What are your experiences with Land Rovers being such a status symbol to the general population?

I think of when I had an early 2000's X5 and everyone's first response was "You bought a beamer!" and I had to be like "well, I bought a 15 year old suv that cost less than an equivalent Subaru or a Toyota from this era by several thousand dollars - but yes it also happens to be a BMW" lol. I think the styling on a lot of these luxury rigs really hold up really well over time so they don't age as poorly at first glance as say, a Nissan Armada.

It's not going to effect my purchase by any means, and I'm not "worried" about it, I'm just curious what people's experiences have been!

 

Interesting question, and I don't know that we've ever discussed it on this message board. It's real....what you speak of. I usually don't let it bother me at all because it's mostly borne of other people's envy. That said, I tend to describe my vehicle as an "old Rover" if it comes up in conversation. If it is a visual reference, people usually see straight away that I'm an enthusiast (roof rack, rock sliders, pin striping, functional accessories, etc) so they know that I'm not someone who bought the vehicle just for the badge.

Definitely easier now that my original LR3 is 18 years old this June....but yeah when I first bought it in 2005 this behavior you describe was more of a thing.

 

I like how succinct the "old rover" phrase is, definitely gonna steal that if I need.

It had occurred to me that some manner of "off road" accessories could be helpful here too so I'm glad to see that in action. Hell, I'm not a car sticker guy but I just saw some photos of LRs with various travel/overlanding stickers that adds to that vibe too. Thanks for the insight.

 

The off-road accessories route is only helpful if you actually take it off road!!! Sounds like you do/will but I just need to qualify that. I am also not a car sticker guy, so I feel ya...but yes it adds cred. We picked up an '06 a few years back ($4700....a steal!) and my Wife fell in love with it after about 2 weeks. She has since put a few stickers on it, but only on the glass, not the paint or bumper. I have found that to be a nice compromise.

 

Oh man, yeah I live in Montana so I've seen my share of spotless rigs decked out with $50k of overlanding gear just because it looks cool - not my vibe lol. I also am not doing any crazy overlanding, but do plan to use it for adventures where the rig itself is my shelter, not to mention just general mountain exploration to fire lookouts and skiing, so would definitely have a few accessories without going buck wild. Stickers on the back window was actually what I was thinking of, not to gaudy and easy to remove if needed - glad to hear another real world example.

I still have to actually BUY my LR3 and have been looking fairly seriously for about 4 months now.

I found one a little ways away from that's an 05 HSE HD with 150k miles and immaculately serviced by a guy with a bit of money and a stable of old LR3s and 4s but, the price is a little high ($11k) I have been seriously debating it though. Figure the upside is that all the work typically needed has been done by a guy who spared no expense, same with the PM, and that has documented over the last 10 years - so I'm debating on if maybe it's worth paying the premium for the peace of mind rather than getting a "deal" for like $6k and then having to deal with $4k of surprises over time on a rig with less taken care of. We shall see I guess...

 

I haven't gotten much of that with my 2008 LR3, maybe because of it's more boxy styling relative to the newer Range Rovers.

I have gotten it from my GF's mother (indirectly) with my 2012 7 series. "Oh, so he's into status symbols." Well, no, I just enjoy nice fast cars that depreciate very quickly, especially when they have issues. The irony is that it probably cost less than half what their DD did because they buy new. But sometimes you just can't outrun what people think when they see a specific badge or name.

 

I haven't really experienced it either, but I am in SoCal where ppl are more numb to that sort of thing.
I also think any stigma is more related to Range Rover - even when new I think the LR3 was considered the "poor man's option".

I usually just say I drive a "Land Rover" anyway.
Most laymen think "Ranger Rover" is its own brand.

 

I got a Disco 2, but in my area land rover automatically means range rover which means status symbol, people don't care what kind of rover you have, I've been at gas stations where some guy will say nice range rover. I notice it out on the trails too where 90% of the vehicles are toyota or jeep, you get some weird stares and snarky comments. I remember this one time I went out with a few rover buds and we joined a event open to any vehicle and this one guys wife kept walking around and telling everyone "I can't believe those guys came in range rovers they're so expensive" so it really depends on the area you live in.

 

Exactly this lol. The 2004 BMW I had was constantly referenced as a purchase that was somehow hoity toity when friends or family learned I "bought a beamer" even though it was the cheapest car of anyone at any family function because a used 15yr old BMW costs significantly less than a high trim new-to-2 year old Honda or Toyota.

 

Yeah it always seems like in major cities it's much less of a thing anyone really cares about, especially somewhere like LA where you drive a lot - Merc's, BMW, Rovers, etc. just seem like a fairly normal car unless you have the newest or craziest or modded signature versions.

Like I mentioned before I'm in Montana so a bit less people and a lower percentage of "look what I got!" and those that do show off usually do so in an over the top way for the locals - think a combo of cosplaying Rip from Yellowstone and one of the kids from Succession. New spotless Range Rover with spotless custom made hats and perfectly clean cowboy boots with a dutton ranch bag and a fleece vest drinking Starbucks (wish I was joking).

Funnily, the weird fancy-pants-vibe doesn't apply in quite the same way to $60k 4Runners or $80k trucks the size of a small apartment lol.