Almost traded in the 328IC for a Range Rover HSE today.

carcus · Jan 13, 2004

Thought about getting a bigger vehicle for the family, saw a nice green 97 Range Rover HSE today for about 20K. Did some research on them and saw that they are not the best for being reliable. Dealer got the key for me to look at the SUV, turned the key, would not start, said battery low on the display, needless to say, I walked away, he looked at me like, "What is wrong?" I really need to stay away from high maintenance vehicles. The 328IC is getting pretty small for the family, kid is growing fast.....I love the BMW, don't get me wrong.....just glad I steered clear of the Range Rover. Started having Mercedes ML320 flash backs..... [:(!]

I have never owned a English car, frind has a 2003 Jag, but it has a Ford engine in it.

Anyone have any experience with Range Rovers? Curious.....I was really interested in the vehicle, just the experience scared the hell out of me, it was a 97, had 64K miles on it, trying to get a test drive and it will not start....not a good way to sell a vehicle, I also hear they are pretty EXPENSIVE to maintain. BTW, there are not many foreign car mechanics that work on British vehicles out here. Might be looking at a Lincoln Navigator.....dunno....just kinda stuck out here...summer is coming up though and taking the top down on the BMW is nice. [;)]

codex57 · Jan 13, 2004

I don't hear very good things about the Range Rover's reliability but it could just be that since it's British, if something goes wrong, people make more out of it. It sure is pretty though. Older ones are on the gutless side though for such an expensive vehicle.

Kirby · Jan 13, 2004

My brother in law and my sister in law's husband both had Range Rovers a few year back. I don't know the details, but they were not real happy with them. The Range Rovers were replace with BMWs. Brother in law got a 3 series Sport Wagon just before their first baby was born, sister in law's husband has a X5.

CTBMW · Jan 13, 2004

Beautiful, but not Reliable!
I have a friend who keeps saying Volvo-any year.
Ford, cheap to get into-no resale/ quality.
You and I know you want BMW.. look for one. Volvo has more than proven it's reliability and resale though. AND!! I understand they are very safe.
My Brother has a Subaru wagon -loves it!
British is something you buy on the side, not something you send your Family out in! look at Edmunds, or Consumers for reliability scores.
Just my thoughts.
-M

kpytoi9 · Jan 14, 2004

my advice is to get a lexus suv or an infiniti, relatively cheap maintenace compared to range rover and bmw and also it is very reliable

Abdoman · Jan 14, 2004

Range Rover was purchase by BMW, then sold last year. I believe the 02 and 03 are mainly BMW parts, including the engine - same engine that is in the 740.

carcus · Jan 15, 2004

Yep, the new Rover looks pretty sweet, I thought BMW ended all ties with them after the new design. The 97 I was looking at, I heard Ford was running the show then. Needless to say, I never went back for another look, just said it was for the best, the air suspention was something that gave me flashbacks from my Lincoln Mark VIII......guess I will hang with the BMW for now. At least until I find a nice X5 at a decent price. [;)]

I never really liked the Lexus SUV, my friend has one, just does not do it for me I guess, if I have to get out of the BMW vert for a bigger, family SUV that can take some bad weather and Mississippi mud and coastal floods......well than again.....routine maintenance would be nice if it was cheap also....the X5 is not cheap from what I hear either...good engine though.

ODDferkOUT · Jan 15, 2004

My brother has a '94 Discovery....

...the first year he had it he spent about $5,000 in repairs. Mind you, he spent $8000 to buy the car. But since then the car runs perfect. Then again, it should for how much he spent to fix it. Hey.. is the ML really that bad? My mother was thinking about getting a used one...

codex57 · Jan 16, 2004

carcus said:

BMW sold Land Rover to Ford so a 97 shouldnt have any Ford influence at all. Unfortunately, I believe the 97 Range Rover V-8 is some ancient and relatively gutless GM motor. The Range Rover didn't get a decent engine til BMW stuck their V8 in the current model.

coyotefreek · Jan 16, 2004

Dont buy a used ML, the older ones (pre 2002) are complete crap. The newer ones are better but not that much.

carcus · Jan 16, 2004

coyotefreek said:

I second, third, and forth that.....my ML was nice inside......biggest POS I ever bought. I still have a pic of the bastitch......pisses me off every time I see one now. I will never buy another Benz, the dealership I dealt with was the worst dealership I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

It ran, for a few days over 3 months.....guess a StarMark Mercedes pre-owned vehicle means jack. The Mercedes mechanics were nothing more than typical "StarMark the vehicle, I don't have time to really check it, but make sure the stupid nimrod who buys the vehicle fills out our SPECIAL questionaire with EXCELLENT....after that, it's BEND OVER TIME!"

MrElussive · Jan 17, 2004

carcus, I am sorry you had a bad experience with it. We used to have a 1999 Mercedes ML430 that we got when the ML430 (V8 version of the ML) first came out. That ran flawless for the 3 years we owned it and so we got the 2002 ML500 (like 2 years ago). It has 23,000 miles on it and it has been absolutely flawless so far, as well. I think you just got really unlucky because Mercedes isn't that bad with reliability anymore (and I should know, we currently have three MB's).

coyotefreek · Jan 17, 2004

Its not Mercedes that was bad, just the pre 2002 ML Series. The 2002 and later were much better. We almost bought a 2002 ML500 but were worried about reliability from the previous years. While we could tell just by looking at the quality of the materials that it was much better built we still were worried. I havent heard to much bad about the newer ones. ML is getting a complete re design for 2005.

codex57 · Jan 17, 2004

Check the reliability reports and see what brought down Mercedes' score. MrElussive, you just got REAL lucky. Basically, made in America is NOT a good thing as compared to made in Japan or Germany/South Africa.

carcus · Jan 17, 2004

MrElussive said:

Glad you had better luck, my 98 ML320 was the worst quality of any vehicle I have owned....The V8 in the ML430 I am sure had more power to help out the weight as well. My ML used to curse at me in German.......I think it was the devil in that vehicle... [:0]

ODDferkOUT · Jan 17, 2004

Ah.. that changes my opinions on the car vastly. My mom loves the car, but she's not in the market for spending money on a new one yet. Anyone have any suggestions on a good luxo-SUV?

...aside from the X5 [thumb]

carcus · Jan 17, 2004

I am looking at a Navigator, maintenance is pretty cheap, lux is decent and the room is nice. My friend just got a 2003 Expedition, it is nice, pretty much the same with less lux than the Navigator. You can find a Lincoln for aroud 19K used.....99-00 model. Would be real nice to have a vehicle that is cheap to fix for a change. [;)]

The Range Rover, looked nice....but you have to expect it will cost an arm and a leg to repair. I really wanted it too. Just decided sometimes lux and looks are not always as good as form and function. Guess that is the wife talking to me....LOL.

ODDferkOUT · Jan 17, 2004

Yeah.. the Navigator is nice, but insurance will be a bitch for it.

E30 Kid · Jan 17, 2004

My Uncle has had quite a few Range Rovers...I think everything possible (plus some) broke or went wrong with it. But he continues to buy them. Whatever..haha it's his money.

Almost traded in the 328IC for a Range Rover HSE today.

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