Cos it's a Landrover!

Everyone knows they are 'special', costs a fortune in services and parts, leaks more oil than they burn and every loon just loves 'em, don't ask me why though!

Also, many Jap and US vehicles of a similar age have long gone to the 'maker in the sky' and they died of rust and blown engines. Now take the Austin Allegro, or rather don't, what a rust bucket that was.

https://www.google.fr/search?q=photo...hrome&ie=UTF-8

PS: You have to bear in mind the original engine was a 5.25L BUICK sleeved down to 3.5L for the UK market!!!

 

As I've said before, you are not fixing a $4000 used car here, you are working on a vehicle that cost $40 to $50k new and which was mostly appointed accordingly. Many OEM parts still reflect that.

 

Lol, a Landcruiser cost that much new too.
It's quality and parts are 10 times better, and used parts are a tenth of what Land Rover parts.
I'm not here to bash Land Rovers either, as I like them, and otherwise wouldn't have bought one.
I wouldn't mind the cost as much if the quality was better....much better. They just don't last.

 

You're a new LR owner and don't know much about the quality of and how long parts last. Pricing often depends upon source/vendor and you taking the time to shop/choose wisely.
.....

 

I agree, I know very little about LRs.
It just seems that replacement parts are so high, and that the stock/original parts seem to fail at considerabley low mileage.
I will say that the Discovery seems very easy to work on, as if the engineers actually designed it that way. Vs U.S and Japanese, which is usually crammed together, and can be a quite a pain in the a** anymore to do the simplest job.
You guys know your stuff, and I'm here to learn.
Everyone here is great help.
Thank you!

 

The only thing that fails prematurely is the 4.6 V8.

That being said, mine is about to fail and I've gotten 165k out of it thus far.

The biggest cost in replacing it (the engine) will be the labor.

 

Rubbish, in Europe and the UK Landcruiser spare parts cost 10x the price of LR parts even for an old one and they are as unreliable, if not more so, as any other complex 4x4 truck on the market, that's why they're called 'Jap crap'. I own a Honda bike and a pal owns a Toyota pick up new and they are very unreliable and they cost an arm and leg to repair. Maybe in the US it's cheaper than the rest of the world to own Jap crap but not here.

Just take a look at the recalls on Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan etc and compare eh.

 

I'll take a jap bike over domestic any day. Or Italian, God I love Aprilia's.

But, I consider the rover to be old school western engineering, and therefore simple. With the exception of a few systems that are pretty much a standard pain in the *** across the automotive world, the damn thing is as simple as you could expect for a 4x4 WITH creature comforts. And there's nothing I've found (aside from the engine as an entire rebuild) that is all that expensive.

​​There are a couple issues that I find ridiculous, like the lack of quality aftermarket support for some parts, or the occasional lackluster engineering on some miniscule part. But I've yet to own a vehicle that didn't have at least one stupid flaw that was worthy of strangling every person on the design team. Especially German vehicles and their supposed reliability. If I ever meet the man that thought putting fuel pumps in the intake Valley and using lug bolts instead of studs was a good idea, I'll strap him to my roof rack and keel haul his *** across the nearest parking garage roof.

 

Lol, total opposite here in the U.S
Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are the best cars and trucks you can buy. Excellent quality, extremely dependable, highest resale value...and cheap parts. Myself, and family and friends have owned many.
They have plants here. Safety and emmisions are different standards than the rest of the world, and maybe the QC is better here too, I don't know.
I have also been street riding/owning many Japanese sportbikes in the last 20+ years, and dirtbikes and atvs almost 30. Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Yamaha are also of excellent quality, with good part prices here.

 

Totally agree.
How about a Cadillac Northstar V8?
The starter is under the intake manifold!
Talk about feeling like an idiot trying to find that for thd first time.
Not a GM fan.