Is it love or does it grow on you.

I started off with a Series IIA and loved it to bits ... I now have a County; for me it is the rugged agricultural/military utilitarianism of the Land Rover that appeals most, it is what a Landy is known and loved for.

If you're looking for comfort, smooth ride, low noise and all the mod cons - perhaps a Range Rover is more to your taste; Land Rovers are for people who like an adventure every time they drive down the street, who don't mind a bit of a wrestle with their mechanical missus - cause with a Landy, you've got a vehicle with their own personality and that is what is so endearing to those of us who love the things. This is another reason that Land Rover is one of the few makes of vehicle that shares a driver understanding/empathy that produces the "wave". ;)

Tiki.

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Originally Posted by NOZ

Defenders are like a RASH they grow on you. You will love it :)

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More like a raging infection, it will take over and either kill you or become a defining part of you like a major scar or a massive Tattoo on you face!:D

I commute about 10 hours a week into the city in my Puma, they are fantastic in the traffic as you are up high and I never get a sore back thanks to the seating position. They are surprisingly easy to reverse park, however you do need to be careful with underground car parks! The way I look at it is if I have to drive 10 hours a week I might as well be in a car I enjoy driving. After 18 months owning one I still get excited every morning when I climb aboard:)

Saying that it took 3 months for my leg muscles to get used to the clutch!

Defenders are a car you have to want to own, once you've had one you will love it.

Just do it!!!

Cheers Simon

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Originally Posted by VK3UTE

[snip]

Defenders are a car you have to want to own, once you've had one you will love it.

[snip]

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Yep, you have to go in with your eyes wide open and acknowledge and be prepared for their idiosyncrasies.

If you bought one expecting a modern conveyance you are just setting yourself up for disappointment and suffering.

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Originally Posted by landlocked

Gday,

So I guess all this waffle leads to this. Will I grow to love this land rover and all its quirks? Or is it better to just admire them from afar. I really want to own one but I would hate to have it end in acrimonious divorce again.

Thanks fellahs

cheers
jonathan

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Maybe it's the vehicles quirks and design deficiencies, requiring an inordinate amount of regular maintenace.Maybe it's the type of lifestyle they encourage that is un appealing to many women. Or maybe it's the character flaws in the blokes that have been my closest friends during my over 4 decades of LandRover ownership.;) But the marriages of virtually all those LandRover owning friends have indeed ended in acrimonious divorce. Conversely many of my aquainteces who own other brands of 4wds have solid relationships.
I managed to preserve my own marriage by purchasing a reliable non Rover built vehicle for family use and just use my Landy for personal enjoyment and work around my bush block.
Bill.

My first experience with Land Rovers was my Dad's Series 3 ute at the local tip as a very young child riding on the tray. Upon leaving, in 2WD we became bogged. Dad jumped out of the cab, went around to the front wheels and adjusted something, jumped back in, pushed down a yellow lever and we drove straight out of the boggy mess. I had to have one from that day on.
I bought my first Landy, a Series 3 SWB as my first car when I was 15.
Now at a ripe old 29 and on my 4th Landy (2011 110 Puma) I've been the butt of years of p**s taking from "mates" with the usual Lancruiser, Hilux, Pootrol.
The jibes used to sting back when I was an unstable teen, but now they only serve to make one corner of my mouth curl up, followed by a slight chuckle.
All this time I've struggled to articulate why I have such a soft spot for Land Rovers.

The best explanation I've heard so far is that they are pure function.

Absolutely nothing on a Defender is designed for form. Nothing. Not even on my late model example.
Vertical, flat surfaces, plain circular headlights, tail lights, indicators, exposed rivits, hinges, square, flat window glass.

They don't try to be anything they aren't.

That's why I love them.

[QUOTE=bezclez;1648173]
Absolutely nothing on a Defender is designed for form. Nothing. Not even on my late model example.
Vertical, flat surfaces, plain circular headlights, tail lights, indicators, exposed rivits, hinges, square, flat window glass.

They don't try to be anything they aren't.

QUOTE]

Put beautifully bezclez, that's the appeal for me too.

No beeper in the dash either. I can drive to my letter box now without the Nanny state:mad: beeping at me for not putting my seatbelt on! I had a new hilux before I brought my Defender and I sold it because of the incessant beeping :wallbash:

Blissful silence now

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Originally Posted by wagoo

Maybe it's the vehicles quirks and design deficiencies, requiring an inordinate amount of regular maintenace.Maybe it's the type of lifestyle they encourage that is un appealing to many women. Or maybe it's the character flaws in the blokes that have been my closest friends during my over 4 decades of LandRover ownership.;) But the marriages of virtually all those LandRover owning friends have indeed ended in acrimonious divorce. Conversely many of my aquainteces who own other brands of 4wds have solid relationships.
I managed to preserve my own marriage by purchasing a reliable non Rover built vehicle for family use and just use my Landy for personal enjoyment and work around my bush block.
Bill.

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Geez Bill you might be onto something.

SWMBO has always had her Patrols, I've had the oddball Jeeps, effy 100, race cars and for the last ten years a Defender and we're still together after twenty-two years. :D

They are a cool car, so there is case of fatal attraction.

However, they also continue to grow on you.

Like yesterday, my Defender pulled a large car trailer up and down hills all day. (picked up a series 1 from the mountains.) Temperature gauge did not move!