1998 Range Rover 4.0


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i think i can pretty much write a review about anything so i will write a review on the truck i hate with a passion. :devil: just to spread the word on how much range rovers suck!

Make: Land Rover

Model: Range Rover 4.0

Year: 1998

Engine: 4.0L V-8 ~180HP, 4-speed automatic

Price: around $46,000 (when it was purchased 6 years ago)

98409031990106LRG.jpg

everything you see here is what she has, except hers is forrest green.

My aunt drives a 1998 model which she bought when it was only 20,000 miles old (was a lease car) the truck is in its 6th year now and its ready to die.

options:

Sun roof

privacy glass

16" alloy wheels

clarion 6 CD, 6 speaker stereo system

roof rack

rear tail light shrub guards

front shrub guards

standard:

leather interior w/ wood trim

driver and passenger air bags

ABS

air bag suspension

HDC (hill decent control)

radio controls on steering wheel

8 way powered front seats

climate controlled AC w/ seat warmers

fully adjustable steering wheel

full flat fold down rear seats

4 cup holders

powered mirrors and windows

auto leveling suspension

and everything else you can think of execpt for the DVD and GPS things.

(Y)s

it is the best when it comes to offroading, when you're ready just switch the gears over and you can just about go anywhere you want.

(N)s

horrible gas milage (i'll let that one slide, it's only obvious)

the 4 cup holders are centered in the centel console but they're only wide and deep enough to carry 12oz soda cans anything else wont fit or it'll tip over on the smallest turn or bump.

if the battery dies, everthing must be reset, i mean re-entering the pin number for the radio,.. basically you have to teach the ****ing car what the buttons do, even the window buttons, it has to be re-programmed so that when you press it twice it opens the window at once. that also goes for a few sensors on the car.

it is a very uncomfortable ride no matter how you adjust the seats

the seatbelts lock constantly so you have to be very carefull how fast/hard you pull on the belt to put it on, lean foreward too much and bam it locks and you'll have to unbuckle yourself and buckle up again.

we've had to replace the sun roof rails twice (each time it cost $2,000)

the light bulbs constantly burn out and it's a bitch to replace them

the sensors that tell you that a light is out always gives you incorrect information.

horrible handeling, go over 75MPH and good luck keeping it straight

very noisy for a "luxury SUV"

you have to constantly change the temperature for the AC because it's always too cold or warm.

there is a constant clicking in the engine when you have the AC on because the AC belt is hooked up to one of the drive belts so every few seconds it will click when the belt rotates so many times and clicks again when it has spun so many times again.. more like every 15 seconds.

Cargo space.. :huh: WHAT CARGO SPACE???

the window controls are backwards (literally) first its place inconviniently (sp?) in the center consol, if you want to open the front windows, you have to press on the button that is farthest back, but you press on the up (^) part of the button to put the window down, confused? it's ok, just don't ever buy one of these.

the last thing about this car (that i can remember at this time) is how you pay over $50,000 for a truck like this and IT DOESN'T COME WITH POWER DOOR LOCKS :o YES LADIES AND GENTS THIS VEHICLE DOES NOT COME WITH POWER DOOR LOCKS, you have to unlock the car yourself. even the cheapest kias come with power door locks.

Other:

the dealer is just as bad as the car, everytime we go to get it fixed for multiple things including regular service it always comes back with something else broken. so we went to two other range rover dealers and all of them have horrible service, they don't even fill up your tank or wash it for you.

you'd think after spending that much money on a truck like that, that you'd at least expect good service.

it might look good from the outside, but its a POS car :crazy: i wish it would get hit by a train. i swear i would rather drive a daewoo than drive that **** rover.

if you're still not convinced on how crap that truck is. before we bought it, she was looking at a white gold colored range rover and it had problems with the air bag warning, it was replaced 3 times and eventually it was never fixable so the car was basically unsellable and destroyed because of some regulations. before she had this 98 rover she had a 1991 Range Rover which had so many transmission problems i lost count and the cost it took to fix it everytime had cost her almost double what she had paid for the entire car. even the one she has now, in the 6 years she had it i would estimate she has spent over $20,000 on maintainence and repairs. PLUS!! this truck is only at 80,000 miles currently, she drove only 60,000 miles (1,000 every year) that is just very sad, that a car that doesn't put on more than 2,000 miles a year has so many problems with it.

My uncle and my dad are both mechanics, my dad a former chief mechanic for BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, and his brother who is currently manager and cheif mechanic at a mitsubishi factory, both said that the range rover is a HORRIBLE truck.

with all this i still see so many people in LA driving them, maybe its becuase they have the money and it's a "get out of my way, ignorrant range rover driver coming through"

ok, i'm done :) comments?

EDIT:

i should have taken out the year in the title, this review works on any Range Rover model starting from 1991 up to 2002. Since 2002 Land Rover was bought out by BMW so that they can develop their X5 and then later sold it to Ford Motor Co. The new rovers are designed by Ford and carry BMW X5 engine. i would think reliability has improved by now, but i won't be able to test it because we're never getting another rover, i hope not.

EDIT #2:

i gave this more thought and i've been completely biased about this car, but i think i should give it a small chance. Besides the car being to unreliable and just designed very stupidly this truck is excellent at off-roading as i found out when i took the car to a little "off-roading" when my parents weren't home, i switched into th LO gear and it was a fun ride and very scary at the same time because it felt like it was going to tip over, but the air bag suspension worked and i saw it in action maintaining the vehicles balance. This is the only part of the vehicle that i actually like, i liked the handeling of going up the hill and it did not roll backwards when i let off the gas.

I also noticed and used for the first time the "sports" button, all it does is just shift at higher RPM's, imo it's not a big feature, if i wanted to, i can just push the accelerator all the way down and still get the same effect.

Edited by Vice King
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Range Rovers are by FAR the most unreliable cars you could ever purchase for it's price.

You'd expect to get a whole lot of car for US$75,000 to US$80,000.

Range Rovers are never suggested. Now BMW X5 4.8is, that's a powerful car that will crush the Range Rover, and is cheaper too :yes: And NO, I don't just say that because I drive a BMW. ;)

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I don't like the Range Rovers. No offence but they are a expensive looking piece of crap. They have a cheap look to them but cost alot.

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I had to drive a Range Rover for a week when I was getting my truck worked on and I must say, it sucked. It was a '98 and drove like a corncob in the wind. And I agree with your statement about going over 75, I'll admit, I'm apt to drive about 15 over the speed limit on the interstate and if you got over 75 that thing would be all over the road.

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The new Range Rover looks ok but I've heard some horror stories.

please share your horror stories, if they're any different than mine. i dont believe this truck can be any worse

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I can't remember where I heard them from, whether from neowin or another board so I apologize if you've read this before.

What I heard was that the suspension broke when the person was driving his new Range Rover home from the dealership, and later the wireless security system malfunctioned so that the person could not unlock the car.

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horrible gas milage (i'll let that one slide, it's only obvious)

My boss had one of these, ?150 (GBP) a week he was putting in it!!!

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I can't remember where I heard them from, whether from neowin or another board so I apologize if you've read this before.

What I heard was that the suspension broke when the person was driving his new Range Rover home from the dealership, and later the wireless security system malfunctioned so that the person could not unlock the car.

my aunts issue was the airbags.. unrepairable!!

and i still can't get over that they don't have an automatic door lock

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  • 3 weeks later...

Geez, sounds like there are alot of haters on this board. You are somewhat right however. If you are looking to buy a used Range Rover then purchase one after the 2000 model year. They switched over to a more reliable Bosch engine management system. But I have heard people with some serious issues with the earlier versions of this model. I also know there are some from the same period that keep on trucking to this day that have hardly had any problems. With the 2nd generation it seems you either get a good one or a bad one so you should always check service history when buying used.

The 2nd generation RR (1995-2002) did have its faults. The new RR is a much higher quality piece and has one of the most beautiful and luxurious interior in the industry. The interior materials are of much higher quality than what you will find in a BMW 7-series or Mercedes S-Class.

The new RR also rides and handles like a luxury car thanks to its new independent front and rear suspension, which btw also offer greater articulation in the rough stuff (off-road) with new cross-linked air-suspension than the previous solid axles.

It also uses BMW engines and electronics.

WKA2003102132420_pv.jpgWKA2003102132085_pv.jpg

You'd expect to get a whole lot of car for US$75,000 to US$80,000.

Range Rovers are never suggested. Now BMW X5 4.8is, that's a powerful car that will crush the Range Rover, and is cheaper too? And NO, I don't just say that because I drive a BMW.

Watch out for the new 450hp Jaguar powered Land Rover Range Stormer then. This is a concept but the production version is due out in January 2005.

Range Stormer

WKA2004010539661_pv.jpgWKA2004030228100_pv.jpg

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You bought a USED Land Rover. How do you know the first owner didn't beat the **** out of it? I'm sorry, but you can't give a fair review on a car that is used.

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You bought a USED Land Rover. How do you know the first owner didn't beat the **** out of it? I'm sorry, but you can't give a fair review on a car that is used.

Exactly. I bought a used defender with the aim of doing it up. It was less than 10 years old but was suffering from chassis rot, lots of the bolts were rusted shut and it had obviously never seen a hose on the underneath before as there were massive mud deposits all over it.

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It also uses BMW engines and electronics.

that alone will turn me away from buying a new BMW or Range Rover, have you seen the number of people who have problems with the electronics in their BMW? my friends dad has a 745li and he's had to replace the entire dashboard 4 (FOUR) times becuase of electornic problems. and he's not the only one. even my uncles 98 750il has a few electronic problems.

also, if you read, i wrote that she bought it with less than 20,000 miles and had a clean record! the first owner drove less than 20k and then gave it back to the dealer. Since there was a problem with a RR that she was trying to buy (they couldn't fix the airbad warning light) we'd come to the lot almost everyday and that's when she saw the one she has now.. bought it about a week after it was returned. it was still under warrenty and had two complementary service done to it. at the time.

edit:

this isn't her first Range Rover either, she bought a 1991 RR when it was brand new. white on tan leather, had the grill package and everything, absolutely beautiful, but after a month of driving.. constant breakdowns.

why did the guy return it? i don't know, but i do know something and that is a lot of people will lease brand new cars for a few months and retrurn it and keep doing it until they find the car they like and buy it. that's what my uncle does all the time. leases for 3 months, about 3-4 cars then picks the one he likes and buys it.

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Range Rovers and Rovers are notorious for breaking down, being un-reliable and of poor quality (like most British made cars). I've owned 2 Rovers - worst cars I've owned, thought the first one was just a lemon but the 2nd one turned out worse. Never ever again will I buy a British car.

Also like most British cars - too under powered. Tiny V8 engines, they struggle with the weight and lack of power.

And they love to rust.

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i dont like the rover, its over priced and it looks like crap... and it doesnt have a hole lot of power

so true

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