O/T Jap Crap

I know and speak to many people who own various 4x4 makes. From Series to things like the X5 and ML series. None of them are perfect. They've all had teething problems (except the guy with the new VW 4x4 thingy), and all spent some time back at the garage for "further refinement". ;-)

When you take a 4x4 off-road, the additional stress on the whole vehicle can cause things to give before their time. Question is - will we still see X5's, RAV 4's and ML series "soft roader's" on the roads in 10-20 years time?

It's horses for courses. I'm not defending Land Rover as I really believe their quality, and in some cases, Service needs to be improved. However, in every barrel of apples, you'll find a lemon.

H.

Considering how many Ladas and Yugos you still see (as in, some), let alone pre-whale Granadas and pre-Rover Metros, I wouldn't be surprised.

Mind you, it's a long time since I've seen a Datsun 120Y in the flesh, or a Maxi for that matter ...

Does an Allegro count? There was an old bloke in the Homebase/Halfords carpark yesterday. Don't remember the Datsun but my Dad regretted every single minute of owning the Maxi he had. It was more of a money pitt than the Triumph 2.5pi he had got rid of because it was doing less than 15mpg.

-- Nikki

Twas Tue, 09 Dec 2003 18:32:54 +0000 when Nikki put finger to keyboard producing:

which is the one with the square steering wheel? someone near me owns (and drives) one of them.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

|| which is the one with the square steering wheel? someone near me owns || (and drives) one of them. || --

"Quartic" was the invented name for this. Jeez.

Allegro?

No - that was b British crap

Which one?

in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Mr.Nice. at snipped-for-privacy@-nospam-clara.co.uk wrote on 9/12/03 19:12:

I ran a Maxi for a few years, with very few problems. But it was jacked up in the workshop one day when the structure gave way, and it sagged in the middle.

I can't recall what I was doing to the car, but I'm glad I wasn't underneath at the time, or driving it.

Mk1 Allegro with the "Quartic" steering wheel.

I used to run a Vanden Plas 1500 which was actually an Allegro 1500 with a rolls royce style grille, very nice leather upholstery and lots of walnut and chrome splashed around the inside. Mine was at the end of its life when I got it, but still had FSH back to 1975.

Nice cars to drive, just a bit of a maintenance pig.

Fond memories really.

P.

LOL .. we jacked a Maxi up once, using a Hi-Lift, just in front of the rear wheel, using the 'approved' jacking point. The Hi-lift kept lifting, the Maxi stayed where it was .. The sill/chassis had rusted from within and merely crumpled when asked to lift .. ;)

My dad ran a fantastic Maxi when I was a kid. We still mourn the level loading deck (as provided by the Rangie tail gate) as all hatchbacks since have annoying lips to them. For my tenth birthday (a trip to visit the Thames Barrier and it's visitor centre) we put the rear seats down and had 6 of us lads sprawled across the back. This was before seat belts (& associated laws) in the rear seats! We even had a (non full size) snooker table on the roof at one point! And it was the same colour as Camel Trophy Landies!

Fond memories.

Cheers,

Rich

Calf Scour Brown we called that colour

Graeme

I think what my Dad bought it for was to get us four kids in, not that we thought it was much wider than the Triumph which had red leather seats and a wooden dash, was white and had a permanent rash of red oxide paint that never got painted over.

The Maxi on the other had velour seat which I think my brother managed to rip with in a week of getting it and what Dad hated most of all(apart from having to repair something every other weekend)was its complete lack of power. Gutless was one word he used to describe it. We went on holiday to Cornwall in it one year towing a small trailer. We cheered when it finally got up to 70mph on the motorway.

Ours was Burgandy. Dad did a swap for a Rover SDi which broke down on the way home and arrived at our on the back of the AA Van. Good start. He got it sorted and we had that car until I left home.

Twas Tue, 09 Dec 2003 21:18:23 +0000 when Nikki put finger to keyboard producing:

Allegro I think

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 22:03:39 +0000, "Paul S. Brown" made me spill my meths by writing:

This wasn't due to someone realising that the instruments couldn't be seen with a round steering wheel was it :)

|| || My dad ran a fantastic Maxi when I was a kid. We still mourn the || || And it was the same colour as Camel Trophy Landies! ||

I had a Mini (my first car) in that colour - think it was called Sandglow. Funny how it looked completely horrible on BL products, but completely ace on Landies.

|| On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 22:03:39 +0000, "Paul S. Brown" || made me spill my meths by writing: || ||| Mk1 Allegro with the "Quartic" steering wheel. || || This wasn't due to someone realising that the instruments couldn't be || seen with a round steering wheel was it :)

No, I think it was just a marketing man's "creative" idea (what can we do that's really radical? I know, steering wheels are usually round, so...). Lasted about 10 minutes before being withdrawn, which is 9 minutes longer than the speak-your-weight voice synthesiser in the Montego.