Retirement car

[MJI]

You know what the Australians say: if you want to go into the bush get a Land Rover but if you want to come back out get a Toyota.

 

But they need the Land Rover to unstick the Toyota

 

Anyway it is all rubbish as I have had an issue of reliability, steering jammed up.

 

The clutch fell off the air con compressor and shot across the engine compartment and jammed the lower UJ on the steering column.

 

The air con compresor is Denso, a company owned by Toyota, so my Land Rover was knobbled by a bit of Toyota, sorry I would trust my Discovery over any Land Cruiser if bits are going to fall off like that. I extracted a round object with a Denso sticker on it.

 

So far my car has had issues with components made by Denso (Japanese), WABCO (US), ZF (German), VDO, a few seals, an ECU (not sure whos), but not parts made in Solihull, engine, chassis, body, just ancillaries.

 

So do I blame Land Rover or the manufacturer of the bought in bits.

[MJI]

If it’s a disco , thats a fashion Land Rover. If it’s a defender that a cross between a small tractor and a lawn mower , it’s certainly “ capable” , but it’s not a car

 

The Discovery is a car, but high up, tough, as capable in the rough as a Defender, but unlike Defenders Discoverys are comfortable.

 

Engine can trace its ancestry back to post war Morris I think, gearbox is generic also found in stuff like BMWs

[MJI]

A friend has a Volvo XC60, it too suffers from poor rear passenger legroom/seat height for adults. Nice to look at nice in the front, awful in the back as a 5 foot 10 adult with stiff joints.

 

Jol, yes the i30 is designed in Germany, built in Hungary, and so far is faultless unlike the previous Fords!  Better ride too, by miles.  The real clincher to buying it was the reported reliability and the fact it has chain driven cams, no belt.  My last Astra died as a result of a belt tensioner failure, only half way into the belt/tension life.  That wasn't a great car, most uncomfortable seats.

 

GM stretched belt change intervals to please the fleet buyers, went from 40,000 to 80,000 but tensioners often failed around 60,000

[RANGERS]

But they need the Land Rover to unstick the Toyota

 

Anyway it is all rubbish as I have had an issue of reliability, steering jammed up.

 

The clutch fell off the air con compressor and shot across the engine compartment and jammed the lower UJ on the steering column.

 

The air con compresor is Denso, a company owned by Toyota, so my Land Rover was knobbled by a bit of Toyota, sorry I would trust my Discovery over any Land Cruiser if bits are going to fall off like that. I extracted a round object with a Denso sticker on it.

 

So far my car has had issues with components made by Denso (Japanese), WABCO (US), ZF (German), VDO, a few seals, an ECU (not sure whos), but not parts made in Solihull, engine, chassis, body, just ancillaries.

 

So do I blame Land Rover or the manufacturer of the bought in bits.

You blame Land Rover for buying the bits...

[Tony_S]

You blame Land Rover for buying the bits...

Not my photo but difficult to see the makers labels on the bits in modern Land Rovers like mine. Everything electrical seems to be in a plastic box.

https://goo.gl/images/yKx17m

Tony

[New Haven Neil]

GM stretched belt change intervals to please the fleet buyers, went from 40,000 to 80,000 but tensioners often failed around 60,000

 

27 thousand!

[rockershovel]

The Discovery is a car, but high up, tough, as capable in the rough as a Defender, but unlike Defenders Discoverys are comfortable.

 

Engine can trace its ancestry back to post war Morris I think, gearbox is generic also found in stuff like BMWs

I drove a series of Discoverys for 3 years in the early 2000s, working on gas pipeline in S Wales. Quite good on and off road but I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for the steady stream of quite major replacement parts they consumed. When I went back there in 2007 I was offered a day rate for my own vehicle, bought an elderly Land Cruiser for £1500 at ADH, drove it for several months and didn’t give it a second thought. Top up the oil and water once a week and that was it.

[MJI]

I drove a series of Discoverys for 3 years in the early 2000s, working on gas pipeline in S Wales. Quite good on and off road but I’m glad I didn’t have to pay for the steady stream of quite major replacement parts they consumed. When I went back there in 2007 I was offered a day rate for my own vehicle, bought an elderly Land Cruiser for £1500 at ADH, drove it for several months and didn’t give it a second thought. Top up the oil and water once a week and that was it.

 

Mine is 15 years old so age related stuff is happening.

 

There a limited range of parts suppliers now compared to the past.

 

All the Lucas bits are fine too.

 

I do not trust the later ones as the engines love self destructing, so you have to buy a S type as well for a spare engine. Defender owners also have issues with Ford engines. The Defender is fixable using parts from Discovery 1 or 2, but the Discovery 3 & 4, Ford need to be forced to supply a fixed engine design to all the owners.

 

Quite a few post 2007 Defenders are having broken Transit engines replaced by Discovery 1 TDI300s or Discovery 2 TD5s and relying on older engine change regulations. Heavy users are destroying the Transit lumps with work yet older Defenders keep going.

 

How can a smallish company like Land Rover make 3 reliable Diesel engines which the Ford replacements destroy themselves?

[rockershovel]

Mine is 15 years old so age related stuff is happening.

 

There a limited range of parts suppliers now compared to the past.

 

All the Lucas bits are fine too.

 

I do not trust the later ones as the engines love self destructing, so you have to buy a S type as well for a spare engine. Defender owners also have issues with Ford engines. The Defender is fixable using parts from Discovery 1 or 2, but the Discovery 3 & 4, Ford need to be forced to supply a fixed engine design to all the owners.

 

Quite a few post 2007 Defenders are having broken Transit engines replaced by Discovery 1 TDI300s or Discovery 2 TD5s and relying on older engine change regulations. Heavy users are destroying the Transit lumps with work yet older Defenders keep going.

 

How can a smallish company like Land Rover make 3 reliable Diesel engines which the Ford replacements destroy themselves?

Try driving Land Rovers on and off road, ten or twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week, then thrash them 500 miles round trip up the motorway for a long weekend home once a month. That’s what happens to vehicles on pipeline sites. You’ll soon learn which ones can stand the pace, and which ones can’t.

 

The 2.8 Hiilux, current Hilux and more recently the Navara and Ford Ranger (basically a rebadged Navara) are so far ahead of the Land Rover products for reliability in hard use, it isn’t even funny any more. The Land Cruiser and Shogun are pretty good, too.

 

Transits don’t last a month on pipeline sites, although the 4wd ones are very versatile in the right hands. The best Ford I ever had on that sort of work, by a long way, was the old rwd Escort Van!

[APOLLO]

 

Brit15