Hello,
I am considering buying a 2010 LR2 with 200k miles for $5,000. Is this a bad idea? I have never owned a Land Rover vehicle and am not sure what to expect. I basically don’t want to buy a money pit!

 

That's a lot of miles for a 2010. Do not even think of buying it before having a mechanic who knows LR2's go over it from front to back and inspect the maintenance records. At 200k it would have to have been very well taken care of to be worth $5k. In comparison, I paid $2850 for my LR2 with some 158,000 miles. I've got it running like a sewing machine and looking like I want it to, and it's all mine, but I have spent about $5 to $6k or more getting there.

 

Thank you for the advice. I’m probably going to steer clear of this one but may watch for an LR2 with lower miles. What are your general thoughts on LR2s and what years are best? Again, I’m totally new to anything Land Rover but have always been intrigued. I currently drive a Subaru Outback and previously had a Volvo XC70.

 

I think the non-turbocharged models 2008-2012 are better but that's a personal opinion. I've seen or heard of too many turbocharger failures. Other than that the years are more or less the same for me. I look more for mileage, condition, how well it has been taken care of etc. The one I bought needed quite a few items taken care of but they were all body or electrical. Regardless, you should always take a candidate vehicle to a mechanic for a prepurchase. If the seller refuses, just walk away. These are not hard to find so you should shop around. Also, unless the maintenance records show otherwise, assume that you will change all the fluids and filters as soon as possible after buying it, do a tune up, etc.

I think the LR2's are more demanding of care than the Subaru's and the XC70's, though the engine on the LR2 is in fact a Volvo engine. The body, electrical, etc. is Ford Motor Co. (FoMoCo).

You really should locate a knowledgeable mechanic with good reviews before buying one of these, unless you are handy with tools and can do a lot of the work yourself, but that goes for any vehicle that's more than 10 years old. I love my LR2 but I am a trained aviation mech (Marine Corps) so I am able to do a lot of the work myself, at least when I am not lazy about it.

 

Thank you again for the info and insight, I really appreciate it.
Looking for a new good mechanic, mine sold his business and retired this year!
My cousin flew harriers while in the Marines, he is now an instructor. Small world if you ever worked on his plane!

 

I never worked on them but the early models were on my base. Saw too many of them crash, one of them clean through the other side of our hangar. Growing pains. The new ones are much safer.

 

I agree (I'm biased since I have an 08 with 3.2 i6 engine).

I'd say look for something with 100K or less ideally. Ideally also from a dry climate or at least somewhere with no salt on the roads in the winter. The people in the UK with these cars experience a lot of corrosion and electrical gremlins from the salt.

There are a lot of maintenance items which LR does not recommend but volvo specifies for their cars with the same engine, which really need to be done. If you catch them by 100K it's probably not too late. There are lists posted on different forums, off the top of my head...

By 100K:
Change coolant (5 years)
Change coolant reservoir (mid-life)
Change PS fluid and reservoir (40k interval)
Change spark plugs (50K interval)
Change tranny fluid (50K interval)
Change front transfer case (PTU) fluid (50K interval)
Change Active on-demand coupler (aka Haldex) fluid and filter, and clean pump filter. (50k interval)
Change rear-differential fluid (synthetic oil, 40k interval)
*Replace serpentine belt, tensioner, and idler (100k interval)
Replace fuel pressure sender (mid life)
Replace starter (mid life, you can wait until it fails but you might bet stuck).

By 150K (for reliability so you don't get stranded on a road trip)...
*Replace water pump
Replace big coolant hoses
Replace engine oil and tranny coolers

* easier to do these together
Use a synthetic engine oil

So you get the idea. You'll need a GOOD shop that has either done LR2's or the volvo's with the same powertrain, or is willing to learn. Actually you can do all of it yourself if you're mechanically inclined and like working on cars.

I really like the LR2, so at some point I decided to keep investing in the mid-life mechanical refurbs and get it painted. Hope it will run beyond 200k (doing fine at 150K now), but I probably won't be doing any camping trips or long road trips away from civilization after 200K

 

Also, I highly recommend you use Liqui-Moly MoS2 additives for the and the . It will go a long way to helping them last to 200k and beyond. I credit MoS2 as the single most important reason my engine sounds like a well-oiled sewing machines, and I get compliments from mechanics all the time. I also use them on my Honda EU6500is inverter generator, the DT-466 diesel engine on my bus and even on my four-cycle lawn-mower.

 

:-). there are pros and cons to this story. the newer engine is significantly lighter and more efficient.
What I really want is the turbo diesel in the LR. But it is difficult to source here other than in those new models that do nothing for me.
(price of defender is inhibitive).

 

I wonder if the turbo fails on the TD as much as it does on the newer gas models...