to expect my land rover to go for more than 3 days before having yet another spectacular breakdown?

[MitchyInge]

or should I just give up and get a Ford Ranger?

what do you mean, lack of decent heating? mine has full climate control: if you are hot, open the flaps under the windscreen, if you are cold, close them and put gloves on

am up for the caring allowance though, maybe I should start a petition - after all, am doing my bit to preserve an iconic piece of our, um, heritage isn't it?

abermum - oh that poor man! obviously I would have offered to tow it for him if mine was actually working (which it is! hooray!)

I came up with a brilliant plan though, am going to get another one and tow it around with me everywhere then when mine breaks down (I mean if if if I should be so unlucky again) I can just swap them over

GENIUS

I remember comign home from a party in the dead of winter with that kind of superior control. My ex had opted for the additional extras of a 4 season sleeping bag and a flask of hot orange.

Does yours have a name? All my friends who drive them have names for theres. There's Karma, Hovis and the usual one of oh fuck, how much will that cost!

well for a while he's had a girl's name - yolande (yo! landy!) but lately (good thing we are allowed to swear and if you really want to know) I have been referring to him as 'you cunting wanked out pile of SHIT'

then I feel guilty

Cor mine is the same - it's a right state at the moemnt with all the door cards off because the locking went funny, the gearbox went bang and cost £2,500 to fix, the clutch keeps going funny despite being new but I wouldn't touch any other 4x4 with a bargepole. All in all a well looked after landrover will last forever. They get to a point where it's best to keep fixing rather than replace. We know now the gearbox is good - if we upgraded our 'new' ones gearbox might break and we are back to square one! Alot of parts can be picked up on ebay/scrap yards and fitted yourself as they are pretty 'basic' in design. DH bought a Jaguar in a fit of "this darn landrover!" rage and the bloody thing is electronic up to it's eye balls! Lights come on everywhere, a bulb went and the bumper has to come off, some coil went and the engine runs in "fail safe" mode ie. the computer shuts it all down. Give me a landrover any day! Sorry - can you tell I heart mine too? It's in a sorry state though, I need to spruce it up again.

DO NOT GET A FORD RANGER . Wash your mouth out woman! What engine do you have?

I've got a quite fetching 2.5 td5, state of the art really it is nice to find myself among my own kind here

I haven't had the bill yet although they let me take it home while they calculate it . . . hope it is not as much as yours because that is what I paid for the whole vehicle!

I need a towing thing for the day I can get my horse (that can't be ridden at the moment) to load onto a trailer (that I haven't got yet)

am going to imagine my fellow enthusiasts all holding hands while I dial the garage to find out How Much . . . gulp

I want another landy now.. mine too was a 90 van.. but we had windows put in the back and some very col and comfy seating!!.. oh and we didn't have an orange light on it's head.. but we did have a big spot light on the back..
the sunroof was weather sealed with vasaline, and you would know it needed doing again when the icey cold drip shot down your neck when you put the brakes on.

But I loved andy the landy .. and I will be looking for another. there is a secret here, if you join a landy club ( sad I know.. but a good bunch ).. when things go wrong.. they will get together to nurse it back to health.. thus not incurring garage fees

just cucumber or bacon sarnies and tea/beer all round for the chaps.. and a good gossip for the girlies

I'm on the brink of joining suffolk land rover owners club (why did I grow up to be such a freak though!) because I get 10% off the labour charges by promising that I will

I still haven't plucked up the courage to find out how much this latest round of repairs is though - eeeek

Still living in hope of a lottery win, some people lust after Ferarris - I wanna 'Fender!!

I'll leave you mine in my will if you like, am always saying it will be the death of me

The 2.5 tdi is the problem.

Its a diesel! diesels are proned to go Bust.

Most of the time its the bosch fuel pump.

What do they do with it when it goes into the garage?

I say replace the injector's, Fuel filter and Glow plugs.

When was its last service?

If all of this has been done...Well hun, take it to the scrap man.

And get Vauxhall. Mine aint had a cambelt changed in 145,000 miles (due its 2nd one) and it sat for a year. It started 1st time.
Never let me down not once.

My previous car (a new model renault) broke down at 64,000 miles and Would cost me £1000 to fix! Forget it i said. Thogh Im not one to get too emotionally attached to a brum brum.

ah glowplugs I recognise from a previous itemised bill, the rest has gone slightly over my head

@ scrap!

at the garage they just fix/replace whatever bit has gone wrong really, I often have to go off road with work so I do need a proper 4x4, one that I can safely transport lots of dogs in (also like to play off road too)

What reg is you darling?

T

too young for scrap!

I am so disappointed

I always thought Land Rovers were totally reliable and went on for ever. I'm sure that was how they used to be. Every farmer had an ancient landy that had been on the farm for 30 yrs and never refused to get up for work inspite of being covered in mud, straw and shit. Is that pure fantasy or have they just got worse?

Garages tend to fool people. they say they will fix/replace but then bodge job it and charge you for a full replacement part.

Where are u? in UK?

T reg about 1999 I take it.

I recon your garage is conning you somehow.

Your bills seem extremely high?

You may need the solenoid valve replacing.

The part costs around £19.99 and guess what labour will cost you around £300.000 !!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a shame your not in Brum.

I'm often there, sadly, watching in fascination as they remove one bit and replace it with a shinier one - labour is £36 an hour BUT I get the Mondeo-of-Shame as a 'courtesy' car to use in the meantime

they also come out and rescue me when I am stuck somewhere

£36 hr aint too bad. I remember being quoted £86 hr for my renault.

I have just been on a website to se what other people are saying about you brum brum.

And they say...

'BEWARE OF THE T REG, 1999 LANDROVER'

oh dear.

As I said diesels are proned to braking down but I remember reading a passage on a parts for freelander website as I was in the middle of diagnosing a problem with a 4x4 just like yours.

The manufacturer actually changed to a different make of parts after 1997. So maybe if you had an older freelander you might of had an easier ride.

But then the parts may be harder to find. So its a no win situation.

All those ancient Land Rovers on farms don't have MOTs and are only driven a couple of miles to drop of hay bales. Usually they are started with a blast from a 24 volt tractor battery. You will notice that these farms usually have a Japanese 4x4 pickup for serious work.

Again - buy an early Ford. My Ol' '55 Ford 100e has bump started the Landy on the In-Law's farm many a time. Parts are cheap and it's easy to fix. "Built Ford Tough" was a selling point for decades.

I'd rather have a 1923 - 27 Model T Ford than any Defender. More reliable and tougher and they can really go anywhere at all.

mwmi yep, we're still under warranty thank god, have started to use DP's Audi though, much more reliable, I have to say that the car that has a place in my heart is our old Defender.....that thing goes forever and has virtually no TLC what so ever!