Thread: Why do old farts love their Series Land Rovers

Originally Posted by lane

I had (well have) both Lego and Meccano but found I could build more stuff with Lego. Maybe that accounts for my interest in Landies.

Btw I was at a bumper repair place the other day and, lamenting my landy probs and having agreed that they were not the most reliable of vehicles was asked, "You know they have lots of problems so why did you buy one." Non Landy owners will never understand.

Lane

Some Land Rovers have been "unreliable" for sixty years, isn't that an oxymoron or is it a paradox?

Originally Posted by MJKMS

Some Land Rovers have been "unreliable" for sixty years, isn't that an oxymoron or is it a paradox?

So you're suggesting the paradox is that Land Rovers have lasted unreliably for 64 years while other more reliable vehicles didn't last!

Do you know anyone who hasn't been able to get themselves home in a series Landy? As in the Top Gear South American episode, the most unreliable car ever, the Range Rover, turned out to be the most reliable. In which case Land Rover unreliability is more myth than fact!

(However with Clarkson's love of RR, it was scripted well before they left the UK.)

Got to say, I had to walk home sixteen kilometres one night. In the light of the next morning, it was found to be a blown fuse that was taped into the loom by a previous owner.
And then there was the time it made nasty noises and I left it at a mechanics over a hundred kilometres from home. The mechanic told me some idiot put gear oil in the transfer case.
So, in those two cases, I was not able to get myself home in the Landy but it wasn't the Landy's fault.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Got to say, I had to walk home sixteen kilometres one night. In the light of the next morning, it was found to be a blown fuse that was taped into the loom by a previous owner.
And then there was the time it made nasty noises and I left it at a mechanics over a hundred kilometres from home. The mechanic told me some idiot put gear oil in the transfer case.
So, in those two cases, I was not able to get myself home in the Landy but it wasn't the Landy's fault.

Sounds like an LT95 to me, so was this a series Landy or not.

However outside mechanical incompetence which will disable even the most reliable marque. No offence to you, a blown (hidden) fuse, should have been able to be identified should you have had the absolute/life threatening need and time in the middle of nowhere and not been as close to home so you could walk there even if it was 16 km.

It would be the same if someone blamed running out of fuel on the vehicle instead of their stupidity of having sufficient for the trip. Although in your case it was a previous owner's mechanicing that left you stranded and not the original design of the vehicle by Rover.

No offence taken.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Although in your case it was a previous owner's mechanicing that left you stranded and not the original design of the vehicle by Rover.

No it wasn't. It was a learning experience. Just because it has gears does not mean one uses gear oil.
LT95 it is. 'twas original to the donor SIII Stage 1 body on the hybrid. Still a series in my books.
Funny thing though, some time after I bought it I met some people manning a stand at a 4WD show who knew the vehicle. They jokingly asked me how many things had fallen off it as every time the previous owner had taken it out something would fall off it. "None. It has been a very good vehicle." was my reply. They then told me the previous owner had bought a Patrol and every time he took it out something would fall off it.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

So you're suggesting the paradox is that Land Rovers have lasted unreliably for 64 years while other more reliable vehicles didn't last!

Do you know anyone who hasn't been able to get themselves home in a series Landy? As in the Top Gear South American episode, the most unreliable car ever, the Range Rover, turned out to be the most reliable. In which case Land Rover unreliability is more myth than fact!

(However with Clarkson's love of RR, it was scripted well before they left the UK.)

A paradox is a statement that in its self is a contradiction or which defies logic or reason. As in stating that some thing that has lasted 64 years has been unreliable. Unreliable things don't last very long around here I can tell you the much. I've owned my 2a for over 20 years, and she was 20 when I got her.

Originally Posted by MJKMS

A paradox is a statement that in its self is a ...<snip>

I would argue that it's not a paradox, the Land Rover unreliability is a myth.

It is a myth perpetrated by people purchasing an ego statement and not spending their hard earned on maintaining their ego statement the way machines need to be maintained.

That's it, in itself!

i do agree with Oupa's summation, but to me, they are the personification of everything i am - simple, basic and stubborn. If i was ever going to be a car, a Series SWB is what i'd be