Hi all,

During our lovely holiday in Devon, we decided to do what all sane, normal humans do - we changed our car!  We gave our Mondeo as part-ex, and bought a Land Rover.  Just couldn't bear the idea of having Toby on the back seat of the Mondeo, scratching at the leather seats, and boy was it good to have him in the boot of the Land Rover instead!  Instant relief!!  And he enjoys it much more, as he has his own little 'space' to play in, chasing his hairs which he does constantly without fail.

Was wondering if anyone else has one of these vehicles?  Would love to know if people find them reliable etc.  The only problem I've discovered so far is that it guzzles petrol at a very alarming rate indeed!  My old mondeo would have done approx 380 miles to £40, but this only did £256!!  Very worrying :(

Duh, not £256, but 256 miles!!!!! :rolleyes:

Keely , unfortunately these types of vehicles do cost a lot to run.

A bit late now to tell you but most of the parkers guides tell you how much each car does to the gallon so you can make comparisons but too late for the advice :-).

You can also of you want to test it fill it to the brim ( if you can afford to with a land rover ;-) )  run it half way down, fill it back up and work out how many miles you got to the gallon you are actually getting.

I have done 55K in the last 2 years between work and shows so had to buy a bit more sensible car and the fuel economy was something I looked carefully at. 

I would really love the X5 but because of the running costs alone  I just feel too greedy to endulge. I nearly have a few times but I keep thinking about the difference and the 5 has similar fuel consumption as the LR . If you do a lot of miles it can be £100s of pounds a month more.

You may already know this BUT just incase :-)

There is 4.55 litres to a gallon. I think fuel is roughly £ 0.88 per litre so a gallon of petrol is roughly £4  so based on what you have said if you got 256 miles for your £40 then that is 10 gallons so you car is only doing 25.6 miles to the gallon.. IT will be worse running around town :-(( sorry to depress you..    My Vauxhall Zafira 2.0dti does 50 miles to the gallon. I spend about £2000 on fuel each year perhalps a bit more , I would spend roughly £4000 on fuel with the X5  .. the saving of £166 per month pays for my car..

Not sure what purpose this post serves ;-) but maybe put someone off being impulsive next weekend ;-) :-))

BFN

Hi Keeley,
I watched top gear ages ago and apparently something like 70% of all landrovers ever produced are still running so I guess they're reliable! Oh and also (I can't remember the exact figure) but about 8 out of 10 people in the world the first car they ever see is a landrover!

Now there's some interesting trivia for you!
Sarah

Mmm,

I have a series 3, 32year old boneshaker!! I think you either love em or hate em. I love mine or we sort of have a love / hate relationship. Parts are easy and cheap to get (try Paddocks on internet) and lots of things just bolt on coz they are like tanks. Mine is incredibally heavy to steer - I have the muscles to proove it. My OH wont drive it though - too scary coz you sort of aim rather than steer. Yes, mine is VVV heavy on diesel as well. VVV good though on snow/mud & practical for the horse and 2 boxers I have. Has been quite reliable - especially for an old L reg. And its tax exempt !!

Dont know what the newer models are like though.

Let you into a few secrets
a, if the roof doesnt leak it isnt a Land Rover !!! and
b, Land Rovers don't leak oil - they are marking their teratory !!

HTH Aimix

The newer models are just like the old models!!
Never in the field of automotive history has a vehicle evolved so little over such a long time. They are desparately slow, noisy, uncomfortable, thirsty, make no concession to modern safety features (airbags, ABS...you must be joking) and the windscreen wipers flap about uselessly if you manage to get the blessed things to do more than 55mph.
Great if you live on a farm, absolutely dreadful if you want to go more than 5 miles on tarmac.

Just my opinion of course :)

And you're entitled to your opinion Pete!  However, I must add that my Land Rover isn't noisy at all, is very comfortable (I just love being so high up!) and has drivers and passenger air bags and ABS.  I love my little car, and yes, it does sup petrol, but to be honest it's worth it knowing that I can stick the dog in the back of the car, and still have three kids safely strapped in the back seats, without having to break my back bending over to strap them in.

It must be a Freelander or a Discovery then? I was talking about 'proper' Land Rovers!!

It is a Freelander Pete, sorry, should have put that in my original post :) However, it's still a 'real' Land Rover thanks

Nothing wrong with Freelanders Keeley :)

We had a bl**** Discovery and when dad wrote it off the airbags didn't even go off! When the police came to the scene they said they should def have gone off - I was all for sueing Land Rover :D

pete t. what utter rot :( I have a perfectly brilliant long wheelbase 110 landrover tdi which cruises up the motorway to shows at 75 or 80 without any problems atall. i suggest you have no idea what you are talking about & try actually driving a modern landrover defender. :(   It is neither slow or noist or thirsty. OK so no airbags.... so what? As for the wipers......i have no problems with mine ......yes we live on a farm but this vehicle has to do all the motoring as we dont have a "car" and I wouldnt swap it for any other vehicle. Suggest you get your facts right.

Sam,
I've driven several Defenders as part of my work including the most 'modern' ones and I stand by my opinion, they ARE noisy, slow and uncomfortable. I suggest you try driving something a little more up to date like a Toyota or a Mitsubishi off roader and then you'll see what I mean! I am utterly amazed that anyone other than farmers ever buys one of these things (I suspect most people buy them for the "we're country folk" image but quickly sell them again when they find they've bought a tractor with wind up windows).

pete, what exactly would I want with a japenese "4x4" when my landrover does everything I want and more?
I can go to birmingham dog shows (400 miles trip) on a tank of diesel, cruising in the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in, at 75mph.
I can hear the cd player, (not as noisy as my friends 6 yrear old volvo!!)
If the hounds are sick or pee in the back as pups I can hose it out & put a new bit of carpet in
If the pups decide to have a chew then theres no  plasticy bits for them to damage.
I can get 6 adult giant breed hounds in.
I can tow my trailer as well without noticing even the tiniest strain.
I can also use it on the farm to get to virtually all the fields and see the stock.
I can go & pick up 4o sacks of dog food without having to make any alterations to the back arrangement.
I can fill it to the roof with logs, get home, quick sweep/hose & its like new again.
It is the most superb vehicle I have ever had. Its also the 3rd defender & being only 2 years old its definitely quieter & nippier than the previous 300 we had......I cannot recommend them more highly :)

I guess we'll have to agree to differ then :)

I have my heart set on getting a good old series I or II landrover Pete, and  lots of people have said the same as you...but, I still intend to do it one day........but am blonde and female so maybe that explains it ;)

We used to have a g-reg landrover defender i loved it altho wasnt v reliable and we sold it when the bonnet flew off :D

then we bought a landrover discovery i hated it worst thing we have ever bought good grief the number of times it broke down! grrrrrrr! was thinking of getting new van then got it written off crashed into a tree to avoid some deer! and we are getting a van now!

my god! lol maybe you should have got a diesel. I have an isuzu double cab diesel and i get about 350 miles to £40 of diesel. what you have to remember with these big 4x4 is they are a lot heavier vehicle and therefore dont do aswell as lighter cars on fuel consumption, but they make up for it in the pulling department, i have pulled trees over with mine :-) lol

We had a 91 discovery and loved it (roof leaked and ocassionally oil)but by god that thing was reliable. We then got a omega but i hated it so we have a freelander now(only cos we bought a dog trailer)and allthough it is great i long for an old disco