Land Rover extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans

Land Rover extended warranty coverage

Land Rover’s official extended warranty program is called Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection (VSP). (The proper term for an extended warranty is “vehicle service contract,” so Land Rover’s name is actually more accurate than many companies’.)

These plans are designed to supplement your factory Land Rover New Vehicle Limited Warranty, which normally gives you four years/50,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper protection and four years/50,000 miles of powertrain protection.

However, there’s only one Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan option, and it offers bumper-to-bumper (aka “exclusionary”) coverage, meaning it covers the vast majority of the parts on your car with only a handful of exceptions. (We’ll discuss the few dozen exclusions later when we break down Land Rover’s terms and conditions.)

Most Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles will be eligible for a VSP plan as long as they meet the following three conditions:

• You purchased the vehicle less than a year ago, whether it’s new or used.
• The vehicle still has 30 days of its factory warranty period remaining.
• The vehicle has fewer than 25,000 miles on the odometer.

Your two term options are six years/75,000 miles or seven years/100,000 miles, which start from the vehicle’s in-service date — not the warranty purchase date. That means if you purchase a seven-year/100,000-mile plan, you’re really only getting three years or 50,000 miles added to your factory bumper-to-bumper warranty period.

Lastly, Land Rover offers four deductible options: $0, $50, $250 or $1,000. According to the finance director of a major Land Rover dealership we spoke with, roughly 80% of customers end up choosing the $250 deductible option since it offers the best value.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

Land Rover extended warranty benefits

Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plans include the following benefits in addition to paying for covered repairs:

• 24/7 roadside assistance, covering flat tires, fuel deliveries, battery jump-starts and lockout assistance
• 24/7 emergency towing for up to 50 miles to the Land Rover dealership of your choice
• Trip interruption expense benefits, providing up to $200 per day for a maximum of five days to help cover meals and lodging if your Land Rover breaks down more than 100 miles from home
• The Retailer Mobile Technician Program, which dispatches a specially outfitted vehicle and an authorized Land Rover technician to help you (where available)
• Rental car assistance of up to $50 per day for a maximum of 10 days to help cover the cost of a rental car while your Land Rover is in the shop for a warranty-covered repair

In total, these are some of the best extended warranty benefits we’ve ever seen from an automaker. Up to $1,000 of trip interruption protection is very good, and having the option to request roadside assistance from a bona fide Land Rover tech or have your vehicle towed to the dealership of your choice is an especially nice touch.

Lincoln is the only automotive brand we’ve seen that arguably offers better ancillary benefits, but it’s a close race.

» MORE: Should I buy an extended auto warranty on a used car?

If you have significant savings, getting stuck with a massive repair bill might not be a huge worry, but if you don’t, it could be ruinous. A ConsumerAffairs investigation found that most drivers surveyed couldn’t afford to pay cash for a $1,000 repair bill, and 13% of respondents simply had no way to handle a bill that large — even with credit.

Land Rover extended warranty terms and conditions

When you go to purchase an extended warranty plan, the finance manager will provide a long list of terms and conditions for you to sign off on. Here are some of the highlights to be aware of, although it’s always best to read each line of the agreement carefully before you sign.

Maintenance

Virtually all extended warranty plans require you to abide by the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule as listed in your owners manual. As they age out of the factory warranty, Land Rovers typically need service at least every 15,000 miles, if not sooner.

You’ll want to keep your receipts, too, since Land Rover may ask for proof of maintenance before approving any claims.

Exclusions

As is typical for an auto warranty of any kind, your Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan is only designed to cover repairs needed as a result of factory defects. It will not cover damage (from weather, collisions, etc.), wear-and-tear items (like brakes or clutch discs), routine maintenance or damage caused by aftermarket parts (like lift kits).

Part failures resulting from “competitive driving or racing” are also excluded. And while the agreement doesn’t explicitly ban off-road use, it does say that problems caused by negligence, abuse, misuse, water ingestion, restricted oil flow, salt, rust, chemicals and all “environmental damage” won’t be covered.

Preexisting conditions

Any issues with your vehicle that existed before you purchased your Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan will not be covered.

That includes any issues that you can’t prove aren’t new, which is why it’s a good idea to get a dealer inspection report (about $200) on your Land Rover before purchasing an extended warranty. Not only will that reveal trouble spots that may lead to free repairs under your factory warranty — it could prevent mechanical issues and claim denials later during your extended warranty period.

Transfers

If you sell your Land Rover to a private party, you can transfer your remaining plan amount to the new owner within 30 days of the purchase date by submitting some forms and a $50 transfer fee to your claims administrator.

Cancellations and refunds

You can cancel your Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan within 30 days of purchase for a full refund, provided no claims have been paid. If a claim has been paid or it’s been longer than 30 days, you can still cancel for a prorated refund minus a $50 processing fee (subject to state-specific amendments).

» READ MORE: What to know about manufacturers’ extended warranties

Land Rover extended warranty cost

As is the case with most factory-backed extended warranties, you cannot get a price quote for a Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan online. You have to call your local Land Rover dealership and speak directly with someone in the finance and insurance office.

Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection costs

Here are some of the quotes we were offered for various Land Rover vehicles.

(To get realistic numbers, we spoke with an experienced finance director of a major Land Rover dealership who gave us quotes with an “average” dealership markup attached. She also recommended calling around to multiple Land Rover dealers to find the best possible price.)

As you’d expect for a luxury brand with a reputation for below-average build quality, the cost of these extended warranties is high. (For perspective, the average cost of an extended warranty is only around $1,000 per year of coverage.)

But even the priciest extended warranty plan can be worth it if it shields you from even more expensive repairs. So is a Land Rover extended warranty worth it?

Is a Land Rover extended warranty worth it?

To preface, our source at the Land Rover dealership told us that the most common extended warranty she sells is a seven-year/100,000-mile plan with a $250 deductible for around $6,000. Such a plan would add three years or 50,000 miles to your factory limited warranty period.

So, is it worth paying roughly $2,000 per year of added coverage for a Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection Plan? The answer — probably not. But we’ll explain why so you can decide for yourself.

Extended warranties only cover repairs, not preventive maintenance.

Most of the time, an extended auto warranty is more likely to be worth if it either:

1. You don’t have a problem forking over a few thousand dollars for some peace of mind.
2. An unexpected repair bill could ruin you financially.
3. You drive a vehicle with a poor reputation for reliability.
4. The cost of your extended warranty is less than you expect to spend on the repairs it could cover.

Since points one and two are up to you, we’ll analyze points three and four.

If you have any prior experience with Land Rovers, you probably already know that they aren’t famous for long-term reliability.

In its 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power ranked Land Rover 27th out of 29 brands, with 268 problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership.

When it comes to the cost and frequency of repairs, Land Rovers don’t fare much better. RepairPal’s 2019 data estimated that the average annual cost of repairing and maintaining a Land Rover is $1,174 (compared with the $652 average across all brands), earning Land Rover a bleak 2.5 out of 5 reliability rating and a 31 out of 32 ranking. Adjusting the 2019 figures for inflation, the yearly repair and maintenance cost in January 2024 is about $1,599 (compared with an $888 average).

RepairPal’s data also suggests that the average Land Rover visits the mechanic 0.7 times per year (compared with the annual average of 0.4 times across brands) and that 16% of the time, those repairs cost $2,000-plus.

Likewise, consumer reviews of Land Rover can reflect the difficult and often expensive realities of owning a luxury SUV with a poor reputation for build quality.

“I want to start this review by saying that the Range Rover Sport has been my dream car for a very long time. … Since we purchased it, it has been an absolute nightmare. Our Range Rover has been at the shop 4 times within a 3 month period,” wrote Lisa, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer from Arizona.

Kevin, a reviewer from New York, reported, “Within 1st year, I brought my car back to service for over 8 time, and same issue over 6 times, every time replace the parts and hold my car for few days, then after few weeks same issue happens again.”

But it’s not all bad news. Some Land Rover buyers do end up with the dependable workhorse they’re looking for.

“I have owned my Range Rover HSE since 2009. It currently has over 175,000 miles on it and is performing well,” wrote Joseph, a reviewer from South Carolina. “I seem to be one of the lucky ones based upon a number of the other reviews. I have experienced very few repair problems and, when I do, I rely on a local non-Land Rover owned repair facility. My total costs for repair over the past 13 years does not exceed $5,000.00.”

» MORE: Land Rover maintenance: cost, plans and service schedule

At the end of the day, despite the brand’s generally negative reputation for reliability, the cost of a Land Rover VSP (about $2,000 per year of added coverage) is significantly more than it’s likely to save you. Plus, there’s a $250 deductible to take into account, so you’ll need even more covered repair work per year if you’re hoping for your warranty to more or less pay for itself.

If you simply want additional peace of mind, a Land Rover Vehicle Service Protection plan could make sense, but from a purely financial perspective, it probably isn’t worth it.

Before we wrap up, let’s check and see if a third-party warranty company can offer a better deal, though.

» MORE: Pros and cons of extended auto warranties

Land Rover extended warranty alternatives

Unfortunately, your plan options from third-party warranty providers might be somewhat limited. As Doug DeMuro himself admitted, “You can’t get a cheap CarMax Range Rover warranty anymore,” thanks in part to his well-publicized shenanigans.

We spoke to reps from both olive and Endurance, two extended car warranty companies, to see if either could beat Land Rover’s rates.

• olive, we learned, doesn't offer plans for Land Rover vehicles at all. The rep stated he “had no information as to why.”
• Endurance did offer warranty protection for Land Rovers, but the costs were astronomical.

“These are expensive vehicles for repair,” a senior rep with Endurance told us. “The labor rates already exceed $230/hour. I’ve had some plans for Land Rovers that cost $13,000.”

Here are the quotes we received for equivalent third-party plans.

While Endurance appears to cost significantly more with an even higher deductible ($500 vs. $250), the rep did say that the cost to upgrade to a four-year plan was relatively nominal (about another $800) and that Endurance will occasionally run promos offering two extra years for free.

That would bring the cost of a six-year/75,000-mile plan to $9,600 or “just” $1,600 per year of coverage — less than Land Rover’s $2,000 per year. That’s still more than RepairPal estimated Land Rover upkeep to cost, but it’s a good reminder of why it’s so important to comparison shop for warranty coverage.

Extended warranty prices are hard to predict, with different providers sometimes offering vastly different prices for only slightly different vehicles. So, if you want a way to protect yourself from the high costs of Land Rover repairs, it might be worth shopping around for the right deal.

To learn more about extended warranties, check out our home for all extended auto warranty content.

» LEARN: How to choose an extended car warranty

» MORE: Where can you use an extended auto warranty?