3.0 SDV6 306HP HSE Luxury Auto 5dr

Full of problems

For a brand new car, which should be informed by previous “heritage and experience” that Land Rover has gained, it has at times felt like we’ve been conducting the reliability testing on behalf of Land Rover.

Firstly, when everything works, the car is a dream to drive and own. It’s big, but not difficult to drive, a very smooth ride and motorway miles disappear endlessly.

However, since new our version has been fraught with issues.

Around 5000 miles we noticed that the tailgate had dropped on its hinges - there were running marks along the bottom edge of the rear opening. Apparently this is a known issue with the hinges and covered by a tech service bulletin.

Tow assist has never worked. It’s been in the garage to review and diagnose, but our dealer admitted on the second time that although they’d been driving it around, they lacked any equipment to diagnose and fix the issue.

Engines - we had to have a new engine fitted after 22k miles and 2 years (thank goodness for warranty). There is a known issue which causes the crank shaft bearings to fail - apparently something can slip which causes the oil channel to become blocked.

Windscreen leaks - the windscreen de-bonds from the body, causing leakages when it rains. First signs for us were the alarm triggering overnight. The roof lining was soaked all the way back to the sunroof and water had collected in the cup holders and soaked the carpet below. This is again a common and known issue - so much that there is a struggle on getting genuine LR windscreens which are required before repairs can take place as they often break during removal.

The connectivity and in-car entertainment system is laughably poor. Frequently the car will not recognise DVD’s (all legitimate) and therefore will not eject the DVD in the system. It also does not recognise the rear screens. The main head unit often becomes unresponsive- sometimes it fails to switch on; sometimes just freezes. And the connectivity to show traffic etc seems to just stop working. We’ve had numerous SIM cards and it’s been back to the dealers at least four times for diagnosis but “no fault found”.

Keeping this car working and on the road had therefore become almost a full time job. Unless you’re close by to your Land Rover dealer and have access to a spare car (often in the worst extremes of weather) then I’d recommend not buying one.

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