Range Rovers.

[Guest Hooli]

I've had a couple of LRs & really like them still. But they are a hobby not a form of transport.

[Isaac Hunt]

I like Rangies, never owned a 'proper one'.  You have to be careful in reverse r it can get a bit expensive #kerching ohttp://jalopnik.com/things-go-instantly-wrong-for-range-rover-driver-trying-1795377318

[andy18s]

I have read this about 6 times now and an still no further forward.

What does it all mean?

I'm guessing he "parked" his twin engined Squirrel helicopter into a hillside in the Snowdonia National Park,and is no longer customer of JLR...

[I_am_Diesel]

It was the current version https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/land-cruiser/index.json.  It was left hand drive though, white, with blacked out rear windows. It was being driven by a squaddie in uniform but the occupant of the passenger set was big, burly and in a tight fighting suit - had the look of a night club bouncer.

 

I had a discussion recently about what would replace the Defender for the MOD, the 70 series Land Cruiser was a popular choice (as was the Lada Niva!).

I suspect that this was driver training for hot sandy places where it might be a bit dodgy for infidels to be travelling around.

 

The MoD has extended the operational life of the Wolf (Defender) to 2030. No replacement imminent I don't think.

[John F]

I love my Disco 300 TDi - which is largely the same as the late, soft-dash RR Classic.

 

It's needed plenty of attention in the 5 or so years I've owned it – wheel bearings, welding on boot floor / body cross-member, new head gasket, vacuum pump repair, gearbox reconditioning, clutch fork reinforcement, etc. – but it's been to the Alps & back 5 times and the only on-trip failure was a borked front propshaft UJ (replacement shaft flown out to Austria in 2 days by Paddocks for £70, fitted in 10 mins).

 

Recommended? Definitely. It's excellent off-road, great for towing and is capable of crossing continents at an indicated 80 mph relatively frugally (high-20s mpg) in good comfort. I'd not want to replace it with a more modern LR though, they seem to be more troublesome.

[sierraman]

A lot of them now are falling into the 'no money but I want a Range Rover' brigade. You see a lot where they've had a wrap because the paints tatty or they are getting run on a shoestring. You can't run a car like this on a shoestring, they are expensive cars to run at any age.

[martc]

I suspect that this was driver training for hot sandy places where it might be a bit dodgy for infidels to be travelling around.

 

The MoD has extended the operational life of the Wolf (Defender) to 2030. No replacement imminent I don't think.

 

It did look like it should have black UN letters on it. Talking of infidels the MOD has a fleet of black Toyota pick ups which are regularly seen in our part of the world; often placing signposts at the side of the road (black arrows on white, or white arrows on black) - a dead cert that an exercise is due. These pick ups can either have army or civilian plates and I suspect that a few years ago it would have been a short wheel based Land Rover carrying out this duty. 

[Guest Lord Sward]

@John F. You sound to be in the same boat as me.  My Disco has taken me to the South of France every summer.  Its taken me to Austria in the winter.  Its taken me to every corner of the UK in-between.  Its towed, its carried seven people, its the kennel my dog loves.  Its literally everything you could want. 

 

As such, I love the original Disco concept as much as I love the Solihull 'Heritage'.

 

But.  BUT! Land Rover have effectively abandoned this market.  Hence my looking at a new Shogun.  

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I have read this about 6 times now and an still no further forward.

What does it all mean?

Sorry, yes it means he is no longer with us following a helicopter crash a few weeks ago . JLR( and me) have lost a good customer. Well more than one , as not only his wife, but both his brothers were Range Rover drivers too and all sadly perished.

It was a crass way of illustrating that some people are so loyal to Range Rovers, they only stop when they're dead, however good Landcruisers, Cayennes or Bentaygas may be.

[cort16]

I'd rather have a Range Rover drive over my goolies than own a Bentayga. That is one disgusting automobile.

[Guest Lord Sward]

I'd rather have a Range Rover drive over my goolies than own a Bentayga. That is one disgusting automobile.

 

 

I saw my first on a caravan site earlier this year.  What a way to tow!

 

Last year down in Monaco there was a Range Rover parked by one (along with a Maserati 4x4 and a massive Lexus 4x4 that doesn't come here and a Jaguar F-Pace) and the Range Rover still looked superior. 

 

Incidentally, the Jaguar F-Pace may not be badged Land Rover, but its built in Solihull and its got all the reliability of a Land Rover.

[DodgeRover]

With the money you've spent on it surely it must be more reliable than any other vehicle you're going to buy? AC pump was bad lucky really there's no way anybody could have predicted that.

[Timewaster]

Sorry, yes it means he is no longer with us following a helicopter crash a few weeks ago . JLR( and me) have lost a good customer. Well more than one , as not only his wife, but both his brothers were Range Rover drivers too and all sadly perished.

It was a crass way of illustrating that some people are so loyal to Range Rovers, they only stop when they're dead, however good Landcruisers, Cayennes or Bentaygas may be.

I see now. I read my kids too many bedtime stories. I assumed Nutkin has an identical brother with a matching bushy tail, but couldn't see where it went from there.

 

Sorry to hear about your friends passing.

 

JLR seem to be one of the few brands with dyed in the wool customers.

40 years ago everyone's dad was either a Ford man or Vauxhall man and those that didn't care bought BL but there seems to be no loyalties now except to JLR.

[dome]

When I was looking at big lpgd cars before I got the S4 X5s, Cayennes and Range Rover L322s came up in my searches. I couldn't bring myself to drive an X5 or the Porsche but a Rangey was tempting.

 

I've had 3 rangey classics and an early Mk1 Disco V8 so that's where my love comes from. I also got in and out of them with no financial losses and even some profit on a couple so I should probably quit while I'm ahead. And yes, I did off road them. Sorry. They didn't get any OLLI stickers if that helps...

[dave21478]

I have had a number of Land Rovers, but they were all older things where the most complex bit of electronics on board was usually the CD player. Never had any mechanical bother at all, but rust was always an issue. I still have a TD4 Freelander, which is the most electronically complex Landy I have owned and coincidentally* its been the most troublesome.

 

I love them though - I have owned allsorts of other brand 4x4s, big and small and the feeling of a Land Rover just cant be beaten. I dont really get Defenders though - how did they manage to make it so cramped inside? Mine was a farmer spec 90 and while it was as spacious as an old Mini, it still towered over X5s and the like. Nobody EVER fucked with me in that car, never got cut up or tailgated.

 

I was annoyed I didnt win Junkmans P38 - I really fancy one now, especially since there is enough forum knowledge for someone like me to fix most issues without needing a main dealer.

[sutty2006]

I love my Disco 3. Had it just over 12months. I found that those people that never owned one told me to steer clear. Those that owned one said they were brilliant. I've had a number of issues with mine, seized rear caliper (£20 second hand), prop centre bearing (£110 for a new one fitted by GKN), front disks n pads, new battery, coolant expansion bottle and now I've got oil in the coolant. Not good. But it's going to get fixed next month as it's the best tow car I've ever had, you just don't know you're towing anything. Fantastic.

[drum]

I had a td5 disco for a few years and it was cheap motoring for me. Maybe I was lucky?

I had to fix a few things on it but nothing untoward and nothing expensive.

I've always been a land rover fan though, so turn a blind eye to the foibles.

[Hendry]

I know next to nothing about Land Rovers, other than having driven both a Range Rover Sport Supercharged (60 plate) and a Range Rover 5.0 V8 (62 plate) and both were absolutely rapid!

 

The new Jeep Grand Cherokees (65 plates) arent that nice, they feel cheap, interior is typically American, and they drive horrendously!

 

If I was in the market for a 4x4 Id be buying a Volvo XC60, probably an R Design, look great, powerful enough, drive really well, nice inside, well equipped, and running them on a hire fleet we had no issues with them where we did with Q7s, X5s, Range Rovers and even Cayennes. If thats not big enough id fancy the new XC90, really dislike the old one because its horrid, dated, and drives like a tank! Hyundai Santa Fe's and Kia Sorentos are pretty decent as well, bland and no kudos really, but decent no nonsense 4x4s. 

 

However as this is autoshite I feel like i should be suggesting crap, unfashionable stuff like Vauxhall Antaras, Chevrolet Captivas, Citroen C-Crossers and Peugeot 4007s. 

[gordonbennet]

I've had a Series 2a ex WD Landie, cracking motor, and a RR CSK, whch whilst good to drive and good off road soon discovered you were always repairing the bloody things.

Delivered hundreds of Disco 3's 4's Sports and RR's, the only model i would have wanted was the one they sent to China by the boatload, standard low spec Disco 3, unblown V8 petrol on standard 16" tyres and steel springs, the V6 Diesels never impressed, no low rev grunt at all, had to put them in low range to load them.

 

Always wanted one and got into Landcruisers with a 4 year old 70 series, nothing at all went wrong with it over 5 years till SWMBO took a set of railings out with it at 50mph and NFU wrote it off, still started and drove mind, saved her life too cos the thing just took them straight out concrete bases the lot and went through.

 

Eventually got back into Toyo 4x4 with a Hilux then a 90 series which i had no intention of selling but a minter 120 series on 55 plate (so sensible road tax) came up and i jumped on it.

 

Landcruisers have their faults, if you neglect the chassis both it and the live rear axle casings can rust, fuel filler pipes can rust, rear aircon pipes can rust, worse problem is blow by on some D4D engines due to copper injector seals, most have been changed to aluminium seals, but if you research the problems and keep an eye open for the symptoms you're pretty safe.

Thats more or less it for 120 series, 100 series Amazons have more to go wrong, but both vehicles share an electric servo pump/ABS/brake master cyl unit, either one of the parts can fail (usually the pump) rarely, parts can be sourced and units rebuilt for a few hundred but if you've got too much money and go straight to the Toyota dealer they will relieve you of several thousand pounds for a new unit fitted, £4k IIRC.

 

I wouldn't want any other 4x4, they hold stupid money for good reason, but like with Hilux the only real problem they have is idiot owners who think cos its a Toyota truck it doesn't need looking after, cared for these things will see years of service without a hint of trouble, and talking of service they're made to be fixed, eg cambelt, full Gates kit approx £80 all in and takes you about an hour to do the one the first time, don't even need to remove the drive belt to do it.

 

I like the Landcruiser 200, but its brutally big and complicated and way out of my wallet, the 150 series looks like most modern Toyota/Lexus, bloody awful, but if you can stand the looks later ones are in sensible VED range cos new engine innit, 2.8 instead of the old 3 litre.

[For Fiats Sake]

My dad being a farmer usually ran a car and and a series land rover, he bought a range rover when they first came out but went back to car/landy arrangement soon after - something to do with the price of petrol doubling and it being a V8.

We had a mk1 2dr disco and eventually just a P38, so I see them as agricultural tools and find it hard to take the blinged up footballers wives cars seriously.  

[John F]

Lord Sward, on 20 May 2017 - 4:32 PM, said:

@John F. You sound to be in the same boat as me.  My Disco has taken me to the South of France every summer.  Its taken me to Austria in the winter.  Its taken me to every corner of the UK in-between.  Its towed, its carried seven people, its the kennel my dog loves.  Its literally everything you could want. 

 

As such, I love the original Disco concept as much as I love the Solihull 'Heritage'.

 

But.  BUT! Land Rover have effectively abandoned this market.  Hence my looking at a new Shogun.  

 

Yep. But nothing bar a roll-over will totally kill an early Disco, so I intend to keep mine running as long as possible rather than replacing it with something more modern, and - definitely - more soullless.

[mat_the_cat]

Yep. But nothing bar a roll-over will totally kill an early Disco

Totally kill...?

[John F]

lol... OK, I'd forgotten about yours

[sutty2006]

Only fire will totally kill a landrover

[scruff]

When the engine blows up that tends to halt progress also. Admittedly it's easy to put another one in (on anything pre Disco 3)

[lexi]

You have to build a good Land/Range Rover.  You won't buy it.

[John F]

Only fire will totally kill a landrover

 

Not always... I was once driving my 2.25 Lightweight through traffic in Brixton when some fella came running up to me shouting "Oi mate, your car's on fire!".

 

And so it was. I'd been fiddling with the fuel system earlier on, and had left a petrol-soaked rag on the engine after priming the carb. This had now caught fire on the hot exhaust manifold. Someone saved the day with a fire extinguisher, I let the smoke dissipate and then started it up & continued on my journey

[warninglight]

With the money you've spent on it surely it must be more reliable than any other vehicle you're going to buy? AC pump was bad lucky really there's no way anybody could have predicted that.

 

The AC pump wasn't made by LR either. Surely there's just as much chance of it failing on a Japanese 4x4 of a similar age.

 

I have many projects on right now, but eventually I want to build a 'lifetime' Landy, I'm not yet sure what it'll look like, what springs it'll be on, and what fuel it'll use, but I'm reasonably sure it's the only way to get one that's free of any flaws.

[Guest Hooli]

Only fire will totally kill a landrover

 

My Disco stopped with smoke wisping out of the bonnet.

 

Ten mins later when I defeated the dodgy bonnet catch I found the feed to the stop solenoid was burning nicely along the side of the head. Bodged in a bit of spare wire & carried on.

[nacho man]

 

I have had this since oct and it's now on 364k.

 

Bought it with a knackered engine, was shitting it a bit as wasn't sure what the rest of the miles had done to it.

 

But inside it's mint, I know people say you can't tell the mileage etc but really it's in very good nick. The only slight problem is the auto box but amazingly it's the original and these zf 6 speed units are meant to be truly crap. It's just a bit jerky sometimes, but still very acceptable.

 

I have taken a proper shine to it. It's a commercial so I can dodge paying tax and what not, but it's still got air con and a Harmon kardon stereo. It's a ace mile muncher, set cruise at 70 and away you go.

 

It's pretty juicy mind I reckon my average is about 24/27 mpg. Obvs on a run it can nudge 30 if you take it steady. Thing is it's so quite that you often end up at 90 no really knowing.

 

So far so good. It's twin sister is the same except it's needed a epb module. But that was sat for a nearly a year before a engine was put in it. That one doesn't get used much though.

 

Looking through the history it has some proper eye watering bills of 2/3/4K at a time. I am glad it's a company motor.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk