Hahah I always find it odd that people hang out in forums about something they dislike. Like on hotcopper - this stocks a dog etc... surely you have more to do.
Good luck with the new purchase. I hope you love it.
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An interesting though perhaps unfortunate response. As a newbie you would do well to read the rules and guidelines (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/rules-and-guidelines/), AULRO is not like "hanging out on any other forum" where flaming and abuse can be the norm. On AULRO informed (though sometimes otherwise :)) debate is encouraged. Playing the man and not the ball is un-acceptable and most definitely against the rules and indeed the culture of AULRO. This IMO is what puts AULRO head and shoulders above other forums. Disagreement and often heated debate is sometimes the result but rebuking someone for merely having a say or expressing a different view is not what AULRO is about :)
This thread is about the new Defender and entitled 'It's Not Looking Good' so hardly out of place to compare the attributes (or otherwise) of both old and new models. Though the new Defender is not on my shopping list (it is aimed at a totally different demographic) I understand that for some it may appear to be "the bees knees", I just hope it lives up to expectations as it could be a very expensive oops if it does not.
Again, congratulations on your new Defender, I hope it is all you want it to be :)
Deano :)
Also an interesting response, you seem to have taken offense to my line.........."The new Defender may turn out to be the perfect vehicle for a new generation of 4WD affectionados" ....., (your highlighting and underscoring). This is not meant to be in any way derogatory. An affectionado is someone who greatly appreciates something or is it just my spelling (more correctly spelt aficionados) that you dislike ?
Similiarly my line ......... "I'll hopefully still be around in my old steam age 4WD to recover all and sundry for many more years to come :)" ....., again your bold type. Can't see what the problem here is, all and sundry meaning everyone. Note the smily emoticon :), denoting a bit of fun, ending on a humorous high note etc.
As for (4WD) off road gurus, there's only two I'd put in that bracket Len Beadell and Reg Sprigg and I'm certainly not in that class :) (note the emoticon), though I do have many years off road experience in rural and remote outback Australia in particular with Landrover, Jeep, Toyota and others so yes I do think I have a bit of a clue as to what will work back of beyond and what will not, though a Guru I am not :)
As for ................. "Better get my boots on, to step on a few more toes", I guess you just forgot the emoticon .......... right :) .
I also wish you all success with your new Defender should you decide to go down this path and look forward to you sharing that experience on this forum :)
Deano :)
Hi Deano,
Post wasn’t directed specifically at you or this forum was actually a more general response to the overarching negativity of some posters that I have seen in sub forums that are specifically for post related to the new defender.
I was responding to the “step on toes” comment from The poster I quoted.
As I said I don’t understand how someone can be so passionately against the car to bother spending so much time posting negatively on it. If I didn’t like the car I wouldn’t frequent the forum as often.
Surely in the same vain voicing my opinion Isn’t against the rules.
Aah Hagrid, to mis-quote ............. "hell has no fury like a Defender devotee scorned". Us Land Rover owners are certainly a weird mob. I apologise if I mis read your post, certainly no offense meant :)
There's been a long and furious debate going on here regarding the merits (or otherwise) of the new Defender. A bit like a Holden / Ford argument on steroids :angry2:.
Although I am basically a Defender traditionalist re the 'prostitution of the Defender name/legacy to a bloody hair-dressers SUV' :) :) (please note the emoticons) :) I'm fully aware that the world and 4WD owners have moved on from the hair shirt days of Series/Defender ownership. There is simply insufficient market for such a vehicle, like the dinosaur it's seen it's day, regardless of Ineos dreamers :(
Not only has the old Defender seen its day 4WD'ing has changed too. No longer is it necessary or expected for a remote traveler to have a simple easily self repaired vehicle at risk of ones life, or worse scorn by ones contemporaries for irresponsibly relying on others to get you out of trouble. :(
Communications has improved, roads/tracks have improved, vehicles have improved, there are more people out and about and there's more services available for the traveler/4WD'er. Not only has the culture changed but life the risk has lessened. I still remember the Page family's deaths on the Birdsville Track in the early '60's and the death of others in later years. Comms is cheap and available, there is much more passing traffic so the requirement for absolute (vehicle) self reliance is no longer so much a life and death issue. The underlying premise here of course is that a complex electronically controlled vehicle is more prone to 'failure to proceed' issues than a more basic vehicle.
The availability and general acceptance that it's OK to carry and activate an EPIRB if in trouble rather than being completely self reliant, sort of a 'get out of jail free' card so to speak, also adds to contemporary 4WD culture. One result is the Defender Mk.2, a highly complex vehicle heavily reliant on its many computers for its off road capability's. Not only is mechanical reliability necessary for its effective operation but electronic reliability as well, unlike its more spartan predecessors.
I have chosen the less sophisticated non electronic and lets face it, less luxurious path, a path that I am comfortable and at ease with and eschew the complexities and IMO inferior reliability of the more modern 4WD such as the new Defender. The difference is that, I'm not so arrogant that I think I've got THE right solution. For others the new Defender may be THE right solution, I trust they will be equally tolerant of differing views :)
Even so, I find it hard not to feel just a little smug when coming to the aid of travelers with failed electronic marvels, but at the end of the day modern 4WD or not a ruined holiday is still a ruined holiday :(
Deano :)