I found a 2012 Land Rover for sale near me and right out of the gate, wow these rigs are nice. I've never sat in one before nor even looked inside one. Thick leather, nice exterior body lines, the paint didn't have any sun damage. Plain and simple controls. Plenty of cargo room and it has a tailgate to set stuff on out in the country, like a stove to cook steaks. The interior was really nice and it had 135k miles on it.

I test drove it and loved the low end torque. It rode nice and turned sharp. All the gears worked except the transfer case. When I tried 4low, it didn't gear down and the RPM's were the same when in 4low or 4hi so that is broken. No wheel spin at all in the dirt after goosing it. I kind of expected a burn out when I goosed it but not a hint of wheel spin. There weren't any clunking noises like loose suspension parts either.

It had a power steering leak or some leak from the engine down on what looked like power steering lines. The serpentine belt looked fine but had super small cracking from age. It won't fail now but it needs to be changed. It also had a coolant leak. During the test drive, the yellow triangle was on and at the end of the ride the yellow was off and the red triangle came on when I attempted to shift to 4low. The low coolant text message came on the DIC when I shifted to 4low too. The coolant reservoir was low when looking under the hood, but the engine temperature was fine with the needle right in the middle.

My biggest concern is the timing chain issue on these engines that I have read about. My plan is to go overlanding with a weeks worth of food and gear out in the mountains and deserts. I was looking for a 4X4 to get me through washouts out in the Mohave where the mining and BLM roads are as well as rough forest roads, but still have a nice fancy luxury ride to cruise around town in as a daily driver that isn't a Toyota or Lexus. The Land Rover has better quality I think than Toyota. I hadn't considered a Land Rover until now. I’m looking to spend up to $25k to have a nice Land Rover that will be a daily and take me out to BFE.

TBH, I wanted to buy it right there after the test drive since they are asking $11k for it. I asked them about taking it to a mechanic and after a lot of pain and effort they agreed that would be OK, but it sounded like they were firm on the asking price. If you look at a full size truck these days, even old trucks with 200k miles are costing more then that.

I just need to find someone to take the LR4 to for inspection. But if the timing guide or timing chain is going to grenade then I'm not sure it would be worth buying if it is true that the job costs $7k. At that price I'd start thinking about a whole new engine and put that in there. It also had some automatic leveling going on that I didn't figure out how I can use it or control it lol.

I’ve had a lot of vehicles, including 4 corvettes and two of those were Z06es (C5 and C6) so I’m not a stranger to vehicle problems. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that sometimes when there is an engine defect not every single engine literally suffers from the defect, like the LS7 valve train issue that could grenade the engine. Some heads have the problem, not all. I’m wondering with so many miles, maybe the timing chain issue isn’t going to hit this one?

I'm completely new to Land Rovers, I can turn a wrench but I live in an apartment so I'm not going to be tearing into the front of the engine in the parking lot. Any thoughts on the rig or the budget being too low?

 

fwiw, I called a repair shop that specializes in Land Rovers and he said all engines are affected by the timing chain issue (of certain years) and the issue is not a matter of if the problem occurs, it is when. And when it fails the cam and other parts are prematurely worn from the issue so even if the engine doesn't grenade at the time the ticking noise is heard (or the check engine light goes on), the engine is ruined. $14k for a used engine and $19k for a reman, labor included ($4k).

To fix the cross-over pipes (all 3 are done at once), $1,800.

 

You could try looking at LR3s as well they're the same truck but a little less powerful, but from what I've seen they're more reliable and much cheaper for the same capabilities.