I don't know who wrote this review article or what they have against the LR2, but the article is excessively negative and misleading. Who on earth would trash a heated windshield, do you have any idea how convenient this is in winter to just sit in your car, press a button and wait 60 seconds and then wipe your entire windshield clean? And the interior is absolutely gorgeous and classy. The description of the acceleration is baffling at best - this vehicle jumps right off the start and most vehicles quickly become dots in your rear view mirror. And why all the comparisons to a more modern brand new Evoque, the LR2 is a classic Rover, of course it's not going to be the same. And yes I'm an LR2 owner and guess what I've had an Evoque too.

I cannot give reliability specifics just yet, but the car does have 44k on the clock and feels just as good as my Merc did. Interior: As everybody who owns one of these will say, you get a commanding view of the road. They are correct. You literally can see more than expected out of this seating position and the cabin offers viewability from every corner. Switching lanes, no problem. Buttons: love the chucky-ness of the buttons, firm feeling and made with some kind of English purpose, as if all the other car manufacturers couldn't just do something as simple as this. Green lighting at night is easy on the eyes and easy to read. Navigation: Fully touchscreen and very intuitive. As stated, my 2013 C300 Merc had Navigation as well but wasn't as good as this. For some reason, this Navigation seems sharper and offers a "3D" view of roads and such. Very sharp and a win in that department although, many will say otherwise. Driving: As mentioned before, the seating position gives you that overlooking presence, but the mechanics of the car are just as good. The 4cyl turbo in my opinion should have always been an option, it offers just enough power for merging onto highways and highway driving at respectable speeds. Engine is quiet and hums along, step on the gas and the little turbo puts a smile on your face that you didn't think you'd get from a vehicle such as this. A unique experience especially from Land Rover. Tranny shifts along through it's 6 gears and from driving 2 hours back home from purchasing it, felt perfectly fine. No hunting of gears that I experienced. Cargo: trunk is relatively cavernous and could swallow up just as much as you decide to stuff back there. Need more room? Fold the seats down flat and you instantly have more room. Lots more. Plus, the ceiling portion of the car is higher which means getting bigger items in won't be such a problem. Keep this in mind when moving or helping somebody move. Options: My LR2 has the HSE package and comes with, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, heated front window, Navigation, meridian sound system, HID lightning and a few other touches only found in the HSE. I will say it took me about 8 minutes to find the heated seat buttons, oddly located on the knobs of where you would turn the AC up, odd location and I didn't expect that to be placed there. Also, another 10 minute button-to-find was the unlock button! Yes that's right! The unlock button which should be on the driver's side door panel. Instead, being British and unique they have it positioned as the biggest button directly right in front of you on the center stack. Strange but once you find it, you'll never forget to look at it every time you get in the car. I heard stories about the heated window being a visual problem. Halos at night from the little thread-like heated wires causing visual distractions. Negative. I didn't notice it once until I started to really look at it. Once you start driving it's ok and you focus on the road. Stop at a light, than you can see what they mean. In my opinion, not a problem. Back up sensors work like a charm and the lane guiding on the screen is a touch better then the one found on my Merc. What I don't like: The steering wheel looks like it's directly out of the more expensive Range Rover. And it probably is. The look of it definitely suits the cars hulking theme and fits right in easily with the interior, however, it's wide. Very very wide. To make matters worse the horn is only functional through 2 silver bars located on both ends. Don't press the silver bar, no horn. You can mash the center of the wheel and nothing. SOME of the plastics are very chinsy feeling and felt like an after thought. The plastics are very noticable around the center stack and door panels mainly where the window buttons are located. Also, the black panel outside the car by the driver & passenger side, seems to love finger prints. Literally you can count the fingers left on that black label. A rubber strip on the driver's side bottom, where it looks like it keeps the elements out, is totally worn out and shredded. Now, this could be in fact from wear and tear? Or from somebody just getting in and out and running up against it? Causing it to tear. Small things, but worth mentioning I guess. Overall. I guess time will tell mechanically. Love the look and the squared boxy body of yester-year Land Rovers, but most importantly, it's comfortable.

7 years and 115K miles down the line, it still rides and handles very well, has cost relatively little to maintain and has been very capable and reliable. I'm not an off-roader or rock-hopper, but have driven it hard, in deep sand on beaches and routinely in deep snow and am impressed with it's capabilities and competence. It's basically a Ford underneath. Specs, dimensions and mechanically not much different than the Range Rover Evoke, Discovery Sport or the new Ford (Baby) Bronco Sport just being introduced. Plenty of power, if a bit slow off-the-line due too turbo-lag. Exterior look was dated when new, but that's kind of part of owning a British car. Looks have held-up and it stills looks no worse (or better) today than when new. Issues? Only fair mileage at 17-19 mpg average (though as low as 16 in heavy traffic and a much as 25 on long highway trips). Nowhere near the 25 mpg average I got on the Subaru Forester over the 9 years and 200K miles of ownership before it. The 6-spd transmission is quirky, but smoother and 'hunts' less than the 8- and 9-speed Evokes and Disco Sports I drove more recently. I found the turbo as the only mechanical weak spot. It was replaced 2X under warranty; first time at just 40K miles. I live in a very hilly area and push it, especially accelerating hard uphill from being stopped at lights. I also started it using 'regular'gas when I bought it new and then 'plus' gas after the first replacement turbo. It must use premium fuel. More costly, but that change seems to have helped eliminate the problem. Still never got us stuck anywhere or had to be towed.