Runner
I have to say that my experience with Lrs is the comp-lete opposite. Admittedly not in the sahara but in the Balkans during the war and no i wasn;t in the army. Everything that could go wrong did on a succession of LRs - door locks, tailgate hinges, crankshaft and piston failure, fuel leaks, transfer box failure, clutch failure etc etc. I hear regularly from mates who have just bought a new LR and ground to a halt on the way home. As a kid/teenager growing up in kenya, we had a petrol TLC and a Renault 4 with bigger tyres. Apart from routine maintenance neither car let us down over an 8 year period. Except for a host of punctures one day on the R4 and that was because we were in the middle of nowhere in the Samburu, northern Kenya. We all make our decisions on what to buy based on past experiences and I for one would never buy a British vehicle again. Ever. But I know plenty of others who have and they are very happy. I now have a 1993 80 series Land Cruiser with only 53 thousand miles on the clock. I may break it, it may break, but it was my choice to buy a Toyota. It's much more comfortable for my 6'2"+ frame, is a 4.2TD so powerful for what I need in n Africa, huge payload, and automatic because I gave up changing gear ages ago. By the way, the auto box is tough - all I've done is add an oil cooler to it to cope with sahara heat. I've done the usual springs and shocks mods and more. The only electrickery is in the windows, switches for the three difflocks etc etc. I wish I'd bought one years ago. Living in London, it is great fun hauling it around the narrow streets. More fun in the desert tho'. My experience in Africa lead to my choice.
jeremy
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pigapicha
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