Widely known for its impressive off-road capability, the Range Rover is an incredibly robust vehicle.
How would one fare, though, if it was buried underground for a year?
It’s a rather strange question, but that’s exactly what a couple of guys wanted to find out, so they tried it.
The story goes, a guy called Tyler Hoover from Hoovies Garage had a mechanically-totaled his 2003 Range Rover.
The once beautiful luxury SUV required around $8,000 of work to run and drive again, and even then it’d only be worth somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000.
So, rather than junking it, Hoover decided to bury it underground.
With the Range Rover buried in a field somewhere in Kansas, Hoover returned a year later to dig up the SUV with his friend Tavarish.
In a video posted to Tavarish’s YouTube channel, the guys can be seen looking on as a digger removes mounds of earth to reveal the white Range Rover.
After pulling it from its grave with metal chains, the full extent of its time underground is laid bare.
The windshield and rear window had both caved in, there was some damage to the car’s hood, and the suspension was completely sH๏τ.
As well as being caked in dirt on the outside, the inside was thick with mud, too.
Even the engine bay was filled with the stuff, so the guys set to work with pressure washers cleaning it off.
After letting the Range Rover dry out, both inside and out, the guys returned the following day to ᴀssess the probability of getting her running again.
But, spotting water inside the gauge cluster, they had very little confidence it would run again.
Not only that, but when the dipstick was removed there was water in the oil, so clearly the engine had taken onboard water, too.
Before proceeding any further, Tavarish removed the spark plugs and put a borescope down into the murky depths of the engine.
Rust, oil and water had merged into a frothy mix, suggesting the Range Rover was a lost cause.
Despite this, he still hooked up a 12V to the car and – as expected – nothing happened.
Much to Tavarish’s disappointment, the Range Rover was too far gone.
It’s probably worth saving to the right person if you wanted to make it into a convertible or something, but even then it would require tens of thousands of dollars of parts and work.
The video still makes for interesting viewing, though.
