PURCHASING A 2012 LR4 HSE OVERLAND BUILD

[fdbjorn]

Hi Rover Community,

I am currently in the process of purchasing my first used Land Rover 2012 LR4 HSE w/ 118,000 miles on it from CarMax Wholesale Auction for $5,700.
This vehicle will be used for adventures for my toddler and growing family.
I totally understand this model has its common issues (timing chain, coolant pipes, etc) and it will always be a risk.
I did pull the Carfax with no accidents & 2 owners.
We had a mechanic take a listen to the engine and do a quick inspection and he found no concerning sounds/chain slack.
We checked the undercarriage and seems dry w/o scratches to the skid plate.

My concern is "What seems to be the common timing chain and coolant pipe lifetime?"

I have reached out to some Landrover specialists and they seem they do not want to touch the timing chain or feel it's not worth their time.
My goal is to eventually make those replacements but what are the experiences of the community with their original parts?

I would love any thoughts, advice, or concerns about this LR4 purchase.
Btw, the vehicle is located in Pasadena, CA.

 

[BBLR3]

The answer is: It depends. Your going to find that replacement parts to mileage varies across the board.

Im at 178k and have done the front coolant pipes twice, water pump, thermostat, and the rear pipe once. Havent done chains yet as I have minimal noise and I checked for chain slack when I did my valve cover gaskets last year. Everything felt good so I'm still going. I change my oil 3k-4k and use 5w30 instead of JLR spec. Dont know if thats helped the chains or not, but so far so good and Im sticking with it.

If its me buying that, first thing I'm doing at a minimum is the water pump, thermostat, front and rear pipes, and go from there.

 

[ugmw177]

agree. If I were purchasing this, before driving it much, i would replace front coolant crossovers, rear heat manifold, thermostat housing and related pipes/hoses and water pump including plastic line to oil cooler. IF these items fail, you could be looking at a new engine. Timing chains usually become noisy or start showing you p0016,p0018 before failure.

 

[fdbjorn]

thank you both for sharing your experience and thoughts!

I am decent with the tools but i’ll probably look into different shops in SoCal. before getting quotes, any ballpark on how much coolant pipes would cost?

 

[f1racer328]

I have 137k on my 2013. Original timing chain with zero issues so far. You can open the oil fill cap and tug on the timing chain, however that isn’t really a scientific way to check it.

Keep up on the oil changes, and replace the cooling system parts that everyone has mentioned. I’ve been running Mobil 1 5W-20.

I just replaced the front and rear crossover pipes for the second time, along with another water pump, and accessory belt. I paid $2300 for that, and an additional $700 for an oil leak. This was in Arizona at Rov N Techs.

I off road mine a lot, and am actually going out on another overlanding trip later this month. LR4s are great if you can stomach the maintenance costs. Helps to DIY a lot too.