When Land Rover launched their luxury compact SUV in 2017, the company looked determined to cement its reputation.
Range Rover Velar problems are many and extremely annoying, and very often, the dealerships are unable or unwilling to sort them out.
Several buyers have complained about these issues with their Range Rover Velar. The most common problems include stuck door handles, vehicle stuck in Park, battery drain overnight, Bluetooth pairing, black screen, screen stuck on the rearview camera, and transmission failures.
Most of these issues won’t be present even on cheaper vehicles, but you will find them on the vehicle with a starting price of $60,000.
It can even go well north of $100,000 with all available options.
Some of these problems are caused by incomprehensible problems in production and are very easy to fix.
So, let’s get to the finer details of them.
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Door Handle Problems
There are two main problems that can happen with door handles, depending on the environment in which the vehicle is used.
For both problems, Land Rover has stated that it is just a visual problem and that the doors are completely and safely locked.
Lack of Lubrication
The door handle problems that many owners of the Range Rover Velar are reporting are very infuriating ones.
Especially when you consider why this type of problem happens on these SUVs.
Moreover, some people report them after less than a day of owning this vehicle, while for others, it can take between a few days to a few months for it to happen.
So, what’s the huge problem?
Once you unlock the car, door handles extract, and you enter it, they can get stuck, not retracting when the vehicle starts moving.
This can happen only on one or all door handles. And it also happens when you lock the vehicle after exiting it.
For a while, the door handle will stay open, and eventually, just pop in with an audible thud that can surprise you and make you think that something has broken.
This problem is very easy to fix because it is caused by the lack of lubrication on the door handle hinge.
When you pull the handle, toward the rear is this hinge where you need to spray some silicone lubricant.
Cold Weather and Ice Accumulation
The door handle mechanism is not very robust. More specifically, the electric motor that extracts and retracts the handles is on the weak side.
If you live in colder climates and also during the winter freezing temperatures, ice can form inside the door handles, either preventing them from extracting when unlocking or fully retracting when locking the vehicle.
As a rule, this does not affect the driver’s door’s handle, but some or all other three. If they fail to extract, the solution is to remotely pre-warm the cabin.
And spray some defroster on door handles, and in less than a minute, they will operate normally.
A longer-term solution is to spray some PTFE spray, which will allow for any ice to slide off easily.
If the handle is retracting just partially, the only solution is to push them flush with your hand.
Doors Failing to Open or Crooked Handles
While these are different problems, they can happen equally often and have the same solution.
The first one is that randomly any doors handle can fail to extract when unlocking remotely, and doors can’t be opened from inside either.
This problem can disappear on its own. Also, when extracted, the door handle can stand crookedly instead of parallel with the doors.
Both of these problems are caused by faulty door handle mechanisms, and the only fix is to have them replaced at a dealership.
Electrical Problems
While there are various electrical problems with the Range Rover Velar that can crop up from time to time, they usually go away on their own, particularly problems that are just annoying.
But, two particular problems could render the vehicle stuck in Park or unable to start because of the low battery.
Vehicle Stuck in Park
Quite randomly, with no rhyme or reason, you could find your Velar stuck in Park when you start the engine. With gear selector refusing to change in any other mode.
The culprit, in this case, is a faulty brake light switch, and the vehicle’s computer detects it as unsafe for driving and locks it in the Park.
The only fix for this is replacing the brake light switch.
Battery Drain Overnight
This is not a problem specific for Velar but for practically all Land Rover vehicles in the past half a decade or more.
After you drive it home or to some similar destination and leave the vehicle overnight, in the morning, you likely will not be able to start it because of the drained battery.
The cause of this is a combination of the weird design of the electrical system and user error.
When you turn off the engine, the infotainment system is not shut down, and it continues to drain the battery.
ICE system shuts down when you lock the car, so that is the only fix needed, remembering to lock it.
Bluetooth Pairing Problems
Many owners of Velar had problems with pairing and functionality of their phones over the Bluetooth connection with the car.
The phone and car would pair, but the car’s system would be unable to use the call function of the phone.
Or, after pairing the devices, the car would be able to use the phone as a source for music for a while and then stop.
Forgetting the device in the car’s system would be impossible, while on the phone’s side would produce no effect.
This was one of the most common issues with Bluetooth connectivity problems. But it was completely sorted out with the 19A update, so if your vehicle still exhibits it, all you have to do is to update it.
Display Problems
Problems with the central console displays on velar are very common, and many people blame it on the manufacturing quality as they do not disappear between different model years.
Black Top Screen
One problem is that the top screen will go completely black as if it is shut down and not tilt back when the car is shut off.
This will be accompanied by the bottom screen randomly blinking off and on.
This problem is not user-serviceable, and the only working solution is the complete replacement of the control unit at a dealership.
All Screens Turning Off
Another problem with displays on the central console and driver’s display is that while driving, they can go completely blank.
They would display absolutely nothing, while the car will continue to run perfectly normally.
This could be a hazardous situation, as you would receive no information from your vehicle.
In case you have a vehicle produced before MY2020 equipped with the Touch Pro Duo infotainment system, this problem should not exist with the 18D software update or newer unless the central control unit is broken and has to be replaced.
In case you have a newer Range Rover Velar with the PIVI or PIVI Pro infotainment system, and this problem rears its ugly head, there is currently no workable solution for it.
Sometimes resetting the system 3 to 4 times sorts it out. While other times shutting off the car and locking it for five or more minutes provides a temporary fix.
The Screen Is Stuck on The Rearview Camera
One strange problem that can happen when reversing your vehicle is that the central console’s screen gets stuck with a frozen rearview camera while the lower screen goes blank.
This is most likely a software glitch. The way to fix this is to park the vehicle and use the InControl app to lock it.
After a couple of minutes, start the car again normally.
Transmission Problems
The most common problem with the Range Rover Velar’s transmission exhibits very dramatic symptoms.
While driving your vehicle, you could see on the instrument cluster a warning “Transmission Fault,” followed by additional messages “HDC not available system fault,” Adaptive Dynamics fault,” and “Stability control not available.”
The vehicle would then enter the limp mode, and when you park it, you would not be able to change the gear selector to Park.
If you shut down the engine, the transmission will change to Park with no ability to change to Drive or Reverse.
This problem is not something you will be able to fix, as it requires that both transmissions mechatronic valve body and the Transmission Control Module be replaced at a service or a dealership.
Conclusion
According to the What Car? Reliability survey of luxury SUVs, around 36% of Range Rover Velars suffered some kind of failure.
Making it the most reliable Land Rover model among the surveyed owners.
But, Range Rover Velar’s problems were 2 times out of 3 of the non-essential system, not compromising the basic functionality of the vehicle and drivability.
Sources
https://www.whatcar.com/land-rover/range-rover-velar/estate/used-review/n17576/advice
