First — name it correctly
This is a Range Rover Sport, the L320 — not the full-size Range Rover (the L322), even though private listings almost always advertise it just as "Range Rover HSE." The distinction matters: the Sport is a separate, lighter, more road-biased vehicle that shares its mechanical bones with the LR3 / Discovery 3 rather than the full-size flagship, and it is a different (and cheaper) vehicle to buy and run. Confirm which one you are looking at before anything else.
Why it can be a good car
The HSE has the right engine: the naturally aspirated 4.4-litre Jaguar-derived V8 (around 300 hp) — not the supercharged 4.2 of the SC trim, and, contrary to a common myth, never a BMW V8 (the BMW M62 V8 was fitted only to the 2002–2005 full-size L322 — and even that car switched to the Jaguar V8 for 2006). Behind it sits the robust ZF six-speed automatic, which only asks that its fluid actually gets changed despite once being called a lifetime fill. It offers genuine towing and real off-road capability that still works at this age, and because it shares hardware with the LR3, parts and independent know-how are widely available.
Why it can be a bad car
Its entire financial outcome rides on two systems: the air suspension and the V8's timing-chain tensioners. Around those sits the usual Land Rover supporting cast. Confirm the two big items and it is one of the most satisfying things money can buy at this price; ignore them and it gets very expensive.
Does it have a timing belt or a timing chain?
A timing chain. The 4.4 V8 uses chains and is an interference engine — the concern is the secondary cam-chain tensioners, which can rattle on a cold start. A brief rattle that clears is generally considered acceptable by specialists, but a lingering cold-start rattle is a warning, because if a worn tensioner lets the chain skip a tooth the valves meet the pistons.
The things to check before you buy
- Cold-start listen Get to it before it has been started that day. The instant it fires, listen at the front of the engine for a top-end rattle. A quick clear-up is fine; a rattle that lingers is the timing tensioner and a walk-or-budget moment.
- Air suspension At high mileage this is well past the window where corners start leaking. It should still sit at full height after sitting overnight, rise evenly on all four corners and hold, with the compressor not straining or running too long.
- Front lower control-arm bushings The L320's signature wear item — a clonk at low speed, most obvious when you dab the brake rolling forward and back.
- Air conditioning Confirm exactly how it performs, front and rear.
- Electronic parking-brake actuator A known failure on this platform.
- Rust and diagnostics On a salt-belt car, get it on a hoist and inspect the subframe and the brake and fuel lines; and expect that a full health check needs a Land-Rover-capable scanner, not just a generic code reader.
Open recalls — check the VIN, it’s free
Recalls are VIN-specific — you cannot assume the status from the model year. Look up any 2007 Range Rover Sport HSE’s open recalls free by VIN at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); a Land Rover dealer completes any open recall at no charge.
What a history report tells you — and what it doesn’t
On a car like this, the individual car’s history is most of the decision. A history report is a record of what got reported — title brands, reported accidents and damage, odometer readings over time, and service records where they exist. That is what separates a clean, maintained example from a salvage-title or flood car wearing the same badge.
What a history report is not is a forecast, and an absence of records is not proof of a clean past — plenty happens to a car that never gets reported. That is why the honest answer is always the pair: the documented history and an in-person inspection by a mechanic you trust, on the specific car.
What would make you walk
- A lingering cold-start rattle A top-end rattle that does not clear points to the timing tensioners and the skipped-chain risk on an interference engine.
- A tired air suspension Any corner sagging overnight, a system that will not rise and hold level, or a lit suspension fault.
- Structural rust Underbody rot at the subframe or corroded lines on a Maritime or salt-belt car.