I have read some really silly, brand centric and even year centric replies in this thread. It appears that most of them only serve to reinforce the posters choice (and investment) in a particular brand or model, not to add any real dialog to Ducks original question.
"The CJ was better in the mud": Well, because it has a much higher HP to weight ratio and was likely equipped with flotation tires.
Vehicles are not this great nebulous brand capability that somehow allows them to sail across the mud while the next vehicle sinks. Vehicles are an accumulation of designs and specification and variables that can provide a predictable outcome. A CJ7 will likely perform better in the mud than a 110 because it has higher HP to weight ratio and likely has a rear limited slip, what were the tires fitted to each vehicle? Ask those questions and formulate a logical, scientific response and then your comments will seem less like "My Ford is better than your stupid Chevy"
I just so wish people would post comments to questions like this in a logical and less self-serving and emotional way.
And sure, we can all agree that a Land Rover will experience more reliability issues in its life cycle than a typical Toyota, but it is NOT a 100 to 1 thing, or even a 50 to 1 thing.
For example, a 1995 Land Rover Discovery I has a failure incident rating of 7.7, while a 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser has a failure incident rating of 9.0. Which means that within 100K miles the Discovery has a likelyhood of 23% to experience a failure requiring service for the vehicle to continue to drive and the Land Cruiser has a likely hood of 10%. That is only the difference of 13% on the scale.
When I picked the 1995 Discovery up, I could have purchased any vehicle (just about). I could have bought the famous and deserving FZJ80 or any other Toyota for that matter. I mean, I drive and test cars for a living, and the one I wanted was the Discovery. I wanted a fun car that had a rich heritage, great style and had a manual transmission and solid axles and lots of modification potential. That is not a Toyota, at least not one capable of carrying 5 people down the road at 80 mph.
So then I read further through this thread and find this quote from ZOOROPA
The Land Rover may look pretty at a dinner party, but if your looking for substance, depth, and conversation; look elsewhere unless you let your emotions rule your finances, common sense, and over land plans
Why would you even post something like that? To bolster your argument by insulting peoples choices in vehicles? Are you suggesting that since I bought a Land Rover I let emotions rule my finances (my semi-retirement at age 35 proves that to be quite false), that I lack common sense (I will let others be the judge of that), and that I let emotions rule my Overland plans?
That statement is the most ignorant, self-serving diatribe I have ever read in relationship to a topic on vehicle selection. I am not calling you ignorant, but your statement was only written to be offensive and hurtful to people that chose a vehicle other than the one you chose. Is it the anonymity of a keyboard and screen name that drives people to be so rude? I guarantee he would not say that comment around a campfire.
On ExPo, we make an effort to respect others choices in vehicles, etc., because that is a sign of maturity and reason.
Significant expeditions throughout the globe have been accomplished in Land Rovers. Our very own Graham Jackson drove a Land Rover 30,000 miles from London to Cape Town, SA, and nothing assembled by Land Rover failed on his Defender (if I remember the story correctly).
The one point all of you Land Rover haters have missed, and you were greatly remise in not seeing, is that it DOES NOT MATTER what vehicle you take on some great adventure, it was the fact that the great adventure was taken in the first place! Variety of vehicle choice is what makes enjoying cars so cool. Can't we all respect the fact that others may make a choice other than yours? How boring would it be if ever picture on expo and every trip we took had only a white Land Cruiser?
If someone loves to drive a Land Rover and they
drive it across Africa while you wax poetic about the great Toyota
sitting in your driveway, then who is the one just sitting pretty at the dinner table?
