TROUBLE ON THE INSIDE

The first five days into Land Rover ownership prove testing times for Louise, but – as the saying goes – every cloud has a silver lining...

So, here I am, five days into Land Rover ownership, the Discovery Owners Club window sticker firmly in place and the tank filled up... I’m a happy girl.

And in those first five days exactly 500 miles were driven up to Selby, Yorkshire – on one tank of fuel, using mainly A and B roads. Not bad, but it did highlight a few problem areas.

New wiper blades are a must for example, as is a dog guard to prevent Sam, our Jack Russell, from jumping over the back seats and laying on the dashboard.

Cosmetically there are a few jobs I’d like to tackle in the near future, too. The hand brake and gear stick gaiters are so worn they are almost translucent, the rev counter doesn’t really work (the needle bounces all over the place) and the rear wiper is temperamental. However, these are all things that I am looking forward to fixing.

Then, on the fifth day, and on my drive home from work, disaster struck. Me being me, and not an avid Land Rover expert yet, I saw a light come on the dashboard – about four miles from home. It was the battery light. I was driving on a straight road at this time at about 50 mph. Now, I know from Steve that often lights will come on a dashboard, especially with older cars, so I attempted to contact Steve on my hands-free kit just to make sure. He didn’t answer as he was riding home on his motorbike. Hoping for the best, I kept on driving... As I came up to a roundabout, the steering became stiff and I noticed that the lovely warm air from the blowers had turned cold. I arrived home just as Steve returned, too. He has a nose for this kind of thing and as he followed me in to the yard at home he said he could smell something was up. As he lifted the bonnet, steam rose out of the engine bay. Heated words were exchanged and I knew I had broken my new old car.

Fortunately, our mate Pete was on his way over to our place that evening – not to fix Land Rovers I must add, but at least he could tell us what was wrong.

As soon as Pete arrived he made a quick diagnosis. The water pump basically gave up, which threw the fan belt off. Because it’s a Serpentine belt (which drives the alternator/ water pump, power steering pump and fan), he said I was very lucky to have got home without causing major engine problems.

Hmm, I thought lovingly at this point about my recently-sold reliable Toyota, and where she was right now.

Luckily for me, Pete had a day off work on the Monday so we phoned for parts from JGS 4x4 (again fortunately for me these guys are very local to us) and everything was in stock and the repair began straight away. On the upside, I now know how to fit a fan belt, check the water in the header tank, and can point out various parts within the engine.

My Land Rover was back on the road in a little over two hours. Faith had been restored. Had the same happened to my old Toyota hybrid I suspect the repairs would have been much more expensive and much timelier!