why do landys have such a bad rep

A big issue with the First Time LR owner, is the gap between what LR's advertising dept. imply... and the discovery that virtually everything that's NOT essential to the drive and suspension...is built of very very ordinary materials and design, and the kind of things that break, fail to function or simply come apart, are the things the Japs have had sorted for decades.

Typical example on my Classic, is the gear selector tell-tale lights on the transmission selector. The stick-on mask (with PkRNDL etc) is lifting off, with little evidence that it was adequately glued down in the first place...

- Trouble is, the Classic was nearly twice the price (and 4 times the reputation) of similar oriental cars, so you'd expect it to at least match it on the everyday items. The Japs have never had difficulty with the headlining staying up.... Little things that loom large...

The other hassle is that LR seem to do things difFeRAntLY to "everyone else" which means service and maintenance becomes a problem with the non-LR workshop... As has been said, it all gets 'tooo hard' for them.

The LR is a life-style vehicle, not a logical, value for money item. You'd better get used to the inner glow and visceral satisfaction that comes from accomplishing the impossible repair or brilliant modification.... 'cos you'll be doing a few of them ! :p

The Event Horizon, RR Classic '95 Vogue SE with working air suspension... cruise control, - and no heater for the next 9 months !

Having just read every ones comments on this subject, as a 65 yr old thats been around landies nearly all my life, a landie is no different to any other vehicle on the road today and never has been. Back in the early 1980s I was in the dealers workshop here in Brisbane on Army business and to my shock horror there were as many late model Roll Royce's with engines removed or waiting for major repairs as landies.
We only tend to hear about the vehicle that give trouble regardless of its make.
After 21 yrs reg army and another 2 yrs A. res service I came across many steering wheel attendants or drovers that had no respect for vehicles. The two worst treated vehicle in my time had to be 1 the Landrover and 2 VW combies but no matter how hard they were flogged the drive lines never failed. yes I saw a few broken axles and a few rear diffs broken, again mostly by stupidity
I have seen ser 2/2a do things that most people on this forum would not believe and come out unscaved.
I have just loaned my ser 3 ex military (STOCK STANDARD)to a bloke that normally drives a late model defender and he is amazed at its good drive ability and the way it preforms.
I often wounder how many jap wagons will be on the road when they are 50+ yrs old
Hodgo

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Originally Posted by hodgo

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I often wounder how many jap wagons will be on the road when they are 50+ yrs old
Hodgo

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I often wonder how many L322 and D4 will be on the road in 50 years time? :twisted:

I've a bit of personal experience of Jap crap and Landies. First Landie was a
'96 300Tdi Disco, major prob was the heater core leaking and instead of just by-passing it I had it repaired by the major supplier of 4by bits who stuffed things up and left the vehicle filthy.
All fixed properly by the then owner of the franchise and he got stuck into his workers and the workshop foreman left not long after.
2nd was a new 2003 Td5 Defender. Rear diff changed as it had a strange "tick" sound. Fuel regulator changed under warranty before it gave any problems.
The absolute worst thing was it broke down in Newman when the throttle potentiometer played up and it had to be flat bedded to Perth and we didn't see it for nearly 3 weeks!!!!
We weren't happy about that but LRA/RACWA got it back as soon as they found out that the truckies were not interested in bringing it back as they had to move vehicles to get it on as it had a camper attached.
The cook and I never regained our faith in the vehicle after that and I sold it and got a 300Tdi Defender, done it up with new axles, tyres, radiator etc, and gawd knows what but I got fed up and wanted a change so sold it for a decent price and bought a plastic Prado.
It's a bit soft even after having OME suspension and a bull bar added and it shows the scratches far too easily.
You know the sort, you wouldn't worry about them on a Defender but I feel obliged to polish them out on the Prado.:)
But it's proved to be a good performer in the dirt and has been really reliable, but strangely I crave for a Defender again.:o
If only they'd fix the agent/ dealer problem in the bush so vehicles don't have to be shipped hundred/thousands of kays to be fixed, I'd have one tomorrow.:D
Even one with a Ford engine as a mate of mine has had his from 2007 with no problems at all apart from recalls.;)
And I'm getting too old to wait til 2015 to see what LR come up with as a replacement.
In conclusion, our son has an LC200 V8 with the galloping oil consumption problem and recently the transmission stopped transmitting after he was away for his weekly shift in the mines.
Only 3 months off the road although as it was under warranty they hired him a Paj at 3.5K per month until it was fixed.
I wonder if that was because they didn't trust another of their own vehicles.:p
AlanH.

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Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

I often wonder how many L322 and D4 will be on the road in 50 years time? :twisted:

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My land rover will be buried with me, in the back yard, sort of like the Mongols and their horses, Bob:beer:

Its not the Landrovers in my eye's its BLOODY Landrover..

I have written to them on several occasions, and have not recieved a single reply..bloody slack I recon.

Some of the dealerships need a good kick in the arse as well...I know that they are privately owned, but if they are selling your product, then some sort of interest in how they are performing would be good.

My 2c worth

Cheers Ean

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Originally Posted by Ean Austral

Its not the Landrovers in my eye's its BLOODY Landrover..

I have written to them on several occasions, and have not recieved a single reply..bloody slack I recon.

Some of the dealerships need a good kick in the arse as well...I know that they are privately owned, but if they are selling your product, then some sort of interest in how they are performing would be good.

My 2c worth

Cheers Ean

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Have to agree, did a reccy. to Austral motors, just to check out the new defenders, the rep was full of it, slagged off on all the previous models of defenders, especially TD5 models, asked him a few questions about his Land Rover experience, turns out he'd never owned one, credibility shot , will never go there to buy my dream Rover if we win lotto [thinks....yeah, as if... ] Bob