Land Rover Lovers are everywhere....

As the popular Myth goes " 90 percent of Land Rovers ever made are still on the road today.
The other 10 percent made it home"

How do you double the value of a Land Rover?

Fill it up with fuel.

Well I've had a 1999 TD5 for 4 years now and i can understand the loyalty people have for them. They are a great car to drive BUT the niggle little problems you have with them all the time just bleep s me to tears. I have to in the past couple of years had to get the rear air bags fixed, they blew on me at the north end of Frazer Island and had to get it towed back to Brisbane. The trio of lights are a constant problem, the hood lining is now sagging everywhere, Key fobs only last 3 years before wearing out (over 350.00 to replace), constant oil leaks keep appearing but we call that automatic rust proofing.I've had a key snap off in the ignition #days of mucking around and $400.00 dollars later fixed for now. OH and don't get me started on the bleep S at Land Rover service in Brisbane total bunch of knobs if the fault doesn't show on the comp. they won't look at it. So in saying all this it is a good car that will go anywhere.
Besides I've spent so much on it in repairs and the resale value is CRAP it's not worth trading in !! only kidding!!

Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 manual & if it's half as good as the Nissan Terrano 2 TDI that it replaced I will be happy.

The other popular saying is that "Land Rovers don't leak oil, they are merely marking their terrritory"!

My neighbour has a disco and loves it but he bemoans the fact that he has to constantly spend money on it it's about 6 or 7 years old and his latest expense was a new diff, think it cost him about$2k.

You just asked for it Ozzie Nomad....lol You are best to head into AULRO for some Land Rover stories because all you are going to get now is the same old stale jokes...... :)

G/Day Ozzie

We owned a 1995 Range Rover, I bought it for the Cook, it had 75ks on the Speedo, nice to drive, reasonable power, good for towing our boat, we purchased it from a Rover Dealership on the Gold Coast, I only drove it occasionally, I had my own vehicle, anyway we decided to go on a trip in it out west,on the way out there the Viscous Coupling Fan exploded, in doing so it demolished the Radiator, gouged through the Bonnet, and we were stranded, we couldn't get Mobile Phone contact, and had to flag down a passing vehicle, the young bloke notified the RACQ in the next town and they came out with a Tow Truck and towed us back to his workshop, they couldn't repair the vehicle so we had it transported back home, we found out after it was repaired and tried to claim insurance that Rover had notified there Dealerships ect to notify there clients about a problem re: Viscous Fans, apparently if the Fan Blades go a Yellowish colour they have to be replaced, because they have a tendency to disintergrate, anyway after a bit of legal pressure the Rover Dealership paid all costs ect, we sold the vehicle 6 months later.

Cheers
Daza

A rangie or a Disco that has a dubious service history is no worse than any other ill cared for car. If it gets clean fuel & oil and everything is maintained properly, they don't break unless you jump off cliffs with them, or flog them to death.
I still have a little 58 series 1 up north on the paddock.
Lives under a mango tree most of the time, and never failes to fire up when needed to haul firewood through the creek.
Still has the original motor and radiator.

Currently own two, a 1995 Tdi 300 twin cab, and a 1994 Tdi 200 one-ten and previously owned a Td5 one-ten.

They’ve always taken us were we wanted to go, and got us home.

I look at it this way, works for me so no need to change. Know what the problems are, make sure you monitor and attend to them, and service regularly. Could be advice for an owner of any breed of vehicle!

Sure, jokes abound, but as they say in the classics, just as long as they are talking about you, who cares what they say. Mind you I do have a chuckle every time I see a post about another Patrol engine blowing up (not in a nasty way!), if all I have to deal with is an oil leak, happy with that outcome!

Go the Landy.......

"ask a bloke that actually owns a Disco or a Defender"..........Out in the desert on a trip I was speaking to a committee member of the Land Rover Owners' Club of Victoria & the conversation came around to the reliability of Landys. I hyperthetically suggested that 1 in 10 were lemons & he by his own admission corrected me & said "No it's closer to 1 in 4".
It's a pity because when you get a good one they are by far the best 4x4's made, leading in innovation, design & practicality & backed up by many awards.
But Nissota fans shouldn't crow too loud at the moment as the reliability of their latest offerings appears to be taking a dive. They're all getting far too complicated relying on too many $50 sensors & 10 cent fuses.
Cheers Craig..............

I would love to own this .

Land Rover owners certainly are a different breed. Anyone who has ever owned one either has a Series Landy or a Disco or Rangie in the shed that is either being rebuilt for that big trip, being admired every other day, being bragged about at any opportunity- or is wishing they could do all of this --- And, they continue to yearn for Landy heaven even though they might now be blasting around town in a 200S, Patrol, etc etc etc. MQ shorty and Shorty 40 owners are in this same general group I reckon.
For those with the Series vehicles you might like to read about this forthcoming big Landy trip.

OzzieNomad

I've owned a landy 130 Tdi 300 Defender ute for about 6yrs, and it serves its purpose as a work ute, used every day often loaded up to the hilt. All i can say it has not been that unreliable that i've had to think about getting rid of it , Quiet the opposite!!, Yep! they have issues, but as Landy says above, get to know them, and keep up with a few low cost things and they are great work horses. As far as the 300tdi 2.5ltr turbo intercooled motor goes !, when looking back at their design date they are are starting to make some of the opposition engines of the same era and later models look pretty bloody ordinary as far as economy and reliability issues go. As owning a v8 petrol LC100 Toyo, it is quiet a education to tow the same 2ton van with them..lol.. The cruiser you say "what Hill", The landy you say Man this thing pulls ike a Bullock" for the size of the donk..lol.

Cheers Axle.

Alas!!!!! when I sold my last Lantrover, I cried TEARS of JOY for weeks.

Happy with mine.

Reading about the oil leaks reminded me that mine did for a while but tightening the diff nuts fixed that.

I do have the three amigos, but they don't seem to be interfering with its progress. I'll be replacing discs and ABS sensors in due course so expect that will address that.

The thing that always amazes me is the antipathy that LR seem to generate among some punters. In fact the less direct experience they have the more antipathetic they seem.

Bob

Had a two door Rangie for 15 years - best car I have ever owned. Have a LC100 now and while it *does* get to the end of the driveway without breaking down, the Rangie out-performs, out-steers, out-brakes, out-handles on road and in the rough. As long as you had petrol and spark (sometimes the latter could be a problem...) it was unstoppable.

The electrical system finally beat me (Lucas, Prince of Darkness, invented it apparently) and I sold it to a Rangie tragic in the northern beaches who threw a heap of money at it and replaced the wiring.

The car is now some 38 years old and was one of the original ones in Oz, if not *the* original one. I spent the GDP equivalent of a third world country on it, rebuilt the motor and drive train once, after the previous owner did the same. Shades of Grandfather's Axe.

Still reckon they are a great car, with all its faults. Wonder if the latest ones have the same charisma?

viz

I wanted a Landrover for years. It was ex owners and their horror stories that talked me out of it.

Thay dont have a soul,thats just a cover story to explain away the problems.

When Landrovers can go 3-4 years without a component change(with the exception of service parts) like my Landcruiser,Ill buy one.

I dont hate them ,I just wish they wouod come up to the Japanese standard and add some competition.

I started driving Land Rovers in 1967 during my National Service. Then the Army had a bunch of SIIAs, and subsequently replaced them with SIIIs, and during the late 80s with various variants of the 110 (Project Perenti). You might ask why Army stuck with them all this time if 1 in 10 or 1in 4 is a lemon. I understand that Rover did not bid for the current vehicle replacement program, which is buying Mercedes.

I once was an instructor at Army's Land Warfare Centre, and we had very old 109 inch 10 seater station wagons made by swapping wagon bodies from worn out vehicles onto low mileage workshop vehicles in an attempt to keep them going until Project Perenti delivered new vehicles. They finally got so ratty that safety was an issue, and we were given permission to buy some civil variants. We trialled a Toyota Troopie (the vehicle preferred initially by almost all the instructors, and a Land 110 wagon. At the end of the trial the verdict was almost unanimous: buy the Landy. Sadly they arrived after I left LWC.

I have had 4 Land Rovers of my own. Two SIIAs (a hard top and a wagon), one SIII, and then after a gap of nearly 20 years, a 4.6 litre V8 Disco II, which is my favourite of all the vehicles I have owned. The Series vehicles took my young family all over the place in the 70s and 80s including some very long trips and some very rough country. The Disco is now our preferred touring vehicle, with or without our van.

They do need more maintenance than Toyotas, but so do Ferraris et al. (Not that I am comparing Landys with Ferraris, but thoroughbreds usually need more attention). But are they unreliable? Not in my experience. Do they need parts replaced at lesser intervals than they should? Undoubtedly. Would I have another one? In a flash, not that I will sell my Disco.

One quality they have which is way ahead of Toyota and Nissan is being green. Land Rovers are so green they actually return the oil to the ground, and they don't come greener than that!

Landys are drivers' vehicles. Tojos are transport. Nothing wrong with that, but I prefer the enjoyment I get from driving a Landy.

Cheers,
Terry

I like many here have owned a - a series IIA wagon with a safari top. We had the best time in this vehicle. The appeal was its rudimentary construction. A trip to Fraser was a simple cleaning process, just open the doors and hose out the lot. We had 4 adults and 4 kids including half a ton of gear on the full length roof rack.

The thought of getting a scratch on a narrow track was just not going to worry me.

However, a mate did supply me with a couple of axles - just in case (never needed these) and installing the fairy overdrive meant we could actually exceed 80KPH but we still fondly talk about this vehicle.

It served us well and gave us further appetite for continuing on our 4WD adventure. We liked the size but the water sealing left something to be desired.

Kind regards

We are now on our second Landie - the first was a new V6 Freelander - what a lemon. We sold it when the warrenty ran out as we could not afford to keep fixing it. Our list of problems was pages long - BUT my wife still loved it and as she sees it now and again, she says we wishes that we could have afforded to keep it.

While it was under warrenty, the dealer had it for more than we had it during the 2nd year of ownership.

Depreciation - a dirty word, we lost so many $10,000's of dollars, it hurt real big time as we just about had to give it away to get rid of it.

Our 2nd Landie is a 2000 Rangie Vogue - the lounge chair on wheels - we love this vehicle as well, so does our local petrol station as they are still in business just because of our Rangie and the amount of fuel it uses. We bought it at a ridiculously low price 4 years ago (the original owner - a company - lost over $100,000 on it in 5 years). We have had a good run out of it BUT are now starting to spend money at 150,000km

It is completely over engineered which means there is more very expensive complicated stuff to go wrong eg the ABS pump. Also the quality of small things like the tie rod end boots is c***p with splits and holes at 100,000km, and the orginal ones cannot be replaced so it is very expensive new tie rod ends that have to be replaced. Air Suspension - another problem. Electrics, I will do a post on the remote electrics one day - you will not believe it. Oil leaks, yes it is marking its territory.

We are now thinking of moving on to a Toyota or Nissan as a replacement and we will, be sorry to sell the Rangie - BUT the poor credit card. If I sold my boat and Rangie, I would not have to work any more and will have to sell both soon as I want to retire.

We also have a Troopy (never to be sold) and a Terrano II in New Zealand and both only need money spent on servicing, tyres, brakes and fuel.

We find that there is also similar passion amongst Troopy owners - the now ugly duckling of the Toyo world that is such a great vehicle and ever so reliable after the Landies. We love the Troopy just as much as the Rangie.

Stevesub

Geez Ozzie the buggers don't half come out of the woodwork, there was me thinking this was a Toychitwoo forum only.

Let's see now I still have a 94 300 tdi Defender 110

I've also had
99 Rangie 4.6
99 Defender 130 Dual cab chassis
74 SIII SWB
54 SI

The two Defenders went to most parts of OZ and did all the hard tracks worth doing.
No reliability issues other than a rear diff in the 130 which was probably due to the way an Air locker had been fitted.

The Rangie was a road car only and I had to pry my wife out of it when I wanted to sell it.

Driving the 54 SI was a pain in the a because everyone wanted to talk to you all time. Met some interesting people though.


The 110 has a turbo tweak, Dual air lockers, OME suspension, Maxidrive axles and runs 34" Super swampers on bead locked D1rims.
There is not a hell of a lot that will stop it!!
My main gripe, not enough power on road

Do I like Landies? Sure do they have an indefinable something which Jap stuff lacks.
Have to say my Effie has some of that something also, beats me why.

Would I buy another Landie?
Yes! when they put some power like the TDV6 or TDV8 in the Defender.

Is reliability an issue? Depends on lots of stuff, the reality is that Jap stuff isn't exactly faultless as a quick read of some of the post on here will confirm.

Best car I've ever used off road or on. During my working career I have driven or owned

Tojo 60, 80, 100, 45, 75, 79 series
Tojo Hilux (various)
Nissan Patrols (various)
Jackaroo, Rodeo
NP Pajero (I'll never, ever buy a Mitsubishi product again)
Ford Courier
Subaru Brumby
Effie 350
Defender 110 TD5
Disco 3

And the winner is....the Disco 3. It is the most capable, comfortable, practical (we tow a 3.5 tonne caravan), economical (for its size) vehicle that we've ever known.

We call it the "Toyota Recovery Vehicle".

The ONLY complaint we have is that dealers are few and far between. For example, none between Perth and Darwin.

Cheers

Russ

Correct me if I am wrong but Landy hasn't made their own engine in diesel guise now for a long time due to not being able to produce something worth marketing. They have seriously tried to overhaul their reputation with the Disco 3 and the latest offering has seen them crow bar a CSA (Peugeot) motor in there.

In all honesty, I have loved all my cars. And when all work, they all have good and bad points. What it comes down to is how much you want to pay for the probability of what you are going to get being satisfactory. No company is without it's problems. It's the chances of having a problem. And over Landy's history, even Landy owners admit they have a higher chance of something going wrong. Ok, you might n ot get as much for your money with a Tojo or a bleep an, BUT, the chances of you doing the CSR for example (if you are a betting man) and not having anything go wrong is much better in the Jap trucks.

I reckon my 98 Fender will still be going when I take my last trip!
It's my key to enjoying retirement-economical,reliable and fun!
Cheers,
Mary

Sitting reading with some entertainment. I had a 79 2door V* auto Rangy. Loved to hate it and basically learned how to be a DIY mechanic. The wife called it The Green Garden Knomb given the amount of time it spent in the front yard with the bonnet up.
Did come into its own off road where it was a delight to drive at whatever you would encounter.

Wife walks in behind me as I write and says the best thing about it was that it had a crank handle to start it when you had flatened the battery. I guess its true being an auto I did use it seriously to get me out of trouble a few times, but particularly it was a good party trick as people would watch in amazement as you pulled out a crank stuck it in through the bumoer and whoomper away the little V8* would go.

Nearly broke a wrist once though when she kicked back at me.

Ian

Yep no doubt about it Landys are everywhere...even on Mt Panorama: Defender on the Mountain

Bob,

This has gone on long enough. Obviously my comments weren't to your liking, to some they were. You attack my truck because I put practical accessories on there like a winch, bullbar, and some spotties along with a 2-way aerial and because it is new and shiny, it apparently looks like a pimp mobile. I don't understand your humour, or anger, just like you don't understand mine. It is the way of the world and if we were all the same then this would be a boring place. It is one of the great things about this website, there are people of all walks of life on here.

Anyway, enough diatribe. In regards to all my comments about Landies that offended you, I retract them and apologise to you whole heartedly.

Hopefully one day you will see this pimp mobile coming done a desert track one day and you will wave it over for a beer. I will be the first to reach onto the Engel and pull one out for you.

Just a quick one for the moderators. What is the most visits are thread has ever received? This would have to be close at over 1,200.