Faults:
It would perhaps be simpler to list the items that *didn't* break.
In the year I had this car, the head gasket blew very expensively, the ABS failed twice, a headlight unit filled up with water, the (electric) rear windows stopped working, the rear window demister stopped working, and the car had three water leaks (not counting those caused by the head gasket).
General Comments:
You have to hand it to British Leyland, they designed the Mach 1 Range Rover, a phenomenal car and the first luxury SUV more or less out of their own parts bin (presumably money was short in the early seventies). For that reason, even by the time this 1989 one rolled off the production line, it had heating controls from an SD-1, door handles from a Morris Marina and (I'm sure) many other bits borrowed from cars long since pensioned off. Put it all together, however, and it made for a rather classy, if somewhat eccentrically styled, vehicle.
Ever such a long time had passed since the car was shiny and new, and me buying it, but I needed a 4x4 (at the time I was just starting out as a rural vet) and this one seemed to be in pretty good condition for not much more than a grand. And, when everything worked, it was a superb car on road and off. Supremely comfortable, virtually unstoppable, huge boot, lovely (albeit not original) stereo, more than decent performance. In short, I loved it.
So why, given that Leyland had designed this god of 4x4's did they then proceed to make it out of blu tac and rubber bands, using quality control that wouldn't have passed muster at Lada? Okay, any car have a head gasket failure especially at that mileage, but why (once this was fixed) did the water still pour out of every available hole? Why were the cabin electrics made from wire of a quality I wouldn't expect to see in an Alba hi-fi? Why, when the recipe was clearly a good one, were the ingredients so rubbish?
The final straw was the ABS. The pump had failed not long after I got the car, so I had it replaced, but then - some months later - it wouldn't shut off, not even when the car was shut off. I had to disconnect the battery to shut it down. Eventually I traced the fault to the relay bank by the passenger seat, and one relay in particular. The relay was replaced for less than fiver, but the damage was done and the second pump failed soon after. Why was there no cut out? Why was a £4 relay ever allowed to break a several hundred pound ABS system?
Shortly after that I cleared my student loans, and therefore found myself with the capability of trading my Range Rover in for a more modern example, so I went straight out and bought myself...
...a Toyota.
Sure, my Land Cruiser has less class and character, and it isn't quite as much fun to drive, but the Landcruiser starts first time every time, and that's what counts.
15th Dec 2007, 06:21
Just out of interest how old is the Landcruiser you bought? (
I know RR's are not the most reliable four wheel drives, but yours was 14 years old when you bought it.