Discovery II - A Let Down

G'day Grey Ghost.

There are two points I wish to make.
1.As all 4x4s are man made so they are subject to failure.
2.Changing to another brand could be a case of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire-particularly if it is a used vehicle. All 4x4s end up being like Grand dads axe-3handles 2 heads and some how the same axe. If you like the vehicle consider keeping it,if you buy another brand vehicle and have similar experiences you will be totally ''gutted''.

Finally, best of luck on your decision.Lochie


Footnote: Use only genuine parts if possible,this is from personal experience

My opinion, earlier Jap cars built their reliability on being simple, under powered, no added gizmos and driving like tractors (I had an early model Patrol :)). Take an early model Prado diesel, maybe 90 kw? About the same as a Hyundai Excel? A similar period Disco had creature comforts, off road technology and much more power. More that could go wrong. The later Jap models are far more high tech and their reliability is now suffering.
I've had quite a few cars from new into the 300-400 k mark and you can expect a few big bills after 260 k in any brand. Land Rover and Jeep do suffer from a certain lack of parts and labour availability.
Its like race horses, only the good ones break down. The plodders will run forever.

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Originally Posted by subasurf

No one should have to feel like they have to add this little disclaimer to there posts. Yet AULRO often does that to people.

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Agree. I put that in 'cos I sometimes seem to unintentially wind up the wrong folk... text on a screen does'nt give you the instant feedback, body-language etc that real life does... Add my quirky sense of humour (see my last post on 'videos' ) to my tendency to be a catalyst, and the mud hits the fan quite readily!!!

Part of the problem is the buyer.... yes, us. We dont' complain properly or often or powerfully enough when a manufacturer tries it on. Or stuffs up big-time.

I had a problem with my one and only *NEW* car, a Holden HX/Z. Brakes were either locked or off. Shrt story, had the State manager in the back, recalcitrant Service advisor in the front.... drove around to PBR state branch... Brake mech got in, drove it a metre, touched brakes and confirmed that it IS a warranty problem, - theirs - knew all about it... will replace booster etc 'yesterday'... and 'why did'nt the Service advisor phone and tell them?(that they have yet ANOTHER one for them!) Said Service advisor was almost in tears with me telling him/them that my mate's NEW Falcon has PBR brake components...and feels normal, and I did'nt care if my Holden was "normal" in his experience.... It simply was'nt good enough.

State Manager said zip throughout... but his loooks could kill....

Never saw the Head of Service dept again...

James in Gosnells.

Sounds like your battery and starter problems are related. Leaking oil getting in or maybe a misalignment issue? Fuel pump problems too, perhaps the diesel or rubbish in the tank? Everything else is related to the age of the vehicle but unless you are hands on with these, they will always cost you money.

I'm going onto one year now in my first Land Rover. It had problems when I bought it but I fixed them all except for the three amigos. Now the door locks are giving me grief but they will be all fixed(not replaced) soon.

Spending money on cars is a pain when it comes to constant problems arising. Where do you draw the line? Fix the issues and keep it or just get rid of it? If you are not a spanner man, get rid of it. Get something that is newer that serves your needs.

Tank is 100% correct and what he says relates to most vehicles that rack up the kms. If you have the skills and knowledge, fixed cheap. Rely on "specialist" services, expect to pay big money.

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Originally Posted by Rayngie

Landrover sponaneous windscreen destruction claims another victim.

i've gotten rid of 5 of my provious landrovers on this exact problem...it got to the point of not being able to look through it for fear of it cracking and needing replacement....i say get rid of yours now!

Also had to ged rid of one due to running out of fuel....everytime i started it up and drove off it would use fuel...the faster i went the more it used!...never again willi put myself through that, and i was told it had a perfect service history..

Ray.

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:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:

Thank you Rayngie for making my weekend perfect!

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Originally Posted by chazza

:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:

Thank you Rayngie for making my weekend perfect!

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x2 Bob :D

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Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

I'll try and add value to this post whilst attempting to keep my comments in the 'centre', neither offending nor defending the marque.

The Jap cars of the 70's and 80's were an aberation. It was the japs who pioneered the art of reliability in the 60's and 70's for commercial gain. Adapted from the US Military. Remember KanBan, Kaizan, Just in Time, TQM etc? All pioneered by Toyota and Suzuki to sell cars. The cars they pumped out therefore, were outstanding compared to the rest of the world.
In the 80's and 90's the rest of the world caught up and some good cars were made. I owned european cars in the 90's coz they were generally ok. Remember the Alfas and early BMW, not to mention early Jags.

Cheers

Ralph

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Here is some trivia that I never thought would be of any use...

The man who introduced a culture of building qualiy products to Japanese business and industry was an American Dr William Deming just after WW2. If I remember rightly the American government basically sent him to Japan to assist them to get back on their feet after the war.

He is considered as a hero in Japan and did much to teach Japanese industry that building quality products would give them a strong position as a world wide exporter. The funny thing is while he was teaching the Japs how to build good quality products American business never bothered to listen to him till just before he died in the 90's.

Obviously he never spent anytime in the UK. ...:wasntme:

cheers,
Terry

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Originally Posted by superquag

One of my bigger beefs is about issues I call "nuts & bolts", simple things that are so basic.... that you expect the manufacturer to get right.....

Like door-handles on my Classic.. Need to be adjusted every 100k or so... The Paj has done 350K and all doors open and close smooothly, and the door handle works. How many RRC's have you seen with snapped off external door handles ?- Or cracked ones? OK, so it IS a Morris Marina part, but on a $65K car in its day I expect a bit of durability. Or Good Design of the internal door mechanism... My 74 Passat did over 600K that I can prove...and lots that were'nt recorded. Doors worked fine.

Bonnet release, very hard to pull, inside design is such that you can easily skin your hand doing it... simple stupid thing to get wrong... Apparantly the cure is a NEW cable...

Rear (upper) tailgate that twists... flimsy design. And rusts abominably.
- Speaking of the lower tailgate... who as the eunuch who put those two "Lift Tabs" on the top edge...?- just to catch you when you sit on the lowered gate.
Or the overpaid deisgner who put the EAS air filter behind the sub-woofer assembly...where it will rarely / if ever be exposed to the light of day..
- Or the EAS relay box and air pump on the chassis rail where it will get drowned in a foot of water.

Window switches that have ALL failed, needing a clean out or replacement... and still have'nt sussed out why the rear door switches don't work at all.

Brilliant placement of seat-controls, I suppose they have to be there as there is no room elsewhere, certainly not on door-side... Why ? door interior protrudes greatly AND seats are very far apart.
- Don't start me on interior ergonomics !!!

These are a few of the things I expect all manufacturers to 'get right first time around', and nearly all DO.

Funny thing, my last Crown which was (literally) rescued from the crusher, some odd rust, totally buggered paint and totally worn out engine, over 400K had the ORIGINAL alternator, starter motor, every electrical switch worked, as well as cruise control and the auto trans was smooth and consistant.

And the Daily Drive, Paj (which incidently was the pattern for the Disco 1) has all switches working, especially headlights and I've no reason to fear the failure of the beam switch.

Wife's Mazda is still on original radiator after 300k+ and 20 years.
Why ? 'cos they were designed and built with material that were 'fit for purpose'.

Not going to debate the wisdom of the viscious coupling, or choice of engine. Or rather the lack of choice of engine...

There ! - Thats my rant !

James in Gosnells

NOT meant to be personally offensive to anyone, simply my observations as an 'outsider' to the hallowed halls of Land Rover.

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I think you'll find that this statement is false, the Disco 1 is based on the RRC, as is the Disco 2 is based on the P38a RR.

Basically budget versions of the RR.

It just looks similar, like a lot of 4WDs of the time.

Baz.