I am brand new to this forum. My wife and I are trying to decide between a LR4 and a Mercedes ML350. We intend to purchase one used probably a 2012 model. My wife would be the primary user. It would rarely see a gravel road and I can guaranty it will never see a trail.

People tell me that the Land Rovers require a lot of expensive maintenance, but then I find that these same people have never owned one. I would like to get the truth from some real owners.

Will it cost a fortune to own a LR4 that never leaves the asphalt? Are they a ticking time bomb of break downs and repairs?

 

Both of these vehicles require expensive maintenance. My wife drives a ML never left the pavement either. Plenty of costly regular maintenance on it. I just did the fuel filter myself and the updated set up with the lines and filter set me back $200. I provided the labor. This is about $500 to have done at the local dealer. I do all my own work so I haven't kept up on the A and B service prices but they used to be $300 plus every visit.

As far as maintenance goes I would guess they are going to be a wash.

As far as break downs go I have no experience with the newer LR4 model. I can tell you though it seems that there are a lot less people on here with problems with the LR3 and LR4 than there are with the Disco II when it was the same age.

The ML has been a good reliable vehicle, soul-less bland and badly under powered (V6 model) but good. All that said I like the Rover's better for their style, interiors and soul.

 

Any decent high end vehicle requires maintenance. Dealers have a great showroom, fancy lobbies, car lot full of cars, work shops with the best equipment?, and service managers and writers and on and on. Yes, service can be expensive as their overhead demands the $160 an hr. labor. Indy shops are less, but a considerable amount of us do our own work. You can use your dealer for "regular" maintenance, but you need one that you feel comfortable with and can trust. Find a local Rover Club and find what they like and what they do or who they recommend.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. Unless covered by warranty I have always done my own work as well. My question is more centered around the probability of unexpected repairs & the cost of those parts. It is a given that all vehicles require preventative maintenance. That would most likely be equal for the two vehicles.

In addition, I spoke with a service manager at our local Land Rover dealer. The only regular maintenance that sounded out of the ordinary was the replacement of the rotors when replacing the brake pads. I had never heard of this on another vehicle. He said that the rotors wear more because of the weight of the vehicle. I have had full size trucks that weigh as much as an LR4. Is this really necessary? Does everyone really replace their rotors with every new pad replacement?

Thanks for the input it is much appreciated.

 

I have a 3 not a 4 so take this with a grain of salt .

With a more recent model year 4, you're buying yourself time to save the $$$ for repairs once the mileage starts to go up. Start putting away a few thousand just in case something does go bang once it's got upwards of 75k on the clock (even if nothing does). I would not expect things to break immediately. Aside from the very well-known weight issues in these things (a few suspension fixes, bad diff), I still have almost everything stock and working on my now 9 year-old truck. Month to month cost is not crazy but I do spend money regularly on mine to get things on my maintenance schedule fixed. Repairs aren't crazy expensive but do be prepared to keep an eye on a lot of things, people always say that these things love preventative maintenance, and they definitely do.

I personally think its worth it to own something with a bit of character. Despite really racking up the miles lately on mine, it has still never left me stranded. Plus isn't the 2012 model the one with the 5.0L?

 

The ML is the same on rotors it destroys a pair of rotors in the time it takes to wear out the pads if you use OEM parts. Aftermarket rotors and ceramic pads have solved that issue

 

As for brakes, I got mine after the PO turned down brakes (rotors and pads ) from the dealer and he traded it in at a Buick dealer in which I purchased. Had the bling wheels and tires taken off and the new original tires mounted and picked up vehicle with a note that I needed brakes bad. Ordered in pads only, installed at 23K miles and presently have 52K on rotors and 29K on pads. Looked during a service interval and pads and rotors will go on by 60K. Not really bad for a heavy vehicle with the first set worn by PO. Have towed trailers on these pads. So looking for at least 45K on next full set.

 

We have a 2010 LR4 that we've had for about 3 years and almost entirely trouble free. They definitely eat tyres and brakes - but similar to the Merc I'd expect. And doing rotors at the same time adds a little to the expense although if you go to a good Indy shop you can do the full set all four wheels for under a thousand dollars (vs 2x that at the dealer). Switching to ceramics vs the soft OeM pads would help too

There are a couple of other ****les - the water pump is unreliable and can fail after anything from 20k miles up. Not particularly expensive. And bushings on control arms at front eventually wear (heavy car). But this is all likely a v similar scale of cost to the Merc

That said, there are good aftermarket warranties or the LR extended warranty that would give some additional protection if you're concerned. Ball park would run at about 3k dollars for about 3 years of peace of mind. We did that and while we probably only got half the money back in repairs, the peace of mind was worth it

As others have said its a great truck overall and in my opinion doesn't deserve the legacy reputation LR has. Look at the number of posts with issues on this board and you'll see its relatively low

Good luck with what you decide!

 

Absolutely, but not as bad as your Mercedes, but you have a much better truck. 2012 LR4

 

We have a 2013 LR4, with about 30,000 miles on it. We have only done regular maintenance on it; oil changes and check-ups every 7,500 miles. Plus gas. The oil changes run a few hundred dollars. We purchased new tires around 28,000 miles. Other than that, the only cost has been gas, we get around 15 miles per gallon.


We purchased roof rails (and I installed them) and an Inno Lowdown Cruiser Roof Box to carry skis and boots.


No major issues to report, so far it has been a good reliable vehicle. No out of the ordinary costs, as I can see.