My indy told me about the risk of the coolant cross-over pipe failing around 75k miles when I bought my 2016. He said it was a poorly design $60 plastic part that was molded in two pieces and exposed to a lot of heat under the supercharger. They eventually got brittle and cracked, causing a complete loss of coolant. He said it was $3k to replace with an improved pipe because it was a full day job to remove the supercharger and you typically replaced the pump, belt, super charger coupler, etc "while you were in there".

I got a low coolant light around 75k miles and he confirmed the cross over pipe had a small leak and said I needed to replace it in 3-4 months because once they start leaking "they eventually let go". 6 months later it did, got a "engine overheating light" pulling onto the highway and had to flatbed it back to him.

Probably as much as ive spent on both my LR3 and this LR4 combined over the past 6 years. Sucked, but he told me twice...

I will say I miss my LR3. That thing was bulletproof compared to this LR4. Its got all the same issues as the LR3 (sunroof drains, control arm bushings $900) + the cross over pipe issue ($3k) and the gear selector issue ($500) and a low pressure fuel pump issue that has yet to be solved but already cost me $700.

 

$4k to replace radiator and water pump

 

Around here any franchised dealer, Ford, Toyota, etc charge over $200 per hour, independents not much less, then factor in genuine parts, fees, taxes, etc and that's not too far off. I've had Jags and Rovers for over 20 years, among others, and not found them to be any more expensive than any other brand. Considering costs, and parts and dealer unavailability I started doing all of my own repairs, faster and cheaper.

 

And in fact, my friends with Audis and Mercs have repair and maintenance bills larger than mine.