Particularly looking at new LR prices but also including many other 4x4's are they getting above themselves for pricing which has become seriously too expensive for the average person to own unless they re-mortgage their house. Yes, there's a lot of engineering and electronic gizmos but after all they are mass produced not handmade to order. Ironically the prices vary from country to country according to what that particular market will stand, I'd call this naive or a rip off. Why are the spares so pricey for a 12 year old vehicle? surely they've made their money by now and could afford to price the spares inline with others. How come quality aftermarket spares are so much less? Are we all being taken for mugs?

 

I feel they have gotten way to high priced for SUV's. They used to be a nice affordable truck that could haul some gear and 4-5 adults. Sadly no longer, most now are AWD mini-vans

 

I could do without all the gizmos and extras, air ride, ecu's instead of simple relays, I just think they have way over engineerd cars in general anymore

 

I think the situation has been quite a bit different in Europe than it is in the US. SUV's have never really been practical or affordable for most Europeans simply because of the high cost of petrol or diesel. Until more recently (when fuel economy has improved significantly), anything with a 3.0 was considered egregious, and the kind of 6 and 7 liter engines that Americans drive themselves around in would just be an obscene display of excess. Given that environment, it's not easy to make an SUV, any SUV for the "average" working stiff.

In the US, the pickup truck has long been the choice of the regular guy. SUV's originally evolved from pickup-truck derivatives. They were based on the same body-on-frame platforms and basically just had a bed cap that was integrated with the cab, and an extra row of seats. As such, they were affordable.

The Range Rover and how it was marketed, particularly in the 80's and 90's, was in part responsible for a stupid trend to make SUV's symbols of excess wealth and status. That ultimately led to things like the Cadillac Escalade, the H1 Alpha, AMG versions of the G-wagen, and the Range Rover Black. The Japanese were not to be left out and introduced Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus products in the 90's -- like the Land Cruiser-based GX400, 470 etc. But all the people buying these vehicles as luxury lifestyle accessories created a demand for vehicles that better met their expectations for a soft interior, easy handling, and convenience. To some degree, that kind of evolution happened, but there was also a kind of dilution that came from the demand for affordability and practicality that caused the mini-van market to merge into the "Cross-over." Early products like the Grand Cherokee, RX400 and Mercedes M-class foreshadowed what would later become the BMW X3, the Audi Q5 and 7, the Buick Enclave, the Highander, Murano and all the others. They are not really 4x4's in any practical sense of the word. They may have all-wheel drive, but so does a Subaru WR-X.

In my opinion, the true, hard 4x4 market is currently left to the solid axle Land Cruiser (outside the US), and the Jeep Wrangler (in the US.) Besides those, a portion of the market has shifted to the side-by-sides, and there are of course, still many 4x4 pickups.

 

I disagree on the ML, for the early ones at least. It is a 4wd complete with low range. It's dead solid reliable, and has good utility. Bland and boring inside and out however. Reliable but soul-less...

The early SUV's you are spot on as they were just pick-ups with a roof. They need to get back to that general utilitarian truck. It is one of the reasons I truly love my old 110. It's a truck with a roof, utilitarian as it comes and just covers your basic needs for motoring.

To me simple is better, less is more.. Pick your phrase, even the DII has gone to far luxury for me. I do like it a lot but I'm happier in most ways driving my 110 or a RRC.

 

Of course I do not mean to exclude the massive numbers of used vehicles on the 4x4 market. Given the current conditions, there are far more options if you go back 10 or 15 model years or more. Here in the US, some of the most affordable 4x4's, besides the pickups, are XJ's and 4-Runners. There's also plenty of people that go back as far as solid-axle Blazers, Scouts, and Broncos.

 

Here's an article with a little bit of the history of the Discovery model: Land Rover Discovery history : AROnline

It seems the impetus for the Discovery was the continual upward movement of the Range Rover product and the burgeoning influx of lower cost Japanese competition. Although from today's perspective it is hard to see the 5-door Range Rovers being so far upmarket in 1982 that it created a gap, I can sort of see the contrast between it and the 110. Still, more than a lower-cost option, I see the Discovery as having been the "first new Land Rover in nearly 20 years," and that it was equally important that it was understood that, "It’s a leisure vehicle not aimed at the luxury sector at all." It was not just a cheaper version of the Range Rover. It was a new idea that allowed Land Rover to re-invent what Land Rover was about. It allowed a "reset" in the midst of relentless pressure to sell up. It permitted Land Rover to stand for adventure again and not just status and pretense. Not only that, but it also defined what the Japanese would go on to compete with, essentially by copying.

While some may remark all the carry-overs from the parts bin, like the door handles from the Lotus Esprit (or the Morris Marina if you prefer), I would take notice that even after the 5-door model with an EFI-equipped V8 was introduced in 1990, it was still sufficiently different from a Range Rover, and persevered nearly a decade after the latter was succeeded by two more generations of completely new, even more upmarket cars.

I continue to appreciate the Discovery 1 as the un-pretentious 4x4 with practically all the qualities that made the Range Rover great. It will never be as legendary as the Range Rover or the Series, nor has it survived the continual upmarket push that has seen it pushed into the luxury category, but in its first generation form, it was and is an ideal 4x4.

 

X1 binvanna. It's a great shame the Disco went so upmarket from the original concepts.

The great thing about LR's particularly RR's and RRS's is their prices plummet quickly in the used car market place. Unfortunately many have had skimped servicing also so many are just a 'bag of rusty nails' and a financial liability.