Sell me on a Land Rover

[Crazyfish]

Because I like to be different, I love to drive to a client's business and park next to the snazzy cars. I am addicted to Thumbs Up while driving.

Because I love to chat I plan an extra 5 minutes at every stop so I can talk about it to someone who stopped by, sometimes even waiting.

Because I own a small company, my logo on the sides creates instant looks and recognition.

Because I go to art gallery openings ( wife as artist ) and dinner parties, I used NAPA spray paint and painted it in the alleyway.

Because it's damn old I plan on opening my wallet on a regular basis. At the end of the day, my depreciation is almost nil.

Because I don't want a bland grey car, I did let my emotions help me choose.

Because it does need repairs and work, I have a cell phone and friends who love beer.

Because I think an addiction should be shared, laughed over and highlighted, I write about it.

In short, I am insane, therefore I drive a Series IIA 109 Station Wagon.

 

[thallca]

The reason I got my 1989 Range Rover Classic, it was for sale by a couple who never took it off road the entire time they owned it, it still had the 'yatch club' stickers on it, just over 100,000 miles on the odometer, and a price of $2,500.
It has been a lot of fun so far.

 

[CA-RJ]

I would think you would buy a Land Rover for the same reason people buy Jeep Wranglers. For the experience of owning one.

 

[MuddyMudskipper]

I would think you would buy a Land Rover for the same reason people buy Jeep Wranglers. For the experience of owning one.

:26_7_2:

 

[Scott Brady]

Link please.

It was featured in several parts in Land Rover Owner (or monthly). Anyways, one of the Land Rover pubs that have a North America section. The group was experienced travelers and they had some cool rovers, but the cold and extreme distance really played havoc on the poor machines.

Seems like some cool guys, doing some fun trips, but I have not met them.

Here is an excerpt:

Eric broke out the satellite phone and we made calls to our loved ones to brag "we made it". And then it happened: Mike's throttle cable linkage broke (apparently from metal fatigue). Good news: we're only 20 miles from the serive area we just left. Bad news: How the heck do we get the truck back there? While Mike worked the satellite phone to raise a tow, Jim and Kim headed back to ensure that we could get help quickly. In temperatures of -25F to -35F that we were experiencing, we were not going to waste any time. The tow truck hadn't been running for months and so another solution was needed. Mike, Peter, Eric and Neal came up with the ingenious solution of removing the engine cowl and crafted a "manual" throttle controlled by Peter from the passenger seat. Mike steered and Peter ran the gas.

Stan, the mechanic at Eagle Plain went right to work. By this time it was getting late and we made the decision to camp there rather than risk the Dempster by darkness.

The repair to the throttle was complete and no sooner had the truck left the warmth of the garage bay Mike discovered another problem- this time even more serious. The engine was leaking coolant from the block. We discovered it was likely coming from the freeze plug engine heater but would not be sure till morning.

The group settled in to the small facility by the garage to stay the nite.

Repairs were begun in the morning and after using nearly every tool in the garage and fabricating a few others the truck was fully repaired by 2pm.

We passed the Arctic Circle line (again) and made our way up the remainder of the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. Unfortunately our problems continued. Jim’s truck slid off the road and became stuck deep in the snow. We were unable to pull or winch it out and ultimately it took a passing tractor trailer to yank it out.

Once again on our way it was only several miles down the road that Jim’s truck began to overheat and he discovered some damage had been done in the earlier slide. After repairs to the fuel filter we were on our way.

Inuvik finally! We arrived at 10pm, ate, got to see some Northern Lights and went to bed. On to Tuk tomorrow.

From Drive the Globe

 

[Scott Brady]

Actually, that is exactly the point I was trying to make. Thank you.

Lynn,

My point is not to argue your interpretation, but to draw out the details. I certainly appreciate your feedback and contributions to the thread. What may make a CJ better in the mud can also make it suffer in other areas, like on the highway. I was a proud owner of a 1983 CJ7, and I can tell you that other than tight trail performance, or HP specific tasks (which there are few), a CJ7 has nothing on a 110. A 110 has a stiffer frame, long travel coil sprung suspension, lower gearing, better COG and much better highway comfort. In addition, the 110 has better brakes, a larger fuel tank, more storage, better forward visibility and the full-time 4wd (and no, Quadratrack doesn't count on the CJ).

I cannot tell you how many times in my off-highway driving career that I hear one person or another tell me why their vehicle is the greatest 4wd of all time. Even the odd guy with a 2wd that tries in vain to convince me that their truck is a mountain goat and can go where the 4wds can't. But when you get down to brass tacks with them, they have no real experience to draw from, they just love their choice and vehicle and want to make sure everyone else agrees... Seems a little insecure to me.

In order to properly compare a vehicle, it must be a stock truck to a stock truck evaluation, or you are just comparing mods. I have seen guys brag about their unstoppable S10, which now has only the body and some of the frame as original components. How is that a comparison to anything?

By the way, where were you that a 110/130 and a CJ7 were both present on the same day? Just curious.

I've had the opportunity to drive the CJ and a 110 on the same day, in the same conditions

 

[Alaska Mike]

I own an '80 CJ-5 and now a '73 Series III 88. I just love the short rigs.

I didn't buy a Land Rover for its reliability, it's interior space, parts availability, aftermarket support... whatever. I bought it for the character. The rest I can swap out to suit my needs. To be honest, that's a very "Jeep" way of looking at a vehicle. Very little of my Jeeps is as was when it rolled off the line, and it's ben my automotive education over the last 15+ years.

 

[I Leak Oil]

I know Jim and Mike of the Drive the Globe group. Good bunch. Take a look at their Vintage Rovers Across Africa site. Very cool trip in 30+ year old vehicles.

Duck, in the time it's taken to sift through all this bull you could have found someone with a rover, taken it out for a test drive and either sold yourself on it or disqualified it for yourself.

No one should be surprised this thread has taken on the "Ford vs. Chevy" syndrome as the original post is a near perfect setup for it. (I don't think that was the intention though..I hope)
Jason T.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I bought my Rover because of the cool history behind the green oval. It also helps the Rovers have a long list of excellent features. I'm no expert overlander but I've owned a few "overlanding" type rigs including a Wranger, Tacoma, FJ40 and now my Discovery. While the Disco's shortcomings fall to reliability, it fits our needs and we like being part of the Rover community. Rover people often waive at other Rover people which I think is cool.

 

[Green96D1]

Rover people often waive at other Rover people which I think is cool.

X2:clapsmile

 

[Ducks]

No one should be surprised this thread has taken on the "Ford vs. Chevy" syndrome as the original post is a near perfect setup for it. (I don't think that was the intention though..I hope)
Jason T.

I actually don't think this thread has the "Ford vs. Chevy" syndrome. Other than a few posts, I have very much enjoyed hearing people's experience and feelings about their vehicle. It's great to hear how people feel about their vehicles. My intention was not to start an argument and I don't think I have started an argument. Plus the point of the thread was not so much if I would like a rover, I'm already sold on my land cruiser, but why other people like their rovers.

 

[Ducks]

Rover people often waive at other Rover people which I think is cool.

That is awesome. I often get the same wave with fellow land cruiser owners. I guess one of the reasons I am now feeling about the thread is to realize how similar things can be. When I was trying to be part of the g-wagen group, they felt very isolate as the only civil online group for 4x4. But that is not true. There are lots of great people very willing to help. Of course, there are a lot of examples where that is also not the case.

Hearing people's feelings about their vehicles and why they like them has helped me dispel some stereotypes that I unfortunately held. Sorry if some people somehow feel offended. Wasn't the point.

 

[michaelgroves]

One has to be careful with reliability statistics too. Let me start by stating that I am not suggesting that Land Rovers, in general, are as reliable or as well-built as Toyotas - I think we can all agree that the Toy already wears that crown.

But... thousands more Toyota off-road vehicles are sold than Land Rovers, and the vast majority are sold to people who never off-road them. Many Land Rovers also never see a trail, but proportionally more of them are sold to people who are real enthusiasts, which skews the user profile of each marque quite considerably, relative to each other. Other things being equal, one would expect Land Cruisers, on average, to require more repairs than Honda Accords, because quite a few more TLC owners use their vehicle under harsh conditions than Accord owners. Likewise, I would guess that there is a bigger proportion of Land Rovers which have hard lives, than most 4x4 marques, which will make the total reliability statistics hard to compare entirely fairly.

Once again, this is not an apology for the many(!) lessons that Land Rover should have learnt from Toyota over the years, but it is a caveat to those who take the statistics too much at face value.

 

[Ducks]

In order to properly compare a vehicle, it must be a stock truck to a stock truck evaluation, or you are just comparing mods. I have seen guys brag about their unstoppable S10, which now has only the body and some of the frame as original components. How is that a comparison to anything?.

I agree with this. The extreme end of this is rock buggies where only the hood is the thing that makes it a "jeep", "land cruiser", "rover", etc.

But having aftermarket parts available is a selling point. The g-wagen doesn't really have an aftermarket support in the US. Some would argue that it doesn't need much since stock is very capable. But having aftermarket support (and an initial lower price) sold me on the land cruiser over the g-wagen. I didn't realize that the older rovers also may not be that expensive.

Just love to learn from other people's experiences. Happy Driving. :smiley_drive: (why is this smiley in a right-hand drive vehicle, must be Australian or British.)

 

[Redline]

I read several entries from the Drive The Globe site and almost every link I opened spoke of vehicle failure or repair. Some of this can be blamed on the cold or the age of the vehicles (a guess?) but I prefer the experiences of the Expeditions West trip with no failures from the EW Tacoma.

It was featured in several parts in Land Rover Owner (or monthly). Anyways, one of the Land Rover pubs that have a North America section. The group was experienced travelers and they had some cool rovers, but the cold and extreme distance really played havoc on the poor machines.

Seems like some cool guys, doing some fun trips, but I have not met them.

Here is an excerpt:


From Drive the Globe