Surfless newbie

[corsetts]

Thanks again peeps

Sounds like you've done your research, so I won't add much

Reading like mad at the moment, this site seems to be an excellent resource.

Budget wise, will be what I sell the Audi for so about £2500.00.
There seem to be a lot about with no history at all, is this because they're recent imports and worth a look or should they be avoided?

If someone local could help me look at a prospective buy, that would obviously be great. I'll ask when I sell the car.

Good to know they're good towers. We don't even have a caravan yet but will probably be buying an old one later in the New Year as we tried, and loved, camping but also like the idea of a bit of luxury

Fuel consumption isn't a big problem, I won't be commuting too much in it so I can live with 25mpg or so. Mind you, towing at 18-20mpg will be pricey if we tow a van to Wales, still, at least we can have some fun when we get there

So, 99% decided then, a surf it is just still a bit concerned about that post where the author said his suffered constant breakdowns. Is this just a bad example which shouldn't happen given a decent truck thats looked after reasonably well, or do they need no expense spared constant care and tinkering?

Cheers

Chris

[Sancho]

Who suffered constant breakdowns? Where's the post? They are as reliable as any other vehicle and much more so than most. Do bear in mind that the sort of money you are talking about will but you a 15 year old vehicle so it will need some attention. The trick is to buy a good one in the first place and keep it serviced.

If I was buying one again, I would buy one from a member of this forum and check through their previous posts to see what problems they had and what they did to fix them.

The normal things that seem to come up (in no particular order) seem to be: heads cracking (especially on the 2.4s and even then only once they're well over ten years old); rear window relays failing; 4wd not engaging; harmonic balancers debonding; sagging rear suspension; turbos wearing out; original shocks leaking;dual mass flywheels on the manuals falling to bits.

Personally, I would avoid a fresh import and buy one that had UK history and had had all of its problems fixed.

[Muddy Boots]

Bought mine about 2 years ago its a second generation 2.4 litre.

Yup the head cracked and needed replacing but pretty sure that was down to the last owner not looking after it and as i bought it with very little knowledge about them I was devastated. Since then (touch wood) head is sorted it passed its MOT no bother it runs like a charm and is great off-road.

Every day and I mean every day it puts a massive smile on my face when I see it.

If I had my time again would i buy the same.

Yup absolutely but probably not from the garage I got it from and I would certainly get it serviced by an independent garage after.

I use mine to do trialthlons so no bother fitting a bike and kit in there.

Enough room in the back to sleep comfortably - from experience.

I looked at Discos at the time before i bought the surf but to be honest couldnt find one that didnt require an owner with a degree in welding to sort out.

[Muddy Boots]

oh and its blue so it does more miles to the gallon than a burgendy one cos the paint is lighter.

[captain_chaos]

Thanks again peeps



Reading like mad at the moment, this site seems to be an excellent resource.

Budget wise, will be what I sell the Audi for so about £2500.00.
There seem to be a lot about with no history at all, is this because they're recent imports and worth a look or should they be avoided?

If someone local could help me look at a prospective buy, that would obviously be great. I'll ask when I sell the car.

Good to know they're good towers. We don't even have a caravan yet but will probably be buying an old one later in the New Year as we tried, and loved, camping but also like the idea of a bit of luxury

Fuel consumption isn't a big problem, I won't be commuting too much in it so I can live with 25mpg or so. Mind you, towing at 18-20mpg will be pricey if we tow a van to Wales, still, at least we can have some fun when we get there

So, 99% decided then, a surf it is just still a bit concerned about that post where the author said his suffered constant breakdowns. Is this just a bad example which shouldn't happen given a decent truck thats looked after reasonably well, or do they need no expense spared constant care and tinkering?

Cheers

Chris

If you get one with a good history and look after it then the surf will look after you.

[Apache]

I bought a fresh import over 3 years ago. It's been fine, no major probs.

Rad went, but I knew it was going to. Got some cash knocked off for that as it was weeping slightly when I looked at it.

Wheels out of balance, some cash knocked off for that - easy fix.

I think as long as you get someone knowledgable to look it over, you should be OK. Dont pay an arm and a leg for a bit of history, which could easily be fictional! Things can still go wrong on a truck thats been serviced - just ask Woodzie!

[gwh200]

but woodzie does try getting airborne !!

[PDR]

From 2000 till 2005 I owned a Series IIA Land Rover which I totally rebuilt (2004 -2005). I used many new or recon parts…. I was a member of the local Land Rover Owner’s club so had the chance to help out working on a range of different models. Virtually every weekend there was “just one more job” that needed doing and in the end I just got sick of it all.

In 2005 I bought a 1990 Toyota MR2 (import) as a cheap second car, which I kept for a year… no problems at all (except an appetite for rear tyres) and it sailed through it’s MOT.

I had seen a number of 4-runners / surfs on the road and liked the look of them…. browsing on Autotrader I found a 2nd gen Surf at a garage 2 miles from home so I called in to have a look…… half an hour later we’d agreed a part ex and the Surf would be mine as soon as the cracked windscreen had been replaced. I really didn’t know much about it except that it was a 3.0 ltr V6 and it runs on petrol (later found out that it only does 15 mpg).

This very rare Surf was owned and imported in 2005 by a member of this forum…
I have now owned it for 14 months and in that time it has required the head gaskets to be done as one of them failed. It also needed the starter motor reconditioning. For the MOT it needed a steering idler and a new exhaust (which took 3 weeks to get from Japan as it is a rare model). But for a vehicle that is 13 years old it is very reliable, it is in excellent rust free condition and everything works as it should.

You won’t go far wrong with a Surf (or any other Japanese 4x4 for that matter).

I don’t think I’d ever buy a Land Rover again… oh and have you seen the size of the boot space on a Disco, next to a Surf, its tiny, literally half as deep.

[corsetts]

Who suffered constant breakdowns? Where's the post? They are as reliable as any other vehicle and much more so than most. Do bear in mind that the sort of money you are talking about will but you a 15 year old vehicle so it will need some attention. The trick is to buy a good one in the first place and keep it serviced.

I've taken a couple of quotes that worried me below when I did a search on the word "reliability."

This aint how good / bad the Def is this is how BAD the S**f can be, I bought the pig for 2.3k and have spent a further 1k in the past 12 months and this is with MY mechi's doing all the work = probs 4.5k in real money FFS I could have got a GV for that and done some real off-road.

Reliability??? Well you only have to look at all the problems on here that people have with their trucks to see they are not very reliable. The people that have no problems are very much in the minority and are the lucky ones.

I just wanted some more opinions on their reliability, but I think I was worried about nothing. There are far more horror stories on the Landy forums about the disco's.

I appreciate that I won't get the sort of reliability that my old Audis have given, just because I've had 1 Audi breakdown in the 10 or so Years I've been driving them. I was just a bit concerned about buying an unreliable vehicle that had expensive components.

Reading further it seems most problems are with minor things like window motors which, to me, isn't a big deal. As long as I don't get stranded then its no big problem in my book

I very much hope to buy a forum truck, thre's an absolute belter in the classifieds at the moment although it'll probably be gone when I have the cash but still....

Thanks for the replies, thats me decided then, I'm going to get one

Cheers

Chris

Edit: posted the same time as the comments above. Thanks guys I'll carry on researching prices

[Medieval Dave]

I bought mine with 71,000miles on the clock and it's now done 164,200, so that's 93,000 miles I've done in it, in three and a half years. In that time it's had;

a complete new exhaust (one part at a time), about £250 in total
A couple of anti-roll bar components after off roading, cost peanuts.
a new radiator, because the old one went pop, about £200 with the coolant etc. even though the radiator went totaly at speed on the motorway it didn't take out the head.

The tailgate window motor went but I just robbed the one of the rear passenger side door.

And that's about it. Not bad for the thick end of 100,000 miles. Still starts first go. No smoke and does 25mpg even towing a heavy trailer, although I havent tried a caravan, which might be worse with the wind resistance.

I think that there is a reasonable chance that I'd have spent more on repairs if I had bought a nearly new car and put this many miles on it.

[corsetts]

I don’t think I’d ever buy a Land Rover again… oh and have you seen the size of the boot space on a Disco, next to a Surf, its tiny, literally half as deep.

I'm surprised at that. the space in the back of my mates disco is enormous, its one of the things that really appealed.

If the surfs got more than that then even better

[Apache]

I appreciate that I won't get the sort of reliability that my old Audis have given

Dont be surprised if you DO get similar reliability! If you dont TRY to smash it up in some muddy, rocky hellhole every weekend like some of the more extreme nutters on here it will last you forever!

[corsetts]

I bought mine with 71,000miles on the clock and it's now done 164,200, so that's 93,000 miles I've done in it, in three and a half years. In that time it's had;

a complete new exhaust (one part at a time), about £250 in total
A couple of anti-roll bar components after off roading, cost peanuts.
a new radiator, because the old one went pop, about £200 with the coolant etc. even though the radiator went totaly at speed on the motorway it didn't take out the head.

The tailgate window motor went but I just robbed the one of the rear passenger side door.

And that's about it. Not bad for the thick end of 100,000 miles. Still starts first go. No smoke and does 25mpg even towing a heavy trailer, although I havent tried a caravan, which might be worse with the wind resistance.

I think that there is a reasonable chance that I'd have spent more on repairs if I had bought a nearly new car and put this many miles on it.

Thats fantastic

If I get one a tenth as good I'll be a very happy bunny

[Apache]

I'm surprised at that. the space in the back of my mates disco is enormous, its one of the things that really appealed.

If the surfs got more than that then even better

Longer (nearly 6ft with the back seats down), about the same width, but not as tall because of the Surf's high rear floor. More practical rather than larger volume I reckon.

[corsetts]

Dont be surprised if you DO get similar reliability! If you dont TRY to smash it up in some muddy, rocky hellhole every weekend like some of the more extreme nutters on here it will last you forever!

Woo Hoo

Enough now peeps, I'm thoroughly convinced and now I'm gagging to get one :lol: