Thread: At what point do you 'chuck it in?'

Something I'm considering now....
Having had my first experience as a kid watching a family friends Rangie getting bogged I had some weird fascination with the beast...this grew to helping a mate rewire his 82 and subsitute a later dash to me getting my own.
Now on to my second I'm considering the switch but......
I love the look, the challenge, the joy but HATE the compulsive pull in to every petrol station at the moment even through its my other car.

Gotta admit I was very dissappointed when I went from my 77 2 door running 3.5 that I had modified, to a D1 3.9 injected. I was expecting better fuel economy, but in fact, it was quite a lot worse. Kept the 77 for 12 years, the D1 only 2.

The fuel economy on the RRC is not exactly frugal either... But I don't think at this stage for me that it represents a problem. My future plans are for an engine swap anyway, when the v8 gets too tired - whenever that will be. So no hurry. Perhaps an excuse to install an aftermarket ecu and o2 sensors sooner than a swap, if the 14SUX (pun intended) injection starts acting up.

But let's face it, under the bonnet, the RRC is not a superstar, but for the most part I have found that it is reasonably robust and tolerant when appropriately nourished. I have 335,000km on it and it does blow a little bit at high rpm, rattles a little in the valvetrain and isn't exactly miserly on fuel, but it starts every time, goes when asked to, and generally speaking doesn't put up any resistance when I sink the boot into it.

The only caveat with all of the above, is that since buying it, I have performed quite a lot of maintenance which really needed doing quite some time before I purchased the vehicle. That is not to say it wasn't a well looked after unit, on the contrary, it has been very well maintained - just that there are areas where I feel the maintenance hasn't been as preventative or perhaps as thorough as required.
Although I am slowly coming to the understanding that with Land Rover, even if you do the maintenance properly once, not long after youve done it, you do it again because it never seems to be a permanent solution.

I think this is what frustrates a lot of people. I do find it very annoying. Certainly if I had to draw a direct comparison to the Mercedes, none of them require that same level of 'return' on maintenance jobs. Although I did have a radiator fail due to faulty quality after 3 years. Wasn't happy about that, but you have to expect that these things can happen to any vehicle.
But when it happens frequently, yeah I'm sure it gets up peoples noses and would / could easily be enough to want to get rid of it.

Thing is, I'm sure it really is a minority thing. It can't be an overwhelming problem on all landrovers despite the generalized 'reputation' for lack of reliability.
I'm actually finding that it's quite the opposite - all the things I've done are pretty much because the part is well beyond it's service life and hasn't been replaced in the vehicles lifetime, or were due for replacement long ago and some how were 'overlooked' - possibly due to other major repair / maintenance costs.

Easy answer, it is almost always cheaper to do the work especially if you do it yourself than get a new car. The wiggly line ie how much does this repair cost and how much is this car worth might not make financial sense, but the big picture the old car is probably the cheapest option, you know its faults too. Now the real question.... If the car means something ie it gives you joy that wiggly line should mean nothing. If the car is driving you mad move it on, simple.
Chris

I have been emotionally attached to most of my cars since my first - an Austin Healey Sprite that was originally my Dad's when he was a young doctor inGlasgow and he brought it over when he immigrated. I still have it and that car has had way more spent on it than it was worth. But already both my kids 8 and 6 are both laying claim to it.

However I have had one car that was a lemon from the moment I bought it. In our family it remains something we never speak of. I took a bit too long to sell it and in hindsight I can say there are some you should cut and run on.

Wow. What a subjective question. Well, here's my take. I am hopeless. I get attached to things. So, My answer is, well, never. I have had 5 FIAT 124 Sport Coupes. If they had survived I would still have all of them rather than one. I have 2 Discos, a RRC for a project ( one day ) and a Series III. It's madness.
I do have a Ford for the daily, and it could go in a heartbeat if it started to cost lots. There's nothing 'special' about it.
Thing is though, my stepson has a 2015 Prado, and I know I will NEVER spend the $$$$ that thing cost on all of my crazy cars combined. AND the D1 is better off road, by a fair margin. The largely stock D2 is probably it's equal.
I agree with Muppet though, have a reliable daily, and keep the RRC, or whatever, for the hobby. Make it as good as you can and enjoy the thing for what it is.

Originally Posted by johntins

Wow. What a subjective question. Well, here's my take. I am hopeless. I get attached to things. So, My answer is, well, never. I have had 5 FIAT 124 Sport Coupes. If they had survived I would still have all of them rather than one. I have 2 Discos, a RRC for a project ( one day ) and a Series III. It's madness.
I do have a Ford for the daily, and it could go in a heartbeat if it started to cost lots. There's nothing 'special' about it.
Thing is though, my stepson has a 2015 Prado, and I know I will NEVER spend the $$$$ that thing cost on all of my crazy cars combined. AND the D1 is better off road, by a fair margin. The largely stock D2 is probably it's equal.
I agree with Muppet though, have a reliable daily, and keep the RRC, or whatever, for the hobby. Make it as good as you can and enjoy the thing for what it is.

Off topic, but dad had a couple of Fiat 132's, rust was crazy it was like rain disolved them, but mechanically they were amazing and scary fast.
Chris

Originally Posted by cafe latte

Off topic, but dad had a couple of Fiat 132's, rust was crazy it was like rain disolved them, but mechanically they were amazing and scary fast.
Chris

Someone told me that all Fiats and Alfas that came out here in those days were made out of recycled steel and were shipped as deck cargo........

Dunno if there is any fact in this.

DL