Why do you own a Land Rover?
 

I own one because I have always wanted one since I was about 12.
I love the looks, the ruggedness, the go anywhereness, and to be different.
If there were ever a natural disaster (hurricane, blizzard, flood, volcano)I could get my family to safety.
They are tough, reliable and will go anywhere in stock form.
With my shotgun, a cane pole and a 4x4 I can survive.

How about you? Why do you own one?

I was hooked on rovers at the age of 12 as well Spike.
I was in middle school taking some sort of elective and we did a project on a make of cars.
I choose Land Rover and found a Camel trophy video (this was before youtube so it was somewhere else)
I thought the Camel trophy was the coolest thing ever and I dreamed of driving a Discovery and going off road.
I was one of those kids who thought about driving years before I could even drive.
Most kids wanted sports cars, I just wanted 4x4.
At age thirteen I became a youth soccer ref and saved every cent for 3 years and bought a Disco II at the age of 16.
Nearly 3 years later, off roading is my hobby, I'm driving the car I dreamed of driving, and Im apart of one of (if not the best) automotive communities in the world.
I love the looks, their ability, and how much history Land Rover has.
I hope for years to come I have a Land Rover sitting in my garage.

bc my 350z got totaled in a hurricane and i needed a vehicle quickly for relatively little money.... and what did i find you ask?!?!?!?

thats right limited edition 1997 land rover discovery XD...

which after the initial purchase quickly replaced the "relatively little money" with "wait, how much is that little piece?!?!?!"

Im the idiot who, as a kid, was always getting spanked for jumping into every mud puddle I ever saw, sunday clothes be damned.

I started out in jeeps and broncos but when I saw a Camel Trophy video my little heart went THUMPA! THUMPA! What was that funny looking thing with the roof racks and boxy shape?! It was so ugly, so ungainly, so dirty, so muddy, so un-stoppable, so... so BEAUTIFUL! I was in LOVE.

When i park my muddy lil' ugly duckling next to some rich kid's sportscar at the supermarket I can see the kid who drives the go-faster sneer at a guy who would be seen in public in my dirty rover with her multitude of scratches and dents on the outside, dog snot all over the inside windows, and duct tape around one headlight.
The first time it happened I was tempted to key the kid's car in defense of my rover's pride but, alas, it was unnecessary.

My baby just glanced over at Red and asked "So where have you been?"
Red's reply was a super-charger sounding "The highway, the track and the car wash. Why?".
My baby flicked a little swamp water on Red's shiny paint with her windshield wiper and smugly set Red straight; "See my family? The guy, his wife, and the Lab puppy with the muddy paws, I take them EVERYWHERE."
Then she winked at Red with her duct-taped headlight...

THATS why i love my rover...

Well, always liked them since watching Wild Kingdom on sunday evening's as a kid. But I never gave a lot of thought about actually buying one. In high school I drove a 2WD IH Travelall, but still did a bit of light off-roading. Then after high school I started looking for a 4WD, looked at Jeeps CJ's, Jeep J20 pickups and finally settled on an IH 4WD 200 pickup, but at $4500 I couldn't afford it. A short time later my dad and I were looking for a tractor and found someone who had a Farmall Super C and a '62 SWB 88 pickup. We bought them both and I've been infected ever since. That was late '74 early '75. Aside from a couple years when I also had a VW camper, Land Rover's have been all I've owned since I bought the '62.
I expect it's terminal.

All the above and because you can sit in the heated leather seats and listen to your harmon cardon sound system while you easily cruise through any terrain from mud to snow to trails.And because its just f***in AWSOME!:D

1) Always wanted one since I was a kid

2) When I got married my wife thought they were very nice and unique when I pointed them out to her on the road.

3) I could drive to the company Christmas party in the mountains at a 5 star resort and look as classy as the company CEO.

3) Scratches on my Jeep Cherokee made it look like junk, but on the Rover it shows character.

4) Everybody does not have one!

oh, and SOMEBODY has to pull out all of the jeeps that get stuck, right?

because I like to sit up high and look down on people.




Honestly, for me. A buddy gave me a hell of a deal on it. I look forward to taking my family camping in GWNF and being able to "car camp" where ever the hell I want :)

Because there are too many Hybrid cars around Seattle and someone's got to use all this gas we have laying around!:D

I fell in love with the look of the Disco long before I could drive, with the high roof, all the windows, and straight edges. It looks like it belongs perfectly in the African plains or a ski lodge.

Because theres nothing better then being the only truck on the road in the middle of a snow storm in Michigan!!. and drving by all P.O.S H3 & H2!!..lol... and if the Brits aprove,its alright with me!!!

my dads 300 does 90 ... on 285/70 all terrains with lift kit and the bumpers which spot lamps etc and boost rims , has been played with do I am always crazy about suv's thats why I like it

did that post make sense to anybody?
he lost me somewhere after "rims , "...

and for every hybrid on the road around seattle that is just more fuel available for me and my disco to use while making bad decisions.

you oughta join us for some of our "bad desicion off roading trips" sometime if you are as close as the seattle area...

I have always admired Rovers, but never as a kid or young adult had any access to them. In later years I had seen them on the road and thought " that would be nice" but always figured it was out of my reach. Then one day a very non mechanically minded customer of mine ( who has owned 4 discos) offered me a deal I couldn't pass up on the DI I have now....I was told it "needed a lot of work" which it did, I've done a lot , and as with most of us it's a work in progress, I also own a 1999 chevy blazer and to take both of these vehicles down the same road it really shows how well built the Rover is and what a Pile of CRAP the chevy is . I wouldn't trade this vehicle for any thing unless it was another Land Rover. As with any heavy vehicle they can be high maintenance, but what a feeling of security versus the other choices out there. I'm probably contributing a little extra to air pollution, and I didn't help our precious auto makers by allowing the govt to crush my truck in trade for a pos chevy etc, etc, but I think in the long run, my "carbon footprint" is considderably less than some do-gooder going out and buying a hybrid that gets a mile or two better fuel economy than his previous ride, sucked up the $$$$$ of natural resources to make it and the needs a $8000.00 battery pack 50,000 miles down the road !

Because it is "the best 4x4 by far".

I don't remember when I first saw a Land Rover I just know that I have always wanted one. I had a Jeep Cherokee Sport that was falling apart and I had never bought a car or truck that I actually wanted, just what I could find. My first choice was a Toyota Tacoma because I didn't think I could afford a rover. After looking all over the place and only finding trucks with 200,000 miles in my price range, I came across my D2 at a Toyota place in Knoxville. Luckily I had never read any of the forums before I bought it because it might have freaked me out. So in short, I bought the first one I saw (even though I almost had a panic attack at the thought of not "shopping" around) and it has turned out to be a great truck. I knew I would never be without a rover the min I test drove it. I now own a D1 as well, and will hopefully own a RRC and a Defender 110 one day!

I'm a teacher. Now that I have the disco I no longer need to stay home on a snowday!
We were camping in the National forest down in North Carolina this spring break and I was at the very end of the road. Except for where the trail began. My little VW would never go, but I wanted to. This is my first V8--first 4x4--First large vehicle. It sucks the gas and I love it!
I test drove several and found some great deals. The one I currently drive was almost even trade for the VW Beatle I was driving for 4 years (and bought used). I now have a Disco of the same year with 1/2 the mileage.

Pretty much all of Spikes answers and I like many of you grew up wanting a LR or and old TLC 40/45. I had pictures of 109's, SII/SIII's, and 110's on my wall. I really only bought the Disco to curb my demons until I can afford a well kept D110. I guess I could have afforded a high mileage D90 non-diesel but there is nothing on earth like a D110 diesel... Nothing.

They are a different breed, we are a different breed, and there is nothing else quite like them...

Rovers are chick magnets. I had women stopping all the time asking about my Rover. I guess they felt sorry for me sitting on the side of the road. Just kidding. My Rover never broke down which is the reason I want another Rover. And they're chick magnet, when driven by someone other than me. I guess the magnetism of an aluminum body can't overcome the repelling force of my body.

Its true they are. I never would have thought that before I owned one but they really are chick magnets. I would like to think its just me, but its the Rover...

because my blood and my car are both English and with the help of cruise control i made it to the emergency room while having a kidney stone attack in December.

I wouldnt say "chick magnet" but I have received more than one comment saying that we "looked like you had fun" when we pull into the gas station with the rovers covered in mud.
Having a chocolate lab puppy in the backseat looking all cute and cuddly tends to draw the women in, only to have them be repelled just as quickly by the smell of the swamp water and wet dog (odd that the rover, the rover-owner, and the dog all have the same attraction to foul smelling bodies of water...)

what else are you going to drive if your idea of playing in the snow includes a day/night of looking for and removing other vehicles from snowbanks and ditches???

Yeah what everybody else has said, and the kid in me that is determined to find a deep enough mud hole that she won't get me through. Three years and I haven't found that mud yet.

I have been driving around doing the same thing the last couple nights. My best was a Ford Escape that was probably 10ft into a ditch with snow up to the rear windows. Took 5min or less to get him out.

I got the weirdest look from the guy when he tired to give me $80 (all the cash he had on him) and I wouldn't take his money. I just told him I was having fun, wanted to test my rig, and that he could just pay it forward and help someone else somehow.

I couldn't agree with you more man!! Plus in Seattle one must own a Land Rover. I love getting looks from people in there Pryis and them telling me that i am destroying the environment.....silly hippies. I got mine because i wanted a vehicle that guzzled gas and which parts for cost 3 times as much as any other manufacturer.... Only people that have owned a Land Rover understand this love/hate relationship. They might not be the fastest, but they will get you there through thick, thin, deep, wide, and muddy.

Keep the tyre side down-:D

d2lvr -

Come on down to the Ft Lewis WA area sometime. I can show you a couple of mud holes that have eaten my Army-issued Stryker, much less my rover. Ask Valkeyre about the swamp he had to winch me out of - swamp water up to the center of the spare tire. Oddly enough my rover STILL smells like swamp water when I park her in the sun and that was 2 years ago...

My brother was critical of my choice of vehicle, citing that it was a gas hog etc. Last night the phone rang late and it was him. He is moving this weekend and put his camper-van in a outbuilding for the winter. It has about 8 inches of snow going to it on grass and he thought he could make it out. The van slid down an embankment and was about a foot from the house.
I had him out in about 10 minutes and he is now glad for my choice of vehicle.

I was only a little kid, probably 6 or 8 when my parents decided to "take me to see their family in England" (that is where they started out, moved to Canada before I was born).

We met family and friends of theirs. Was driven in Rolls Royce, many fancy cars, and one Land Rover. That Land Rover was the most fun I've had-- with the exception of my honeymoon <cough cough>-- and I've wanted one ever since.

Always assumed that they'd be too expensive for me to own, and ended up with an 96 Ford Explorer, 02 Chevy Trailblazer, and borrowed my brother-in-law's Hummer "original" once too. Then, the wife and I were looking for a new vehicle that had to meet three basic requirements:

1) Carry more than 5 people (a military requirement)
2) Tow more than 7000 lbs -- without feeling like we would die at any moment
3) Go off-road without the constant fear of a tranny failure (a la Ford Explorer) while being polite on the road
4) This was an unofficial one that my wife will deny: It had to be comfortable inside in the same way that a private jet is comfortable inside...

I didn't really care what this magic vehicle looked like or who made it. It just needed to work. It had to be an on-road and off-road dream, tow heavy stuff, carry far too many people, and be fully featured and comfortable.

Land Rover was the only truck that met all the requirements. There was another, but I promised that I'd never own another of that brand... so LR it was.

I've loved it ever since. Biggest problem is who gets to drive. The wife always wants to be driving when we go off-road and now she's started to threaten that she wants to try with the trailer too.

<cry>

Heated front window and second row seats... 5 position radio control and separate audio with headphones... headroom in the third row seats to make it comfortable for a 6' 3" fussy guy... A ton of inside space with complete flexibility of seats to storage...

Land Rover, who'd have thunk it?

(I finally own the truck of my dreams. It looks great sitting beside our second vehicle, the VW Eos Convertible-- so, WHAT would you drive on the sunny beautiful day? The convertible or find an off-road pool somewhere and take the LR?)

I used to have a Toyota Tercel Wagon, I wanted another, only bigger.

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/...0-006-1200.jpg

Well my 05 Durango Hemi 4x2, was starting to burn oil, and showed signs of other issues. Needed tires as well. Had looked at LR3's in the past, really liked them. So on a whim I do a search for one locally....found mine for 30k at the same dealer I bought the Durango from new, test drove it...was sold on it. Feels a lot more substantial, and safer with all the air bags. I wanted to have two 4x4's...and now I do. Have an 05 Jeep KJ 4x4 as well.

Owning a Rover and Jeep is nice, they are distant cousins after all.