I suppose I can agree with most of this as people can be goofy from time to time. You cant give someone common sense and you cant make a mechanic out of someone by giving them advice on a forum. We can tell people all we want, if they choose to ignore it or go about it in a different manner theres not much we can do. Personally I think most Rovers are not worth owning unless you can fix every problem on them in your own garage. That's why there's such a massive flood of DIY owners versus people with large wallets who want to pay the dealership for everything. These vehicles no longer attract the idiot soccer dad desk type, they attract adventurous rednecks like myself who want something capable to have fun with. I'd set mine on fire before I took it to a dealership, its cool but its not worth anything so paying for repairs just doesnt make sense. I'm thankful for forums like this and all of the knowledge that is shared. I personally have saved myself a few hours of trial and error by simply reading others experiences.

You cant bash all DIY'ers though, some of us would hand a trained tech his *** in a skills challenge. There are plenty of guys who do better work in a residential garage with cheap tools than some master techs do in a state of the art dealership with the latest and greatest stuff at their disposal. You guys are often great, but you're not always as good as you think you are. Just keep that in mind.

 

IMHO it is not so much the technical skill of the DIY person, it is their lack of problem solving methods to begin with. Many attack the problem first, armed only with their experience on Dad's Desota (Firedome 392 hemi with hydraulic valves).

Being manly men, no instruction manual is required. So not only have they not read an owners manual, they have not downloaded the RAVE. If they have the RAVE it may have been skimmed, but many have no idea all the things that are in there. They are further mislead by the "smarty style" code reader at the auto parts store, which suggests which sensor to purchase for throwing at the problem (why do you think they read codes for free?), and the "knowledgebase" at parts stores varies greatly (being polite - but they hire good people who will show up on time, handle funds in an honest manner, take inventory, and deliver customer service - product knowledge comes on the job).

I'm afraid more car companies will go down the path of making things so complex that it is impossible to work on them DIY. We will all be stuck with driving and repairing our oldies forever. The price of a used D1 is under $2K in many cases, under 1K in some. One trip to the shop can eclipse the purchase price.

 

I understand your frustration with an incompetent diy'er dumping their problem on you. But you only see one side of the diy'er the ones who get the job done aren't coming to you to get it done. I don't agree with your assesment of aftermarket parts, there are too many variables to determine if any certain part is better than another, car manufacturers don't always use parts cause they are the best, they factor longevity, cost, performance, servicability. There is no reason parts can't be cross referenced, usually the problem isn't the part as much as finding the right replacement to use, that's where our forum shines, we have a collective knowledge of people trying and seeing if it works or not. The Chevy 4.3 fan clutch is a perfect example.

 

That is one good example out of how many. I would tend to disagree with your statement about parts. Perfect example and it has nothing to do with Land Rover's but it is relevant. I have diagnosed quite a few Mercedes Benz cars with needing ignition coils. The customer hear the price and leave. And every time, they come back with aftermarket coils installed. When asked, they got aftermarket coils elsewhere. Every time. Aftermarket parts makers dont have to adhere to standards manufacturers have to.

 

Well if the coil works and doesn't cause any issues why not save a bunch of money. I look at it this way if it costs a quarter the price but lasts only half as long you are still money ahead, as long as that savings is not negated by it being a part that is hard to replace. Manufacturers buy parts, they don't build ignition coils. Lot of times stuff is exactly the same in a different package.

 

I agree that there is nothing wrong with using aftermarket parts, or used parts and buying within your budget.
Somethings must be OEM equivalent, like sensors.
Is the Duralast coolant temp sensor I bought going to last 200k like the OEM one did?
Probably not, but it was half the price, direct fit and it works great.
I would not have used a universal temp sensor, some choose to and then have problems and wonder why.
I am not bashing that person, I am just saying sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
O2 sensors are another example, go cheap with universals and have problems or eat ramon noodles and fix it right the first time.

 

Ok, I wont argue. Have fun with what your believe.

 

Nothing beats used hubs. I can get five used hubs for the price of one new one.

 

But used (and not too abused) is still oem... and pre-tested

 

Used hubs are a crap shoot. they can go anytime. But that is the crapshoot with used parts. Most of the other aftermarket parts are not too bad. But when it comes to a big labour intensive job, then use OEM parts. cause one time is the only time you should be replacing it. and sensors yes oem works better then any other aftermarket part out there.