[davyk31]

Was it a new model X5 you got prices on? Were they offering much discount on them? What deposit and monthlies were you offered?

[gIzzE]

I would be happy with an SE with the Meridian sound system, and I know I could get into one of those for under £550 a month (plus vat and 6 months down).

I honestly wouldn't feel the car was lacking in any area if I had that spec.
The one they had as a demo was that spec. and it was lovely, dark blue metallic with beige leather and Meridian sound system, which sounded divine.

But that is the same price as a 30d SE X5 doing searches. So that tells me that the RRS is going to hold its value better than the X5, which is one of the best for residuals anyway.

The new X5 doesn't grab me though, so a bit biased.

[davyk31]

So it £660 a month for the RRS given no one can claim back the VAT. Are landrover offering any decent finance rates, that's where there could be quite a difference as BMW will give pretty decent rates on their models.

[xs2man]

When I was looking, it was at the older X5, and the dealer contribution was pretty decent. Like I said though, I wasn't looking at 25d SE's because if that's all I could afford, I couldn't afford an X5, simple as. Can't remember exact numbers, but it was something like £4k down and £600 or so per month.

The RRS on the other hand, they can't build fast enough. So they don't really do a dealer contribution, wanted £15k down and around £600+ per month. The GFV was low compared to the BMW too. Of course, I'm quite sure you'd have a lot of equity left in the RRS at the end of the term, but your basically paying for that in the deposit, and I'd rather it was me making the interest on that money than the JLR dealer.

[gIzzE]

I wouldn't dream of 'buying' one of these two cars, I would only hire it as that were the real deals are to be had, hence 'what rate?' and residual value doesn't come into it.

It is purely what it will cost over 2, 3 or 4 years.

Customer of mine got into a run out 30d X5 SE for £480 a month with only a £1400 deposit doing 12k miles a year, which I thought was pretty good.

He was looking at 57 plate ones for £3000 down and £400 a month, so getting into a brand new one for 2 years was a no brainer as far as he was concerned.

[gIzzE]

Oh, that was including vat, they were advertising them at 3 x 23 at £399 a month.

[flyfs6]

Originally Posted by Mikesding

Looks beautiful! Do you need a ladder to clean the roof?

Thank you. I do need to use a small step ladder if I want to get the glass roof sparkling.

I feel like I'm climbing into a truck when getting in & out. I find myself hitting the lower suspension button every time, very cool

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Great car imho.

Why anyone would choose an X5 over one of these I don't know?

Thank you Gizze. I'm biased now of course, but I'm happy for now I chose this over the X5.

If I was to give one single reason ... the Infotainment system is rubbish and the navigation is mad. User interface is backwards but I knew to expect that. BMW had much better Infotainment system particularly because it had google search/send to car from google maps etc (LR are expected to add some of these functions to newer builds), also with the BMW voice functionality I could just say "cancel guidance" and it would do it. It takes three commands with LR's say what you see, to do the same.

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Stunning, if money were no issue, id have a new RRS or new RR on my drive right now. Land Rover are most definately on the up and make some of the best 'every day' cars in the world in my view.

Thank you Peter. It's very useable but not for the faint hearted on the narrow streets of London. I drove it through back streets of Covent Garden/Chinatown area and I thought I'd get it stuck. This RRS has grown in size and I believe Evo when they say its as wide as a L322 RR.

Originally Posted by xs2man

Have you looked at the overall finance package on these? If you have the cash outright, I agree. If your buying on PCP though, as an example, to keep the same monthly payments, you need to throw around £10k more deposit in.

Originally Posted by davyk31

Was it a new model X5 you got prices on? Were they offering much discount on them? What deposit and monthlies were you offered?

Originally Posted by gIzzE

I would be happy with an SE with the Meridian sound system, and I know I could get into one of those for under £550 a month (plus vat and 6 months down).

I wish I'd gone for Meridian too, the standard system is ok for most people but listening to the Meridian in our L405 I can confirm the standard system is inadequate for my liking

Originally Posted by davyk31

So it £660 a month for the RRS given no one can claim back the VAT. Are landrover offering any decent finance rates, that's where there could be quite a difference as BMW will give pretty decent rates on their models.

LR finance is rubbish all the time

BMW are much more competitive over time and although they don't on the F15 X5 yet, they often have finance contribution on their products.

So what's it like...

This RRS has directly replaced a E70 X5 xdrive30d M Sport. That was a very good on road 'car' that also happened to be very well specified (Nappa leather, head up display, electric everything etc etc etc). This RRS had a lot of expectations to live up to and I was worried nearing delivery about drivability/dynamics. That said it'd be unfair to compare the two because now they're at different price points.

I'm pleased to say from a driving/mechanical perspective the L494 is better than I expected. Its certainly very good to drive and I'm not scared of breaking it. The 3.0 SDV6 offers ample performance, it is very torquey and goes through the gears smoothly except at low speeds where you're constantly going up/down gears e.g. car parks/back streets where you need to brake and turn frequently. I nearly purchased a 5.0 S/C but I failed to justify it because this isn't my main car and we also have a L405 5.0 S/C, had nothing to do with running costs but I'm pleased to report even around town the SDV6 offers impressive economy.

I'm very fond of the interior too. I originally spec'd Tan/Ebony but non autobiography's don't get matching steering wheel etc. So last minute I changed the interior to Ivory/Ebony (had this combination before in a L320 RRS) and added panoramic roof because I felt this combination would lift the interior right up.

The colour is Causeway Grey. Somehow it looks more grey on the full fat RR. I preferred the lower plastic panels instead of painted (I know you can opt for non painted on the Autobiography). But the whole back end was making me sick, it is slowly its growing on me.

[ld757]

Test drove both and ended up buying X5. No comparison. X5 3.5 drives and feels much more agile and faster than RRS.
RRS feels like and old cow in comparison to X5. It is like comparing apples and oranges. Also, the quality of material in X5 is top notch comparing to plastic in RRS. India's Tata owns RR now... say no more... :-)