They do say that a lot in OZ, but if we are being honest that is not from personal experience but often that is because they heard someone else say it !!, and is this the same Toyota that recalled 9.5 million cars worldwide in 2010, all is not exactly healthy in the Toyota garage ??
Land Rover have been their own worst enemy in the past, no question about that, I owned a TDI DEFENDER and a Series 2 Discovery, both were reliable enough but nothing to write home about with the occaisional niggly little faults and the usual oil leaks here and there, and 80 series cruiser would no doubt be more reliable, but this is the past and Land Rover have un-arguably come on leaps and bounds in the last six to eight years alone.
I now drive a Disco3 in Oz, 2006 model bought in 2008 and was Land Rovers last chance with me, now with 170,000kms on it, it has been nothing short of bulletproof - all but for a coolant sensor failing and giving me a low coolant message on the dash and fixed during a service under warranty.
It has taken on the Simpson and Tanami deserts, Googs track, Canning stock route, Kimberley, down the coast of W.A., Coffin bay, Port Lincoln N.P, the Flinders, Gammon and Gawler ranges and now regularly takes on the Victorian high country and Snowy mountain tracks without any fuss whatsoever. Ford ownership did wonders at Land Rover no question (and even more so at Jaguar, 2nd only to Lexus these days in reliabilty)
Land Rover now reliable as a Toyota or Ford, probably not quite if i'm being honest, but as reliable as any Nissan or Mitsubishi certainly, and easily more reliable than any unmodified Jeep, and certainly don't deserve un-reliable tag any more.
But (given the quote below) they have a long road back now at Land Rover marketing to get back the faith in their product that will get Aussie Toyota die hards out of their Cruisers and Lux's, that will be the real test of the new Defender range, but it's a long road back, Aussies are as brand faithfull as they come.
But give the new car (DC100, or probably DC120 for Oz market) a chance before judging it, with the Cruisers becoming an ever more complex Luxury barge, and Nissan Patrols going bling for the Arab/U.S. market, this new vehicle if they get it right should become the new benchmark for an incredibly capable and reliable straight out of the box Expedition tourer.
AS they say in Oz
.
"If you want to get there, drive a Land Rover." "If you want to get back again, drive a Toyota"
It wasn't anywhere near as bling tho, you must be righteously proud of that one- they're like hens teeth and keep their value better than any other 4x4!
