What do you know about Land Rovers? (Updated with a pic of new ride)

I'm still considering it.

As far as it not being made in the USA, my "American Made" Uplander was made in Mexico, and the "Made in America" Suburban I traded in on it was made in Canada. I think I'd rather support the Brits.

If I get it it will be used off road, since my oldest is taking my F-150 with him to college. Its either use this or not go hunting - not an option.

I drove it yesterday and liked the way it handled. My main concern is a lack of a Land Rover dealership here in my little town for repairs. The closest one is likely to be in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, three hours away.

Thanks for all the input - keep it coming. And thanks for the good wishes, Barb. My wife is still sore but feeling better.
 
sigp220.45 said:
I'm still considering it.

As far as it not being made in the USA, my "American Made" Uplander was made in Mexico, and the "Made in America" Suburban I traded in on it was made in Canada. I think I'd rather support the Brits.
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I know what you mean. The Brit's are our loyal allies. What puts a bug up my butt is seeing all these younger people driving Mitsubishi's. They have no idea Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero's that attacked Pearl Harbor and killed over 2400 American's that December 7th. Good luck with the Land Rover. Good luck hunting too!
 
Japanese buddy of mine, ex NYC, retired to the Big Island, HI, very rural area, and maintains his late '70s model LR which he bought new way back then. He gets parts by mail order and does the work himself. He's a tuna buyer by trade, but a handy guy. He loves the car.

Me, after going through an Italian Lancia, which broke down constantly and overheated in traffice, and a couple of BMWs, nice cars but expensive to service, I drive a Lexus/Toyota SUV. I don't know how to maintain cars on my own.

My thought is that if you know how to maintain cars, replace parts and such, and like the car, go for it!
 
Q: What do I know about "Land Rovers"?
A: They cost alot of money, they do not have a good reliability record.
 
Don't walk, run away. If you want tough, get an older Montero. They're on the news in every 3rd and 4th world country.
 
It's been a few years since the Brit's owned Range Rover, Tata has owned them a couple of model years now. And I'm no expert, but Range Rovers and Land Rovers are slightly different models in different price ranges. Rover has gone through what Jeep went through, with each owner installing their engines, the early ones actually used a GM designed V6 (purchased under license agreement) once used in Jeeps as well. then Fords and BMW's. So when you look up reliability reports it's hard to compare them. Have you checked insurance rates as well? They are scare in salvage yards, so most all parts will be new. I'm not sure how long Tata will produce parts for the older models they did not have a hand in producing.
 
The Land Rover the popular family vehicle all the world over!

land-rover.jpg


land-rover-nation-1.jpg
 
KyWstJoe said:
I know what you mean. The Brit's are our loyal allies. What puts a bug up my butt is seeing all these younger people driving Mitsubishi's. They have no idea Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero's that attacked Pearl Harbor and killed over 2400 American's that December 7th. Good luck with the Land Rover. Good luck hunting too!
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I used to drive a Mitsubishi truck.
kinda deceptive cause it said Dodge Ram 50 till you got into it.
I called it the zero there after till I offloaded the pile of miserable ****e
come to think of it, Ive not retained any truck for long.
 
From what I've heard,old (really old) American made cars and trucks are very popular in Mexico, Central, and South America......and Vermont and Maine. They run forever. I've never been there......but, I saw it on Nat'l Geo.!!!! (I have been to Vermont and Maine, however!!!) Must be true. Bob
 
I can't help it but I love my Landy!



They have a lot of character, and from time to time they need some attention, that's true. But our Volkswagen also has his troubles from time to time, and those are much more expensive to cure!

I use it on and offroad for hunting and helping out on our hunting concession. At first my hunting palls drove Toyota, Mercedes etc., now we have eight Land / Range Rovers in the group, and each year more of them appear ;)
 
I notice that almost all of the negative comments come from those with absolutely no direct experience with LRs and the comments of owners or ex-owners are overwhelmingly positive. 'Guess that tells us something.
 
I've always wanted the 'safari Land Rover' style....

never had one.....

The luck friends have had with British vehicles has served as an adequate warning for once.

Love their styling.

I've been looking for a Toyota "Safari" style truck. Never seen them locally.

Nearly bought a used Mercedes Land Gewagen. Researched them too. Great choice for *my* world. Missed out on the deal at $6k....next time I saw it for sale price had tripled.
 
It seems like all the positive commentary involves how great they drive on the highway, and how comfortable they are. I guess they do not use them like trucks. My state has one Land Rover dealer, if you are dissatisfied with their service where are you going to go. But selling BMW's is where the money is for them, so they have a couple of technicians for the Land Rovers. So if you break down on a hunting trip in the Sandhills, your going to flatbed the truck across the state for repairs. And because they are technology laden, and ownership has changed hands so often, modules and the like will not be supported forever. Consider the numbers sold in the US each year.
 
Sig220,

Sorry to hear about the bride. Glad to hear she is doing better.

In regards to LRs, I have had a bit of experience here in the middle east with them and while they look cool as heck, the Toyotas have proven to be a more reliable rig.

In fact we primarily run Toyota Land Cruisers and Chevy Suburbans. The Toyotas seem to last forever, while the armored suburbans have an honest 6 month reliable service life on average. They are literally trashed after 12 months. Of course our terrain is different, but you get the point.

If I was looking for a serious SUV type offroad rig with an eye for reliability and minimal maintenance, with the intent of putting a lot of miles on it, I would look no further than a Toyota Land Cruiser.

The abuse they can take is unreal. A lot of unconventional outfits use them for good reason.

Cheers!
 
Thanks, Ted. She's doing pretty well.

Somebody else bought the Land Rover, so we got this 06 Hummer H3. The main thing is my wife likes it. Getting T-boned shook her up, so she wanted something solid. Our old ride had On-Star, and when she got in the wreck she pushed the little red button and cops and firetrucks showed up, so she made that option a pretty high priority on a replacement. We got a good deal on it, she's happy, so I'm happy. Plus, it was made in the great state of Louisiana.

hummer.jpg


(Actually, I like it too.) Thanks for all the great input.
 
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Good second choice, we almost bought one before getting the Disco. I'm sure it'll serve you well.
 
BarbC said:
The Land Rover the popular family vehicle all the world over!



land-rover-nation-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Barb,
I don't think that's a Rover. The grill, headlights, bumper and other body parts aren't "roverish." I don't think it's a Toyota either...likely one of those Czech or other European things that can't be imported into the U.S. because of D.O.T. safety regulations.

PS: Great choice on the H3!
PSS: If you're ever in Ft. Worth, go to the restaurant by the same name- it's great! ;)
 
KyWstJoe said:
I know what you mean. The Brit's are our loyal allies. What puts a bug up my butt is seeing all these younger people driving Mitsubishi's. They have no idea Mitsubishi made the Japanese Zero's that attacked Pearl Harbor and killed over 2400 American's that December 7th. Good luck with the Land Rover. Good luck hunting too!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your support. Sadly, Land Rover and Jaguar now have Indian owners, but at least they are still made in England (I think).
 
goldenlight said:
For 2 years in a row, several years ago, JD Powers & Assoc. listed the Land Rover as the WORST vehicle in America in initial quality.

You have to work really hard at producing a bad car/truck to achieve that rating.

Consumer's Reports list them as used vehicles to avoid, and the 2005 and 2006 are listed as 'much worse than average' in reliability.

Areas that were worse than average, or much worse than average, in 2005 and 2006 are: drive system, fuel system, climate system, suspension, brakes, engine cooling, paint/trim, body integrity, body hardware, power equipment, and audio system.

Wow: looks like they are real TROUBLE.

With so many SUV's on the market, you can do MUCH BETTER for the same amount of money.

ANYTHING made or engineered in Japan will be VASTLY superior in reliability.
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This is what I was thinking too.
 
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