Land Rovers' presence at anything other than an urban setting is becoming more and more rare.

Any camping or off-road event gathering around here is typically devoid of LR's unless it's an LR centric one.

With the exception of Defender folks who I've arranged to hang out with, I have still yet to see any Defenders on any track, hiking trailhead, fishing spot, sledding/skiing area etc. It's nice to see so many folks in the forum here getting out there and exploiting the vehicle's capabilities. So they are being put to use by some. Remote travel is a different beast though. Solid electrics is a must.

Simplicity is a real virtue for remote scenarios. Hence the great success of vehicles like Toyota's 70 series and old Land Rovers.

Imagine breaking a CV somewhere remote in a new Defender. You're royally fecked. Can't even be towed out. Gotta be a flat bed. Trailside repair probably requires a computer with internet connection, an associates degree in electrical engineering, and keeping $1000s of dollars in parts on board. Stuff breaks. Stuff amenable to trailside repair, doable by the average spanner twirler, with readily available affordable parts is key.


I had a good chuckle at the red caliper/ puddle light team quip.

The mirror on the new 2024 76 series from Toyota. Bolts on with zero electrics. Says it all really. One small component with nothing to break or go wrong. A very different design, for a very different customer.


I really love my Defender but as it gets older and warranty end draws near, it becomes a potential money pit. The warranty period experience paint's a terrible picture for longterm ownership.

 

[QUOTE=Dogpilot;905962]Land Rover's presence in Namibia is a joke. Let's see after a week spent in Windhoek. ....So if Land Rover has market penetration it is very, very, very slight. [QUOTE]
OK, one item at a time. The rusty nails all over the floor are getting to be a hazard (if you don't understand that reference, you didn't read my last post).

I said LR had a presence there and mentioned the tours they are running. I was trying to say that they themselves, Land Rover, are running a fleet of L663s in Namibia and are present in the country. The presence. I was NOT talking about market penetration. This was all in relation to parts availability which you surmized was zilch in Namibia and I simply said it's hard for me to imagine as LR is there. With a fleet of L663s. So unless LR has a secret pipeline of parts all for themselves, there should be a parts availability in Namibia. But as I also said, I'll be there in 3 months so I can check and let you know. How's that for an offer?

But speaking of market penetration, I do quite a bit of traveling all over Europe as I live here right now. And seeing 3 Defenders over a 45 day period is the very high end of what I've experienced here. Even in wealthy cities like Munich, Paris, Amsterdam or any of the capitals, they are a rare sight. Yet LR is apparently selling quite a few. But just like your experience with using a deep cycle battery as a starter battery, I'd put forth that those are simply observations, not anything to do with any sort of methodology. So maybe what you saw was the entire Namib population of L663's. Or maybe you just saw the same amount there as I do here and LR has quite an amazing market penetration for a very expensive 4x4 in an African country. But I have a meeting with some folks from JLR building special vehicles on the L663 platform. Maybe I can even get some real stats for you.

And, btw, guess what one of the big items we are working on for the special vehicles... Power consumption when the vehicle is not running.

 

Well if they could put some attention to a factor that makes the vehicle a running joke in folks that do wilderness work for a living, it would be great. In fact, if they wanted to do a simultaneous running of Defenders against the Grenadiers next year we are up for it. Of course they would never do that, they prefer tame choreographed settings. Kind of like the bike tours folks do in Namibia. There is a bus that follows them the entire way.

It is nice to live in Europe, personally I did my jr. High and part of High School in Zürich. Then moved to Italy. Later moved back to Sicily for a few years. Had a Series III diesel there. A vehicle with the Sicilians referred to as a "tank." Then moved to Greece, specifically Crete. A place where roads are essentially interconnected potholes. I rather pined for my Land Rover, as I had a nearly new Suzuki Samurai. A vehicle which apparently had no suspension. A run down the road to Chania would be Ouch pothole! Ouch, goat turd, Ouch dirt atom, Ouch, proton. Ouch Ouch, boson. It was easy to park though. An issue in many parts of Europe with a Defender. My Series III was a beast to park in the old parts of town and it was a lot narrower than the new Defender. I lived about 15 minutes from Taormina. I would never take it there, you couldn't park it. Used the Fiat 124 Spyder for that run. That was an interesting car drove well. It was a problem as one day you turned around and all that was left was a pile of rust. Just sweep it up and put it in the bin.

I rather think I had the only Land Rover on the island at the time. At least I could go to the British car dealer there and order parts for it. It actually never broke, just trim and driver's side mirrors. As Gavin said they were dirt cheap, I think $5 for the glass back then. Kind of a problem slapping mirrors going down narrow streets. I don't even want to think what the heated, camera laden, puddle light festooned, outfitted with a brace of sensors, costs. Again where it is a total fail in Africa is things like that. Believe it or not Hyenas bite the strangest things, I would not put it past them to crunch down on one due to the smell of tasty smashed bugs. Then aside from the cost, the shipping cost, the wait of months and the 40% customs fees. Just total the car. The Series III ran on Diesel, kerosene, JP-5. If it burned, it pretty much ran on it. Didn't need to be particularly clean either. I would just love to find premium out in the field. Aside from the fact it is only good for a month or two in a barrel. Never actually seen a diesel new Defender. I know they exist, just never seen one. I ind of doubt it would run on JP5.

Do check on parts in Namibia. I may be moving there permanantly in the near future. Most of us in either geoscience or the safari industry will not likely use them anytime in the future. There are none for rental and they are too over-teched to use in safari. Where the vehicle will spend nearly a year in the field, being fueled from drums. The mines are defiantly not going to buy them. I will not be getting one there, since any service would need to be done in Cape Town. Kind of a long run for a flatbed, 11 hours. Besides any kind of flash car in Africa is a poor idea. Heck, Nic this year had a guy punch a gun through the drivers window on the old 110 and steal his wallet and phone from him in Cape Town. The Defender would just be a big target. Land Cruisers are big carjacking targets as well. You kind of need some POS Isuzu as a daily driver. If you get a nice 4x4 you park it out of sight, under cover. Besides, a lot of the time, when you live in various parts of Africa, you have a driver. Unemployment is so bad, you feel compelled to hire a bunch of staff, as it is dirt cheap and gives people jobs. The big plus is now you car has "Full Self Driving Tech." Even parks itself. It is interesting that Elon Musk is rather universally despised in South Africa and Starlink (or as we call it: Starlimp) is illegal there.

Yes when you talk to the special vehicles unit, see if they want to do a head on safari with us. They can bring their own camera crews as well. They can camp with us at Airspace at AfrikaBurn (the Crackhouse). We a planning on running the Safari Saloon this year as well and running safaris with attendees during the day in the Tankwa National Park (our northern boundary is the park).