Impressions after Renting a Range Rover HSE
 

So I wanted to share some of my impressions of a Loire Blue on Noble Brown 2017 Range Rover HSE I was able to rent last week for 4 days. As an owner of a '13 Lexus GS350 sedan, it was quite a different kind of ride (which was my expectation) Here are some of the most standout things about the Range Rover:

1. Comfort: Around town and on the highway, its a very comfortable SUV, taking NYC potholes with class.
2. Luxury: Most materials used are well made (console trim, wood steering, buttons/dials, knobs, handles, leather).
3. Drive-ability: It is a very large SUV so city driving feels a bit more challenging than in a sedan. Its more nimble than expected. Excellent road isolation and characteristics on the highway.
4. Cargo Area: Excellent space but that was expected for the size of this thing!
5. Gas Mileage: Was decent considering the size/weight, the supercharged V6 got around 19MPG in mixed city/highway driving.
6. Seating Position: Seats and seating positions are outstanding. Can't speak to the rear seats but room seems ample.
7. Visibility: Was excellent from the front, side mirrors and through the rear
8. Prestige: The car has a very "rich" feel if that makes sense. It screams opulence and has that snob-appeal.

The not so great:

1. I understand it was a rental, but some of the materials were showing wear and tear - driver side window buttons were peeling, the start/stop button looked like it was on a car with 100k+ miles. My rental had 27K miles.
2. The Driver door hinge had an embarrassingly loud creaking noise when opening and closing. Maybe some lubricant could fix.
3. The infotainment system was a bit sluggish. The touchscreen response was a bit underwhelming.
4. There was some vibration at certain highway speed (but I attributed this to maybe an alignment issue or possible an out of round wheel).
5. The vehicle weight (5000+ lbs) can be felt particularly when braking.
6. The stop/start feature when in Drive and stopped completely seems like its more troublesome than beneficial. I believe it can be turned off.
7. One of the rear vanity lights stayed lit for 5-10min after I opened my drivers door, got in, and starting driving to my destination. It went off after shutting the car off and back on.

When I spoke to the owner of the rental car company (its a smaller local business), he said his other full size Range Rovers have suspension issues and that the Range Rover Sport models in his fleet were more reliable from his experience. All his Range Rover / Range Rover Sport vehicles are just a couple years old with under 30k miles.

Overall, I thought it was a great vehicle. There is definitely that "fussy-ness" factor that has plagued Jaguar/Land Rover products over the years but if you can get over them, the Range Rover is really in a class by itself. I understand there is certainly a premium to be paid for the brand/prestige regardless of how fussy or reliable it might be.

I would consider a Range Rover / Range Rover Sport in the future but would definitely keep my good 'ol reliable Lexus GS sedan as a secondary ride :D.

range rovers are especially expensive since you need to get 2 of them, so one can be driven while the other is being fixed

they really are fabulous vehicles when they're working haha... i actually don't think the seats themselves are especially noteworthy, no better than what's in a land cruiser, which still means they're very good

Most unreliable POS vehicle I've ever been around. My sister had one until she ended up giving it away to her neighbor in a rage. There is no excuse for the number of issues she had, it's not a sports car and at the price she paid, close to 100K, the thing should work flawlessly. F Landrover.

doug demuro essentially single handidly ruined good value carmax warranities after over $17k in repairs had to be done over a 5 year period to his range rover, all at the expense of carmax! not bad for a $3500 warranty or wherever it was

How did that ruin the warranty? :uh: He actually made out quite well. And it was also good for CarMax...it gave them good PR, and showed the public that they were willing to stand behind the warranty even if they lost money on it.

im not saying carmax got ruined I'm saying things got ruined for everyone else since carmax made their warranties more expensive after seeing what doug got away with lol

I understand your point on them raising the cost of warranty (at least on Range Rovers) to keep from losing more money, but, IMO, Doug did not "Get Away" with anything....he simply used what he paid for.

I thought that you were going to suggest that you drive one and keep the other to cannibalise for spare parts.

You can't blame Doug Demuro for ruining CarMax warranty, you blame it on Land Rover, it's their fault for making an unreliable piece of **** car. Embarassing for a car that breaks down when it never sees off road at all.

i'm not blaming doug i'm just saying that he brought much more attention to the matter, their warranties for those types of cars are much more expensive now lol

oh and it certainly doesn't need to see off road in order to break down, a decent gust of wind or simply the sun setting is often enough to make something go wrong... "they have the durability of a potato chip" is what i've heard someone once say

Based on this thread, I better not buy another one (sarcasm). Still driving my 2nd one, a 2011 in fact, out of warranty. Better knock on wood today and pray that it does not break down.

I’d buy another one in a heartbeat. There is a reason why even with all of the unreliability naysayers, it STILL has some of the highest loyalty (repeat buyers/lessors) and resale values (multiple ALG rewards) in the industry. Carry on...

My buddy made a comment what college did he go to, as in buying an unreliable vehicle, then bragging about how many repairs it needed, was a sign of being less intelligent, not more. I guess human beings need to redeem poor decision-making somehow? lol Like me, I sold facebook stock at 41. I can brag about how much I made on VMW (on paper), but it doesn't really negate my poor decision to sell facebook at 41 (I had it at 19 and had bought more in the 20's, not good, scary actually).

I thought the range rover was tiny on cargo, smaller than a CR-V? Although I'll be the first to admit I cannot discern the various models they offer. I know that every gen of X5 is tiny, and I thought Range Rovers were about the same

Always one person. Your experience is not the norm by far, there's a reason why the car has poor reviews on reliability because it's a fact Range Rovers are pieces of ****. They are status symbols that's it, the only reason my sister even got one is because she's a rich Tech Exec and wanted something that "Matched her status". Now she has a G Wagon which I also think is stupid but at least that thing has been reliable.

Ha! I bought Facebook at $36, sold it at $17 :egads: Thought it was all hype and it wouldn't recover. Oh well...wish I had that one back!

Sorry to hear that your fam had an awful experience for 100k at least it shouldn't leave you stranded or be in the shop often...Its absolutely correct that the Range Rover, G Wagon and other high end vehicles in this category are status symbols. I've always been a Toyota/Lexus guy but none of the their SUVs appeal to me for some reason - to me the current RX has too many angles, the GX is long in the tooth, the highlander is one of the most popular Uber cars in my area--just everywhere no uniqueness, Rav4 no thanks.

I've driven a slew of Lexus RX350's (2012-2016), the Audi Q7 (2016), Cadillac XT5 (2018), BMW X5 (2013), Range Rover Sport (2011 and 2017), Jaguar F-Pace (2017), and the Full Size Range Rover (2017) all for a week or more.

The Range Rovers standout the most for some reason..the way they handle, their driving characteristics and how substantial they feel (really no tinny or cheap feel anywhere). But their reliability is terrible unfortunately. I'd only ever consider one with an extended warranty (and I still had my trusty Toyota in the garage).

sounds like you have a lemon