Who else is going over to the dark side?

Interesting I've just seen this thread. Listed my TD5 130 for sale last night. Been putting it off for a week, but put an order in on a new 76 landcruiser 9 months ago and need to move it on. The Defender is a brilliant car and I love it to bits, but unfortunately it's just doing what 23 year old cars do, which is need lots of maintenance. Did lots of remote touring in it, but for that job reliability is key and it was beginning to fail in that regard.

If the Grenadier was ready to order a year ago, I'd have seriously looked at it. The 76 was the only other alternative that fits my wants/needs. Seems like that's not an uncommon thought process based on the comments here!

I'll continue to get my fix with a S2 that I'll restore, but it won't be my daily driver so doesn't have the same requirements.

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Originally Posted by Vern

I myself am almost at the conclusion that my 4bd1t county project isn't going to suit my needs, and will require lots of mods to get there, and the fact that we don't need 3 cars. I'm at the point of it could be time to part ways with all my landy stuff, and my iload van, and possibly jump into a late model GU chopped into a dual cab (i really desire a dual cab) as my daily and bush basher/ camping rig.
Unfortunately wifey won't let me chop up the y62[emoji1]

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Chop the Y62,and get her a new one.
Then you will both be sorted[bighmmm][biggrin]

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Originally Posted by simonmelb

The D2 met quite a few of these requirements which is why I’m keeping mine for a bit longer. The Grenadier I agree looks to have done so many things right. I had been seriously looking at a 2014/15 Prado but it would be a backward step from the D2 in too many areas, so you never know about a Grenadier……

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I think they are going to be a hit. Look at those Suzuki Jimnys, an old boxy shape with still a lot of old style 4x4 features like beam axles. They are a pretty capable little thing and look cool. They can't keep up with the demand for them. I think once the Grenadier is released and a few go on the road it will have a similar reaction. At the open day I spoke to quite a few people who had landrovers currently.

As for the LandCruiser I have a lot of respect for them. I used to work on them sometime ago. Very logically built with a view for ease of maintenance even after the warranty has run out. Consistent genuine parts quality. Unfortunately newer landrover products are anything but easy to work on with no thought of later maintenance. Indeed It seems the engineers went out of their way to make it as hard as possible to access anything. And as for genuine landrover parts they will paste a genuine parts sticker on any cheap crap part they find. ....my experience anyway.

Land Bruisers stopped being easy to work on once the Blue Flame engines were removed!

The V8 is a pita just like all the new models of all makes.

Complexity comes from emissions and packaging - nobody wants a huge bonnet at expense of interior space, and they don’t want a stupidly long vehicle overall either.

The little Jimny is a cracker, plenty of modified ones around here.

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Originally Posted by simonmelb

The D2 met quite a few of these requirements which is why I’m keeping mine for a bit longer. The Grenadier I agree looks to have done so many things right. I had been seriously looking at a 2014/15 Prado but it would be a backward step from the D2 in too many areas, so you never know about a Grenadier……

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The D2 and the D1's were light years ahead of the competition when they were first released and are still in front of many of the new 4WD's on the market as far as comfort and refinement goes BUT they are now getting pretty long in the tooth and reliabillity is now a pretty big issue with them.

IF it was possible to buy a brand spanking new D2a at the moment I wouldn't hesitate to put my hand up for one.

Having said all that I will be parting with my D2a because We are getting rid of the van and we no longer need both 4WD's and we certainly dont need 2x $900 per year rego's So I will be keeping the 79 Series as my main battle tank for my fishing expeditions.

My reasoning for this is;

1. The 79 has far more "Grunt" than the D2a which is handy when towing a boat off/on road.
2. the 79 with the canopy and the roofrack can carry Much more gear and supplies than the D2a (Even with all the rear seating removed)
3. The 79 uses a lot less fuel than the 4l V8 in the D2a.
4, The 79 has prooven itself over the years to be light years ahead reliabillity wise over the D2a and as all of my trips will now be "Solo" reliabillity is Very important as before we always took 2x 4WD's on a trip.

It will be sad to see the D2a go but even after throwing over 20k at it with repairs and replacing failed components it is only a matter of when not if it will let me down again.
I will also miss the comfort and quiet of the D2a, What I wont miss is waiting on the side of the road for a flat top.

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Originally Posted by scarry

Chop the Y62,and get her a new one.
Then you will both be sorted[bighmmm][biggrin]

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Well she has informed me she just wants a run around and i can have the y62, so give it a couple of years, and i may just do that[emoji1]

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Land Bruisers stopped being easy to work on once the Blue Flame engines were removed!

The V8 is a pita just like all the new models of all

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All modern engines are a complicated PITA,particularly diesels,unfortunately.At least that V8 doesn’t have timing belts.But it has other nuisances[bighmmm][biggrin]

But on a slightly different topic,if you want to run cables through the body,fit mods,etc,etc,the Tojo is so much easier to work on than any lateish model LR,even D3/4.Internal trims,dash parts,etc,come out and clip back in so easily,there is also heaps of room behind the trims.Large unused grommets in both sides of the firewall,and other places in the rear are also well placed to be used for cables,etc.Large second battery will fit easily under bonnet in the LC variants.
The rear load area trims have that much room behind them in the 200 many fit an ARB air compresser behind them,or a 200A slimline lithium.

Talk to any shop that has had a new Defender in for mods,an absolute nightmare and very time consuming.

it isn't really the dark side is it....maybe more light and commonsense prevailing there.

I haven't looked back since , not one warranty claim, not one service issue , not one , not even simplest reliability issue . I broke a passenger grab handle swinging into/out of the car and the spare wheel winch faded so far.

If you owned any 2012 Land Rover product , what problems have you incurred in the ten years?

Sleep easy on the dark side.

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Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

it isn't really the dark side is it....maybe more light and commonsense prevailing there.

I haven't looked back since , not one warranty claim, not one service issue , not one , not even simplest reliability issue . I broke a passenger grab handle swinging into/out of the car and the spare wheel winch faded so far.

If you owned any 2012 Land Rover product , what problems have you incurred in the ten years?

Sleep easy on the dark side.

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I can answer that on a 2011 LR product.
I’ve replaced an Alternator [emoji41]

On my last work vehicle - well the list is about 8 pages of service repair reports.

On the new one (18k old Ranger) it’s had 3 warranty issues, still cannot get the reversing camera to function properly, it’s noisy, uncomfortable and drives like the QE2 in a large swell.

It also has all the tech of a Casio watch and yet plays up quite often requiring restarts to clear.

To date, and still valid, on every 4wd trip with the local club - the LR has been the one of two brands to not require work to continue or recovery.
The other - a Hyundai Terracan that’s been across Oz countless times.

Point being “grass is always greener”

How many times do we see people moving on vehicles that need say $10k of work done after 10-15 years of heavy use. Only to go into hock for 90-130k for a “reliable” vehicle.

I’ve just midlifed my D4. Only components remaining are the strut assemblies (coming) and it will drive just like it did in 2011. I’ve checked my wiring loom, I’ve serviced it regularly. I do not use cheap parts or components.

I’ll replace the A pillar plastics soon for shiny new ones for aesthetics… and I’ll keep the new car repayments in the travel/target sports fund!