It's my DD but only for work. Once I fix the Toyota, it will be my DD.

 

The only problem I have with this is every time I see a cool land rover and I consider saying 'hey', I'm driving a damn RAV4.

 

A true Land Rover owner at heart

 

I bought a Land Rover to drive every day. When I'm done with it I will fix and drive another Rover (P38 Callaway most likely, more ponies, better axles and tc) and turn this one into a trail truck. This November 17th it will be one thousand, eight hundred and twenty five days on the road. If I was to fill up every week at $4 bucks a gallon premium I would still only spend $240 a month (I get 360 (+/- seasonal fuel mix) miles per 20 gallons) and my insurance is $35 for four months out of six, last two I owe nothing. I have replaced the usuals, starter (used off a DII), fuel pump (just the pump), injectors (used lower mileage), used LR water pump (bearing wobble), new LR fan clutch, used brake calipers and newish rotors, three sets of pads (I bought two), used crank pulley + new front seal (mine cracked, took out seal), a few fuses and relays. On my second set of tires, new ones are little used original Michelin XPC's that do a better than average job of snow/ice/wet pavement job and I have two matching spares..... I've nailed 70k to it's clock under my ownership which started at 98k. It's been all over the South and I take a 500 mile trip every few months to check in with family...at 80 mph on the freeway, smooth as silk.

I'm damn pleased! This thing responds well to a skilled wrench. I also fix other Rovers so my addiction pays for itself in cash and free parts. I'm on a first name basis with several parts houses and machine shop because of my habit. The cool thing is just how happy other Rover owners are when I finish......that they have their Rover back. That's what it's all about to me, your Rover (my Rover). Practical? You bet. Best Four By Four By Far.........

 

I agree with you about being great truck but I took the practical out of mine a few years back. It is great for hauling stuff, towing stuff to an extent and it drives pretty smooth for what it is but I'm barely pushing 200 miles on 20 gallons.

 

Mine is still a daily driver, bought her in April '07 with 152,change.
She now has 227,change and my average MPG so far for the year is 13.4mpg, that includes trailer towing, idle time in the winter, two tracking, etc.
Repairs have been minimal, most expensive repair was last summer, all new rotors, calipers, brake pads...$500.
$40/wk in gas average, I still have full coverage...right now she needs rust repair around the windshield frame and nothing else.
I'm thinking of selling her in the spring and getting a Range Rover, maybe a Westminster Edition.
Its bigger, better MPG and common replacement parts are cheaper.
I want to keep my girl but I dont have room to store her.

 

I bought a 97 disco with 155k miles for 2 grand about 6 weeks ago. I was planning on selling it in the fall, and hoping it would last me till then.

I'm kind of thinking instead of selling it I just want to keep it as a toy. The practical value of these things is so much more than the blue book value. 2gs for a vehicle that can do what this thing does is pretty amazing, it can get a lot of places.

It wouldnt cost much money to get something more fuel efficient and still capable enough to be a daily driver in the snow (I live in the mountains and work at ski areas) and keep the rover just for adventuring.

Someone mentioned using these things in the snow, no freaking thank you. A 6300lb vehicle would make for good traction accelerating but horrible traction while braking, especially downhill, and where I drive in the snow, I have to go both up and down hills. Also, a subaru or something similar will handle just about any snowy road I'll need to drive, its really rare the issue is the depth of the snow, its far more likely the issue is just traction, and a subaru with studless snow tires will handle icy roads just fine, in fact a lot safer at a high rate of speed than a rover.

 

Lived at 9000 in the Rocky Mountains & had 2.5 miles of unserviced dirt road to navigate each day (not to mention the 45 mile one way drive to Denver), and never had an issue either starting or stopping with my Disco in Up to 2' of unplowed snow. Had Destination LE tires on it all winter. Couldn't say the same for the HUMMER, Ramcharger, or the Jeep which all were off-road built.