Land Rover Repair: 2004 Range Rover Engine Seize

Question
Dear Sir,

I read with great interest your entry on the "Rebuild the Land Rover V8". First, a quick brief on the situation. 2004 Range Rover with 86,000 miles, which has been well maintained at LR dealership or local auto shop (Gramley's in St. Petersburg, FL). Accelerating to a blistering 15 mph after picking my son up from school. Loud noise, no RPM's, and I coasted to a stop. Lovely smell emanating from the engine compartment.

Service Dept confirmed an engine change required. Option 1: Install remanufactured engine ~$16K; Option 2: Install used engine with 47k miles ~$11K; Option 3: Apply residual "value" of my poor RR to a new vehicle; or Option 4: scrap the vehicle.

I intended to keep this vehicle "forever" and have enough emotional and cash investment to warrant repairing the "old" girl. With that said, I've asked to get more details about the re-man engine, as I don't want to be helped victim to options of (1) a re-manned terrible engine or (2) a used terrible engine.

Do you have any counsel regarding this situation? Many thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

~LOA

Answer
Obviously I cannot tell if you need a new engine without seeing your vehicle.  But assuming you do, the engine in a 2004 Range Rover is not the engine described in my articles.  The Range Rover motor is from the BMW 740 car.  Failure of those motors is rare.  If the engine you are offered is backed by LR factory warranty I would choose that.  If not, I would look for a low mile used motor and see what was out there.