My entry to the RRS world began in September 2017 when I first joined this forum and purchased a brand new MY16 vehicle. It was such a pleasure to follow this forum back then when owners would proudly share the pictures of their newly delivered vehicles. The general tone was that of excitement and anticipation. What amazes me is how much the tone of the forum has changed since then. Nothing but unhappy and disgruntled customers and very few owners talking in excitement about how to spec their vehicles.

Is it just me or have other long standing followers of the forum also noticed a dramatic change in the forum compared to 2 years ago. MY16 (65) RRS, HSE, White, 21" 507s, Pan/Black Roof, 7 Seats, Ebony/Cirrus, Surround Cams, Fully Color Coded

It's definitely a different style of forum than most that I've frequented. And I've been reading forums since they started in the 90's. I was a big Audi fan before finally buying a RR Sport back in 2010. There is definitely an abundance of cynicism and negativity here. Sometimes it's surprising that some members actually buy a LR with all the mocking and hate. But I get it, it's frustrating when cars aren't 100% perfect. And everyone feels like they are experts in automotive design and marketing.

Maybe the quality really has gone down in the last few years to foster the complaining. I don't know. Or maybe some are overreacting a little. I had my sport for 7 years and it was amazing. I've had my "rubbish" Velar since September and it's perfect and I drive it aggressively every single day. And fingers crossed my SVR (May delivery) will also be solid. So I still come here to learn and see photos of new arrivals, etc. It's great for that. It's just a matter of time before enthusiasm returns. Like when there are less quality issues. 2018 Range Rover Sport SVR – Bosphorus Grey

I think it’s because we’re grumpy. We are English after all (mostly). Noisy black one

LOL. Well my mum and dad are English... so I'm only a little grumpy. Also Canadian and you know how annoyingly nice they can be.  2018 Range Rover Sport SVR – Bosphorus Grey

Well when I joined the forum in 2012, after buying my first new RRS the forum was very positive. Unfortunately since then JLR’s quality control has dropped to a very poor standard, whilst at the same time they have been churning out cars with known faults and issues.

I think the thing that annoys most of the longstanding forum members is that JLR don’t appear to give a hoot about the problems their customers are experiencing......

Jim

If JLR got their act together & started listening to customers & getting things right before they release vehicles we wouldn't have to moan.its not as if its the odd one its nearly every vehicle across the LR range & mostly electrical problems.Why is it most other manufacturers don't have the same problems & some have even better tech than JLR.
I'm on my 6th RRS & touch wood ive only had 2 little niggles but the were put right under warranty,the 1st being a park brake issue on my08 TDV8 & the other being a suspension issue on my12 red edition.

Andy. Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
Focus RS Red Edition
2015 RRS AB Fuji.
2014 RRS SC Santorini
2016 VW Amarok
2014 RRS AB Fuji
2012 RRS Red Edition Fuji
2015 Nissan Navara
2012 RRS SE Santorini
2008 RRS White
2007 RRS Santorino

I noticed a change over the years, different people have different senses of humor, there was a few great members back in the day who upped and left for various reasons, selling and moving brand etc

But people join forums normally to find out about a fault, so are predominately grumpy about the brand, wouldn’t you be if your £70k 3 year old RRSport wouldn’t be covered by warranty due to politics of the known fault stuff

I’ve recently left the Freel2 site after 20k posts due to new members, or knuckle draggers joinung and their attitude, over the years the cost of the FL2 has come down and is now affordable to the lower gene pool, who expect their £5k FL2 to be car it was 10 years ago when it rolled off the production line and moan about wear and tear faults happening

RRSport hasn’t the same type members and is a good forum, but things do change over time

In my opinion this is nothing to do with the quality of members posting but more so to do with the quality of the cars now coming out of JLR. I had an MY15 RRS and it was faultless in 2 years of ownership. I never had a single issue with the car.

Compare this with a quick reality check of how many people have taken deliveries of their MY17/18 sports compared to the number of these new owners satisfied speaks volumes for the lack of support and quality control from the JLR brand. There are way more MY18 owners with faults than those satisfied so where else would they rant about this other than a RRS forum?

The majority of issues started when JLR updated their infotainment system - when they were using the ancient MY15 system we all ranted about how crap the system was and how backdated it was but as soon as they moved to the MY17 widescreen and then the MY18 dual screens it was carnage! Did they rush in to launching it using owners as beta testers? I think so!

Forums change over time. As many of you know I was one of the first adopters of the Velar (placed a deposit on the launch event itself) and took delivery of probably one of the first UK cars (First Edition) back in July last year. I joined the Velar forum in March after I attending the launch event at the Design Museum as did many other excited and prospective owners. It was all excitement on the forums from March to around September time with everyone raving about the car, the dual screens, the handles and the design etc but once deliveries started it quickly began to go downhill. Now around 90% of the posts on the Velar forum are about peoples issues and full of negativity!

Its the cars not the people!

JLR need to take note and sort their out ASAP.

I've been a member for a couple of years and find the support for problems which manifest themselves in older RRS invaluable. I also find the info on enhancements and modifications really good. Its almost as though within the forum there are two high level topics currently.

If you are buying or have just bought a new one then there are two sides to that. When I first joined it was all about option selection colour combinations and actual performance on the road. More recently there has been a much greater emphasis on the problems of QC from JLR. I find this interesting and informative but as I am unlikely to have the funds to buy a brand new RRS the interest is academic. I would, however, be extremely off if I'd spent £100k on a car only to find it in the garage more than on the road. That's the performance you might expect from a bad, cheap second hand car!

If you have bought an older (or old) RRS then the info on keeping it going or modifying it is very useful especially if you are outside JLR warranty. So this is the second high level topic.

And of course if you have bought a new one then the second hand value is dependent on reputation for reliability so if they gain a reputation for poor reliability then the second hand price will be that much lower and that will affect me if I were to buy another second hand one in the future, as well as hitting those who bought the new ones in the first place in their pocket.

When they are running well, whether new or old, they are amazing vehicles and we still get comments on the forum on the buzz from driving them. And I agree that there seems to be relatively much less on pictures from proud owners or discussion on which snow cleanser is best. Perhaps this is just a time of the year thing as our cars will all be looking a bit shabby after this grubby winter. Perhaps Spring will bring more proud owners out. I suppose the other aspect is that it is always easier to have a moan about something. Those who don't comment much may be just happy to drive their beasts. Robin
2008 Range Rover Sport TDV8
Gone:
Jaguar S-Type V8 4.2 Sport
MGZTT 190 2.5

I joined my first forum in 2006 (Jag forum because I had issues). Initially it was to get help but I was soon hooked due to the interesting posts and characters much to SWMBOs annoyance

I previously owned excellent FL1 and 2x D2s so I ditched the Jag and returned to the LR fold. I joined Freel2 in 2007 then RRSport and Disco3 in 2010 when I was looking to upgrade my FL2. I was there for the knowledge and the banter not to moan and so was everyone else in the main. I have joined all sister sites over the years and they were full of enthusiasts I could relate to

I agree the LR forums have become much more negative as did my own experience of LR ownership towards the end. Martins DS forum never grew like the others so I had to look elsewhere - it was even more negative and contributed to my LR ownership ending

I have joined Lexus and Mitsubishi forums now but hardly anyone posts anything probably because they have nothing to moan about so I still spend time here and Disco3 seeing how people are getting on and hoping to see a return to the glory days  Wanted a Series 2 LR since childhood but previously owned MY16 Disco Sport HSE TD4 Auto, MY13 RR Sport Black Edition TDV6 Auto, MY10 RR Sport HSE TDV6 Auto, 2007 Freelander 1 Freestyle TD4 Soft Top, 2009 Freelander 2 GS TD4 Auto, 2007 Freelander 2 GS TD4, 2004 Disco 2 Metropolis Auto, 2002 Disco 2 GS, 2000 Freelander 1 SE TD4 SW

Still hoping for a S2 one day!

LJRH wrote:

I think it’s because we’re grumpy. We are English after all (mostly).

I think it has to come down to Dealerships as well....

I have only ever used Stratstone Newport since I had terrible service from Stratstone Cardiff ( which is less than a mile from where I live ).

I have recently, and well documented in other parts of the forum, sold my SVR and I used Carwow to source my new car.
I ended up purchasing a new full fat with Matford Land Rover Exeter, and the sales and customer service has been second to none. I cannot speak highly enough of them.
When I contacted Newport with the deal I was having with Exeter, thinking they would give me a better deal after having 4 previous RRS’s off them they were not interested, in fact it felt like they just didn’t want the business.

It’s been a breath of fresh air dealing with someone other than Stratstone and Matfords have made the experience make me feel like the customer is king, as it should be when spending the sorts of figures that we all spend on our cars and to be honest with any service provider we all deal with in our lives.

I’m going to SVO Friday to the Oxford Road Design Suite and I will definitely be passing on concerns of members of our forum to whoever is willing to listen and is stood in front of me at the time and I will also be having conversations and a good look around to see why new cars are becoming delayed in such big numbers.

I owned a couple of Disco's V8's in the past and never had serious problems. I often miss them.
These cars were technically and mechanicaly straight forward. Not to many electronics, if any.
Nowadays our cars are much too complicated. it's not only the screens and gadgets, but worse, all the electronically controled mechanical devices. They have become very vulnerable.
In my opinion we need to go back to the mechanical basics of driving a car i.e a 4x4. that would resolve many problems and make us better drivers as well. Marketing is focussing on the wrong things. We do not need all kind of gadgets and expensive apps to enjoy real driving. The mechanical basisic of cars haven't change that much in the last 40 years. Electronics have!
In terms of quality, Landover should i.e. focus more on rust prevention instead of tablets.. It is kind of wierd that the chassis of an 4X4 is not galvanized and bolts and nuts are of a questionable quality. in that respect they could learn from BMW and Porsche (the rest is unfortunately not much better).
I love my RRS as long as its on the road and not in the workshop. I don't think that I will ever go for an RRS .c. a diesel again.
I rather look for a good second hand Disco II or a Defender (next to my other cars) and customize them. For the money of a new RRS you can go a long way.

PS. I know I am right , but it's not relevant I am afraid RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Lux
RRS 3.0 TDV6 gone
LR 3 HSE V8 gone
DiscoveryII V8 Gone
Discovery 1 V8 Gone
Mustang Shelby
Alfa Guilia (classic)

Hog,

With respect to the electronics, other car makers have these systems and more and they don’t seem to have the problems that LR and Jaguar are having. Perhaps they need to look at their Engineers/Software developers because to the extent of these systems failures on all JLR vehicles they should have a clean out and new team brought in.

Imagine these type of people looking after Software and Control Systems in a hospital for example, one small failure and they would be out the door !!

It’s just not good enough.

I tend to agree. But also hear many stories related to other brands RRS 3.0 SDV6 HSE Lux
RRS 3.0 TDV6 gone
LR 3 HSE V8 gone
DiscoveryII V8 Gone
Discovery 1 V8 Gone
Mustang Shelby
Alfa Guilia (classic)