Why do I love Land Rover?

[michaels]

i've always loved my truck but now it's just my DD and travel vehicle and i'm kind of indifferent to it.. never sees dirt much any more. that might change this fall though since i'm moving into a very rural area and a town with only 300 people in it. it should e right at home in the country though!

 

[mountainsoul]

For me it's the emotional connection and romanticism of the marque. I grew up around old Defenders and dreamed of one day crossing the Serengeti in one. Wearing my safari hat. In my khaki shirt. Sporting my Ghurka satchel. With my pet jaguar riding along in the back seat.

From a practical standpoint, they've always felt just so tight and solid to me. You feel as if you can go over, or through, anything when you are behind the wheel. They also drive pretty well on-road for such a vehicle. The creature comforts are nice to have too at times. And there's plenty of cargo room for my pet jaguar.

I miss my old Defender but my current '02 DII is a better overall vehicle I have to admit. And my wife has a '08 Range Rover which is a beautiful vehicle. But the most adventure that thing has ever seen is when she rode over a curb once at the local Aveda spa. Admittedly, it was a very tight parking spot. The Range Rover overcame the challenge admirably.

 

[I Leak Oil]

Dunno, the concept of a little less (and perhaps less expensive) mandatory TLC has an appeal when the ultimate goal is not how stylin' the vehicle is, but rather to get further backcountry. Each vehicle lightly modded to my satisfaction would accomplish the same goal.....

You always read about the "extra" maintenance that Rovers "require". It's not really extra, it's more that they seem to be more sensitive to not doing the scheduled stuff. It's really pretty simple, change the oil when you're supposed to. Change the coolant when you're supposed to, etc. Should be doing that with any vehicle.
These things have been around long enough that the weak links and their fixes have been identified.

 

[Maryland 110]

I started out with a 2a in the mid 70's. My passions ran to very fast BMW's in the 80's and 90's and then Porsche 911 turbo's (935/c2 turbo) and the back to Rovers. Now I even import them- talk about hook, line and sinker. I have pretty much always owned one and after the need for speed was met its back to safe simple and fun to drive. I still have a BMW Alpina E30 Baur cabriolet and a Volvo S70 wagon but never drive them. My daily driver is the Tdi double cab 130. Filled up @ a station next to the farm last night and drove it 260 miles through the Blue Ridge mountains and around Wash.DC to Annapolis last night- got in this morning and its still got half a tank. They don't all have to cost a fortune in fuel to drive. I don't bleed green but I dream green.

 

[DarthBeaver]

See for me its romanticism and a lifestyle choice. Its like cigars, wine, and traveling the world. I have always seen 'rovers as THE "exploration vehicle".

I grew up with my father who raced jeeps and had me drive parts of the rubicon trail at age 11. But I saw jeeps everywhere... it was a rare day to see a 'rover.

It took several years to afford my first one. I did good in the dot-bomb era and was able to buy it with cash. Driving off the lot with my brand new 2000 D2 was an amazing feeling. I remember sitting in the lounge with the different sales people talking about their experiences. One of the told me that Land Rover claimed that it was "first car seen by 60 percent of the developing world's population"... I looked around the room and felt like I was at the explorers lodge... Yes its a sales technique, but there is some truth there.

Just this past few weeks I was on my annual (25 years now) guys camping trip we were taking some kayaks up to a lake via an 4WD-only road and stumbled across a stuck jeep. 5 guys in the disco jumped out we pulled the jeep out of the rut (he high centered it...). He was surprised even after we pulled him out that we would take a "luxury" car offroading. I just said "thats what its built for" and we smiled and headed off... windows rolled up and a/c going...

I cant wait to start converting it to more of an expedition vehicle (my local shop it looking forward to it as well I am sure... lol)