jlach993
Full Access Member
or Doug DeMuro
LR4...the best. Still
- Thread starter Rene Koesler
- Start date
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or Doug DeMuro
Rene Koesler
Active Member
Yes, I have the HD package. It took me months to find a last year build 2016 LR4 with the HD package and low miles somewhat close to my location. Seems they are very rare these days. Nobody seems to care about a full size spare wheel/tire, rear locker, and transfer case. Guess nobody much goes off-road. My local dealer also said they don't do off-road events any more! Sad! I really used to enjoy those events. They also don't use their own "off-road track" any longer to display the Land Rover's capability! WTH happened? Guess TATA isn't into that stuff? Until I got the LR4 I hadn't had a LR for 10 years so these changes surprised me. Even the dealerships are now just a sterile car showroom instead of having the old style mountain cabin adventure look. All so damn sad!
Socialseb83
Full Access Member
Please tell me more about this. It sounds awesome. So it was an off-road experience more than just a shopping experience back in those days?
My dealer had a mini-mountain in their lot that they would take you up and over on a test drive. (Salesperson driving this part) I recall nearly hanging sideways from the LR3 seat belt. Then the mini-mountain went away.
Local LR dealership still resembles a mountain cabin but they were just bought by a big multi-dealer conglomerate that plans to move the LR dealership down the road.
They used to rent a sand & gravel pit on a weekend and have some ex-Camel trophy driver come and set a course that included huge holes, steep climbs & descents.
Sadly, that annual event went away too.
Local LR dealership still resembles a mountain cabin but they were just bought by a big multi-dealer conglomerate that plans to move the LR dealership down the road.
They used to rent a sand & gravel pit on a weekend and have some ex-Camel trophy driver come and set a course that included huge holes, steep climbs & descents.
My local dealer still has an annual off-road event. They have it here: http://www.ksrockspark.com/
This is a video the dealer produced from this last year's, where it was muddy as hell.
Arrive at the dealership, eat some bagels and drink some coffee, then caravan about an hour and twenty minutes south to that off-road park. Wheel for a few hours, then go to a nice big picnic building where they have a catered lunch brought in and give away some raffle prizes. All free.
Not sure if they still have the off-road "mountain" at the dealership. Here's a video someone posted of it a few years ago:
Since then, however, the entire dealership got remodeled and I haven't checked out the whole place to know if they kept it.
This is a video the dealer produced from this last year's, where it was muddy as hell.
Arrive at the dealership, eat some bagels and drink some coffee, then caravan about an hour and twenty minutes south to that off-road park. Wheel for a few hours, then go to a nice big picnic building where they have a catered lunch brought in and give away some raffle prizes. All free.
Not sure if they still have the off-road "mountain" at the dealership. Here's a video someone posted of it a few years ago:
Since then, however, the entire dealership got remodeled and I haven't checked out the whole place to know if they kept it.
Last edited:
Socialseb83
Full Access Member
I wonder if they do this in Houston
manoftaste
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2006
- Posts
- 618
- Reaction score
- 194
Yeah, they really have screwed it up, whats left of it all here is just overly expensive, mediocrely put together (bad build quality), overly-styled (with intentional "built-in obsolescence" as far as design and parts' life span), all-wheel-drive "cars" with high centers of gravity.
And yes its true that stealerships are not required anymore to have an offload course, I recently confirmed this with one of my local stealerships here in LA which already has an offload course, but of course is not being used anymore.
I have said it somewhere else that if I were a millionaire and had cash to throw away, given their current state as far as reliability, durability, and build quality (all of which truly reflects LR' current philosophy as proof is always in the pudding) I'd never buy a Range Rover product ($100k+ product) purely based on principal and principal alone. Because if I did that, I'd simply be playing my part in encouraging an automotive joint, and others along the way, to continue to produce-to-sell vs innovate-to-create better products.
As of now, unfortunately, as I do more research for a replacement for my 4 when the time comes, an LC or an LX570 has started to look quite good. And the more I find out about these two the more I am intrigued at how ridiculously over-engineered and trustworthy these things are primarily due to the known TPS (Toyota Production System).
Rene Koesler
Active Member
Yes! they have screwed it up! BIG! "ryanjl" hit the nail on the head with his description of how all dealerships used to have FUN and what LR ownership used to mean. Even the few "oldtimers" left at my dealership miss the old days and don't mind telling you so, at least in private!
The general manager at my local dealership went somewhere out west for the US dealer D5 launch and test drives. When he came back, he quietly told me that anybody that owns an LR3 or LR4 will never buy a D5. He said that LR corporate took aim at the family SUV market and didn't care about LR3/LR4 owners. He was certainly correct after spending just a couple of days with the new D5.
