Reliability on the dark side

[JDNSW]

Today the creek had gone down enough for me to get into the village through next door's, to pick up mail and swap a gas cylinder.

I was sufficiently suspicious of the creek to take off boots, sox and trousers and walk across first - no more than about 19", and only sinking six inches or so into the sand. But got across no issues.

On the way back, just off the main road, my neighbour was having some problems with a mob of sheep, trying to get them into his yards. So I stopped and gave him a hand. He had been herding them with his Prado, but it seems to have busted a CV joint, and only goes in low range. Very reliable these Toyotas. After we got the sheep in he said he would be OK to get home in low range, so I left him.

[AK83]

yep! I saw three of these those ultra reliable marques 'just resting' on the side of three different freeways whilst going about my regular work routine.

The 80 .. had been left there for 3 days.

[V8Ian]

https://youtu.be/FzN_SYd_FDw

[350RRC]

yep! I saw three of these those ultra reliable marques 'just resting' on the side of three different freeways whilst going about my regular work routine.

The 80 .. had been left there for 3 days.

I'll never forget an 80 series (from memory) on the Whitten bridge (Ring Rd Melby) in the emergency lane heading north.

The owner was peering over the side to see where his left rear wheel had gone. Bloody long way down.

DL

[Vern]

Whats that saying, Thos who live in glass houses, yadda yadda yadda

[Tins]

Whats that saying, Thos who live in glass houses, yadda yadda yadda
To modify another oldie, smug cometh before an inevitable fall. I have learnt not to tempt fate. My propensity of liking Italian and British cars has taught me well.

[AK83]

Whats that saying, Thos who live in glass houses, yadda yadda yadda

yeah, but when you read the commonly repeated marketing diatribes that some makes are 'unbreakable' .. and yet see many of those types sitting on the side of freeways(obviously with a fail to proceed moment)

It's just nice to bring a sense of reality, in that every make of machinery has the potential to break down.
That their specific piece of equipment hasn't, doesn't make the marque bullet proof.

Of the Toyota specific brand, my experience(not my own, but via family) with the three of them over the years has been 100% failure in some major way.
Only recently my BIL got himself a Kluger type thing .. so far that I know it hasn't .. but it's a very late model.

[spudfan]

At least if your Defender (old type) or series Land Rover gave bother it is usually economic to repair it.
I knew someone who had engine trouble (not specified) with a Mitshubishi Pajero who said it was not worth his while to repair it. I thought this to be short sited as everything else was O.K.

[scarry]

Of the Toyota specific brand, my experience(not my own, but via family) with the three of them over the years has been 100% failure in some major way.
Only recently my BIL got himself a Kluger type thing .. so far that I know it hasn't .. but it's a very late model.

And my experience,not someone elses brother,uncle,lover,whatever,yadda,yadda,or what someone said on a forum.....[bighmmm]

There are 7 on our books at the moment.
Others have been pensioned off,at around the 300000km mark,without a single repair.
Most have been used as service vehicles,loaded not far off GVM,driven,worked out of,all day ,every day.

Never had a major repair,the biggest a failed set of bearings in one of the vans diffs.No other issues at all.
With a total milege of well over 1.5M K's,from my experience with other brands,nothing comes close.

Anyway,just my 2 cents worth,and my own exoerience...[biggrin][bighmmm]

Oh,and DPF's in the Diesels, have them as well,since around 2015,never had an issue.
Maybe we are just lucky,although i dont think so,although they are all serviced on time and correctly.

[AK83]

And my experience,not someone elses brother,uncle,lover,whatever,yadda,yadda,or what someone said on a forum.....[bighmmm]

.......

Yeah, but for someone elses brothers, sisters, partners, next door neighbour ... you don't usually have to recover it for them, and then try to effect the repairs(Dads 60 series, and sisters Rav).
Nor did it break down on you when you had a load of food to deliver(my uncles Hiace van).

Not saying they're not reliable, but just like any other mechanical and or electrical/electronic machine .. they do break.

What you see/read from so many sources is that they're 'unbreakable'. That they never let you down, and thats why they went with this particular brand.

funniest example was AStPW and his African 105 ... got it all fixed and then heads out for his 1000klm journey and somewhere along the trip, it locks him out because of a fault in the alarm/locking system.
Very soon after a lot of money went into it to have it all rebuilt.

[trout1105]

To be completely honest the most troublesome 4WD that I have Ever owned has to be my D2a without a shadow of a doubt.[bigsad]

Yes EVERY brand has its problems and WILL fail occasionally BUT in my own experiance the frequency of something going wrong with my D2a is FAR more often than ANY of the other brands of 4WD's that I have owned over the last few decades.

For Many going over to the "Dark Side" usually involves buying a Landrover[bigwhistle]

[windsock]

For Many going over to the "Dark Side" usually involves buying a Landrover[bigwhistle]

Lucas electrics... [bighmmm]

[ATH]

I really do like the "unstoppable, unbreakable" bull that's shouted about by all the fans of anything except a Landie. I well remember being in Broome 20 odd years ago with our D1 300Tdi and camper and checking under the bonnet and a bloke walked past and cracked "You're brave taking that thing out of the metro area ain't yer mate?".
In my haughtiest tone I responded (with a smile of course) "May I remind you that I'm not the one who's had the bonnet of his unstoppable up for 2 days waiting for someone to tell him what's wrong with it".
He didn't speak to me again while we were there even when I gave a cheery "Good morning" to him and his dear wife. :)
But I must say our Prado 120 series in between 5 Landies was a good vehicle and gave us no problems in around 4 - 5 years of ownership. I may go that way again next year if I get worn down reading about broken cranks, EPBs, 7K costs of belt changes etc etc. and get any more trouble like recently when the aircon comp and tensioner had to be replaced after just 107K. Shocking short life and disgraceful but cost of 3.5K paid by Eric the extended warranty company.
AlanH.

[shack]

In all honesty I have found every land Rover we have owned.. To be what Toyota claim their cars are - unbreakable.

And I'm serious... I have basically never done anything that could later be seen as the event that caused a breakdown(ok maybe once).

I've always found that any breakdown on a land Rover was entirely out of the control of the operator, it is the sole responsibility of the vehicle itself to organise, set the timing of, and then initiate all breakdowns.

They are in my opinion "unbreakable" but they do fail very easily all by themselves.

Cheers
James

[Vern]

funniest example was AStPW and his African 105 ... got it all fixed and then heads out for his 1000klm journey and somewhere along the trip, it locks him out because of a fault in the alarm/locking system.
Very soon after a lot of money went into it to have it all rebuilt.

Sounds like every 2nd Puma[emoji848]

[Vern]

yeah, but when you read the commonly repeated marketing diatribes that some makes are 'unbreakable' ..

Sounds similar to 'best 4x4xfar', we all know thats a little far fetched, if it wasn't, this forum wouldn't exist[emoji1]

[scarry]

Sounds like every 2nd Puma[emoji848]

Actually,the Puma was called the most unreliable vehicle they had ever surveyed, by some vehicle survey mob in the UK.(google is your friend)
Every owner they spoke to had one that had been in for repairs under warranty 3 or more times[bighmmm]

And every single one will break the intermediate shaft,if it isnt replaced with something like the ashcroft set up,in under 100 000Km.
Then there is clutches,master cylinders,diffs,and on it goes.

Such a shame as it was the end of an icon,and could have been the best of them all.
After 70yrs,one would have thought it would have been well sorted.

[Tins]

(google is your friend)

No it isn't....[bigwhistle]

[ATH]

I'd vote the Puma as the worst Defender. Took me far longer to sell my 2010 than any other vehicle including 3 other Landies before it. Engine was good for power although a noisy thing, but the fit and finish and reliability of other stuff was crap.
Probably the same could be said for the D4s engine designed and built by Ford with bits that can't be changed without taking the body off! I love the cars driveability but hate the thought of so many things which have gone wrong for others in the past with not too many kays on the clock.
That's apart from the other crap like the pop up gear selector, the EPB etc.
But what to buy to replace it with? Pajero no longer made? Prado? Ford of some kind? Other popular ute thing?..... :(
AlanH.

[spudfan]

Actually,the Puma was called the most unreliable vehicle they had ever surveyed, by some vehicle survey mob in the UK.(google is your friend)
Every owner they spoke to had one that had been in for repairs under warranty 3 or more times[bighmmm]

And every single one will break the intermediate shaft,if it isnt replaced with something like the ashcroft set up,in under 100 000Km.
Then there is clutches,master cylinders,diffs,and on it goes.

Such a shame as it was the end of an icon,and could have been the best of them all.
After 70yrs,one would have thought it would have been well sorted.

Our 2008 Puma is still on it's origional intermediate shaft at 195857kms.