chinese whisper' apocryphal tales. My abiding memory of Land Rover products (I owned a defender for nine years and followed the marque closely) is of poor build quality, hit and miss reliability and questionable customer service.
It is a huge step commitment wise to buy something like a S/C RR (FFRR), hence why my slight hesitation. Members on hear have been very helpful with their experiences and it is a matter of overcoming my worries relating to reliability….having made such a financial commitment, I would really prefer to be able to keep my dream car for several years.
I/we will take a trip out to a dealer very soon and have a look….I really hope the overall dimensions don't put my wife off (pauses for a snigger) because I have told her a blatant man maths white lie…I know the RR is slightly larger than a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 (which she thinks is too big) but I have convinced her the RR is only slightly longer than her old Saab estate and shorter than my old Saab estate (9-3 & 9-5).
If your wife is going to drive it too, you are going to have a hard time justifying it's size. Unfortunately, with the L322 onwards the footprint increased substantially, without much additional benefit with the interior. Good for sales in US, China etc. But not ideal for day to day driving in UK, especially if you venture into car parks and narrow streets.
Also it size intimidates other drivers and being the same distance off the rear bumper in the city or motorway as you would be in a normal car appears to incite aggressive braking to full blown road rage.
Personally, I really like RR's and I have had 4 from new, but stopped at the 2nd gen L322 when McGovern started to really chintz them up and they became the de facto purchase for footballers and their WAG's. No idea how they hold their prices now, but for me they no longer delivered on the premium of burning through £40K in a few years of driving them. Moved to a 4x4 estate when we still needed the occasional off road and towing, now to an eclass estate as we still need the space. We moved into the city 5 years ago, which influences this, and living here there's no benefit from the lofty driving position on country lanes and wading through the floods that used to be a benefit.
If you need to get very the RR itch, get a classic in really good condition, when you have the space. Obviously won't fit the daily driver requirement, but equally you won't lose a wad of cash if you decide it's not for you.
cheers, Steve
Thanks for the recommend. I joined up last night and am perusing the site for, well, insight. I should be easy to spot on there
That's not you is it? The new member who posted a picture of himself in a gimpsuit??
I keep looking at FFRR at the moment, trying to decide on a 2007 3.6 TDV8 model for £12k with 90k miles on it and pay for it, or get into a 4.4 TDV8 2011 model for £26k and finance it.
There simply isn't anything from Mercedes that I want at the moment, I will keep the C320 estate, but want a second car that feels special.
