In this era of Instagram and such, it's nice to enjoy a Harry Metcalfe review once in a while. This old time was the chief editor of Evo during its glory days and has been in the business for as long as we can remember. What's more, having owned and run 9 Range Rovers in the past 28 years, he's the perfect guy if you want advice for buying one used.
The L322 was built between 2002 and 2011. It's the third generation Range Rover and is one of the most successful luxury SUVs ever made. Available second-hand from around £7,000, it's a bargain for people looking for a combination of image and agricultural utilitarianism. Did we just describe a stingy sheepherder?
Despite weighing 2.5 tons, the Range Rover has aluminum hood and doors. The rest of the body is steel but doesn't suffer from many rust issues. There is, however, one spot inside the wheel well where some rust can appear.
The Range Rover is built in a way that most crossover SUVs aren't. The engine is waterproof, and the thick rubber door sills allow a fording depth of 0.7 meters or just over two feet. Harry recommends that you replace the old 19-inch wheels for 20-inch ones that enable the latest generation of all-season tires to be fitted. This saves you a lot of hassle of swapping them twice a year and also gets rid of some of the body roll.
The first L322 Harry's family had come with the 3-liter diesel engine, and he says it struggled. The one in the video gets the bigger TDV8, and it's still purring along after a hundred thousand miles. Why not a new Range Rover? Well, even though he can apparently afford one, the reviewer says it's too wide to park and has lost some of its rugged appeals.
You can tell that Metcalfe is still in love with the old RR, which might make this review slightly biased. However, the knows pretty much everything there is, so if you're looking to buy the L322, consider watching this video.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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