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Comments
Can you describe the driving behavior that causes the hard shift to happen on demand? Is it when you accelerate harder after a rolling stop or more gently afterwards?
Thanks
It is easy to reproduce by coming to a nearly complete stop, rolling at less then 5 mph, and then tapping the gas. Give it say 20% or 25% throttle and it should do it everytime.
Did you take that drive from Tennessee to California yet? How did the car perform and what did you notice along the way as far as comfort from your MB?
I would not just bring the mailer in as a surprise at time of delivery unless you want to piss off everyone there. Fax a copy of both sides of the mailer to them or bring it by ahead of time. That is just common courtsey and it will give the dealership a chance to make a couple of calls about the dealership.
Can current owners comment on the reliability of their LR3s, and if they feel confident that they like the vehicle better than the GX470?
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!
To those who are thinking of getting the mud-flaps.... I have not seen the LR3 flaps in person but I have seen them on "AutoAnything.com" where I just purchased a custom sunshade. To me, they don't appear to be flexible.
I had mud flaps put on my 2002 Mercedes ML500 and had problems going off-road with them. They were not flexible so when I would go over a rock or a deep crevice the ground would hit the mud flap. I damaged the front driver's side and had to have it re-installed. I wouldn't get mud flaps on the LR3 unless they were flexible because they could be damaged. :sick:
Mark156
First, I can not deal with that big swing-out backwards back door. If you are in your garage, you cannot open it unless your garage is deep. The perfect thing about the split tailgate configuration is that you can open both with the LR3 because the don't need much room. If you park the Lexus parallel on the street and you need to get in the back of the Lexus, hopefully, the car behind you didn't park too close. If you don't have enough room to open that big door you are stuck because if I'm not mistaken, the glass doesn't open. Even if you had a little room to open the door, someone might have to hold it so that it doesn't get caught in the wind or try to close on you.
Secondly, I had the side-hanging seats in my 2002 Mercedes ML500 and they really do take up a lot of room. With the LR3 you can have a third seat AND a rear cover (could not have both with the Mercedes). When I do need to carry more than 5 people, I want a seat they can sit in and be comfortable. I didn't get that feeling with the Lexus.
Granted, the LR3 might have some reliability issues but there are some very good ones. My brother has a 2003 Land Rover Discovery II and has almost 40,000 miles and no trouble at all. I'm hoping that I have the same luck.
Happy motoring! Mark156
You also need to figure out what you really "need" -- I've driven the GX470 off-road, and it's probably the closest competitor to LR3. But I'm personally no fan of "Lexus style" and their idea of luxury. As many people have said, the right swinging rear door is a bad design... and, as with almost any vehicle of this size, the 3rd row is dreadful.
For a general use SUV, I'd probably buy the better executed '06 Explorer over the GX, even though that rates low on the waste-money-because-you-can scale.
Anyway, remember to browse the GX forum and get feedback there.
Lexus were good enough to buy back my GX470 after they could not cure the vibration problems at 65mph.
The other big problem I found with the GX470 is the rear door opening. You get in carpark with someone close and you have to pull forward to allow the rear door to open?
The seats in the GX470 are more comfortable though! But forget their 3rd row compared to the LR3
You made me check my average speed (it was zeroed at the start of the trip from St Augustine) and it was 56mph for the whole trip. I came through torrential rain, sleet & snow going through the mountains in SC and VA.
I mostly drive with the traffic unless my radar detector is buzzing!
LR had lowered it yet again at the 15,000 mile service. I always keep it filled to max suggested pressure. They lower it to improve ride (at the expense of fuel economy).
I had one guy asking why he could not use his X plan on a SC Sport or Range and I told him because we will not honor the X plan. He gets all huffy and border line whiny about it. I am sorry sir these cars are sold for MSRP only and presently there is a wating list for both of them.
On Thanksgiving I went to take one of my brothers for a drive and was welcomed with a "parking brake fault" warning on the info display, a solid red and flashing amber warning light on the dash. A combination of a full schedule, never using the parking brake and a conversation with our salesman did not prompt any sense of urgency, I did not get the vehicle in for service until this week. As if the 1 hour wait to get my rental dodge stratus (never thought to ask what type of loaner cars they give during service) to drive for the day wasn't bad enough, I returned at the end of the day after no phone follow-up from the service writer (even after I left him a voicemail) to be a new module needed to be ordered, due to the New Years holiday it would take several days to receive from the east coast, and that the whole braking system and all four hubs had to be taken off the car resulting in two days of work after they receive the parts. The service guide told me a week to 10 days would be realistic to get my vehicle back. Without my asking they did set me up with a 06 LR3 SE7 to use until my vehicle is repaired.
This is the first SUV I have owned after 4 years with a Volvo XC70 for our family vehicle. Trying to ignore the repair issue, here are my short term impressions: Fit and finish is excellent, visibility is good, ride a bit harsh for my tastes, front seats very average compared to the volvo and my CLK...seat bottoms are way too short and I am only 5'10".. cannot see memory seat settings with door closed, V8 engine acts well and inspires confidence drving such a heavy vehicle, Logic7 stereo is ok but not audiophile quality, navigation is excellent for our needs so far, placement of clock and radio station display very poor as you must take your eyes off of the road to check the time, rain sensing wipers apear to be more speed sensitive than moisture sensitive causing wipers to be controlled manually using mist setting at high speeds as they run too often no matter what the sensitivity setting, storage is great, tailgate works as advertised...popped gate down..put window back down ..jumped up on tailgate to hoist 8ft xmas tree on top of vehicle.
This is my wife's vehicle, she loves it as she is good at seeing the positives and forgetting the negatives (she did marry me!), but as i told the salesman when he asked "did they get that taken care of" when he saw me talking to the service guide...only 35 more months to go!!
I will post follow-up of the outcome.
My dealership said that they didn't do "lots" of x-plans, but that they would do it. I told them I would wait until they had inventory and they said I could order one and not wait.
As far as the promo, it does state that it can be combined, however, I think you are correct, x-plan itself, voids other offers.
Another thing I have noticed is people will hide that they have x-plan or whatever. They will go through the whole negotiation process waste a lot of our time and agree to a price and then bring up X-Plan.
I mean how would you feel about spending on hour or so negotiating a deal that might be a little lean but is ok and then the person goes oh yeah by the way I have ___-Plan so how much extra do I get off now? I have had people call the next day after putting down a deposit and everything having been completed and then want a better deal with X-Plan. Generally these people are almost to X-Plan already but they want that extra 250 bucks too.
Just be honest up front and say at the start of the negotiation, not at the start of the demo/test drive, but just at negotiation that I quallify for ___-Plan and want to use that what will my price be.
Boom we can figure that out in 2 minutes and decide if we want to honor the plan for that particular vehicle. That we we are not wasting time for either one of us.
Hope this helps
Kevin
so after months of lurking around and posting endless stream of questions, i finally purchased my first land rover yesterday, '06 HSE (LUX & HD) zambezi with alpaca (i know i know, the silver with black thing. i sort of went for the airy and luxurious feel of beige, it doesn't look all that bad with silver from outside). this thing of beauty arrives at the dealership on the 5th and am hoping to drive it home the next day (although, i will certainly be at the dealer on the fifth to take a look) so i can have a little inaugural weekend trip. besides being my first land rover, this is also my first time buying a brand new car so any advice will be really helpful...also, about the break-in procedures, etc.
just wanted to thank everyone for all the help and answers that i have gotten from you all. obviously, extremely excited and just cant wait to drive it. Also, the dealer honored the $1500 offer from LR.
i test drove both the GX470 and LR3 several times before making my decision. in fact, i test drove the LR3 for a total of six times and at another time i rented it and kept it for a couple of days for a trip out of town. for those couple of days i had a chance to drive the LR3 in various driving conditions, the stop and go traffic in the city as well as on the freeway, and i had zero complains. quick turns, pick ups and stops here and there were great.
once, i owned a 95 mitsubishi montero SR (the original bigger model with the variable valve timing 24 valves DOHC 3.5 liter V6 with 215hp/228 torque@3000 rpm motor to move arouund 4440 pounds), i know, no comparision at all, but when i owned it, believe it or not, it had been the motor trend's fastest SUV just a year before i bought it (0-60 in 11 some seconds. yes, back then, this was considered fast for SUVs). and with that truck i wasn't really happy when i would be in a rush and would go thru city blocks of stop and go traffic. when i test drove the GX470, its top heaviness and other ride characteristics reminded me a little bit of my montero.
the ride quality of LR3 is more refined then the GX470 which felt a whole lot more top heavy. i mean i dont wanna say only negative things about the GX470, the pick-up of its new 270 some horse power engine felt good and smooth, etc., the leather quality and seating were very comfortable, and there are other bunch of things that i had really liked in the GX470 such as the rear view camera and a household type AC outlet in the back to connect laptop or other stuff (no converters required), etc. but the ride quality and the solid one-piece feel of LR3 more than made up for the other stuff. pop up the hood and then shut it, open a door and shut it, sit in the rear seat and then grab one of the handles on a front seat head rest and try shaking it a little. I mean, this vehicle is seriously built like a tank.
it also very much boils down to the personal liking/taste as well. for instance, the GX470's dashboard is very luxurious and plush and everything, but i was just not diggin it all that much. I liked LR3's cockpit style design and chunky controls, etc.
As far as the reliability goes, yes i was also very much concerned, but i also knew that ford/landrover have gone to great lenghts to make this product of theirs a reliable one. they have seriously attempted to undo their bad rep in this regard. i mean pretty much everything on this vehicle, the trim pieces, all the 4WD hardware/drivetrain and its components, etc. have been extensively tested over and over in various parts of the world. and personally i decided to take comfort in that. I doubt it that even the current Range Rover has gone thru so much testing. as of this writing for your money, with LR3 you get the exact same drivetrain as in Range Rover and a much more strong and better chassis/platform good for both serious offroading (more wheel travel and rear diff lock, which i think is not available in rangie) and on road driving for around 25k less.
my 2c...
I have 625 miles on my SUV and will be going on a 1,800 mile trip in two weeks. I want to get close 1,000 miles on it before the long trip.
The Land Rover dealer said my next service will be at 7,500 miles. They never mentioned any "break-in" procedures. Since this is my 10th new vehicle (had 4 used ones) I know not to "over extend" the RPM gauge. I've never had a problem with the break-in of any of my new cars.
Mark
Because I have a 5 year old I decided to invest in a waterproof seat cover for row two. £160 later I tried to ft them. All nicely tailored with LR logos. They would look just the job. Unfortunately I've just spent a frustrating time trying to get the middle seat back cover to fit on row 2. The designers seemed to have forgotted that there is a seat belt attached to the middle seat back. They haven't allowed a split up the side of the seat cover to allow it to go around the seat whilst leaving the seatbelt operational. D'oh!
Update 7/2/2005:
Contacted LR. Apparently there was a manufacturing fault with the initial batch. They have issued a recall and I should get a new set in days.
Mark
Beyond that, you'll need to see if any custom installers have come up with total screen "bypass" solution... which is common on other makes.
I really don't understand the facination with the back up camera. I mean I understand everyone wants more toys but honestly for the sport and the LR3 you do not need it the vehicles just aren't long/wide enough. You have PDC and great visibility out of the vehicle along with pretty large mirrors.
I used to work for UPS and we have back up cameras on all of our larger trucks because you have no way of seeing out the back because of the solid rear doors. You should still only use the back up camera as a guide and continue to use the mirrors and look behind you as well.
paisan, "Cadillac Escalade" #776, 7 Aug 2005 12:42 am
Steve, Host
From his post it seems like he was talking about the beep, beep type sensors that beep faster as you approach an obstacle. Those are very good to have espesialy with vehicles like ours and they are even useful off road since they can let you know if you have the clearance to make it around a boulder or tree.
I'll have to respectfully disagree with you here. Granted, the camera isn't absolutely needed, but it sure is a nice-to-have feature. It just seems odd that you would say there's no need for the camera, then defend the PDC - they both address the same issue, it's just that the camera does so much better. There's no need to wonder just how much clearance the different beeps represent, just look and see whether you've got 1', 6", 1"...
As with many nice-to-haves (keyless ignition, integrated XM, intelligent cruise, integrated DVD...), I originally doubted that the camera would really be worth having. After about 2-1/2 yrs of driving a vehicle in which I can back up within an inch or two of the car behind me with no fear of contact, it's actually pretty annoying not to have the camera in the LR3.
As with all my opinions, this one is my own, and yours may vary.
CPP
I do like the Range Rover back up camera over say the lexus versions of it since the camera is mounted up high by the roof line and therefore gives you sightlines that are closer to natural. The lexus camera is mounted down low by the bumper and you get this very weird look of the world.
It was interesting to see Paisan do an about face on the usefulness of the reverse sensor - this is a guy who works and drives a lot in Manhattan and usually parallel parks, like everyone else there, by "feel."
Steve, Host
Another important aspect of this discussion that should not be overlooked is the fact that expectations tend to change with changing times, technology, and what-you-get-for-your-money. About ten years ago when i bought my near-lux category SUV, I was more than ok with only one driver's side airbag because, well, thats usually what we got back then for the price I paid for the car. Now I wouldn't imagine paying that amount of money and not getting passenger's side airbag.
In today's highly competitive market when you have other manufacturers offering certain amenities/niceties (that are sure to become "cannot live without" necessaties or perhaps mandatory specifications in the future) within the same class/category and price range, your expectations alter accordingly.
I drive in Manhattan every day, and having driven for more than 23 years (bulk of it in Karachi, if you have driven there and are still alive, you can drive any where in the @#!ing world) I certainly consider myself an "experienced" driver. But I would not mind having a camera which I could use to be able to parallel park and stuff in the cramped cross streets of Manhattan literally within inches without having to kiss the crude and rusty bumper of the delivery truck parked behind my brand new SUV, and ofcourse not by just staring at the nav screen only but looking around as well.
Furthermore, we all know very well that LR certainly would want to maintain a distance between their top dog and the rest of their lineup. And we LR3 owners suffer from that a little. Otherwise, I am damn sure we would have had that very same camera in our LR3s that they offer in the very same core system in the Range Rover aside from other things like motorized stearing wheel tilt/telescopic controls, etc., which are available in the very vehicle Land Rover is trying to compete against, the GX 470.
Now, having said all that, I want you guys to know that I do understand that we are also paying for the name brand, heritage, a high "cool" factor, extra heavy duty hardware and the capabilities that come with it, etc., and other things like events/adventures and the thrill of it and such that usually are not necessarily associated with other brands within the said price range and therefore set the LR brand apart.
And, I'm glad that I don't have the electric steering column (not available on the LR3 anyway) because they usually are too slow moving, and again, just another thing to break.
Also, I saw a black LR3 just like mine today and it HAD the mud-guards. Just as I suspected, they don't appear to be flexible so they could break during rough terrain. If they are flexible, I will stand corrected.
Manoftaste... good post above. :shades:
Mark