This was my thought exactly and why I asked if these are more of a concern over time vs directly related to mileage. I have never owned a car which needed brake line replacement within 4 years.

 

I do not have an answer for that, but it is an excellent question. How much did you have to fork for this replacement at the dealer, if you don't mind sharing?

 

The brake hose replacement was not cheap (nothing is when you have it serviced at the dealership). There are 4 brake hoses (each is a different part number) at $251.75 each. The brake fluid was $31.75 and 2 nuts were $21.90. Labor was $772.45. They subtracted 10% from the figures I just gave because I had a coupon. Braking seems important and I am not mechanical whatsoever, so I don't mind having the job done at a Land Rover dealership--plus I like getting a free loaner car (they had the vehicle for a few days). Note: In the owners manual, they recommend the brake hose replacement every 63,000 miles or every 6 years--whichever comes first.

--Tucker

2023 RRS Dynamic SE P400 Giola Green (Current)
2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Former)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
2008 LR2 Fuji White (Former)

 

Wow $250 for a brake hose that's some serious profitability for Land Rover and the dealer. The brake hoses for my classic Defender are around U.K. £25 each (aftermarket) and they are pretty much the same, a flexible hose with a coupling at each end.

There's definitely an opening for aftermarket suppliers on those parts.

 

Where is the logic in making a vehicle with brake line hoses with a 6yr / 62K mi lifespan and a $1,700+ maintenance item?

I’m not super mechanical but I was the engineer on a Navy Destroyer in the 90’s responsible for 7 gas turbine engines and trust me, all the critical hoses were stainless steel designed to last the lifetime of the engine. Come on LR.

 

lt's at the point where the vehicle is on probably the third owner.
l doubt that many vehicles will get the work done on them at that price, and the brake hoses will get replaced from time to time at the annual check when it gets flagged up.

 

You paid roughly $1,700 to replace the 4 flex lines to the calipers on a 3 year old vehicle? Wow. I won’t debate the service manual, but do you recall replacing brake lines on any other relatively new vehicle you’ve owned? I haven’t - and JLR is using the same TRW brake components as everyone else.

Keep in mind 60,000 miles is roughly 100,000 kilometers. I’m willing to bet this was one of those things “lost in translation” between the U.S. and Europe. There’s similar shenanigans when looking at tow capacities. Nobody is going to build/sell a brake line that has even a remote chance of failing in a few years or 60,000 miles. The liability would be insane.

 

Yep, I am fully aware of what I paid. I cannot explain the logic of the recommended service interval for replacing the brake lines from the owners manual. But braking seems important and I am not in a position to debate the owners manual if there ever was a problem. I never want to hear the Land Rover service guy say "Well, you didn't follow the recommended maintenance from the owners manual.....". The owners manual says to do this every 6 yrs or every 63,000 miles/101,000 kilometers; it also says the exact same thing on my 2023 Range Rover Sport (has the same P400 engine). I am just a high mileage driver so I hit that mark about 3 yrs earlier than most I suppose. I've owned Land Rovers since 2008 and I go into this knowing full well that they are expensive vehicles to maintain, but I love them nevertheless.

--Tucker

2023 RRS Dynamic SE P400 Giola Green (Current)
2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Former)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
2008 LR2 Fuji White (Former)

 

This: "Nobody is going to build/sell a brake line that has even a remote chance of failing in a few years or 60,000 miles. The liability would be insane."

No. The liability would NOT be insane if they included that mandatory replacement in the manual/servicing specs. And, lo and behold, LR obviously did.

Now, you may be right and this might have got lost in translation. It is your car and you can gamble/bet with it based on your own experiences, but you know what happens IF something goes south. LR will point you right back to the owners manual.

 

Our 2022 Defender 90 had zero issues. Not so lucky with our 2023.5 Defender 90.

As of today with less than 6k miles of garage pampering the 2023 has had upper radiator hose section replaced, wipers replaced and adjusted, and what definitely seems to be a defective air suspension. If the air suspension is not defective then our 2022 was, because it didn’t raise and lower on its own like our 2023 is doing.

Also our two front windows click like crazy when lowered just an inch or two.