Don't Buy a Land-Rover... until you read this.
Take a long, careful look at this Land-Rover. Before we go any further, please consider your initial reaction to the photographs. This Land-Rover was advertised as having been “fully restored by a master!” It was from New Zealand so rust was not an issue. Structurally it was rock solid. It demonstrated none of the endemic rust issues so prevalent in older Land-Rovers. Unless you have obscene amounts of cash to throw away on a deficient early Land-Rover you almost certainly benefit from reading on.
A prospective owner from across the country called me approximately 6 months ago with the following message: “I’m sitting here with my checkbook open on my desk and am on the verge of writing a check for this Land-Rover. [the one pictured here], and I caught myself at the last minute, realizing that I was not qualified to distinguish a good Land-Rover from a bad one, so I’m calling you. Would you be willing to look at this group of pictures and tell me what you think?”
I did look at the pictures and we spoke a few minutes later. “What do you think?” He queried. I replied that in five brief minutes of analyzing the pictures I had found approximately thirty visual faults. He asked for my counsel and I said, in essence, that if he was still serious about this particular machine that I had better test drive it. Consequently I flew to Toronto and did just that, but before the actual drive I logged a page and two thirds of additional faults during static observation. (There were at the same time six positive items to report on!)
Next I carried out a driving survey, whereupon the situation turned from bad to appalling. Up ‘til that point the Land-Rover fairly shone. Suffice it to say that, on a scale from one to ten, this vehicle proved itself mechanically a less-than-inspiring four. It proved beyond doubt a mechanical nightmare.
Once back at my office I conferred with the prospective owner. “Write a check if you must, but not for more than $16,000.00 and do not take delivery of the Land-Rover. Ship it instead directly to me and be prepared to spend an additional $20,000.00 to correct the most glaring of the faults.”
If you can afford making this kind of mistake you will not require my services. The client mentioned above expressed considerable gratitude for my having saved his hide. My shop is plagued by a virtually relentless parade of “fully restored” Land-Rovers requiring tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in corrective work.
There are innumerable facts out there on the internet, but facts can deceive. Facts can mislead. Facts instill a false confidence. Only wisdom cuts through the fog of doubt. With more than 40 international restoration prizes to my credit and 40 years experience with Land-Rover I can survey your prospective purchase from behind my desk in most cases. Does it interest you to learn that I disqualify better than 95% of the Land-Rovers I survey? Perhaps that’s because I am retained by intelligent individuals who seek knowledgeable appraisals before they purchase. For those lacking the native sense to look carefully before they leap, my shop is well equipped to correct the legions of unsuspected horrors. In my professional opinion probably 90% of the vintage Land-Rovers on the market today are carbon copies of the one described above. Which one do you plan to purchase? Do you know the difference? Can you afford to be wrong?
A prospective owner from across the country called me approximately 6 months ago with the following message: “I’m sitting here with my checkbook open on my desk and am on the verge of writing a check for this Land-Rover. [the one pictured here], and I caught myself at the last minute, realizing that I was not qualified to distinguish a good Land-Rover from a bad one, so I’m calling you. Would you be willing to look at this group of pictures and tell me what you think?”
I did look at the pictures and we spoke a few minutes later. “What do you think?” He queried. I replied that in five brief minutes of analyzing the pictures I had found approximately thirty visual faults. He asked for my counsel and I said, in essence, that if he was still serious about this particular machine that I had better test drive it. Consequently I flew to Toronto and did just that, but before the actual drive I logged a page and two thirds of additional faults during static observation. (There were at the same time six positive items to report on!)
Next I carried out a driving survey, whereupon the situation turned from bad to appalling. Up ‘til that point the Land-Rover fairly shone. Suffice it to say that, on a scale from one to ten, this vehicle proved itself mechanically a less-than-inspiring four. It proved beyond doubt a mechanical nightmare.
Once back at my office I conferred with the prospective owner. “Write a check if you must, but not for more than $16,000.00 and do not take delivery of the Land-Rover. Ship it instead directly to me and be prepared to spend an additional $20,000.00 to correct the most glaring of the faults.”
If you can afford making this kind of mistake you will not require my services. The client mentioned above expressed considerable gratitude for my having saved his hide. My shop is plagued by a virtually relentless parade of “fully restored” Land-Rovers requiring tens upon tens of thousands of dollars in corrective work.
There are innumerable facts out there on the internet, but facts can deceive. Facts can mislead. Facts instill a false confidence. Only wisdom cuts through the fog of doubt. With more than 40 international restoration prizes to my credit and 40 years experience with Land-Rover I can survey your prospective purchase from behind my desk in most cases. Does it interest you to learn that I disqualify better than 95% of the Land-Rovers I survey? Perhaps that’s because I am retained by intelligent individuals who seek knowledgeable appraisals before they purchase. For those lacking the native sense to look carefully before they leap, my shop is well equipped to correct the legions of unsuspected horrors. In my professional opinion probably 90% of the vintage Land-Rovers on the market today are carbon copies of the one described above. Which one do you plan to purchase? Do you know the difference? Can you afford to be wrong?