Overview & Reviews

Land Rover is a luxury SUV manufacturer that has its roots in England. Many of its vehicles are replete with the sort of leather-lined comforts that call to mind hunting lodges and high tea. Land Rovers are also known for being stellar trail-busters, endowed with the moxie to get down and dirty when the road gets rough. Currently owned by Tata Motors, Land Rover is one of just a few automotive brands in the United States to solely market SUV products.

After World War II, two British brothers, Spencer and Maurice Wilks, were impressed by the rugged and versatile nature of the U.S. Army's Jeep. They worked with the British automaker Rover to create the first Land Rover in 1948. Called the Series I, this truck was equipped with permanent four-wheel-drive, a canvas roof and optional doors. These early Land Rovers were crude but extremely well-suited for operations in the field.

The 1950s saw Land Rovers moving toward increased power and refinement. Launched in 1958, the Series II offered added horsepower and a somewhat less rudimentary exterior, with sills designed to disguise the exhaust and chassis. The first diesel-powered Rover was also produced during these years. The Series IIA came next, in a production run that lasted from 1961-'71. As the '60s drew to a close, Rover was acquired by Leyland Motors Ltd. (which would later become British Leyland).

Land Rover's storied Range Rover made its debut in 1970. Equipped with a V8 engine and a body made mostly of aluminum, the stylish vehicle was more consumer-oriented than its predecessors. In the mid-'70s, British Leyland was nationalized; by the mid-'80s, the company — renamed the Rover Group — had been acquired by British Aerospace.

The automaker officially entered the U.S. automotive market in 1987 when the Range Rover made its debut on American shores. It was followed in 1989 by the Discovery, which was initially offered only in two-door form. The Discovery was the first all-new Land Rover in 19 years.

In the 1990s, the sudden popularity of the burgeoning SUV segment placed the brand in an enviable position. In response, Land Rover's vehicles, while still retaining their go-anywhere attitude, became more luxurious, particularly after BMW bought the company in 1995.

The Land Rover family of vehicles has continued to grow. The late '90s saw the introduction of the Freelander; the compact sport-ute held the distinction of being the first production vehicle to offer Hill Descent Control. The latter optimized maneuverability on steep descents by automatically braking to keep the vehicle's speed in check.

BMW's control was short lived, however, and in 2000 Land Rover was sold to Ford. Ford worked hard to improve the reliability of Land Rover's vehicles, but by 2008 Ford's financial instability resulted in Land Rover being sold again, this time to the Indian automaker Tata Motors.

Today, Land Rover is still well known for its luxury SUVs, including the ritzy yet rugged Range Rover as well as smaller and more affordable models like the LR4 and Evoque.

User Reviews:

• 

  My complaints - 2002 Land Rover Freelander
  By Jonathan - February 17 - 5:03 pm

  My Landrover is now dead for 85,000 miles. It can not run anymore. The mechanics of Landrover cannot find the problem by diagnostics alone. They have to open the engine to find out but not a guarantee that they will find it. How STUPID this Landrover diagnostics is. Landrover should terminate the Engineer who built this STUPID car diagnostics computer. The service advisor told me that the only thing that can fix my car is to replace the whole engine which will cost me $8,000 plus labor and tax.

• 

  Buy a Lexus - 2011 Land Rover LR4
  By Anonymous - February 14 - 11:55 am

• 

  Freelander - Funlander - Goddlander - 2003 Land Rover Freelander
  By Casey Green - February 13 - 2:00 am

  Great SUV Great Dealership - They even have off road events.

• 

  Luxury at a price - 2007 Land Rover Range Rover Sport
  By Gday - February 12 - 2:33 am

  Well its an eye catcher at a steep price. A princely car, gas guzzler, but the confidence you get when in it is not describable. It more than compensates for the shortcomings. It cuts through snow effortlessly. It accelerates beautifully, lifting its almost 4 ton weight effortlessly, but its not a sports car. Handling in corners calls for caution. It has some plasticky attachments which lower the overall quality together with the fact that it doesnt come with bells and whistles of Japanese cars. Eg the tail gate can be fully automated and there can be a rear camera without paying an arm and a foot. The power and control is great! Highly maneuverable for its size. Great car to own.

• 

  Third time is the charm - 2007 Land Rover Range Rover
  By David - February 11 - 10:13 pm

  Bought an 03-had problems, bought an 05-it was a better vehicle. Just bought the 07 and I think Land Rover finally got it right. The new suspension is noticeably tighter with less body roll around corners and the new seats "hug me" better than my other 2 RRs. Also considered the MB S550 4matic, although its comparing apples and oranges, I felt the RR offered similar luxury with more overall safety for my family. My only complaints are that the still too complicated radio/nav system is located too far away from the driving position, although Im 62" the stretch is uncomfortable. And the back- up camera picture quality is terrible. Id also like to see a diesel option.

• 

  Issues - 2010 Land Rover LR4
  By reviewer11 - February 11 - 3:40 am

  My wife and I bought our LR4 used with 44k miles on it. We have had it right at a month and it has been in the shop for three of those weeks with various issues. Brakes (we read the reviews and know that they are an issue already) oil dripping from under the engine, and the air suspension gave out on us on a road trip. When we took it to the our local dealership LR Austin, they told us that the brakes were after market that there was nothing they could do. We got them looked at elsewhere and they were in fact OEM and the exact ones the dealer installs. They told us the oil leak could not be found (even when there are drops of oil in out garage) and the suspension went out, can find prob?Junk

• 

  Loved mine for 5.5 years! - 2002 Land Rover Freelander
  By marylouise - February 11 - 12:50 am

  I got mine new in Aug 2002 and have loved it ever since. the only thing to go wrong was the heater 3 yrs ago and they fixed it, no chg. Brakes need regular maintenance as its a heavy car. Love the way mine looks and handles but it doesnt have much initial pick-up. ive had all the scheduled maintenance and am pleased with overall performance. I got a good one!

• 

  LR3 does not work-stay away-it is unsafe - 2005 Land Rover LR3
  By hassler1 - February 8 - 10:03 pm

  If you purchase a $54,000 car, you would think it would run. In 10 months, it has stalled at least a dozen times, died and been towed to the dealer twice, locked out of the car with keys in hand in a snow storm, because electronic keys are faulty (twice) try to find the place to insert key - it is covered with plastic and you must rip off molding. I have owned numerous cars and have had more problems with the 2005 LR3 then all combined. When we bought it, we loved it for 1 month, then reality struck and the car is unsafe to drive by anyone and after all these headaches the dealer offered me $25,000 as a trade in on My $50,000, 10 month old LR3 Stay Away at all cost!

• 

  3 x Electronic Meltdwn ongoing Nightmare - 2008 Land Rover LR2
  By CALandRoverHell - February 7 - 1:50 pm

  Briefly- This SUVs electronics systems are defective, and LR must know it! I have had 3 different, brand new models 2-LR2s and 1 LR2 HSE. Similar issues have re-occurred with all 3 vehicles: 1) passenger front seat airbag/seatbelt sensor malfunction even after fix, comes back on. 2) nav screen freezing and not moving forward 3) gas showing EMPTY when is 1/2 or more full 4) sound system muting after rear sonar has engaged 5) rear latch when opening at night, turns on ALARM 6) incompetent service people. their systems never seem to find the problems, and I have to have solution for them by finding on internet

• 

  1st time buyer this type suv - 2006 Land Rover Range Rover Sport
  By Tess - February 6 - 4:30 pm

  Love, Love, Love, look, ride,just about everything on or in this suv. still have not mastered some of the features there are so many. never have had it off road so not sure how its handles there. looking forward to that test drive.