I haven’t owned a Land Rover for a while so I still have the mindset of this car predominantly being for farmers or people that live in the countryside. However, as the Land Rover was featured on the Top Gear Bolivia Special over Christmas my opinion has changed. In addition, the programme got me thinking about this car and the ranges offered. Even though the Top Gear footage is probably staged it raised a good point about its reliability. In my experience, they are reliable and offer fantastic value for money.
The Land Rover was launched in 1948 and I am particularly fond of this 4×4 because for a time the manufacturing was based in Gaydon, Warwickshire which isn’t too far away from where I live. In recent times various owners of the brand name such as MG Rover Group and Ford have struggled to finance this 4×4. Now that Tata owns the brand name it will be interesting to see what happens to this 4×4. Over the years there have been several versions of the Land Rover such as the Defender, Freelander, Discovery, Range Rover Sport and a Range Rover. It is probably best to purchase a second hand approved model. This is mainly because it is a lot cheaper than buying a new 4×4. For example, a used Landrover Freelander that is 6 years old is priced at around £6,000 which is very reasonable but models at this price usually have fairly high mileage. However, this is still a great value because back in 2004 it cost anywhere from £27,000 to £48,000 depending on the model purchased. There are a few competitors such as the Toyota Land Cruiser, Mitsubishi Shogun and many others on the market but on the whole, the Land Rover range performs well.
Most of the Used Land Rover model ranges are spacious and obviously work impeccably well off the road which is what they are designed to do. The problem I have with this type of car is fuel consumption and overall costs. This is mainly due to the fact the UK government over the past few years have increased road tax for cars with higher fuel consumption. However, the overall drivability and the fact that this car is a multi-purpose vehicle will outweigh other less desirable things about this car. Overall this 4×4 is very desirable and is a fantastic vehicle if you need it for off-road purposes or everyday travel.
