Category: Range Rover

Over the years my daily-driver car choices have been constrained by: efficiency for commuting and business miles, and family practicality. Since Covid my commuting and business mileage is practically zero so I no longer need a highly efficient motorway machine that can reliably consume 15k miles a year with just a cheap service. Also, my girls now have cars of their own so Dad’s taxi and the summer holiday transport is no longer a consideration. So if I am not constrained what would I like to drive? Well let’s start with a Range Rover Vogue (L322). I’ve always wanted one and much prefer the L322 styling above the “brand” styling of the L405. I’m sure it will be troublesome but I need to experience one.

I walked into this experience with my eyes open, but certainly wasn’t expecting this level of faults or the rectification to be so costly. I had the optimistic hope that a Range Rover would behave like any other modern car i.e made in the 10 to 15 years. How wrong I was. Maybe it was just this car, but I found out the hard way that running a Range Rover after it’s warranty has ended is not for the faint hearted unless you have the skills and tools to fix them.

It has now been sold back to the dealer I bought it from and been replaced by a daily driver that I can depend on – a VW Toureg.

I ran my scanner over the ECUs and produced a list of the fault codes which you can find here. Most can be explained away and non are related to the engine or gearbox which gives me a degree of comfort.

Regardless of the ECU based faults there are also some physical defects that I have found on the vehicle that need fixing. Some I have mentioned on a previous post :

1. Rear tailgate seals – perished and leaking causing damp in the boot area – replaced.
2. Infotainment system – constant re-booting / frozen. One of the control modules linked by the optical CAN Bus is not working. Caused by the damp in the boot space. Dried out and re-sealed, not all working.
3. Cameras and Parking Assist not fully operating – replaced one parking assist sensor and 2 cameras [01/02/23]
4. Rear passenger side window – fixed. Replacement local control module [19/02/23].
5. Fuel tank level indicator – reading less than half what it should be. One of the 2 tank sensors was repaired last time. But the other was obviously also seized, hence the gauge only reading half of what it should. Other gauge now working so fuel level now looks realistic and miles to empty is much less scary.[19/02/23].
6. Battery failed – only reading 11.2v. Replaced with LR branded battery and all fault codes erased since low battery voltage is known to cause numerous ghost fault codes. The table above are the codes that remain after the full reset.
7. MOT advisory – rear brake pipe corrosion. Brake pipe replaced by Nick at 777 MOT [01/02/23].
8. Lower near side bumper dented below the fog light. Needs heating up and popping out – repaired by Nick at 777 MOT [26/03/23].
9. Rear washer not spraying – checked the pump and it is working. Checked the pipe to the rear window – all OK. Must be the nozzle/spray under the rear boot spoiler. Will need to remove the spoiler and clean it. Fixed now [26/03/23].
10. Oil Leak – passenger side front – although could be dripping from anywhere. Turned out to be an hydrolic fluid leak from the power steering. Repaired by Nick at 777 MOT [26/03/23].
11. Another leak and pool of fluid on my drive. This time it was the rear drivers side shock absorber that failed. Fixed by Ashley 4×4 [12/04/23].
12. Slow puncture – drivers side front. Fixed by Stafford Tyre [04/05/23]
13. Aircon not working – aluminium pipe corroded and needing replacement. Runs from the front to the back of the engine bay so although the replacement pipe is fairly inexpensive, the labour is not [booked in with Automotive Aircon Services [16/05/23]

After watching a number of YouTube videos about the L322, it would seem that the list of faults in my previous post are quite normal for this vehicle. As expected really for a 12 year old Land Rover. I will set about resolving them and update my blog as I do so.

But whilst I was YouTubing I came across a great site created by a like minded individual – Sam’s Motor & Machine. As well as some superb vids about fault finding and fixing, there are also a couple of vids on simple/cheap upgrades for the L322. These simple upgrades add some modern features/ bling at little cost. All the components were sourced from AliExpress, the Chinese version of EBay, and are really cost effective even after shipping costs.

1. Replaced the high beam H7 halogen lamps with high power LEDs – what a huge difference in light output and at the same temperature/colour as the xenons.
2. Replaced the rear reversing lights with LED – much, much brighter.
3. Replaced the rear boot space lights with LED modules (3) and a 4^th under the drivers bulk head.
4. Replaced all of the interior incandescent lamps with LED including the number plate lights. Much improved visibility all around and it also adds a crispness to contrast the dark interior.
5. New “autobiography” arm rest adjusters. Replacing the old Ford black plastic with some milled steel.
6. New puddle lights with the Land Rover logo
7. New front side indicator repeaters with a dynamic rolling effect.
8. Replacement mud guards as off-side front ripped.

Picked up the Range Rover from 17 Twenty in Lichfield. It was minus 2, dull, damp and Christmas Eve. All I did was jump in and drive it home. It them sat on my drive until the festivities and guest had all gone. When I eventually had some time I gave it a good clean and polish. Always the best way to get to know a new vehicle. I found:

• Some rust on the rear wheel arches – will need further inspection and removal of the sill covers before I can fix it.
• The windscreen trim around the rear tailgate – will need replacing
• Damp in the spare wheel cavity – will need to understand where the water is getting in and fix it
• The Infotainment system stopped working – one of the modules connected to the optical bus has stopped working and broken the comms loop – will need fixing by 17 Twenty

A local car dealer I have used in the past has a few L322’s on his stock list. Most are high milers (100k plus) because L322 finished production 10 years ago, and these things were built as executive cruisers. You can currently buy a very high miler (150k) for much less than £10k. That’s an £85k car for a tenth of what it was once worth and it will still drive and feel like a executive cruiser. A huge amount of car for your money.

I have chosen to pay a little more and go for a low mileage example. This one is a 2010 but only has 56k on the clock and has been stored off-road for a few years without use. Fingers crossed the lower mileage will preserve it’s value a little more and reduce the inevitable problems I know I am going to get with an Land Rover.

2 owner car in clean all round condition, drives very well, 2 keys incl parking heater , Silver

Vehicle registered: 30/04/2010

Car comes with:

• Cruise Control
• Heated Leather Steering Wheel
• Logic 7 Hi- fi 14 Speaker surround Sound- Harmon Kardon Sound System
• Rear view camera
• Smokers Pack

Extra Features – These are in addition to what this car typically comes with as standard:

• Dual view touch screen
• Logic 7 Hi- fi 19 Speaker surround Sound- Harmon Kardon Sound System
• Bi- Xenon adaptive Headlights
• Vision Assist Pack
• Autobiography design Pack
• Leather- Oxford- Jet
• Electrochromic door mirrors
• 20in V Spoke Alloy Wheels