On chastising a local farmer for buying a Saxo (the French burned our lamb, don't you know) he sent me the following e-mail relating his experiences with Land Rovers. I had thought they were reliable, tough as nails and ran for ever.
Seems he does not agree. Any thoughts?
Part e-mail reads..............
Yes I agree that we committed a dreadful crime in buying a French car. But must say that those bl--dy Froggies turn out some good vehicles. Barry, you may of seen him on the road, always prefers damn Renault tractors. It's such a crime that the U.K lost deservedly, a lot of trade, From the days in 1950 when we supplied 90% of the world's motorbikes. 30 different makes, to the rubbish cars they were making, until the Japanese made 'em buck their ideas up. We have had over the years about 5 different Land Rovers. Basically all rubbish, as they had the monopoly in that market for to long. The worst was a 12 seater, 6 cylinder 2,600cc, and although we had free wheeling hubs, it still only did about 18 miles mpg, yet it was so weak. It would be struggling up a hill with a trailer and a couple of cows in 1st or 2nd gear, whilst the 2 litre Peugeot would fly up the same hill with same load in 3rd gear, and the L.R.breaking down constantly.
So it was another irate letter to the manager of Land Rover's. One of the kindest things that I told him was "Land Rover Safari?. I wouldn't go on safari to the bottom of our drive. The usual smarmy drivel back, The ONLY redeeming feature about the Land Rover was it's non rusting, aluminium body.
Then when the Japs came in with their Toyota and Nissan Land Cruisers, Land Rover improved. BUT when M and myself went to Melbourne to visit Lindsay & Jane. We were over there for a month and one day we went to an Agricultural Show, entertained like Royalty, and I asked a farmer why was there no Land Rovers anywhere to be seen. He told me that when you are hundreds of miles out in the bush, and those bl--dy Land Rovers from the U.K. were so unreliable, we all stopped buying them when the Japanese dual purpose vehicles became available to us.
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For gawds sake Alwyn give over, your going to stop him rebuilding the pink Landrover in the fens......
DVD
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As I have said a couple of times from my days in Oz, you get stuck out in the woop-woop, oh boy you'd better be in a Toyota.
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If you really value reliability then you know it has to be a Japanese brand.
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In their defence (sic)
We have a X plate TD5 Disco, this was purchased second hand (quite a bargain at the time) 12 months ago (it is a Sept 2000) with 6 000 miles up. It now has
19 000 on the clock. It is used by my SO for her work which involves a lenghty trundle to work and back, come the weekends it becomes mine for shooting and carrying doggies in the back. It does go off road quite often in this role and has survived flood and snow. Has it gone wrong? No ! it will be serviced next month (yes at a dealer- boring, boring, boring) but it still has its original 3 yr warranty. From what I heard I expected the thing to have fallen to bits by now. Oh yes it did have a new battery two weeks after we had it but it hasn't missed a beat since then. She loves it I prefer the BMW but it was her money and her choice.
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I have used a LR Series 3, 2.25Ltr LPG/petrol every day for 4 years on and off road and it's never let me down yet (touch wood)!
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IMHO...
There seem to be (from the outside) direct similarities between running a Landie and a British Classic bike.
Ownership can degenerate into an activity which is addictive, expensive, and anti-social. Mecahnical devices with character can take you down this path. Meanwhile, my Bonneville lies in the garage waiting to ensnare me again..
It may be cheaper to lock yourself in the shed every weekend, dip your hands in used oil, and tear up twenties. Oh yes, and come out occasionally, lie upside down in the rain and dark, and clout your knuckles with a hammer. The "Landie Simulator"
As someone sagely remarked on these pages, see them as a "mode of transport" rather than a replacement car.
Unmatched off road, however, it seems. Classic British engineering product. Bags of character, but with a few outstanding redeeming features.
rg
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Dull, but they seem to keep going and seem popular with farmers.
Anyone know what breaks on them?
rg
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Rob is right, you have to attach some of the historical magic now and again to overlook problems. As with most vehicles there are for and against.
It is true they are not good for long distance use and I can't argue with the "stick to Japanese in the bush" attitude.
Having said that there must be some reason there are more of the Land Rovers ever made still left on the road than any other make.
A farmer in 1959 could nave bought one new and his grandson might still be using it today. It would still pick its way throug the most difficult situations on a hill farm or tow a 4 ton trailer round the tracks. Reverse into it with the Renault tractor and he can bash out the dent with no rust issue.
The old Land Rovers are the only vehicle that look good with dents.
Japanese are possible better for mixed use up to about 15 years old. Then they will suffer panel rust and parts prices can make repairs expensive. All of a sudden they disapear and the "unreliable" Land Rover on the next farm bounces on to do another 30 years.
Actual example. Chap fits a Japanese diesel engine (used) conversion at great cost to a Land Rover because they are "so much better". After a while the head cracks. No s/hand heads available of this particular type. Engine reconditioners want a full surcharge plus the normal exchange cost because they are short of this head type as well. New head from dealer £1000+.
Had this been the original LR diesel engine he could have found a s/h head anywhere for £35, and the valves/guides to overhaul it on the garage floor (sitting room better) would have been under £40.
Raw nerve? Never!
Subarus pick-ups not seen so much because they stopped making (or at least supplying them here) them some years ago. There are very well respected in many farming areas. Our cousins bought one new in 1985 and it is still going. The main user is a girl who finds the low load access far easier for lifting sheep into than a Land Rover. She also prefers it for picking her way through churned up narrow gateways. To me it feels like ploughing with a Fiesta.
David
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The 6 cylinder Land Rover was not one of their finest efforts. Not much more powerful than the 4 cylinder petrol, a lot thirstier, and tended to overheat when worked hard (as they had to be in the 109 Safari, with all that metal to haul around). I have found that a lot of farmers who switched to Japanese vehicles back in the 1980s, have now gone back to Land Rovers again. Probably because of corrosion - when did you last see a Subaru pickup truck?
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Loads of subarus in Northumberland.
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We used to have the 3.5l V8 which was terrible and if you had a heavy right foot returned aboput 9 mpg. It also collected water in the engine/petrol tank so whenever it rained the performance used to suffer.
When it was new it could see of wide boys in their modified Nova's/Escorts
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