Hello everyone, this is my first post, so a bit of an introduction before the questions!
I bought my first Land Rover around 20 years ago, and it was an '88 3.5 EFI classic with a few problems which I sorted. I've since had 5 of those lovelies in total over the years doing plenty of club off-roading. I also had a P38 which I try to forget about and still feel guilty for auctioning it off with slipped liners...
I've had 3 Discoveries (Mks 2,3 and 4) and a Defender (chipped TD5 at 186bhp that I took to190,000 miles) plus a V8 super-charged L322 and my current bus is a V6 L405. Only the Defender and Discos were diesel, the rest all petrol which I strongly prefer, and it helps that my mileage is low.
I love my current L405 to bits... it's just the nuts. How LR have managed to retain the spirit of the Range Rover while getting it to the level of luxury they have amazes me.
Touching vast amounts of wood, I've been remarkably lucky. The ONLY LR that has ever let me down was the P38, as the air suspension dumped it's guts at the side of the M6 requiring a 160 mile recovery... I fitted OME coils and shocks and never looked back.. until it started drinking coolant. Actually the turbo blew on the Defender, but that was as I got home, so I limped into the driveway and replaced it in-situ with a recon from London Turbos. No bother at all, and only cost me 2 broken knuckles and a right finger.
Anyhoo.... I test drove a Fieldmaster at the weekend. Well. I have to say I was gripped by it. I mean, REALLY gripped by it. Very unusual - I like my cars, trucks and bikes, but I haven't been so taken by something so much for a long, long time. I ripped around a few roundabouts, and bounced it up a couple of quite nasty back lanes. I was astonished at the feeling of total and utter solidity. It took me around 5 minutes to get used to the steering, and since I'm such a short-arse I didn't really notice "the lump". Only when the demo guy told me about it and the exhaust pipe problem did I wonder, but I just thought it was quite a nice big footplate like the T5 Transporter has. I'm not convinced that would bother me. I loved the controls, the cabin, the display, the cargo mounts, the solid doors, the twin sunroofs. The LH rear door is pointless, and clearly you have to open both... don't care. I liked the wheels, and the tyres. I liked the fat sporty steering wheel in a 4x4. I though the road noise wasn't even noticable. I drove right up the arse of a Discovery Sport and shouted "how does this feel? Yeaaahhh!!!" before backing off, apologising and realising I was behaving like a BMW driver. I liked opening and closing the doors. Solid. I liked resting my arm on the door just like my beloved Defender. I just bloody liked it.
I would sum up my first hour in a test drive Grenadier as follows: if JRL had decided to continue with the real Defender, then this car is exactly how the XS would be built right now, today. Just enough luxury, and not too much tech. Radcliffe has hit the bullseye on that one. It's also what I would ideally take my Defender to - if I was happy to spend £20k on mods and garage time.
So... do I buy one?
First: I'm letting the schoolboy hormonal rush subside, as we all know daft things are done when wood's around. Else I might walk straight in and spend the wife's pension pot on a Fieldmaster with all the extras.
Second: I'm going to read more about the models, the options and the taxation mess as I've never bought a new vehicle. Maybe a used one is the way to go? There's plenty around... more on that later.
Third: I would like another test drive, and see if it gives me hot flushes again. If it does, then that kind of seals it.
A question that's asked a lot: why are there so many used with 2,000 - 5,000 miles on them? The prices are such that these can't be people "flipping" them as was predicted. I saw a comment from mikemike39 about how it would be possible if you've bought one early at a fixed price, but after dealer profit margin I can't see them having made much money? Demand in the UK has not materialise as it has elsewhere, or as Ineos anticipated.
So that makes me wonder: is this just people who've wanted to be "on-trend" and pose around in this thing, then realised it's not the same as their X7 or Q6 or whatever? Are they tall people who can't take the driving position? Are their wives nagging them (sorry, sexist) because the rear door's no good for shopping? Are the kids crying because there's no rear screens like there was in the Galaxy to watch Tinkywanks on? Did they just get bored and realise they'd overspent on a vanity project.
Or, are they scaring people with false alarms, incomplete service network, not yet good enough service levels, and those buyers are just bottling it?
If you like, please give me some advice. Is it normal to get so aroused in a 4x4? Should I buy one? Should I buy used? Why are so many being sold with low miles, and are they potentially broken?
I don't know what to do, but I think I really want one.
Thanks for any and all thoughts, comments and feedback. Cheer the noo. Jock
I bought my first Land Rover around 20 years ago, and it was an '88 3.5 EFI classic with a few problems which I sorted. I've since had 5 of those lovelies in total over the years doing plenty of club off-roading. I also had a P38 which I try to forget about and still feel guilty for auctioning it off with slipped liners...
I've had 3 Discoveries (Mks 2,3 and 4) and a Defender (chipped TD5 at 186bhp that I took to190,000 miles) plus a V8 super-charged L322 and my current bus is a V6 L405. Only the Defender and Discos were diesel, the rest all petrol which I strongly prefer, and it helps that my mileage is low.
I love my current L405 to bits... it's just the nuts. How LR have managed to retain the spirit of the Range Rover while getting it to the level of luxury they have amazes me.
Touching vast amounts of wood, I've been remarkably lucky. The ONLY LR that has ever let me down was the P38, as the air suspension dumped it's guts at the side of the M6 requiring a 160 mile recovery... I fitted OME coils and shocks and never looked back.. until it started drinking coolant. Actually the turbo blew on the Defender, but that was as I got home, so I limped into the driveway and replaced it in-situ with a recon from London Turbos. No bother at all, and only cost me 2 broken knuckles and a right finger.
Anyhoo.... I test drove a Fieldmaster at the weekend. Well. I have to say I was gripped by it. I mean, REALLY gripped by it. Very unusual - I like my cars, trucks and bikes, but I haven't been so taken by something so much for a long, long time. I ripped around a few roundabouts, and bounced it up a couple of quite nasty back lanes. I was astonished at the feeling of total and utter solidity. It took me around 5 minutes to get used to the steering, and since I'm such a short-arse I didn't really notice "the lump". Only when the demo guy told me about it and the exhaust pipe problem did I wonder, but I just thought it was quite a nice big footplate like the T5 Transporter has. I'm not convinced that would bother me. I loved the controls, the cabin, the display, the cargo mounts, the solid doors, the twin sunroofs. The LH rear door is pointless, and clearly you have to open both... don't care. I liked the wheels, and the tyres. I liked the fat sporty steering wheel in a 4x4. I though the road noise wasn't even noticable. I drove right up the arse of a Discovery Sport and shouted "how does this feel? Yeaaahhh!!!" before backing off, apologising and realising I was behaving like a BMW driver. I liked opening and closing the doors. Solid. I liked resting my arm on the door just like my beloved Defender. I just bloody liked it.
I would sum up my first hour in a test drive Grenadier as follows: if JRL had decided to continue with the real Defender, then this car is exactly how the XS would be built right now, today. Just enough luxury, and not too much tech. Radcliffe has hit the bullseye on that one. It's also what I would ideally take my Defender to - if I was happy to spend £20k on mods and garage time.
So... do I buy one?
First: I'm letting the schoolboy hormonal rush subside, as we all know daft things are done when wood's around. Else I might walk straight in and spend the wife's pension pot on a Fieldmaster with all the extras.
Second: I'm going to read more about the models, the options and the taxation mess as I've never bought a new vehicle. Maybe a used one is the way to go? There's plenty around... more on that later.
Third: I would like another test drive, and see if it gives me hot flushes again. If it does, then that kind of seals it.
A question that's asked a lot: why are there so many used with 2,000 - 5,000 miles on them? The prices are such that these can't be people "flipping" them as was predicted. I saw a comment from mikemike39 about how it would be possible if you've bought one early at a fixed price, but after dealer profit margin I can't see them having made much money? Demand in the UK has not materialise as it has elsewhere, or as Ineos anticipated.
So that makes me wonder: is this just people who've wanted to be "on-trend" and pose around in this thing, then realised it's not the same as their X7 or Q6 or whatever? Are they tall people who can't take the driving position? Are their wives nagging them (sorry, sexist) because the rear door's no good for shopping? Are the kids crying because there's no rear screens like there was in the Galaxy to watch Tinkywanks on? Did they just get bored and realise they'd overspent on a vanity project.
Or, are they scaring people with false alarms, incomplete service network, not yet good enough service levels, and those buyers are just bottling it?
If you like, please give me some advice. Is it normal to get so aroused in a 4x4? Should I buy one? Should I buy used? Why are so many being sold with low miles, and are they potentially broken?
I don't know what to do, but I think I really want one.
Thanks for any and all thoughts, comments and feedback. Cheer the noo. Jock