Is it really that bad?

[Ultralite]

I'm drawn to Land Rovers, vintage to new ones. There are a couple of different versions I'd like to own. But whenever I read up or mention it to car buddies who've owned one, it seems people try to warn you off.

The reason I ask the question is because I see similar advice in the VW world. I've owned 3 of the aircooleds and I'm currently in a '69 Westfalia. Past and current owners joke all the time about maintenance issues and reliability. This has never been my experience. I drive the VW regularly, proactively perform all my own maintenance, and after many long trips I've not had any issues. The same was the case with my previous VWs.

I wouldn't call myself maniacal on maintenance either, just doing what the factory and common sense calls for. And while I love a vehicle with character, tend to develop "relationships" with my vehicles with names, etc I do not tolerate vehicles that leave you stranded. So when folks jokingly refer to their vehicle being persnickety, I'm thinking "no thanks for me".

Have any Land Rover folks had a similar experience where you use yours regularly, maintenance it regularly, and NOT have a ton of issues?

I'm not saying folks are lying about their experience. But I do think folks exaggerate common perceptions at times. I don't want to shut out ever owning a Land Rover especially if the experience could be anything like owning a vintage VW camper.

Any thoughts and discussion is greatly appreciated....

 

[Scott Brady]

Come right in, the water's fine. . . Land Rovers are not Toyotas (thank goodness)

 

[redneck44]

It's just an older vehicle thing, Land rover, VW etc of that era need caring for, more modern vehicles are often driven to failure and replaced.
Also a high proportion of "land Rover" problems come from the fitting of after market junk, and/or modifications.

 

[Ray_G]

Based off your comments I think you'll be just fine in the Land Rover world for all the same reasons you've enjoyed the VW. My perspective is most of the issues with Land Rovers stem from their initial price point-buyers who expect perfection are often (rightly) disappointed but many of those same buyers also don't do the preventative maintenance required of such a complex vehicle. Eventually these vehicles go to 2nd and 3rd owners who pick them up for a song but are behind the curve already b/c of systemic issues of failure to maintain a complex system.

Don't let that scare you, the 'older' trucks, like the RRC's, Discovery 1's, and Defenders are rather simple and any issue you'll encounter has already been dealt with and likely is covered somewhere on the internet. When you get older than those the simplicity increases.

Simply put, if you want a vehicle with character (and a soul) you are in the right portion of ExpO.

 

[Green96D1]

I have been Driving the "older" rovers for 10 years. I have a 1997 Discovery and to some that vehicle just screams "nightmare" to others it makes them "daydream" as for me my truck has not been perfect however she has been there for me when I needed her and she has never left me stranded. The one thing I can say is although the Land rovers don't have the best name when it comes to overall reliability the trucks are actually quite overbuilt for what they are or at least to me, but as with anything man built it will require upkeep with rovers it's just a little more and for what I get out of them I don't mind the extra work.

 

[XJLI]

One year and 15K miles of ownership on mine, about 131,5xx on it. All my Jeep buddies flipped when I bought mine (switched to the Disco after my 2nd XJ), and I'm looking forward to continuing to making them eat crow when I'm still DDing it years from now. Mine was a one-owner, LR dealer maintained truck, and it shows. The service manuals for these things are AMAZING.

 

[Ultralite]

I'm glad you mentioned the manuals because that was my next question; I have the Bentley Manual for my VW and I LOVE it. As soon as I see someone buy a Type 2 I always advise a Bentley as their first purchase.

So are the service manuals you refer to from the factory? And aftermarket provider? Or perhaps a good example of both? I live manuals and have a few Bentleys for cars I don't even own (yet). It's my idea of a good coffee table book when I'm reading by the fire at home...

 

[proper4wd]

Dude you read repair manuals for fun... why has it taken you so long to get into Land Rovers? You sound like the perfect LR owner

The key phrase you mentioned was "common sense". That goes a long way with owning one of these.

 

[Ultralite]

In my attempt to dig a little further into details: the most oft repeated issue I hear with LRs is "electrical issues". But it's usually from someone who hasn't actually owned one. Then, when I search the various online LR communities, at least my initial search hasn't revealed anything with any details. Perhaps a vague reference to electrical issues but nothing more than that.
So what are folks referring to?
And btw, I've heard this repeated with old and new LRs.

 

[Ultralite]

"Dude you read repair manuals for fun", the Bentley Manuals I will, they are awesome. (And, I've done some technical writing myself when I worked in R&D and engineering)

 

[galen216]

It seems most of the people I know in Land Rovers owned VW's at one point.

What I tell most people is if you know how to work on cars you'll enjoy Land Rovers, if you go to a garage for every creak and shimmy, stay away.

I also argue that at this point the older Discoveries and even Series are reliable in that all the issues are known. If something goes wrong with my Disco 1 it isn't a new problem, someone has already experienced it and solved the issue. The resources that are out there make maintaining one of these cars easy.

 

[proper4wd]

With regards to "electrical issues", in many cases that is an absolutely overblown catch-all excuse that people use to explain their dislike of Land Rovers. Just about every electrical problem I've encountered is caused by either A) the owner or other shop messing with the wiring to install something, or B) corrosion in terminals or grounds.

As for manuals, the factory service manuals are by far the only ones worth owning. Most of them are available online from sources like this:

http://www.landroverweb.com/landrover/pdf-land-rover-manuals/

If you want some great reading, pick up an ETM (Electrical Troubleshooting Manual)

http://www.legionlandrover.com/manuales/electrical troubleshooting manual - discovery i.pdf

 

[Mack73]

I was also a VW guy. And for the record my Corrado was reliable. I've had the same luck in the Land Rover brand.

 

[mpinco]

My perspective -

95 RRC LWB with 4.6 & Isky cam
Daily Driver - 98 Discovery I 4.0 with cam kit from D&D
2011 Discovery 4/LR4

First, all vehicles like to be used, not sit. The 2004 and older Discovery's are basically designs from the 60's, although upgraded over the years to remain competitive. Once you start understanding all the basic components you will find similarities to vehicles like Scouts. (I use my old Scout axle socket on the 95 and 98)

Preventive maintenance is key to all older vehicles. That is not rocket science. You take care of them, they take care of you.

As for electrical issues early Rovers suffer from the legend of the Prince of Darkness, Lucas. When Rover was under British Leyland Lucas was the electrical component supplier. Socialism about killed the British car industry. Luckily they woke up and de-nationalized, forcing them to be competitive. The most troublesome part of my 95 LWB? Seat switches/controllers supplied by ....... Mercedes Benz.

There are both factory and aftermarket service manuals. I prefer to have as a minimum the factory one. Then supplement it with others.

Another perspective - only those who have issues speak up or complain. You probably don't hear from those whose vehicle is reliable.

As Scott said - "Come right in, the water's fine"

 

[Ultralite]

It seems that this forum (rightfully) contains more build and adventure info as opposed to "how to fix it" info. And my initial searching for online communities for LRs are UK or Aussie based, also very understandable. Are there any LR forums that with more of a "maintenance and repair" bent that is perhaps a little more local to the US? For example, though we have folks from all over the world who post, the Samba website for VWs is a little more US based which is helpful in finding parts and resources. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=5