Frustration with '14 availability

Hi folks,

I'm frustrated that it is so difficult to purchase a '14 LR4, has it been this way for previous releases as well?

I'm in the bay area of California, and there are zero in the area (one in LA and one in Vegas). I can't believe that as soon as I found the right vehicle to purchase (I'd be new to LR) and have the funds I can't get the vehicle.

The local dealer won't say why '14 inventory is so low, only that they order a handful every quarter, my next chance is to purchase is in a couple months and hope for a delivery in Sept.
On top of that they couldn't guarantee it'd be a '14, say it may be a '15 model.
Of course there is no information released on what the LR4 2015 will be.

My head and heart are set on a new LR4, but it seems like I'm getting forced to look at other options

My guess is that the LR4 is the lowest volume (perhaps second lowest after the LR2) product Land Rover makes, and currently they are so busy making Sports, Evoques and Range Rovers to fill up orders that manufacturing of the LR4 must be on the backburner for a few months / years, until they catch up. Land Rover is a relatively small company making some very hot products these days. The LR4 is not one of them, but it is affected all the same.

Umbertob,
Was it as difficult getting your 2013 LR4?

And yes the dealership had plenty of LR2, Evoques, and RRs.
I've tried to imagine the possibility of getting an LR2 instead of an LR4 but so far it hasn't warmed up to me.

Not difficult, but I had to special order it from the UK as no dealer had the exact model I wanted (a LUX with locking rear diff... I wasn't asking for much) and therefore I had to wait several months for them to build it and deliver it. Totally worth the wait for me, but if you must have a car today, well... Land Rover is no Lexus or Mercedes Benz as far as new cars inventory is concerned.

I ordered my 2014 LR4 the end of January. I will receive it in June. That is because I wanted a LUX model with the Heavy Duty and Vision Assist packages and not with a black interior. My dealership received 10 LR4s in the past month but all with black interiors.

In fact, if you can figure out how to buy one in the Denver area they have a number of LUXs on the lot. All either black or white w/ black interior. There is a loaded up LUX on their showroom floor which has enough accessories to put the cost at $75K (includes a 3rd party roof rack with lights for example.)

Part of the problem is that LR makes it nearly impossible to sell outside of your region. So a Denver dealership is only supposed to sell to people in Denver. But if you like one of the ones they have at Land Rover Denver maybe you can get your dealership to find a way to make it happen.

BTW, they have LOTs of Evoques. But RR Sports and FFRR are limited.

I also heard from someone in Scottsdale, AZ that people were paying $5K to getting on the waiting list to place an order for a full frame Range Rover and orders on those newer model FFRRs have taken as long as 10 months to get built and delivered.

As Umberto said, Land Rover is a smaller company and is maxed out trying to satisfy worldwide demand. Much of this demand is coming from Asia where Range Rovers and Land Rovers are status symbols. Huge demand in China.

I definitely don't need the car today, and could wait till Sept if I had to.
The config I want is HSE, HD, black design, vision assist, and climate comfort packages. There are several color choices I could use. So if an LR4 popped up on the radar chances are it won't be the one I want.

I'm leaning towards putting the order in and waiting, but the fact that I can't even test drive one of these is pretty crazy to me.
The GM keeps bringing up an issue they're having with exporters (saying the LR4 goes for $300k in China and they need to know everyones background who is interested in purchasing) as if that is affecting the availability.

Worst case scenario would be I put my order in, and by the time it's built it'd be the 2015 model and the 2015 model would be so different from the '14 version that I wouldn't want it. Unlikely for the '15 to be that different, but that is concerning to me given the ambiguity of the LR4 at the moment.

Never heard that issue! As for your order, how much do the require for a deposit? And as for the 2015 that is a bit of a gamble. But all of the 2015 talk has focused on the LR2. I would be very surprised if there are any significant changes to the body or the suspension or the engine. The engine was just changed this last year. Changing the body would be a huge deal and there certainly would have been leaks by now. The only other possible trickle down from the other models might be improvements to the Nav/Infotainment to interface with their new smartphone software. And I have heard that in all 2015 models you won't be able to turn off the Eco engine start/stop "feature". Maybe they'll open up the use of the paddle shifters in normal D mode. Maybe they'll offer a couple more colors.

I don't think they released info on the 2014 until September of 2013. So if you order one to be delivered in September I would be surprised if it would be a 2015 model. In fact, I don't think they have the ability to spec out an order for a 2015 model yet.

Do you have other dealerships in the area? It seemed to me that they don't all have the same allotment. So maybe there is another dealer that has more "slots" coming available.

danrhiggins said:

Never heard that issue! As for your order, how much do the require for a deposit?

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Refundable $1000.

And as for the 2015 that is a bit of a gamble. But all of the 2015 talk has focused on the LR2. I would be very surprised if there are any significant changes to the body or the suspension or the engine. The engine was just changed this last year. Changing the body would be a huge deal and there certainly would have been leaks by now.

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Great point, makes sense.

The only other possible trickle down from the other models might be improvements to the Nav/Infotainment to interface with their new smartphone software. And I have heard that in all 2015 models you won't be able to turn off the Eco engine start/stop "feature". Maybe they'll open up the use of the paddle shifters in normal D mode. Maybe they'll offer a couple more colors.

I don't think they released info on the 2014 until September of 2013. So if you order one to be delivered in September I would be surprised if it would be a 2015 model. In fact, I don't think they have the ability to spec out an order for a 2015 model yet.

Do you have other dealerships in the area? It seemed to me that they don't all have the same allotment. So maybe there is another dealer that has more "slots" coming available.

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I was thinking the same thing. There are 3 dealers within 30 miles, and 5 dealers total within 100 miles.
I'm going to contact them all about when the soonest possible order date is and plan to put down the deposit with whoever has first availability.

That was helpful, thanks Dan.

You should at least contact every local dealer and verify that you want a vehicle and what your needs are. They can be on the look-out for what you are wanting.

I was in the same boat as Dan except my dealer had a vehicle come in with everything I wanted in colors I could live with that someone decided they didn't want. I was the first person they called and was able to have a vehicle the last 3 months vs waiting till next month.

I just checked local inventory from the SoCal dealers near me that usually have plenty of stock, Encino, South Bay, Pasadena... They don't have squat either, just a bunch of Evoques, LR2s and 150K RR Autobiographies. Methinks there is a ship headed for Oxnard and full of Land Rovers that's sailing late, big time.