Range Rover Sport L494 Versus Full Fat Range Rover 4.4TDV8 L322

I was contemplating selling my 2006 L320 Range Rover Sport and getting a new shape L494 Range Rover Sport.

Then the topic cropped up about the dodgy 3 litre crankshafts and I thought better of that idea. Especially after an exchange on Twitter with Land Rover.

Dropping £35k+ on a car that might rack up a £20k bill any moment held little appeal.

I wondered what else I might buy (and a bonus if it spent less time in the garage than a Land Rover vehicle) and investigated the Audi Q7, various big Jeepy things of numerous brands and Bentleys. None held the appeal of a Range Rover .

I decided what I really wanted was a full fat Range Rover  L405, but the £45k used entry level seems a lotta wonga.

So I wondered what a late model Range Rover L322 Full Fat (FF) might be like since they are about half the money of a Range Rover L405. But it would need to be proper spec, black and probably the best model I could find.

Then a chap posted one for sale that looked a likely candidate. As is often the way, I expected him to be at the other end of the country, but no, he was about four miles away. 

So to cut a long story short, after much friendly haggling and poker faces, I acquired an unabused Range Rover 4.4TDV8 Autobiography Black with 50 odd k miles. Spec is off the scale and it is a lovely example.

It had some large Range Rover Overfinch wheels on that were not to my taste, so I quickly rectified that with some nice Range Rover L405 wheels.

A chap from Gumtree drove off tonight smiling with the old wheels, so the cost of the wheel upgrade cost me about £300 net.

It lacked sidesteps so I got some deployable ones that are going on in a week or so. So here we are up to now.

I must say, what a nice thing the Full Fat is.

Similar to a Range Rover Sport the untrained eye perhaps, but a totally different animal to the Sport.

At over £10k less than a new shape Sport, they represent pretty decent value. And with the 4.4 V8 it goes like a rocket! 

So after parting with a large bundle of hard-earned notes, I thought I’ll perhaps pass the Range Rover Sport along and get a few quid back in the coffers. But my wife then decided that she rather likes our Range Rover Sport, and in the absence of the white three door Evoke she would really like, she’ll hang on to the Range Rover Sport, thanks very much. 

(Real reason: slim long blonde milfy women still look pretty hot on the school run in an aged Range Rover Sport.)

So I now get to flog her Chrysler 300C which we bought new in 05, which last time I looked had gone down in value from almost £30k it cost in 05 down to about 87p.

On the upside, we are now a two Range Rover family, so we now have the joy of our small fleet spending twice as long in the local garages (since 05 our Chrysler has only needed MOT, tyres, some bushes, brake pads and an alternator). 

I have an old Mercedes Sprinter van if both end up in dock together.

But behold, I’ll be that smiling bloke in the V8 Range Rover whose kids are watching telly with their new bluetooth headphones in the back. I pray we dont spend too much time on the hard shoulder.

Handy to have a telly while you are waiting for the AA when you break down though…… Cash in the Attic anyone?