Should I just get shut of it???

Hi

Serious point. Im nearly at the end of the list of important repairs on my D1 V8. It is a 1999, no rust vehicle form Gibraltar with 50k Mls on it and full MD service history. We live in Bulgaria and this is needed to keep our business running through the harsh winters here.

I have no allegiance to Land Rover's (sorry chaps) and since buying this seemingly concourse vehicle ive spent about £1500 on repairing stuff and replacing stuff - thats just parts cost not labor which a sympathetic friend does for free.

We have 1 need and 1 need only - a reliable 4 x 4 to keep the business running in winter.

This winter just gone it was useless as it would not start under -15 degC (hopefully cured now) but reading your general posts it looks like Im peeing in the wind hoping any Discovery 1 or 2 will be a reliable vehicle.

Now pretty much everything important is fixed should I just get shut whilst it is still working and buy a Toyota Hilux Surf or a Landcruiser???

Why sell a car that you have spent time and money getting right?

My neighbour has a diesel Surf which is on it's third cylinder head (overheats whilst towing) and in general the Japanese stuff has a reputation for being more expensive on parts than a Land Rover (but it may be different in Bulgaria)

I would keep it rather than selling a known good car and replacing it with one you have no knowledge of.

Our Disco has cost a bit but now it is ok I dont expect too many further problems, sounds like you are at the same point......

You are asking an impossible question, but it sounds like you have a good car there. Any car will need money spent on maintenance, and it seems you have got that car sorted now, so give it another Winter to see if its up for the job..

i spent £1500 in the first month of owning my jap 4x4.the other jap 4x4 in the 3 years + we have owned it has cost me less than £100.
dont matter what you buy there is good and bad. especially if not looked after. yours is now being looked after. you dont want to start again.

Some fair points there - I was half expecting "it will be one long never ending story of one repair after another".

Im not bothered to have had to spend some cash on it if it now behaves its self - I just didnt want to be repairing things weekly and reading some of the posts left me kinda thinking id be better off without it!

I just didnt want to be repairing things weekly and reading some of the posts left me kinda thinking id be better off without it!

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In this forum you will only ever see the problems, who wants to read a post that says:

"Hi everyone my car has been running without problems, what should I do?!!!!!!!!"

m500dpp said:

In this forum you will only ever see the problems, who wants to read a post that says:

"Hi everyone my car has been running without problems, what should I do?!!!!!!!!"

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I agree, there a loads of problems but there are twice as many answers and most of them are right!
My 300Tdi set me back approx 100% of the purchase price in my first year of ownership, most being preventative care.
Now she never misses a beat but I will spend another 2-3k in the next 18 months.
All that means I know everything is where i need it to be and that I will own the car (barring unforseen accident) for the next 10 years.
Disco's in my experience are a long term relationship but very very rewarding.

I believe the phrase is to "get shot of it"

you fail by default, 'tis best to get rid as you may not be in possession of enough intellect to warrant landy ownership

edit - having checked, it is actually acceptable to use either shut of or shot of

please accept my humble apologies for a failed excercise in trolling

you fail by default, 'tis best to get rid as you may not be in possession of enough intellect to warrant landy ownership

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The OP is based in Bulgaria, how's your Bulgarian?

m500dpp said:

The OP is based in Bulgaria, how's your Bulgarian?

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He's fine thanks, I feed him bread and water each day, they really do make excellent pets.

How's yours? Is he still suffering from rectal lesions?

m500dpp said:

The OP is based in Bulgaria, how's your Bulgarian?

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Well said

Personally I think that all my Land Rovers have been reliable vehicles. I've spent time and a certain amount of money getting them into shape, but once there they perfectly exactly as I would hope.

We go down to -20°C here during winter, they live outside and yet still start every morning.

thebiglad said:

Personally I think that all my Land Rovers have been reliable vehicles. I've spent time and a certain amount of money getting them into shape, but once there they perfectly exactly as I would hope.

We go down to -20°C here during winter, they live outside and yet still start every morning.

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I agree, once you have it where you need it (+/- 20%) then it's with out a doubt the most reliable 4x4 I have owned.
Certainly the most capable off road and in crap conditions.

They are amazing things when they have to be and can go almost anywhere whatever the weather, admitedly they take more care than a normal car when it comes to mantainence but surely thats similiar for any 4x4, I think the reason Landys are unreliable is they have to be maintained otherwise they will deteriorate and they become moneypits, most people cannot be bothered to pay a garage or maintain themselves a 10+ year old Land Rover. other vehicles you can do nothing too and they seem to just run forever.

Parts will inevitably fail but they are usually very cheap and easy to get (here in the UK) and they are very easy machines to work on.

Now yours is fixed maybe you should enjoy it rather than let somebody else but thats just my angle, its like going on a wine forum and saying "shall I give up wine" you will never really get a truly unbiased opinion from so many enthusiasts and i will be amazed if you get more people trying to talk you out of it than keep it.

Maybe try 1 more winter and if its no good sell it and get a more reliable 4X4?

You would have been better off with a TDI.

nothing to do with reliability of your landy but I got back from a holiday in Bulgaria at 3am this morning... crackin country and considering I paid 90p for half a pint of beer I wouldn't be so concerned about running costs of my landy!

m500dpp said:

In this forum you will only ever see the problems, who wants to read a post that says:

"Hi everyone my car has been running without problems, what should I do?!!!!!!!!"

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It was more the ones that said:

"*&(&^$%^&& thing if it (*&&%$ goes wrong one more time ill )(&&^% it - this is the 6th time in as many weeks!!!!! "

That had me worried.

Out of interest the OP is IN Bulgaria but I am English - thought id still wager my Bulgarian is better than most on here

You off road guys would love it here - there is no such thing as fences and probably 40% of the land is un-farmed. From my house i can go in pretty much any direction bar due East and spend the whole day driving off road and never come across a fence or an angry farmer! I you want something more challenging due south of here - 40mls are the Stranja mountains and forests - these are cris-crossed with of road tracks from the hunters.

However our roads are probably more challenging than most peoples off road days -LOL

disco147 said:

nothing to do with reliability of your landy but I got back from a holiday in Bulgaria at 3am this morning... crackin country and considering I paid 90p for half a pint of beer I wouldn't be so concerned about running costs of my landy!

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Where did you go - if it was Sunny Beach (it usually is) you were 15km from my house!

At 90p for a half pint you were paying tourist prices - in local bars we pay 75p for a PINT! We complain if the cost of a meal for 2 is over £15 with drinks etc!!

The reason I have a V8 is cars are VERY expensive here second hand - and the choice is terrible. You dont want to buy one that has been maintained by a Bulgarian (i.e. NOT maintained at all and thrashed to death) so you have to look for a fresh import - this is very very limiting and a good 13yr old Tdi will cost you £5,000.

I am encouraged by the comments on here, im more than happy to do any amount of preventative maintenance as long as i can rely on it to start and go in the worst of Weather.

Added to my last comment - seriously this country is off road-ers heaven - ill try and post some pics and maybe a thread!

rectal lesions :hysterically_laughi

Ive popped a thread in "off roading" with some pics.

Stay with it ... all will come good. i have a 200tdi , and do 350 mls a week to work . been doing that for the last 13 months now , and my landy has never failed to start , or broken down... just keep on top of things and there fine. if something needs sorting , fix it straight away. service regular , polybush it, change all track rod ends , shocks springs , prop ujs , and you pretty much got a strong driver.

Like someone has said these forums are usually about solving problems and are full of brainy people who when all get together can sort any problem you may ever have with any LandRover but hardly anybody posts about how reliable their LR is!
Yes there are plenty of pieces of s**t knocking about but there are also lots of fine examples of LandRovers as there would be with Toyotas or Mitsubishi but the main thing is that the LandRover is usually very cheap to fix and very simple to work on.