BigBriDogGuy
Full Access Member
I was watching an episode of "LR Time" (second to last) and they brought up an interesting point. They were showing a chart with failure rates for the LR4s. Most vehicles have a failure rate plot line that looks like a "bathtub" while the LR4s have a line that looks like a bathtub with a single camel's *ump in the middle. Apparently, the reason for this is that vehicles will fail early on due to manufacturer's defects (typically under warranty) but then the remaining vehicles will hold fast until they get to their life expectancy and then the failure rate begins to climb again (thus the "bathtub"). So why the "*ump" in the middle for LR4s?
The host of the program believes the reason for the rise in failures during the middle years are due to the depreciation of the vehicles and later owners that can get into the LR4s cheaply, but can't afford to maintain them. He (Christian) was saying that the LR4s get incredibly cheap to buy once they get past their first or second owners (maybe third). Then people that normally would not be able to buy one snap them up, but they can't afford the expensive maintenance costs and the vehicles start to deteriorate and fail quickly (thus the "*ump").
The good news is that once that middle section gets run through, the vehicles go back to the normal "bathtub" curve. The failure rate plots out much like any other vehicle from that point forward. Christian described these later owners as "enthusiasts".
He also makes some interesting points about whether it is better to repair a component or replace it. He suggests that often times people think the solution is to replace entire components, but that opens up the door to those early failures due to manufacturer defects. Hearing that, it made me rethink my strategy a bit and wonder if some of the problems people have are due to pre-emptively replacing OEM parts with substandard or defective ones. Food for thought.
The host of the program believes the reason for the rise in failures during the middle years are due to the depreciation of the vehicles and later owners that can get into the LR4s cheaply, but can't afford to maintain them. He (Christian) was saying that the LR4s get incredibly cheap to buy once they get past their first or second owners (maybe third). Then people that normally would not be able to buy one snap them up, but they can't afford the expensive maintenance costs and the vehicles start to deteriorate and fail quickly (thus the "*ump").
The good news is that once that middle section gets run through, the vehicles go back to the normal "bathtub" curve. The failure rate plots out much like any other vehicle from that point forward. Christian described these later owners as "enthusiasts".
He also makes some interesting points about whether it is better to repair a component or replace it. He suggests that often times people think the solution is to replace entire components, but that opens up the door to those early failures due to manufacturer defects. Hearing that, it made me rethink my strategy a bit and wonder if some of the problems people have are due to pre-emptively replacing OEM parts with substandard or defective ones. Food for thought.