Anti Land Rover Mechanics. Lazy? Ignorant? Other?

There's certainly a lot of BS around about LRs being unreliable and difficult to repair. I mean, a Defender is not exactly a complex vehicle.
Much of this rubbish seems to come from people who either have no experience of them or are just too biased to consider anything not Asian.
I recently had the Defender's clutch replaced with a HD one and the workshop said it was the first one they had done, but they got in and had a go. They were surprised when I mentioned it was actually a Ford engine and gearbox. I think it was actually a good learning experience for their lads.

10 or so years ago we lived in Karratha and had a D3 V8, (man what a car...) anyway my wife went to start it and nothing, so she rang the local RAC, on arrival 2 blokes from the local main workshop tuned up, didn't even lift the bonnet and told her it was too difficult, I came home tightened the battery terminal and away it went..

Last year when the auto in my D3 crapped itself I had a quick chat to the local mechanics to see if any could drop the trans out for me. End of the day unless it was I Toyota they where not really interested. Had one funny comment to the effect that Land Rover Mechanics are generally stuck fixing Land Rovers because they are too useless to be trusted on anything else

When it's clear that I'm not going to get any help from someone I always like to ask "Do you know if there is a *competent* mechanic nearby?" :)

I'm sure it never helps and they don't really pick up on what I'm saying but it makes me feel slightly better.

Maybe it is because we have often been on the receiving end of this type of comment that we only too ready to try and help out a fellow LR owner in our own driveway.

I knew LR ownership attracted a better type of person - now we all can see one of the reasons why :)

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

There's certainly a lot of BS around about LRs being unreliable and difficult to repair. I mean, a Defender is not exactly a complex vehicle.

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As far as I'm concerned, if the rangers can get their Land Rovers fixed in the middle of the Kalahari then any competent mechanic in even a modestly set up workshop should have no problems.

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Originally Posted by sam_d

As far as I'm concerned, if the rangers can get their Land Rovers fixed in the middle of the Kalahari then any competent mechanic in even a modestly set up workshop should have no problems.

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I have spent a lot of time wandering around Africa in a 110, the amount of time we have been stopped, greeted with a question about the vehicle and waved on by simply driving one is astounding whilst others have had issues, there is something about them especially in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia, they used to assemble them in Livingstone and everyone can relate a story about them to you... and yes whilst we have never had any mechanical issues there is always someone who knows them.

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Originally Posted by shanegtr

Last year when the auto in my D3 crapped itself I had a quick chat to the local mechanics to see if any could drop the trans out for me. End of the day unless it was I Toyota they where not really interested. Had one funny comment to the effect that Land Rover Mechanics are generally stuck fixing Land Rovers because they are too useless to be trusted on anything else

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That's rich coming from a mechanic who is apparently too ignorant of his trade to work on anything except Toyotas. I guess Toyotas must break down so often that they spend a lot of time in the workshops being fixed.
Isn't ZF the world's largest manufacturer of auto transmissions? Any mechanic who is unfamiliar with ZF autos must have been hiding under a rock.

This mentality is no different to everytime im on the tracks. I always come across people who make fun of my truck for being a landy. Sometimes i laugh it off, sometimes they push it so far that it drives me insane. Ive actually had a bloke we met out on a 4wd day (who i didnt know mind you) wanting to have a "tug of war" with his 79 series to get a few laughs amongst his mates. He shut up pretty quickly when i replied "lets do it" and i informed him i had 3 locking diffs and wasn't scared to have a crack. Also told him ill happily follow him up any tracks he choose to try. That bloke chabged his tune pretty quick.
Anyway......as for mechanics; its a vicious circle. These guys grow up around toyotas and thats what they're comfortable working on. They use excuses to cover for their inability to be able to work on anything other than their norm and as a result LR's are crap amd thats why they dont....apparently.

I had a similar experience with someone wanting a tug of war but I wasn't driving. Around 10 years ago I was on the Powerlines track North of Perth with a mate in his (new to him) RRC and we were just trying it out and seeing what it's limits were - so slow going. One of the Cruiser drivers was watching us for quite a while and asked the same thing - do you want a tug of war. My mate said "sure, no problem - just be aware that the user manual says I am allowed to tow 6 tons if I don't go over 50kph and I am in low range with the diff locked". Exit one crestfallen Tojo driver....
I actually thought he was kidding about the 6 tons until he pointed it out to me in his user manual. That's one tough chassis!