2008 Lr3 > 2005 Lr3?

[MPG_LR3]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum and hoping I can borrow some of wisdom of those who have come before me .

My wife and I have finally seen the light and are replacing a Honda Odyssey with a a proper truck and the LR3 is very high on our list. There is a beautiful 2008 LR3 HSE w/ 30,000mi available locally for a reasonable price.

Obviously I've gone through a lot of the posts here and on other LR3 sites and am familiar with the common (and significant) quality issues around the LR3 but I notice that most of the issues I read about are related to the 2005 and 2006 model years. Is it fair to say that the newer model years 2007-09 are generally of a higher quality with fewer issues than the older ones?

Thanks in advance for any insight you may be able to provide me!

Cheers,
Mike

 

[joecool509]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum and hoping I can borrow some of wisdom of those who have come before me .

My wife and I have finally seen the light and are replacing a Honda Odyssey with a a proper truck and the LR3 is very high on our list. There is a beautiful 2008 LR3 HSE w/ 30,000mi available locally for a reasonable price.

Obviously I've gone through a lot of the posts here and on other LR3 sites and am familiar with the common (and significant) quality issues around the LR3 but I notice that most of the issues I read about are related to the 2005 and 2006 model years. Is it fair to say that the newer model years 2007-09 are generally of a higher quality with fewer issues than the older ones?

Thanks in advance for any insight you may be able to provide me!

Cheers,
Mike

Most of the issues with the earlier models were fixed by the dealer. I have an 07 HSE and have Zero issues that needed to be fixed. I had an 05 and only took it in for recalls, not because I was having any problems. MY08 - My ashtray wouldn't retact and I had to have a speaker grill replaced as the clip broke. Very cosmetic. Biggest thing if finding a great dealer and an even better independent shop. Good luck.

 

[jjvd21]

You are correct in your assumption. 2007 + LR3's have far fewer issues compared to the early years. I have an '05 and have had numerous items fixed under warranty.

 

[EGRIZZLE]

I think you're safe to assume this is correct, although there will be plenty on here who will shoot that theory down. I spent some extra cash and went with an 07 versus an 05 or 06

 

[dantheman1]

2008's will have MUCH fewer problems than the 05's. Trust me, I have a stack of service receipts with failed parts that were replaced with newer, redesigned parts that come standard on the newer LR3's. You should have no problem's with an '08 model except for the usual wear and tear items.

 

[MPG_LR3]

Thanks folks for the quick responses!

Joecool, I am in Calgary, Alberta Canada and we are lucky to have a very good independent Rover shop in town that is well regarded.

I'd like to get an extended warranty if I purchase this truck but was told by a rep of Land Rover Canada that I wouldn't be able to purchase one on a vehicle imported from the U.S. (which this one is). Any fellow Canadians on here who could shed some light on this for me?

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[gtc]

Hi MPG_LR3 -

We have an '06 LR3 with 63k miles - a US vehicle in Canada! (Ontario) . There's no problem warrantying a US truck in Canada, though the price quoted by the dealership was pretty crazy - I think $5800 which would cover us to 100k kms (60k miles). I'm happy to do the small stuff myself, so I skipped the warranty - I'm likely in a rather severe minority as few people would suggest this. While it's true that the warranty does pay for itself quickly on major failures, I've yet to hear about too many - most people seem to have a lot of smaller stuff with rather outrageous price tags attached (ie, I just fixed out tail latch cable with some zip-ties and 3 hours of swearing; local LR dealership wanted $600 assuming they didn't break anything in the process). Granted, I'd still suggest getting a warranty if you can set one at a reasonable price....

Which brings us to warranties! Try to buy a US warranty, not a Canadian one! Do a little searching, but even the Canadian LR Assured warranty is actually a US warranty administered out of Atlanta (at least it was a few years ago when I had one with our previous LR). I asked the specific question when I was transferring my warranty - the company actually suggested that I visit a US dealership and get their pricing as it was significantly cheaper then buying the same warranty in Canada and the coverage was identical. You'll likely have to do some legwork and investigation to get it set it all up, but it should be feasible (may depend on getting an inspection, which might be problematic) - I'd start by calling the the Ford ESP plan (do a search on the forum) as it seems to be the best deal....

Good luck!

Brendon

 

[steve c]

We had one of the first 05's to roll off the boat and never had any problems with it. The dealer performed TSB related work during the normal scheduled servicing.

Our 08 has had a few issues, all annoying and not mechanical, mostly related to the stupid ******* memory seats having a mind of their own.

 

[MPG_LR3]

gtc...Thanks for the information!

I'm not sure if I fully understood what you are saying...are you talking about looking for a warranty prior to importing the vehicle into Canada? The LR3 in question is already here and has been for a few years. It is still covered by the original factory warranty which I know is honoured in Canada. Are you suggesting that I look to the U.S. to secure an extended warranty on a vehicle that's already here in Canada?

Sorry if I'm being obtuse ...Thanks for any clarification you could provide!

Cheers,
Mike

 

[gtc]

gtc...Thanks for the information!

I'm not sure if I fully understood what you are saying...are you talking about looking for a warranty prior to importing the vehicle into Canada? The LR3 in question is already here and has been for a few years. It is still covered by the original factory warranty which I know is honoured in Canada. Are you suggesting that I look to the U.S. to secure an extended warranty on a vehicle that's already here in Canada?

Sorry if I'm being obtuse ...Thanks for any clarification you could provide!

Cheers,
Mike

Hi Mike - I probably wasn't really clear on my original post (late night, in a rush!).

Imported LR3s can be warrantied in Canada; our local dealership offered to warranty our imported US LR3 at the same rate as a Canadian one. However, the rate for full coverage was quoted at $5800 which really only provided 2 extra years of coverage (/w $100 deductible per visit).

We sold our prior LandRover (a Freelander) a few months before buying the LR3 and transferred our warranty on that vehicle to the new owner, and during the process of transferring the warranty I spent some time chatting /w the rep from the warranty company (LandRover Assured - it may have a new name now). At the time, I knew we were likely going to purchase a used LR3 and we were looking to the US since the availability and price was much better then Canada, and I enquired about warranties. The rep suggested that we source the warranty from a US dealer instead of a Canadian dealer as the coverage was identical and the location of the vehicle was irrelevant - the warranty was North American, not specific to US/Canada.

Now this was two years ago, so it's possible that regulations have changed - thus, you'll want to do a bit of phoning around to see if it's still possible. However, I would suggest that you contact the folks from the Ford ESP warranty company (search "warranty" on this site and the contact info will come up) - they seem to have the best warranty and purchasers have reported back to this board being very satisfied with the claims process.

Good luck!