Having just had a new engine stuffed in mine and it only had 41K on it, I’d go for the V8, I had the V8 SC for my last RRS1 and it was great fun yest it used a fair bit of fuel but no one should buy a Range Rover to be frugal and worry about fuel consumption. I was going to buy the SC or the V8 this time round as they seem to be slightly cheaper too, but thought I’d be sensible and went for the SDV6 which performs well can deny it but the Crankshaft failure is something I didn’t put too much though into as you only ever hear about the fails! Well, I had one of the fails on a low mileage well looked after main dealer serviced car!
A lot of the replacements just get done under warranty at the dealers and often cost the owner very little if purchased from the dealer and its in LR’s warranty or LR will help (they look at the age, how much you spent where did you buy etc… and they might help. So most failures you never hear about, the issue is not just in the UK it’s the world over. Many are sold and lots don’t ever see the problem and seeing as LR don’t admit to it its impossible to know if there is a way to prevent it!
Having spoken to the guys at the dealer who were also surprised LR wouldn’t help at all just sighting it’s too old! As if age has a anything to do with a design flaw.
The guys said this is not first time and they normally do a few a month (this is L494, L405, Discos; and Jags) and they are not just on the older cars either some have been sub 10K newer models so buying a 2017 SDV6 isn’t any guarantee that the engine wont blow, just that the dealer will hopefully be able to get it covered by LR if there is a warranty.
So, on warranty there are only a few who cover this but you need to be careful as the replacement cost varies mine cost 13599 from LR with 2 yr warranty including turbos. The warranty might cover the broken part but not some of the ancillaries like turbos if they have been damaged but if it only cost you 3K and the cover is for the labour etc... then it’s better than nothing.
The people I’ve spoken with say there is nothing specific that causes the fault (apart from poor design) the issue of the oil being diluted due to failed forced regenerations of the DPF is not a direct cause but certainly won’t help general wear and tear if the oil is not as effective, every garage I spoke with all said that diesels are workhorses and the ore miles on them the better (within reason) so if you do lots of short trips and lots of start stops then it’s not the engine for you.
It apparently totally random some cars have higher mileage and they fail and others have low mileage and fail.
Like NAKS said if you always want that on the edge feeling that keeps you alive go for it you might be lucky like many others are but my luck ran out pretty quick whilst on my way home.
You get no warnings nothing its just a ticking noise then a knocking noise and then its like driving a Tesla just without power! The screens all go blank the brakes only have the pressure in the system to stop you but the steering is ok as its electric
Then its being on the side of the road wating for the RAC with everyone passing you by with a smirk on their face and some satisfaction that you the big flash luxury SUV is not going anywhere!
The engine is a great engine plenty of power, pretty quiet and smooth too and good on fuel but the fact that it can just go without any real warning is worrying.
If you take the warranty and are covered then not so much of a problem apart form the arguing about it should it happen. I don’t wanna scare you off one just in my opinion factor this in to how much you wanna pay. Mine is now technically worth the price of a much newer one, I just now have 2 years worth of not worrying about the engine blowing but it did cost!
Find a V8 or the SC the SC is amazing in speed and sound If a jobs worth doing, get a someone who knows what they are doing to do it!

RRS Autobiography Indus
RR P38 HSE V8
RRS Supercharged Santorini
AMG CLK Rear Tyre Shredder

Johnrrs wrote:

Mine Has the old tech been a 2015 model but I haven’t really got a problem with it. It’s a lot better/quicker than my 2012 RRS tech