Narsisco Lopez
New Member
Hey Robert,
To specifically address timing chain issues, I would like to clarify that it's the timing chain GUIDES that tend to go bad. They're made of delrin/plastic and were not engineering too well. This issue is mainly in the earlier years of the LR4 and the problem presents itself as sound similar to tappet valve noise because the guides begin to rattle and knock.
Generally (and ironically), LR4s over 100K miles will mostly have already presented all the known (and expensive) problems/issues, so if the vehicle is still running strong, the odds are good that these issues have already been addressed. Of course (and as others have stated), the absolute first step is to visually-inspect the vehicle, immediately followed by the Carfax. While some Carfaxs will show very little, a LOT can be inferred... from too many owners too quickly, to large gaps in service records. Even when it appears obvious that the vehicle has been regularly deal-serviced, it's not always evident what the details are/were.
As with any technical skill, proficiency in evaluating any used car can only really come from experience. A compiled checklist (crowd-sourced or otherwise) will still, at best, be a general guideline. Evaluating a used vehicle is HIGHLY subjective with an almost infinite number of variables. If you are serious about a particular vehicle and, after you've exhausted your online research options, you still feel uncertain, the absolute BEST next step is a professional used car evaluation, preferably by an authorized Land Rover service center or a Land Rover mechanic with proven experience. These generally run on average about $150 and is money well-spent.
With that said, what a lot of other vehicle enthusiast forums tend to do is create many stickies with the top tier issues and problems. I have been a serious Adventure motorcyclist and have been a member of ADVRider for many years. Its members are crazy-**** about motorcycle maintenance, so there's a lot of data-driven posts/stickies for newcomers to scan and research.
I JUST bought a 2011 LR4 this past Saturday in the Denver market and scanned this forum (and the 2 other big ones ;-) while I was doing my research. While there are a few stickies, I would REALLY love to see a lot more contribution to them in the way of issue reporting, repair tips, etc. Yes, there is a lot of this within the various threads here, but I know this backend software intimately (I'm a web software developer/engineer) and can tell you its search engine blows. So many valuable threads get quickly buried and lost in time. I'd love to see your matrix become part of a sticky here so that people like you and I have a first stop before making an expensive mistake!
