My LR4 Journal

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CPalacay

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First off, I wanted to say thank you to all of the forum members who continue to post, respond, and continue to keep this place active. The Land Rover community is amazing and I can’t thank you enough for the breathe of knowledge you have shared.

Anyways, I wanted a place to document everything with my LR4 including maintenance and modifications so this will be it. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a build thread, probably more just sharing what I’ve fixed or modified based on the information I found on this forum.

So yeah, lets get started…

Background...
My wife and I had been wanting an LR4 for the past few years, but we were never actively searching. We didn’t really need a 3rd vehicle and we were managing with our current fleet, but the thought of owning a dedicated vehicle for outdoor activities seemed convenient. Having owned both a Disco I and then a Disco II in college and living through all the mechanical and tribulations our list of candidates was pretty short for what we had in mind, an LR4 or nothing.

The Vehicle…
December 2022 - I was traveling on business and was severely jet lagged. What else do you do but look up LR4s for sale, right? I came across a listing for a used LR4 HSE LUX and it caught my attention; 1 owner since new, 112K miles, California it’s entire life, clean CARFAX, regularly serviced at the same LR deaership until it was traded in. Just out of curiosity, I called the dealer and asked for a summary of the service records. Conversation went well and we went over all the maintenance records, verified timing chains and tensioners were not needed as of October 2022.

The Purchase…
After sending my wife details of the vehicle and the photos, I think we were both sold. The logistics of getting the vehicle home though, proved to be another story. I was in Tokyo for at least 2 more weeks, the LR4 was in Los Angeles, and home was in Seattle. I managed to negotiate a deposit on the vehicle and they would hold it until the end of January 2023. If I didn’t like it, I forfeited my deposit but I was okay with that. No harm no foul. With it being a Land Rover, my wife was insistent I bring tools with me. So rather than flying directly from Tokyo to Los Angeles, she wanted me to fly to Seattle, pick up tools, and then fly to Los Angeles. Who am I to argue with that rational, right?

Overall, the purchase went smoothly, albeit without some issues regarding keys. Before placing my deposit, I made sure to ask about a second set of keys plus keys to the factory hitch, plus keys to the roof rack. I was ensured they were all there but in the end they weren’t. After a bit of discussion they adjusted their price and the deal was done.

The Drive Home…
Is uneventful a good thing or a bad thing? I flew from Seattle to LAX on a Saturday morning after just flying in from Tokyo. The LR4 checked out fine and I just wanted to get home. 1600 miles from LA to Seattle with no issues, just a smooth and quiet drive home. I slept in the cargo area for a few hours but felt like a champ at 4 am! Totally uneventful drive but the LR4 gained some trust in the reliability secto.

Stay tuned for the last few months to ownership, where the honeymoon is over and we deal with the common LR4 issues…
 

Longtrail

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Congratulations and welcome back to the "club" :). It sounds like a great drive other than the jetlag which I know is brutal when getting back from Japan.
 

CPalacay

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As mention previously, the drive home was uneventful. The truck drove smoothly, no warning lights on the dash, and I made it home. What more could you ask for in a Land Rover?

My biggest issue was really the infotainment. Having lived with BMW’s attest iDrive iterations and wireless CarPlay, the LR4’s Bosche system left a lot to be desired.

On the plus side, the interior was plush and the ability to lay the rear seats flat was amazing. After several hours of driving and jetlag kicking in, I puled over just north of the Oregon-California state line and crawled in the back for some sleep around 2am.

By 4am I was up and back on the road, determined to just make it to Seattle. The plus side was that the roads were empty, nobody on the roads and the LR4 drove smoothly. No vibrations, no weird noises, no lights on the dash.

I pulled into the driveway around 7:30am completely exhausted. I went into the house and crawled into bed while my wife walked out to do her initial inspection of the money pit. Her expectations were low having lived through the Disco I and Disco II, her X5M used as her baseline. Surprisingly, she said it was nice and gave her blessing. Her only comment was that it needed a detailing. Go figure.
 

BigBriDogGuy

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Hi @CPalacay I'm in Bellingham, WA just up I-5 from you about 90 minutes (depending on traffic). Got my 2011 LR4 HSE Lux a couple of months ago with around 100,000 miles. Been on pins and needles most of that time. Had a couple issues early on, but it runs, drives, and stops just fine. Fun to have someone local that's into these rigs. Welcome.
 

Androomantoo

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Congrats and welcome to the club! I did something similar except I purchased from a rust-belt state and have some surface rust to take care of on the frame. Flew out at 8AM to Chicago and returned back home in KC around midnight.

My next LR purchase is definitely gonna be from southwest USA as you did, I look forward to the adventure!
 

CPalacay

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It’s been a minute since my last update, but it wasn’t long before the LR4 needed some attention.

After a few weeks of acclimating to the Seattle weather, I noticed the rear wiper was operating slower than usual. Then I was greeted with every warning light on the dash. By the time I pulled up to the driveway the battery was dead and the truck would barely crank over.

After a few searches on here, I ordered up an Odyssey H8 battery and a new alternator from NAPA. The price was decent for both and it would be here the next morning. I picked them up the next day on my way home from the office and went straight to work. The alternator was straight forward with the help of this forum and a few YouTube videos, 30mins for the removal and replacement. Next up, the battery.

To my surprise, the previous owner had already fitted an H8 battery. Out with the Interstate, in went the Odyssey. It’s been solid with no issues since.
 

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