Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

150 LANDROVERMONTHLY

PRICECHECK

Evoque woes

Classic thunder

from down under

T

HE ink on last month’s
Pricecheck had hardly dried
when I got an ir ate response
from a reader who hadgood
reason to disagree withmy
rash as sertion that the quality and
reliability of the fi rst-ge neration Range
Rover Evoque was a bit special. Having
recently shelled out £13,000 for a ne w
trans fer box on the 2014 model that
his partner has owned from new, I can
see his point. And I can under stand
he was particularly irked because the
passenger side door had justfailed to
open. No doubt anotherexpensive bill
looms large...
It was time to dig a bit deeper anda
search on the internet revealed plenty of
Evoque woes – topped by ge arbox failures
(no surprise there) but also including
various computer glitches(a potential
problem with alltechnology-ladencars).
According to What Car, build quality
can be variable on theEvoque: “Most
problemscentre on the non-engine
electrics, especially around the air-con
and sat-nav unit s, with gearbox woes a
close se cond, followed by engine and
suspension issues.”
Automatic gearbox problems on the

Maybe the ba by Range Rover isn’t as bulletproof as we

thought, admits Dave Phillips

Evoque arefairly common andcan vary

greatly – anything from asoftware fault

to actua tor problems, but including

mechanicalfailure of the gearbox it self.

There are also known issues with the

Evoque’s tailgate alignment, which in

turn puts thereversing camera on the

dashboard outof alignment, leaving

frustr ated drivers unableto ge t the

full picture.

Meanwhile, onvehicles with engine

start-stop technology, thefl ywheel is

prone to early wear due to the continual

starting and stopping. Excessive vibr ation

through the clutch pedal is thetelltale

sign, so watch out for this.

Rather scarily, theEvoque hasseen

eight recalls so far, includingfor fuel

leaks, short circuits and the front

passenger airbag not deploying in

an accident.

Obviously it is only a small percentage

of secondhand Evoques that have suffered

these problems, butat LRM we reckon

it’s important to give buyers abalanced

view. After all, anyEvoque purchase is

a signifi cant fi nancial investment – and

makes it all the more vitalto follow the

advice Igave last month and buy froma

reputable dealer whooffers a fullwarran ty.

WE’RE usedto to tally originalbarn fi nd

Series Is and Classic RangeRovers

being imported from Australia to provide

rust-free restoration problemsfor UK

enthusiasts, but we have to admit we’ve

never come acr oss anything quite like

this he avily-modifiedearly RangeRover,

recently offered for sale on eBay.

The seller of this 19 75 two-door started

his eBay description with a disclaimer:

“I did not do anyof the mods on this

vehicle!” he insisted, explaining that

he had imported it fromAustralia as a

restoration project, but now hewas selling

it to raise cash for a house purchase,

adding: “Please do notconfuse this with

the rot bo xes over her e.

“You can get in and drive this thing all

year and gradually put itback to standard

• well tha t’s what I’d do. It’s an extremely
  good base [vehicle], [with] no welding
  required at all.”
  It also has a winch front bumper
  and a hefty rear bumper, aswell as a
  rear air locker(worth £800 alone) and
  a sub stantial suspensionset-up. The
  oversize wheels aren’texactly standard,
  either, but theseller had offered it for
  sale at £5500. At the timeof writing (with
  a couple of we eks to go ) there are no
  takers, but you ne ver kno w.
  I’ll le ave the last word to the seller:
  “Drive it home withconfidence. Just be
  aware with the big wheelsyou can driv e
  over any Prius that gets in your way...”

AS mentioned above, we are now used

to seeing rus t-free early LandRovers

being imported to the UK, but it’s not all

one-way traf fi c, you kno w. Top classic

car auction house Coys says plenty of

British classic – includingSeries Land

Rovers and early RangeRovers – ar e

leaving the UK boundfor the EU, as

European collectors benefi t from the

weak pound.

Coys say they have seen a “noticeably

higher thanaverage sale rate of cars

being shippedto European countrie s”

• sometimes in bulk.At a recent

Blenheim auction, acollector arrived from

Marseille and bought a Mercedes-Benz

230 SL, a Fiat 500, a JaguarE-Type and a

Ferrari 308.

Chris Routledge of Coys said: “The

strength of the Euro against Sterling

has undoubtedly cr eated a very

advan tageous buying climate for

European classiccar collector s, with no t

only sensibly-pricedcars but with the

current exchange rate being perceived

as beingat least 25 per cent discounted

against European asking prices.

“This is a uniqueset of circumstances

• an alignmentof the planets if you
  like. The qualityof the stock in the UK
  is of the highest internationalstandard,
  European buyers know it and arevery
  keen to ge t their hands on it, as with
  current exchange rates, the pric es could
  not be moreattractiv e.
  “For UKsellers of classic cars and
  other collectibles who wishto sell in
  Sterling to European collector s, the
  outlook isvery strong while these
  exchange rates continue, and they
  should consider grabbing holdof this
  opportunity while theycan."

Two-way traffic

Whatto lookfor AUCTIONUPDATE

on thefi rst-ge n

Evoque