Drove an 03 plate landrover disco td5 today!

[The Lang-Shankit Scunner]

I didnt find this one comfy at all! Yours may have been different though. He found his so unreliable.

He needed the money for renovations in the house, may have convinced him on surf, as he really likes mine.

Just cant see the appeal, It must just be cos landrover as a name people default to when thinking of 4x4's.

And yes he actually said on a run he got 36mpg, not bad cos its a monster to drive

[MudSurfer]

Well, let's face it - if we thought they were any good, we'd all have one......Oh my God - I have to have a shower, and wash my laptop too.....

But they do suck, break a lot, and cost a lot in parts (£11,000) and it's not a Surf - so they can keep 'em....

[The Lang-Shankit Scunner]

I am still learning as only been a surfer for 10 weeks or so, but more and more am finding an unexplained attachment to this vehicle. Im waving at surf owners all the time, why dont they wave back?

Gen3 today, covered in mud (and freshly cut hair) i was practically hanging out the window waving like a man posessed. He just looked at me and pulled a what the hell face. I mean c'mon its so obvious what i was doing

[Apache]

Akcherlee...

We had a couple of Discos, at P and R reg and V8 petrol and 2.5 (I think) TDi where I used to work.

Whilst they seemed to require fixing more than I would deem acceptable, they were both quite nice to drive on the road, and were both pretty capable offroad - given that we didn't really push them that hard offroad - it was just on the transit tracks on 'The Plain' or various UK army ranges.

The V8 was a lotta fun if you did push it though! Got all four wheels airborne one time at Shoeburyness

Now the Mitsy Warrior, that was another matter. That was $$$$!

[RodLeach]

Im gunna get in an say it before anyone else does.

90% of the time its down to who owned the truck and stuff! Mine had high milage, so the gear box had already been changed.

I know our surfs are older cars, but strikes me they had an easy life in japan.

Some surfs have had huge repair bills. Others have been really lucky. Its all down to maintenace.

But no matter what. The land rover discoverys have a huge depreciation.

Defenders dont though! they are worth mega bucks all day long.

[plumb bob]

Im gunna get in an say it before anyone else does.

90% of the time its down to who owned the truck and stuff! Mine had high milage, so the gear box had already been changed.

I know our surfs are older cars, but strikes me they had an easy life in japan.

Some surfs have had huge repair bills. Others have been really lucky. Its all down to maintenace.

But no matter what. The land rover discoverys have a huge depreciation.

Defenders dont though! they are worth mega bucks all day long.

The defenders are "propper" LRers though, and are built to do a job, and let's face it, any new motor has huge depreciation, it keeps the car dealers rich.

As an ex LR owner (has a series 3) I find the surf sooooooo much better, in that, it has all the comforts of a jap saloon ( or salon if it's a 3rd gen) car and it will do as well as a comparible LR off road, best of both worlds.

[M35A2]

I wasn't going to reply to this but I thought "s*d it"...

I have owned 3 Land Rovers. A Series 111 24v Lightweight, Series 111 LWB 109 Soft Top petrol and my Defender 110 12/24v TUM FFR. The Lightweight I owned for 4 years and all it suffered was a burnt out shunt wiring loom. The LWB series 111 I owned for 13 yrs selling this year, total faults NONE. My Defender I have owned since I bought it at auction from the RAF in 1998. I have rebuilt the axles and replaced all the brake components BUT, that's because I had the money and wanted all new brakes, not because it needed doing. The only things that I have had to replace due to failure are the rear fuel tank (seam rusted through), rear track rod (bent off roading) and the panhard rod bushes (worn out). I ran the Defender without checking the oils when I first got it and the main gearbox was nearly empty. It nearly seized on me, but I let it cool down, got it to my Regiment, filled with oil, no further problems. It had 120,000Kms on the clock when I bought it and now has 209,300Kms. In that time (nearly 10 yrs) it has NEVER suffered a mechanical failure.

I've had my Surf since Aug 2005. In that time I've had to replace the starter contacts (starter packed up), two new rear hard/soft shocks (leaking), exhaust (big box rotten to bits), new radiator (cracked top tank), new head (cracked head), new steering idler arms (seized) and now It's off the road again as I'm waiting for new drive shaft gaiters, brake discs, pads, hub oil seals etc. In the two years I've owned this truck it's suffered 4 failures (head,radiator,starter,drive shaft gaiters). OK the drive shaft gaiters aren't exactly a failure, but I can't drive it with grease spraying everywhere and bu**ering up my drive shaft CV joints.

I've just added up the cost of parts and consumables for the two years I have owned this truck, total bill (missing out the odd servicing receipts) £3,800. That is totally unbelievable for a vehicle that is supposed to carry Toyota's seal of reliability!!! Total cost including the purchase price £10,300 (not including insurance, tax, mot, fuel) JESUS.....

I love the truck, don't get me wrong, but look at the facts. In my case the Surf doesn't get close to the Defender in reliability, and yes, I'm using the Defender again (NOTE: this vehicle spent 12 years in RAF service including serving in Gulf War 1) as the Surf is off the road (again).



There is always payback: To the Toyota parts department....

[MudSurfer]

I drove a Hyundai Santa Fe and took it offroad on a wey day, and brought it back COVERED in mud! It was just sat there on their forecourt dripping mud all over the place - the sales guy didn't quite know what to say....

[The Lang-Shankit Scunner]

I still hate landrovers! he he