Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 09:08
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Steveieb
My son can't get the Range Rover out of his mind .
He has been offered an 09 model with 62 k miles and full main dealer service history.

May I have your views please ?
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Wed 4 Sep 2019 09:48
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Wee Willie Winkie

If it's an itch he can afford to scratch then go for it. An acquaintance of mine has just changed his '52' plate 'proper' RR for a '07' plate Sport - so I don't suppose he could've been too scarred by the experience.

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 10:22
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - SLO76
One of the most desirable but sadly most unreliable cars on the road. Lovely to sit in and drive but massively complex and poorly made. I wouldn’t buy one unless money is of absolutely no concern. The running costs will be inline with its huge new cost and not its current value.

It’ll require cripplingly expensive main dealer maintenance or if there’s a genuine Land Rover/Range Rover specialist nearby you might be able save a bit here but again don’t buy if money is any kind of an issue. Backstreet garage’s despite what they’ll say have neither the knowledge or the equipment to maintain complex prestige cars like this so there’s no way round the high servicing costs if you don’t want it to end up as scrap quickly. It will almost certainly land regular hugely expensive bills on his lap. Even tyres are expensive and cheap rubber ruins the handling on these.

As a Mitsubishi salesman I often took odd old Range Rover or Land Rover Discovery in against Shogun’s, mostly from owners who were sick fed up with bills and failures. Nine times out of ten we auctioned them to avoid the hassle of trying to retail the things. Even the warranty firms wanted double premium from us for a policy which added to the cost. We never bought them in for stock either even nearly new.

Again and I can’t stress this enough, do not buy one if money is a worry at all. I’ve seen plenty of ordinary working Joe’s fall foul of cars like this. They borrow to buy a hugely complex decade old prestige sports or luxury car then can’t afford the associated running costs or it gives up the ghost via a terminal engine or gearbox failure leaving them with a debt for a car that’s now scrap. Even the road tax is a hefty £570 a year.

Look at other 10yr old cars, they’re in their banger stage and approaching near zero value yet these more mundane cars will be far far more reliable so think long and hard before sinking a five figure sum into an old Range Rover.


Is this the car in question?

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20190824148...5

I understand the temptation but for similar money he could have a nice previous gen Honda CRV EX auto with everything either with the 2.2 or later 1.6 twin turbo diesel. It’ll offer space, a bit of pace, comfort, far better economy and vastly superior reliability. It’ll also be sellable afterwards where an old Range Rover will be hard hard work and near worthless.


Edited by SLO76 on 04/09/2019 at 10:39

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 15:06
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - mss1tw

Someone must be buying (And fixing) these things as I still plenty of older models on the road. I don't think I've ever seen one in the scrappy. Do they get exported regardless of condition? I can see the value in a rolling chassis in some far flung country.

Just curious, don't like them myself.

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Fri 6 Sep 2019 20:11
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - madf

Someone must be buying (And fixing) these things as I still plenty of older models on the road. I don't think I've ever seen one in the scrappy. Do they get exported regardless of condition? I can see the value in a rolling chassis in some far flung country.

Just curious, don't like them myself.

I note several with open indows in hot wetaher - c 2005 reg. I assume climate is not working....

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 10:38
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - John F
My son can't get the Range Rover out of his mind . .......May I have your views please ?

A suitable case for psychotherapy?

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 11:26
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - nellyjak

I understand the "pull"...I really do..and have been close myself sometimes with this iconic vehicle...BUT..I've always resisted for the reasons we all know.

I've always stayed with Mitsubishi and now Toyota.

SLO's summation is very accurate..and likewise, when I spent time in the trade we never retailed a RR...it always went to the block.

In short...leave well alone unless you have money to burn or a gambler's mentality.

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 12:38
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - madf

I understand the "pull"...I really do..and have been close myself sometimes with this iconic vehicle...BUT..I've always resisted for the reasons we all know.

I've always stayed with Mitsubishi and now Toyota.

SLO's summation is very accurate..and likewise, when I spent time in the trade we never retailed a RR...it always went to the block.

In short...leave well alone unless you have money to burn or a gambler's mentality.

If it's the same one as referenced in Auto Trdaer , the MOT history shows what does go wrong.https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 16:44
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - badbusdriver

My son can't get the Range Rover out of his mind .
He has been offered an 09 model with 62 k miles and full main dealer service history.

All you can do is advise him but he is under no obligation to take it. If, after emphasising just how unreliable a RR of that age (or indeed any age) is likely to be, he still wants it, then there really is nothing else you can do. As others have said, this seems to be an itch he just has to scratch.

Just remember to try and look suitably symathetic if (when?) it fails spectacularly leaving him with an enormous bill, and whatever you do, don't say,

"well i did warn you....."!

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 17:23
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - nellyjak

Just remember to try and look suitably symathetic if (when?) it fails spectacularly leaving him with an enormous bill, and whatever you do, don't say,

"well i did warn you....."!

In all honesty I think I would find that impossible to resist...lol

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 19:08
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - madf

Just remember to try and look suitably symathetic if (when?) it fails spectacularly leaving him with an enormous bill, and whatever you do, don't say,

"well i did warn you....."!

In all honesty I think I would find that impossible to resist...lol

About 5 years ago my older son wanted a used E46 BMW.. I warned hom about relaibility issues.. He went ahead and bought it.. Sveral new coils, a suspension rebuild full set of new brake disks etc,,, etc.. He sold it.. And bought a Honda Civic. I never said anything - great self control.... but I thought it....

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 20:27
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Steveieb
Brilliant advice and thanks SLO for identifying the car in question,
My son has actually heeded your advice.He wouldn't listen to me !

Really appreciate your feedback everyone .
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Thu 5 Sep 2019 12:37
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Sulphur Man

I dont want to muddy the water, but, anecdotally, the 3.6 Westminster might be the 'sweet spot' in that era of RR. It's before the over complex 4.4 but was a facelift with a lot of revisions and improvements.

I sold a piece of furniture via Fleabay last year. They buyer turned in an 08 Westminster in dark blue with the ivory interior. I complimeneted him on it, and tactfully asked about reliability. It had 140k on the clock and, to his mind, had been completely reliable. I didnt delve further.

Of course running costs will be steep. But if the price is really really good, or can be bartered down, this might be worth a punt. But go in with open eyes..

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 19:14
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - dan86
My son can't get the Range Rover out of his mind . He has been offered an 09 model with 62 k miles and full main dealer service history. May I have your views please ?

Absolutely lovely cars to sit in and munch the miles but as stated by everyone else they are money pits. Anything and everything will go wrong with them and it isn', If it goes wrong its when it goes wrong. No matter who ownes jaguar or land rover they just can't seem to build reliable cars.

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Wed 4 Sep 2019 20:15
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - gordonbennet

I can understand the temptation, the throb from that V8 is addictive, even on overrun it's heavenly.

The good thing about Landrovers is the aftermarket in parts and workshops is superb, but that is for one reason only, because they need a lot of maintenance and repairs.

They have no reason to make them reliable, like certain German makes if they stuck the LR logo on a glitter covered turd it would still sell, so the more unreliable they are maybe the more often buyers change for another new one, no i don't get it either.

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 09:22
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - FP

Despite the drooling that this post seems to have provoked, I have to say I put Range Rovers into much the same category as BMWs - often driven by people with a sense of entitlement who use the sheer bulk of the car in much the same way as white van drivers. (I was once nearly rammed by one that pulled out of a side turning from my right at speed without looking.)

That, and the other sort of driver who can't cope with the size of the vehicle, can't park it properly and often leaves it in "mother and child" spaces in supermarkets.

Go on, tell me I'm envious.

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 12:01
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Stackman II

My son-in-law works for a Land Rover dealer and regularly drives Range Rover Sports and full-fat Range Rovers. They are undoubtedly lovely things to see on the drive and to sit in.

However when my daughter said she fancied an Evoque or Discovery Sport he pointed her in the direction of a Kia Sportage instead.

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 12:49
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - badbusdriver

My son-in-law works for a Land Rover dealer and regularly drives Range Rover Sports and full-fat Range Rovers. They are undoubtedly lovely things to see on the drive and to sit in.

However when my daughter said she fancied an Evoque or Discovery Sport he pointed her in the direction of a Kia Sportage instead.

Very good of him. But had she been in the position to afford a 'full fat' RR, would he still have pointed her in the direction of something more reliable?!

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 17:31
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Stackman II

Definitely.

Even the brand new models he drives have problems with the air suspension and the entertainment systems.

My brother's boss had a £100k+ Range Rover and it had 7 visits to the dealer in the first year.

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 21:25
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - nick62

My brother's boss had a £100k+ Range Rover and it had 7 visits to the dealer in the first year.

Maybe he's doing ~84,000 miles a year, (I know someone who used to regularly exceed 50,000 miles PA)? ;)

I wonder how much you could get that RR Westminster for if you waved some cash under their nose SLO? Would £8K buy it?

Edited by nick62 on 05/09/2019 at 21:27

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Thu 5 Sep 2019 22:24
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - SLO76

My brother's boss had a £100k+ Range Rover and it had 7 visits to the dealer in the first year.

Maybe he's doing ~84,000 miles a year, (I know someone who used to regularly exceed 50,000 miles PA)? ;)

I wonder how much you could get that RR Westminster for if you waved some cash under their nose SLO? Would £8K buy it?

I like buying privately as you get to meet the owner, see their home (which tells you plenty about them) and there almost always more scope for negotiation but to expect a £5,000 cut is a bit unrealistic. Compared to others at dealers it’s already cheap but with few buyers willing to risk so much cash on this it’s likely a cheeky offer would bag it. It won’t be £8k though unless it really is knackered and the seller is absolutely desperate.
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Fri 6 Sep 2019 01:16
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Leif
They love to sit in them with the engine running outside a shop, polluting the air. And they are so long they occupy two spaces. I think most SUVs look ugly, each to their own.
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Sat 7 Sep 2019 00:15
Range Rover Westminster 3.6 V8 diesel - Any good - Avant

Eh? Who are 'they'?

Edited by Avant on 07/09/2019 at 00:15

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