Just wanted to say this may be a bit winded but....here goes. Wife and I finally test drove a 2011 LR4 this past weekend. She has had her eye on it for a while now, basically it looks as if it is the roomiest of the 3 row vehicles out there. We didn't purchase yet, but we are definately going to this coming summer of '12. She just absolutely loves the view angle, the driveability of the truck, the interior is just amazing, and oddly enough....the headrest doesn't push too far forward pushing her head down for a view of the pedals instead of road. A few months ago, we went to a few other dealers with 3 row vehicles, and the headrests were extreme to say the least. A deal breaker regardless of vehicle price.
So, I have been reading and grinding information on this vehicle for the past few months. We currently drive a '05 Chevy Equinox. It has 135k on it, so we like to drive our vehicles. We like to go camping and the equi just doesn't have enough room to carry all our stuff in one shot.
The warranty on the LR4 was raising questions with the wife. Too short. I recently found a link that you can get extended warranty before the 50k miles are up for a reasonable price, which has calmed the wife down a bit. From what i have read so far, some, if not most repairs inch upwards of four figures if not more. Anyway, i know of the oil changes on this truck, the dealer says yearly at 250 a pop. We don't have any issues with that. But what i have recently read about is the brakes on the LR4 being pads and rotors replaced all the way around at around 15k? I know about hill driving, the weight of the truck an all, but i am pretty mechanical, and could do the brakes myself. I have changed the pads 3 times and the rotors (all 4) on the equi before. So i feel confident to do the brake job on the LR4, but every (even if its stretched out to) 25k is wild.
I have read all about the sub standard reliability of Land Rovers, but i have heard only good things about the new 5.0 V8. We are willing to take that proverbial leap to the LR4, knowing that we'll just have to keep on top of it.
That all said.....we will more than likely keep the truck 10+ years, if not longer. I just wanted to thank all of you that post, to all the Moderators, thanks. This forum is an insane wealth of information! I may be "over doing it" with digging for info on this truck, but......its a nice chunk of change, and i want to be as prepared as possible when we purchase it.
So to end this intro......I don't have any pic's to post, or a vehicle yet to tag along with my screen name, but will be digging and reading your posts. Thanks again!