CPalacay
Well-Known Member
First off, I wanted to say thank you to all of the forum members who continue to post, respond, and continue to keep this place active. The Land Rover community is amazing and I can’t thank you enough for the breathe of knowledge you have shared.
Anyways, I wanted a place to document everything with my LR4 including maintenance and modifications so this will be it. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a build thread, probably more just sharing what I’ve fixed or modified based on the information I found on this forum.
So yeah, lets get started…
Background...
My wife and I had been wanting an LR4 for the past few years, but we were never actively searching. We didn’t really need a 3rd vehicle and we were managing with our current fleet, but the thought of owning a dedicated vehicle for outdoor activities seemed convenient. Having owned both a Disco I and then a Disco II in college and living through all the mechanical and tribulations our list of candidates was pretty short for what we had in mind, an LR4 or nothing.
The Vehicle…
December 2022 - I was traveling on business and was severely jet lagged. What else do you do but look up LR4s for sale, right? I came across a listing for a used LR4 HSE LUX and it caught my attention; 1 owner since new, 112K miles, California it’s entire life, clean CARFAX, regularly serviced at the same LR deaership until it was traded in. Just out of curiosity, I called the dealer and asked for a summary of the service records. Conversation went well and we went over all the maintenance records, verified timing chains and tensioners were not needed as of October 2022.
The Purchase…
After sending my wife details of the vehicle and the photos, I think we were both sold. The logistics of getting the vehicle home though, proved to be another story. I was in Tokyo for at least 2 more weeks, the LR4 was in Los Angeles, and home was in Seattle. I managed to negotiate a deposit on the vehicle and they would hold it until the end of January 2023. If I didn’t like it, I forfeited my deposit but I was okay with that. No harm no foul. With it being a Land Rover, my wife was insistent I bring tools with me. So rather than flying directly from Tokyo to Los Angeles, she wanted me to fly to Seattle, pick up tools, and then fly to Los Angeles. Who am I to argue with that rational, right?
Overall, the purchase went smoothly, albeit without some issues regarding keys. Before placing my deposit, I made sure to ask about a second set of keys plus keys to the factory hitch, plus keys to the roof rack. I was ensured they were all there but in the end they weren’t. After a bit of discussion they adjusted their price and the deal was done.
The Drive Home…
Is uneventful a good thing or a bad thing? I flew from Seattle to LAX on a Saturday morning after just flying in from Tokyo. The LR4 checked out fine and I just wanted to get home. 1600 miles from LA to Seattle with no issues, just a smooth and quiet drive home. I slept in the cargo area for a few hours but felt like a champ at 4 am! Totally uneventful drive but the LR4 gained some trust in the reliability secto.
Stay tuned for the last few months to ownership, where the honeymoon is over and we deal with the common LR4 issues…
Anyways, I wanted a place to document everything with my LR4 including maintenance and modifications so this will be it. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a build thread, probably more just sharing what I’ve fixed or modified based on the information I found on this forum.
So yeah, lets get started…
Background...
My wife and I had been wanting an LR4 for the past few years, but we were never actively searching. We didn’t really need a 3rd vehicle and we were managing with our current fleet, but the thought of owning a dedicated vehicle for outdoor activities seemed convenient. Having owned both a Disco I and then a Disco II in college and living through all the mechanical and tribulations our list of candidates was pretty short for what we had in mind, an LR4 or nothing.
The Vehicle…
December 2022 - I was traveling on business and was severely jet lagged. What else do you do but look up LR4s for sale, right? I came across a listing for a used LR4 HSE LUX and it caught my attention; 1 owner since new, 112K miles, California it’s entire life, clean CARFAX, regularly serviced at the same LR deaership until it was traded in. Just out of curiosity, I called the dealer and asked for a summary of the service records. Conversation went well and we went over all the maintenance records, verified timing chains and tensioners were not needed as of October 2022.
The Purchase…
After sending my wife details of the vehicle and the photos, I think we were both sold. The logistics of getting the vehicle home though, proved to be another story. I was in Tokyo for at least 2 more weeks, the LR4 was in Los Angeles, and home was in Seattle. I managed to negotiate a deposit on the vehicle and they would hold it until the end of January 2023. If I didn’t like it, I forfeited my deposit but I was okay with that. No harm no foul. With it being a Land Rover, my wife was insistent I bring tools with me. So rather than flying directly from Tokyo to Los Angeles, she wanted me to fly to Seattle, pick up tools, and then fly to Los Angeles. Who am I to argue with that rational, right?
Overall, the purchase went smoothly, albeit without some issues regarding keys. Before placing my deposit, I made sure to ask about a second set of keys plus keys to the factory hitch, plus keys to the roof rack. I was ensured they were all there but in the end they weren’t. After a bit of discussion they adjusted their price and the deal was done.
The Drive Home…
Is uneventful a good thing or a bad thing? I flew from Seattle to LAX on a Saturday morning after just flying in from Tokyo. The LR4 checked out fine and I just wanted to get home. 1600 miles from LA to Seattle with no issues, just a smooth and quiet drive home. I slept in the cargo area for a few hours but felt like a champ at 4 am! Totally uneventful drive but the LR4 gained some trust in the reliability secto.
Stay tuned for the last few months to ownership, where the honeymoon is over and we deal with the common LR4 issues…
. It sounds like a great drive other than the jetlag which I know is brutal when getting back from Japan.
