Land Rover LR2 reliability - how will it compare?

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mkaresh

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In late 2005 I started conducting my own reliability research. I'm reporting absolute stats like "times in the shop" that will make the differences between cars much clearer. I’ll also be updating results four times a year, so if there's a bump in repair rates it'll be evident sooner.

Many people are wondering how reliable the new LR2 will be. I'd love to include it in my research - all I need to get started are for 25 owners to sign up to participate. If this happens soon, I could have results as early as August, though November is probably more likely.

Participants report repairs the month after they occur on a one-page survey. When there are no repairs, they simply report an approximate odometer reading four times a year, at the end of each quarter.

To encourage participation, panel members will receive full access to the results free of charge.

Details: Vehicle reliability research

Comments, questions, and suggestions welcome.
 
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mkaresh

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Just a few owners short of being able to include the 2008.

Update: now included. Hoping for a result in August. Additional participants still very much needed.
 
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mkaresh

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The latest Car Reliability Survey results were recently posted. The reported number of repair trips per 100 cars per year for the Land Rover LR2 and Freelander2 was 53, which is about average.

A big thanks to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates in May, August, and November. With additional participants we could provide more precise results and include all model years.

We now have a separate results page for each model that includes the results for competing cars. The one for the LR2:

Land Rover LR2 reliability comparisons
 

mkaresh

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We've updated the results for the LR2 to include owner experiences through the end of March. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this result possible.

With a repair frequency of 42 repairs per 100 cars per year, the 2008 LR2 is about average, but close to "better than average." Much lower repair frequency than the 2005-2006 LR3 (no stat for newer years yet).

These cars are of course young, and it remains to be seen how they'll fare as they age. With prompt quarterly updates, we'll track them closely. The more participants we have, the better the information we can provide.

Land Rover LR2 reliability comparisons
 
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FreelanderFan

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Reliabity should not be per car exactly

I wrote a longer post on this in my new blog Freelander Fan.

But the one thing that annoys me is that these reliability studies are not exactly comparing apples to apples. First off, if you buy a luxury car, you pay more, you expect more. So all luxury cars probably get reported as less reliable than they are just because their owners are pickier.

But more, cars like the freelander are more complex, with more features, that are interrelated. So much much more to go wrong. So not fair comparing them straight up with a simpler cheaper car. they should just rate them relative to similarly complicated feature rich cars.

I know, overall reliability is reliability, but still...
 

GreyMatter

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ive had my range rover since the beginning of june and have had it in the shop 4 times fixing minor crap before the factory warranty runs out, it is/has currently been there for the last 4 days to fix an electrical gremlin that got the attention of LR engineers.

as far as mechanical stuff im very pleased, the stupid little things are to be expected and are always taken care of without issue
 

mkaresh

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I wrote a longer post on this in my new blog Freelander Fan.

But the one thing that annoys me is that these reliability studies are not exactly comparing apples to apples. First off, if you buy a luxury car, you pay more, you expect more. So all luxury cars probably get reported as less reliable than they are just because their owners are pickier.

But more, cars like the freelander are more complex, with more features, that are interrelated. So much much more to go wrong. So not fair comparing them straight up with a simpler cheaper car. they should just rate them relative to similarly complicated feature rich cars.

I know, overall reliability is reliability, but still...

You make one valid point, but ultimately your perspective is not supported by the data.

The valid point: luxury cars do have more bits to go wrong.

Now for the rest...

Maybe luxury car buyers are pickier, maybe they're not. I've never come across any data on this, so it's simply an assumption. One thing we do that other's don't: measure successful repair trips, each of which can include multiple problems, and not just owner-perceived problems. This tends to even out the scores, since pickier people are likely to have minor issues dealt with in a single repair trip.

We also report the actual repair frequences, not just "better than average" or "worse than average." If a luxury model requires more repairs because it has more things that can break, then that's just the facts. People want to know how often a model is likely to require repairs, not some stat adjusted for the number of things that can break.

The larger problem with your post: people aren't going to compare the scores for a Land Rover to those of a Honda, then opt for the Honda. Instead, people considering a Land Rover are going to compare its scores to those for competing luxury models.

Which brings us to the outright error in your post. In your blog post you say "other luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, and even Lexus also get a bad rap." Sorry, but this just isn't true. I've never seen a reliability stat for Rolls-Royce. So you're making that up out of thin air. And the great majority of Lexus models have received above average reliability scores, even when measured on the same scale as Civics and Corollas. It is more difficult to achieve top scores with a luxury model, but it is nevertheless possible.
 

FreelanderFan

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You are right on the Rolls Royce part - it was not out of thin air but i meant another make, I will go back and find my sources and update it when I can get time, and in the mean time I removed it.

But you are very wrong that other luxury brands do not at least sometimes get a bad rap - I will dig up the data and post back here.

And people do compare a Freelander to say a Nissan X-Trail - certainly not a luxury brand - there is a head to head video review right on my site for that - and I have seen reviews comparing it to a Honda CR-V. I also personally know people who seriously considered buying Honda versus Freelander.
 

FreelanderFan

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"The larger problem with your post: people aren't going to compare the scores for a Land Rover to those of a Honda, then opt for the Honda. Instead, people considering a Land Rover are going to compare its scores to those for competing luxury models."

Yes, they do compare them, and they sometimes opt for non-luxury models because of them, even when price is not an issue for them. I personally know people who have. And look at the video on my site comparing the Freelander heads up to the Nissan X-trail.. Nissan is no luxury brand. And I have seen similar head to head videos on YouTube comparing the freelander to the Honda CR-V, also not a luxury model. I know someone who could easily afford a Freelander opt for a Honda because of the reliability ratings, so you are wrong on this point - people do compare and seriously consider luxury versus non-luxury models.
 

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