wood-gee Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Got back this weekend from a 2000 mile road trip to the south of France to go surfing so thought I'd post a few pictures as I thought people on here might appreciate seeing my landy going on adventures. Contrary to the expectations of my work colleagues and quite frankly myself it didn't break down once, with the worst issue being a windscreen wiper falling off! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Awesome, that's the way to travel, top off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I agree, Land Rovers are as reliable as any other 4WD, but it all comes down to preparation. I've now done a tad over 230,000 kilometres in the Australian bush on at times some absolutely demented tracks and just driving overland off the track and over the desert. The only failures that I've had in all that time (5 years) and distance are :- 2013 A broken oil cooler (corrugation vibrations) 2015 A cracked rear drivers side brake line (again, corrugations) 2012-15 Three punctures due to spinifex grass spikes. 2012 Auxiliary Battery failure (low acid/water) due to constant winching 2015 Loss of two "D" shackles - vibrations. 2015 Broken LH indicator lens - due to mulga bushes not jumping out of the way. I always have a garage carry out a "spanner check" before I go just to give the car a second set of eyes, you can see things and yet because of your familiarity you never see them. Great pics and happy traveling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 They are not as bad as claimed to be... It is all about preperation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Preventative maintenance, something most people don't bother doing.. I don't think either of our Series 3's have ever let us down. Occasional flat batteries, a trip on a flatbed which to be fair was more of a precaution than anything else, she still drove in 4 our of 5 gears. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 nicely done! my housemates and a few other uni friends are heading fo morocco at the end of this month, absolutely gutted that i can't go with them as i start work soon. I have every faith that (after a good old check over and full service) my truck should make it that distance. it has only let me down once since i put it on the road in 2010, and that was due to me ignoring the need for maintenance because i "didnt have the time" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Sweeet, and a Series too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Excwellent decision. I bet your trip was a lot more fun that if you'd done it in a Eurobox. Preventative maintenance, something most people don't bother doing.. What EJ said ^^^ There seems to be some unwritten practice - once a car reaches a certain age, a greater percentage of owners skimp on essential servicing. I think Landrovers in general are especially afflicted by this behaviour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 People seem to fall into the trap of 'its a land rover it will cope' without thinking that they do need looking after too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris113 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Fair play to doing it in a Series, I'm hopefully doing a similar trip in a ragtop 90 this summer, possibly heading over into Northern Italy also. I mentioned a topless road-trip to the GF and received a slap...then she realised I was talking about the Land Rover Where did you visit and how long did it take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood-gee Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 We went to moiliets plage, which is like an hour and a bit north of Biarritz, was there for a week, of which the surf was sick for the first half of the week although sadly dropped off at the end. Took around 24h down including ferry time, maybe 27 back but that's including 2 hours wait for the ferry, drove non stop with me and my mate switching driving and third mate in the middle in charge of tunes and navigation. With regards to what mickeyw said, it really was, I did this same trip with my mate in a people carrier last year and did all down the south coast of France in a skoda last year and the landy was far more of an adventure, plus it's second to none the feeling of driving a car you've put together yourself such a long way. Wholly agree on what's everyone's said about reliability, I think everything that's gone wrong with my landy since having it on the road has been a direct result of poor workmanship or lack of maintenance, but even so there's sadly a stereotype for them being unreliable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood-gee Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Also dipped into the Pyrenees when I went in August, if you're going down that way Boris I'd recommend it, such cool roads to drive, both in turns of nice twisty corners and incredible views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 carp quality parts do a lot for the poor reliability reputation too unfortunately. Looks a nice trip, is it a petrol? That's a lot of fuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood-gee Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 It's true. Derv. It's a 200tdi, w/overdrive and 3.54 diffs, so actually pretty good, got just over 40mpg a few weeks before the trip doing a drive home to Scotland and back, need to figure out mpg from trip but expecting 30-35 with the boards on tops. Without a roof was a revelation too, takes sounds from noisey to agreeable, albeit wind noise is a good deal more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Some say that your choice of gearing would be too much for a Series LR, but I disagree. I imagine it provided nicely relaxed cruising RPM, although to do the trip in 24 hours you must have gone mostly Autoroute, which is perhaps less relaxing. Did you manage the entire trip sans roof? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Agree on the sound with top off, makes such a difference, you don't notice the whining etc with that amount of wind noise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Have always had tremendous reliability with my land-rovers over more than 4 decades, and 100' s of thousands of miles . Last trip over 3500kms thru Germany . to Prague and back , couldn't even top oil or water up . In 15 years traveling to and in Australia , 1 puncture, 1 uni joint , and 1 broken s/absorber . remember the 6 P's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Our's work for a living - and work hard.. This is the Ninety en route from Holland with 6.2 tonnes trainweight in Feb. A 2,000 miles round trip and did well. The Series Hybrid and 110 HT are also kept busy. But we try to keep up the maintenance to the best we can as I hate it when somebody is stranded en route.. It is all about the old saying : look after them and they'll look after you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaliboy Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 That's awesome! I would have loved to do this in my old Lightweight, many moons ago! I've done it in the Discovery since, and it performed faultlessly. As everyone has said, "it's all in the preparation"... though a tad amount of luck helps ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjh Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Just totalled up the mileage in my 110 round Europe in the last ten years, 89000 miles (1994 110 300tdi). Breakdowns: Starter Motor changed in Germany Indicators packed up in Belgium sorted in 10 mins new 4 way flasher switch Lift pump in Croatia- changed in car park That's it, its all about preparation sadly which many seem to forget. Regards Keith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Well Done !!!! Like me, we take the Series places Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.