Evoque positivity

I have been reading with interest the various posts since joining the forum earlier this year and I know that all vehicle makes and dealers will have problems at times but there does seem to be an awful lot of negativity on this site.
Over 54 years I have had 45 vehicles covering over 1,250,000 miles.
420,000 of those miles were with 4 Land Rover Discoveries over 10 years helping me to carry out my job in Agriculture in a great deal of the UK involving everything from Motorways to muddy fields in deep winter, even occasionally deep snow in the Scottish Highlands. These vehicles were completely reliable never letting me down but expensive to run due to wear and tear.
The successors to these were a trio of Subaru Outbacks , one a 3.0 litre petrol with 240 hp and latterly a 2.0 litre diesel chipped to 180 hp. All were extremely reliable and almost as go anywhere as the Discoveries.
Thinking that at my age I probably wouldn’t be buying many more cars I decided to splash out on an Evoque with as much spec as my last Subaru, a Diesel Pure Tech 9 speed Auto with Style pack, rear view camera, keyless entry etc, etc. This was delivered in March. Because the Subaru lights were so good (HID) I wrongly thought that the Halogen lights would be as good on the Evoque.
The gearbox had to be replaced in April at 2,000 miles but thanks to Duckworth Boston there was no hastle (although the car was away for almost a month waiting for a new gearbox they supplied me with a brand new Freelander for 10 days followed by a 13 plate Range Rover Sport). As a sweetener JLR contributed towards the majority of a 2 year extended warranty.
The update to the gearbox was carried out last week and so far as I can tell the only difference is that the changes are slightly more noticeable.
In real world use the performance of the Evoque is as good as any vehicle I have driven including the 3.0 litre Subaru and an S-Type Jaguar.
My only disappointment in the car by the way ( the lights) was rectified by a pair of Osram Nightbreakers supplied and fitted by Duckworths for the princely sum of £35.
In my opinion JLR are as good as they ever were if not better.

Awesome, adding to the positivity here. I'm also very satisfied with my 2014 evoque.

+1

I've just spent most of the day Driving the range of Mercedes, including the super quick A45 AMG and the awesome 6.3 litre C63 Black edition, floor that and you know about it!, and still happy to drive away in my Evoque! With most of the Mercedes representative saying what a great car the Evoque is!

A+ is how I rank my 2013 Evoque Coupe. Every time I look at the car I have a smile on my face, as the Evoque’s automotive designers have created one of the most beautifully designed contemporary cars. There are NO bad lines on the car, or in the car. The interior is very comfortable. My dealership is outstanding making certain any problems are resolved to my satisfaction. I’ve never had any major problems. The only issues I’ve had, all warranty, were with the coupe seats where the forward folding seat back release mechanism stuck (seat back frames replaced) and water condensation in the taillights (taillights replaced.) Yes I also replaced my Halogen bulbs with high output Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs, easy to do and at a cost of $40. My Evoque drives like a sports coupe. I have NO rattles. There are NO transmission issues. Except when interstate crusing in ‘D’, I usually drive in ’S’ mode or else use the excellent responsive paddle shifters. The transmission learns your driving style and in my style provides me with the right higher rpm upshifts. The Ford manufactured 2.0 gas motor is extremely smooth and has responsive turbo boost. I always look forward to every chance I have to drive the Evoque. Where I live, the rugged build (pot holes), high ground clearance (flooded streets and broken pavement) and 4WD (for sand beaches) is perfect. My two complaints are that the solar tinted windshield doesn’t have the untinted area large enough for a radar detector and the blind spot at the A pillars. I wish, with the current development of Ford’s 2.0 Ecoboost motor to +300 hp, that this version would be available in a Sport version of the Evoque, and without requiring that you purchase every luxury accessory to get it. In summary A+ satisfaction.

I'm on my 2nd Evoque, first one, an SD4 Coupe Dynamic Lux Plus + most of the options boxes ticked Fuji White without contrast roof, was delivered on launch day 8th September 2011 and being a new model I expected that it might have some issues - it didn't have anything go wrong, ran faultlessly and despite what others claimed the fuel consumption was perfectly acceptable. After owning L322 FFRR's and RRS's the handling was a revelation with the magnetic ride and it was as smooth and quiet as the Vogue I owned before it. The only unscheduled change were noisey door seals above 30 mph, replaced under warranty. After two years ownership I ordered my current car - another Dynamic Plus Lux with even more options than the last one and 5 doors, in Zanzibar with Black Pack and Contrast roof. Despite my posts of frustrating times with it when it is running as expected it is still a fantastic car and possibly apart from one of the new style RRS's or L405's, I cannot think of a more comfortable car I have owned in which to do a 500 mile drive in a day. The plus pack seats beat the luxurious and very comfortable armchairs in the last generation FFRR hands down as those were like a slippery school bench as soon you wanted to take corners with a bit of gusto! I have an intermittent rattle that I can live with, but it still shouldn't be there on such an expensive car and I know only a few cars have suffered the same issue and it is a known problem at Land Rover and there is a fix for it, but as it involves removal of the windscreen and headliner I would prefer not to risk windscreen leaks and a saggy headliner after that fix has been done to such a new car.
So ratings - my Coupe was VG+/ 5 out of 5 stars, the current car I rate still as VG/4.5tars out of 5. I love the 9 speed gearbox now it is running as it did when the car was delivered, it is really responsive and I rarely use the S mode as it seemlessly drops cogs as sson as you breath on the throttle and with all the torque it leaps away when asked. I do use the paddles frequenly, usually to shift up to 9th gear at 60mph as the car won't do that itself until 65mph or thereabouts which is slightly crazy in the UK where we have so many 60mph limited roads and the car will take the low revs provided it isn't too hilly.

Well I'm very positive about my Evoque delivered March this year only the odd rattle which one day is there and gone the next and to date never had any problem with gearbox which I think is superb
It's in people's nature to criticise especially on forums and if you ever read holiday hotel reviews you have got to balance them all out to get a fair opinion same goes for auto reviews you get good and bad but that's what forums are for so people can aid each other with problems and improvements and the like
Personally I don't think there are any bad cars out there nowadays just that some are better than others and it's all down to the individual
I am only on to my second LR my first being the Freelander which impressed me, if I had a real issue it would be the initial cost of the cars but no one twisted my arm to buy LR and no doubt if fortunate I will again, I think the whole range is very appealing and would especially love a RRS the big brother to the Evoque

This is a great forum and it's nice to read all the reviews but today I like the positive ones

Me too loving my coupe since Apr 13. Warranty items - Drivers seat base leather and part of dash replaced due to bulging and passenger door inside lock replaced. Apart from that no rattles and I love the manual after 10 yrs with autos. I drive it any chance I get, don't need to race anyone at the lights or go off road - it's just pure driving pleasure.

+1 here too..... i'm also still VERY positive about my (2012 Feb delivered) Silver Dynamic 5-door.
To this day, it continues to keep me in that glorious motoring moment.... constantly acknowledging what a beautiful car this is to own and drive, and touch wood, it's been a totally reliable machine too.
I've test driven the Macan, Q5, RSQ3, RRS just for the hell of it, and every time i walk back and climb into my compact Evoque it just makes me feel like it's my trusted companion that continues to give and give with outstanding comfort, drivability and killer design aesthetics.
In my area there are a lot of damb good and expensive cars of every sort everywhere, but i swear i constantly see them looking over to my Evoque with that look of knowing they simply don't have the stunning, bold, INDIVIDUAL looks of the mighty Evoque. It feels exotic,a rolling sculpture, and their is simply nothing else out there that i would rather own as a daily drive.

(06-12-2014 03:22am)benzina Wrote:  +1 here too..... i'm also still VERY positive about my (2012 Feb delivered) Silver Dynamic 5-door.
To this day, it continues to keep me in that glorious motoring moment.... constantly acknowledging what a beautiful car this is to own and drive, and touch wood, it's been a totally reliable machine too.
I've test driven the Macan, Q5, RSQ3, RRS just for the hell of it, and every time i walk back and climb into my compact Evoque it just makes me feel like it's my trusted companion that continues to give and give with outstanding comfort, drivability and killer design aesthetics.
In my area there are a lot of damb good and expensive cars of every sort everywhere, but i swear i constantly see them looking over to my Evoque with that look of knowing they simply don't have the stunning, bold, INDIVIDUAL looks of the mighty Evoque. It feels exotic,a rolling sculpture, and their is simply nothing else out there that i would rather own as a daily drive.

Well said Sir.

And that's why my third Evoque is being built in Jan 15!