The Range Rover L322, Everybody has seen this car at some point in their life. The Queen of England drove hers (R.I.P the queen now), Jeremy Clarkson uses it on his farm and said its the best! The whole point of the original Range Rover was to be a good off-roader and take you to dinner later that evening after a good wash. But, with all the notorious stories revolving around the notorious reliability of this car, Is it a jack of all trades or is it a car that is only for the brave? Let’s find out!
You see the thing is, I was supposed to be loaned this Range Rover L322 for a day only and so I picked it up in the evening and was supposed to return it during the day. That night I got to drive it around but I came the next day and the car had completely forgotten the key fob! Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem but the original key was misplaced so we had to call about 5 people to be able to get it to even move. It took them over 7 hours to get into the car and I figured the main reason is because the replacement key was not OEM.
Now, I know this review is off to a negative start and is hinting at unreliability and all that like many websites will have you believe but, had this not happened i’d not have gotten the extension of two extra days to drive this car.
Over these 3 days there a few things I can confirm and some that should not be believed. The first question on everybody mind is ‘is this a reliable car?’ That’s a complicated question but, the answer is not no.
Now, I have years of experience with Land Rover products and the simple answer is….It comes down to the owner. Our Range Rover Sport was not maintained to the highest of standards before we bought it and so the fault list was long because it didn’t have enough time to have a good owner but our Discovery was owned by a wealthy person and thus was maintained well.
We continued to maintain it well and when well maintained, These cars are no less reliable than any car in its class that we have owned including a ‘Lexus’. Yes, even when well maintained it will have a few gremlins like power locks and windows but its relatively negligible.
Now, how easy is it to maintain you ask? I must admit it’s not the easiest car to maintain but, its not as bad as you’d imagine. E.g its no where near as bad as a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The advantage of the L322 is that its been around for a while so there’s an abundance of parts and forums so regardless of what you’re looking for there’s always someone that has it. You can never fail to fix it if you have the money. People always stock Range Rover parts because its a profitable business! Because its a maintenance intensive car, the support is pretty much greater than any car you can find anywhere.
So put simply, The price of the L322 and the cost of the L322 are much different and in some cases the cost after you buy will be higher than you expected but as a value proposition, does the cost added to the price match the value?
So now that we have gotten reliability and ownership out of the way…. What is going on with the Range Rover L322? well, supreme comfort is what. I’m not going to use words like refinement and opulence to describe the way this car feels because that does nothing for someone that has never experienced it in person. If you haven’t experienced it let me describe it as properly as possible.
The exterior I must admit is beginning to show its age not necessarily because this one looks old but the L322 body shape has been around for a very long time. So while it looks expensive, because its a boxy suv, the unaware assume it’s older than it actually is. However, it still has road presence. Unlike the Range Rover Sport, people actually give this car way. People call this a grownups car and it’s true! younger people tend to prefer the smaller Range Rover Sport but in terms of road presence, the Range Rover Sport is nowhere close.
The car was a black on black Range Rover and for some reason people fear black on black Suv’s. When it drives in, people just go silent. You can leave this car unlocked and no one will touch it. Its a very intimidating car. People move out of the way in traffic and stuff like that which is interesting.
The Interior wow factor far exceeds that of the exterior however. The interior is fantastic even today. Everyone I met had something to say about the interior because its plain gorgeous and the attention to details is something you don’t see even today! For example, the centre console has 2 hydraulic dampers so however you choose to open it, it opens and closes smoothly. There’s lights inside the door handles and things you do not expect anyone to care about such as light up ceiling mirrors for the back passengers and stuff wrapped in beautiful materials such as leather inside the door pockets, Its crazy!
Even if you’re sitting in the back parked at the garage waiting for it to be fixed, you get the privilege of sitting in this interior! The test car I had was the top of the range Autobiography with the tan interior and for the interior alone, the car is worth it! You completely forget the reliability concerns when you’re sitting inside. Little things you don’t even think about such as the interior smell is really aromatic. I took the time to read the owners manual and this interior is done by hand in the Autobiography.
The car may lack bluetooth streaming and other small little things like a fridge and heads up display but as a place to sit, this car can go toe to toe with luxury car interiors today. It’s Fantastic!
It is also probably the most comfortable car in its class period. When you sit in it, you can tell that this is the generation where the Range Rover moved on from being a utilitarian vehicle. I’ve moved in the newer L405 autobiography and even that is not as comfortable in terms of ride and general interior comfort. I’ve been particularly impressed by cars such as the Porsche Cayenne and Land Rover Discovery 4 but, this car has changed the definition of comfort for me. Africa has some of the worst roads ever but this car can solve it. The Discovery 4 has been the benchmark to beat for a long time because the way it handles those bumps especially speed mountains but the l322 is ever so slightly softer.
The car must have some strange magic going on with the suspension because the test car had 22″ rims. It might have something to do with the weight because it’s an equal weight to a small adult African forest elephant. Also, how can a car with such rims ride like this! Even small ripples in the road that usually disturb cars with air suspension cannot be felt! It honestly feels like it’s a hovercraft or something. In terms of ride quality, it leaves any other car in its class in the dust be it Lexus or Mercedes Benz. I’m surprised people haven’t crashed from falling asleep while driving. The Rangie is far superior to its competition when it comes to comfort.
The Driving position may have something to do with this though. The car sits way higher than any car on the road. You feel like a captain on a yacht. You notice the size when you’re inside and It’s far bigger than the Range Rover Sport and also competition such as the Lexus Lx. When you’re inside you literally look down on every car on the road including land cruisers. It really does feel like a yacht especially with the wood, leather and captains chairs. The front lifts up too when you accelerate and it feels like its jet propelled.
The space in the boot is so large, You can store all the pasture you could ever need to carry. The boot is also carpeted so forget about farm use because the carpets will absorb the aroma of the chickens you’ll carry in the back. It’s also pretty difficult to clean so the boot is strictly not for chicken use even though the boot is big enough to carry a cow. You wouldn’t want to though, the interior already carries like 10 dead ones because of all the leather and i suppose it would be cruel to carry a cow next to its dead ancestors.
The 4.4l TDV8 is fantastic! The fuel economy is brilliant. The fuel consumption in real life is comparable to the SDV6. The money you save on fuel compared to its Japanese rivals is well over $1000 per year and do you lose anything in performance? Not necessarily no. The car is like a woman in a 3/4 dress suddenly pulling a Usain Bolt in the middle of a conference. Very elegant yet It picks up and runs. There’s no negotiations when overtaking as you would in a regular car because although it has 313hp, it has 700nm of torque which is crazy! Even before its shifted gears its already beginning to pickup speed quite sprightly. On top of that, you never notice the speed so you better have a good relationship with the police. No sensation of speed whatsoever.
The car also has a wonderful V8 diesel noise. It sounds far better than the SDV6 and even the AJV8 petrol. It has a commanding noise when its moving signifying the arrival of something of serious mass. I just love this engine! Theres a-bit of turbo noise too when the windows are open, its the perfect engine for a car like this.
So yes, despite the first day I had with this car in the end i’m still impressed mainly by the interior. It feels like a very modern Range Rover Classic. Of-course the new one has more technology but making the newer ones never took anything away from the Range Rover L322. I believe this car will be a classic of its own in a few years to come so we better prepare to be bidding for them at classic car auctions 20 years from now.
Check out my review of the newer Range Rover L405 incase you were considering that.
You can also check out my review of its main rival at the time….
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