Land rover as a first car?
- Thread starter BrutonW
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Well, depends. The main issue is generally one of insurance costs.
If you like or have an interest in looing after a vehicle than it's a good machine, but the problems usually are that they can be picky and temperamental and this can make them unfriendly to those just having learned to drive.
Not putting you off one, but you might benefit from having some experience with them before committing.
If you like or have an interest in looing after a vehicle than it's a good machine, but the problems usually are that they can be picky and temperamental and this can make them unfriendly to those just having learned to drive.
Not putting you off one, but you might benefit from having some experience with them before committing.
go for it 
if ya can drive an old landy then ya can drive anything
wouldn't reccoment it for sitting your test tho, parallel parking a landy with no power steering is against the laws of physics
and i dont think the lever next the gear stick was ever intended to be connected to the brake was it?
Tant
if ya can drive an old landy then ya can drive anything
wouldn't reccoment it for sitting your test tho, parallel parking a landy with no power steering is against the laws of physics
and i dont think the lever next the gear stick was ever intended to be connected to the brake was it?
Tant
I wouldnt recommend a lanny as a first car - especially not an older model.
Driving a lanny takes a level of experience and they are very thirsty animals - costs, in fuel alone, are very high and getting higher!
Driving a lanny takes a level of experience and they are very thirsty animals - costs, in fuel alone, are very high and getting higher!
as a 17 years old, almost old enought to drive, i wouldn't take a landy. Any 4x4 especially the older models are not really stable, so wenn you driving and have to do some evasive manouvers you might end up doing some flips. and ofcorse they drink fuel, a lot of it.
I'm with Gary. Landies are great, but not a wise choice as a first car I'm thinking.
Still you've plenty of time to worry about that eh?
Still you've plenty of time to worry about that eh?
I drive a "normal" car outside work, and a Landy all day for it. I have to say, I absolutley looove driving the Landy, and making eforts to buy the same model for myself (110 Defender 5tdi). I`m lucky in that my bones have grown to fit in with a landy so find it very comfortable much to the resentment and horror of others.
I`d agree with above opinions, its a differnt species to drive, and takes getting used to.
much to the resentment and horror of others.I`d agree with above opinions, its a differnt species to drive, and takes getting used to.
Paganwolf
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I have 2 landys a series 3 ex mod raf police 109 its big and green and lovely i payed £2150 for it its 21 years old with 35000 miles on it its in mint condition i would reccomend the 2.4 petrol does a few more mpg (about 16/17 MPG :yikes: ) but the engine is nicer to work on quieter and spares are easy to get, once you have one there more like a pet than a car!! fairly cheap to insure as its an old vehicle and if you only do limited milage insurance is pretty cheap (costs me 113 quid a year 3000 miles limited) mines like a mobile bushcraft centre ): the others a new freelander TD4 sport, i prefer driving my old baby to my new, i would suggest taking someone who knows about landys with you to chek it over if you see one, I could go on forever but chassis and bulkhead are the things that rot away the rests mainly Ally... :wave: once you have one you will be converted!!! :shock:
): the others a new freelander TD4 sport, i prefer driving my old baby to my new, i would suggest taking someone who knows about landys with you to chek it over if you see one, I could go on forever but chassis and bulkhead are the things that rot away the rests mainly Ally... :wave: once you have one you will be converted!!! :shock:20 odd years ago an early series 3 from the first half of the 1970s was the first car I bought myself after passing my test. You aimed it rather than steared it and it was a bit on the thirsty side but I loved it. I thought getting out at junctions would be a pain given its negligable acceleration but the technique of aiming in front of somthing new and shiney seemed to work! All in all a brilliant machine which I kept for about 10 years until my job meant traveling further than was comfortable in it!
Cheers
David
Cheers
David
mate.. i looked at getting a serise to just after i passed my test... i live in the country.. park off the road.. and hold a pass plus certificate.. most insurance companys wont even ensure you FULLSTOP! and those that will are in excess of £2500 a year...
also if you are going to crash it is likly going to be in the first two years of your driving... if you hit someone in a landy... you will totally flatten them!
also if you are going to crash it is likly going to be in the first two years of your driving... if you hit someone in a landy... you will totally flatten them!
Landy as a first car? A good idea if you can afford a decent one. They hold their value so well that you'll probably end up buying one on its last legs and spend more time under the bonnet than in the driver's seat.
Try CIS for insurance. They're the only firm I found who offer an "any driver, including under 21" clause on their policy. I think I was paying about £300 for a 110 300 Tdi hi cap for any driver over the age of seventeen when I was about 25. Perhaps your dad'll insure it for you on this type of policy. My current insurers won't touch anyone under 25 for Landies.
What about a Suzuki SJ410 or SJ413? Just as good as a Land Rover for everything except heavy towing. Cheap tax, cheap insurance, loads of mpg. Not very fashionable at the moment, so more some bargains to be had. Lada Nivas are really good off road too. Just don't tell anyone I said so......
Try CIS for insurance. They're the only firm I found who offer an "any driver, including under 21" clause on their policy. I think I was paying about £300 for a 110 300 Tdi hi cap for any driver over the age of seventeen when I was about 25. Perhaps your dad'll insure it for you on this type of policy. My current insurers won't touch anyone under 25 for Landies.
What about a Suzuki SJ410 or SJ413? Just as good as a Land Rover for everything except heavy towing. Cheap tax, cheap insurance, loads of mpg. Not very fashionable at the moment, so more some bargains to be had. Lada Nivas are really good off road too. Just don't tell anyone I said so......
My first car was a Land-Rover. Technically it wasn't because I had a VW for about two months before I spotted a Land-Rover 88 station wagon for sale at a dealer in West Virginia. He had one other and I think they were the last two he ever had. That was in 1968.
It was not necessarily the most practical vehicle for me at that point but I used it a great deal off-road, on backroads, on old strip mines and every time it snowed, I went up every steep hill in town.
I even knew two other people, both college students like myself, who owned Land-Rovers, but theirs were both long wheel base models. I think all of them were 1965 model years.
They were easily as capable off-road/rough tracks as anything else around there, as I proved on a few trips with other four-wheelers. That was before the invention of the SUV concept, although there were certainly around in the form of Jeep station wagons, both old and new, Jeepsters (sort of a sporterized Jeep Universal), Land Cruiser station wagons, and already there were Chevy Suburbans. A lot of people who wanted an imported 4x4 thought Land Cruisers better. Personally, I would have enjoyed owned a Dodge Power-Wagon.
My mileage was never very great, only about 14 miles a gallon, no matter what sort of driving I did. No matter. I was happy with it. I ended up wrecking the thing in a downtown traffic accident.
It was not necessarily the most practical vehicle for me at that point but I used it a great deal off-road, on backroads, on old strip mines and every time it snowed, I went up every steep hill in town.
I even knew two other people, both college students like myself, who owned Land-Rovers, but theirs were both long wheel base models. I think all of them were 1965 model years.
They were easily as capable off-road/rough tracks as anything else around there, as I proved on a few trips with other four-wheelers. That was before the invention of the SUV concept, although there were certainly around in the form of Jeep station wagons, both old and new, Jeepsters (sort of a sporterized Jeep Universal), Land Cruiser station wagons, and already there were Chevy Suburbans. A lot of people who wanted an imported 4x4 thought Land Cruisers better. Personally, I would have enjoyed owned a Dodge Power-Wagon.
My mileage was never very great, only about 14 miles a gallon, no matter what sort of driving I did. No matter. I was happy with it. I ended up wrecking the thing in a downtown traffic accident.
BrutonW said:
I don't know where abouts in the UK you are based, but why don't you join your local Land Rover club. They run all sorts of events from junior trials up to full blown Comp Safaris (off road racing).
They actively encourage new mebers especially youngsters and would help you as much as possible. Try this link for your nearest club then phone the membership secretary:
http://www.the-arc.co.uk/clubs.html
My first car was a series 2 (just bought another one), loved driving it, and i may have been lucky but it never broke down in such a way as to stop me getting home, although there juicy on fuel they are very cheap to fix, nothing that can't be done by me anyway and i'm no mechanic. Insurance is the only real stumbling block to your dream, best bet is to get your parents on the v5 and be a named driver, fine aslong as your not the main driver , sounds dodgy but theres no reason any landrover should cost a fortune to insure, it's just a lack of understanding by the suited rapists in the city. If you save the bucks then buy a desiel, far better mpg but more costly to buy. Sorry don't know how to do links but check out www.landyzone.co.uk, good info from real enthusiasts (sickboy on both forums ). Oh and don't be afraid of engine conversions on landys, anyone for a montego desiel?
, sounds dodgy but theres no reason any landrover should cost a fortune to insure, it's just a lack of understanding by the suited rapists in the city. If you save the bucks then buy a desiel, far better mpg but more costly to buy. Sorry don't know how to do links but check out www.landyzone.co.uk, good info from real enthusiasts (sickboy on both forums ). Oh and don't be afraid of engine conversions on landys, anyone for a montego desiel? Similar threads
