Soon To Be New LR4 Owner

[darbison]

Hey guys!

I’ve been in the market for a new car for awhile. I’ve done a TON of research on Defenders (importing, fixing, etc) but couldn’t convince the wife. Bummed, but happy wife, happy life.

So, I expanded my search to include off-road vehicles that I could take on road trips with the fam and daily drive. I did a ton of test-driving and narrowed it down to a JLU Wrangler and the LR4. Any of the new Land Rovers were out of budget. Wife and I are leaning towards 2016 LR4 for a bunch of reasons.

I’ve been reading up on LR4s for the past 60-days, looked at builds, figuring out where issues might be, but had some questions for all you guys as I continue my understanding/knowledge to make sure I find the right vehicle.

1) Where should I be worried with the mileage for a used LR4? I’m looking at 2016s and some are pushing 50k (which seems to be pushing a lot of miles for a 3 year-old car).

2) When inspecting the car, any thing I can visibly watch for? For Defenders it was rust in key locations.

3) It sounds like it eats brakes for lunch, and they can be expensive. What’s a normal brake job cost at an independent?

4) Should I look into extended warranties on them?

5) Has anyone hacked the infotainment system?

Thanks, really appreciate it. Looking forward to learning a ton from the board.

Dan.

 

[ryanjl]

Not sure if you've read this, but if you plan on going off road, make sure to find one with the HD package. If you buy a 2016 without the HD package, it won't have a low range transfer case.

To your questions:

1. 50k wouldn't worry me, so long as it's well maintained. Land Rover "recommends" a 15k oil change interval, which can lead to problems, especially when those get pushed to 17k or 20k. If you can find one where someone changed the oil at intervals closer to 7k, that would be best.

2. Leaking coolant? Clunk when you hit the brakes from around 10mph? The front control arm bushings go in this around 70k miles, but some go sooner.

3. If you were looking to import a Defender, I'd like to imagine you can spin a wrench. The brake job on these isn't any more difficult than any other car. Not sure what an independent charges, but I can do it myself in a few hours. Parts would be the biggest expense.

4. Up to you. I had a CPO on mine, and in the 3 years I was under the coverage, I almost didn't get as much warranty work out of it as I paid extra for a car with CPO.

5. There's some place in Australia (?) that sells what looks to be the same maybe-janky, maybe-ok aftermarket Android head units that you can buy for a lot of vehicles now, but no one has hacked the OEM unit that I know of.

 

[darbison]

Thanks Ryan! Really appreciate the quick responses.

Yeah, that’s been the hardest option to find so far, HD pack/low range transfer case. About 1 in 20 vehicles have them. I’ll be taking this on forest service roads, off the path camping spots, but no rock crawling... I assume the HD option isn’t required, but is smart.

1) Great to know, I’ll rest a little easier but will ask for service records.

2) Yeah, I had heard the bushings can go... I’ll listen for the clunk. Is there any concerns about the air suspension? I read that some changes were made to put in a more robust compressor.

3) Yes, but usually the more modern cars I’ve deferred to the shops. That’s one of the reasons I liked the older Defenders, was some of the last cars to have minimal electronics. But will get my hands dirty with this one.

4) Yeah, CPO is a higher price tag and less inventory to choose from... but that piece of mind is nice.

5) I think I’ve seen those guys on YouTube. I’m gonna do some more explorations on options as after test driving a few, the UI is pretty rough.

What made you select your vehicle?
Did you make any updates/mods to it?
Anything you’d change?

Thanks once again!

 

[ryanjl]

I'd still look for one with the HD package. It doesn't cost anything but your time searching right now, and there will be a point in the future, depending on how long you own it, where the LR4 will trickle down into the price range of Joe Sixpack Overlander, and the non-HD models won't be worth anything compared to the HD ones in terms of resale value.

2. The air compressor was changed from Hitachi to AMK in around 2011. The AMK units are supposedly more reliable, but the one in mine went out at around 70k miles. They aren't too hard to do a DIY, but mine was still under CPO at the time, so the dealer did it.

3. An indispensable tool for a DIYer on a modern Land Rover is the IID tool from GAP diagnostic. Lets you check /reset all codes, make some changes, recalibrate ride height, go into service modes, program new key fobs, etc.

4. There are some 3rd party warranties out there. I think some are even better than CPO, because CPO doesn't cover the control arm bushings and some 3rd party warranty companies do. I don't know much about them, though, but others on here have them.

I bought my LR4 as a CPO from my local dealership. I could have searched nationwide to get exactly what I wanted, but I wanted to establish a relationship with my local, the price was right, they worked with me on my trade, and everything worked out copacetic.

The only things I'd want different are the color (mine is black, which is a PITA to keep clean and easy as hell to scratch in an automatic car wash), and I don't have the HD package, which, on my 2012, just means I don't have the rear locker. In the 2013 and earlier models, all LR4s have a low range transfer case, and the HD package was just the rear locker. Starting in 2014, you had to have the HD package to get both of those things.

Still, mine has been great. I've taken it on trails all over Colorado. The only thing I've really done is some skid plates, some Terrafirma sliders (really just sill protectors--there are better sliders out there), and some stock size all terrain tires.

 

[navigare]

Yeah, that’s been the hardest option to find so far, HD pack/low range transfer case. About 1 in 20 vehicles have them. I’ll be taking this on forest service roads, off the path camping spots, but no rock crawling... I assume the HD option isn’t required, but is smart.

If you’ve been thinking about importing anyway, how about a European version? I believe many more had it here...