> Hi All
> Looking for opinions and perhaps a bit of information on the above.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> with cheap(er) parts if you're willing to shop around?
> Any advice/opinions will be much appreciated!
Few comments on
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm
Suggestion is that sources of parts may be limited so shopping around
may not be an option!
Martin
abloss@golder.com came up with the following;:
> I don't do any serious off-roading, but do tow my club dive RIB (~1.8
> tonnes) and need something that will also be happy retrieving this from
> the slipway. The Korando seems to be capable of this and the diesel
> variant also seems to offer pretty reasonable economy for when I have
> to travel round the country for work.
Be aware that when towing, what looks like a reasonable mpg figure is
decimated. The engines are not the most powerful and suffer under load.
> Anyway, there are two things that are currently concerning me: one is
> the spares price and the other is build quality and reliability. So:
> Is it possible to buy spares more cheaply if you shop around? i.e.
> pattern parts etc?
Very limited availability as there's only a relatively (to other 4x4's) few
buyers of the cars.
> Also, I understand that whilst they are sold as having Merc engines,
> these are constructed on the Pacific Rim under license and aren't quite
> as good as the actual Merc built ones. How do people rate the
> relability of the mechanical and electrical parts?
Nice diplomatic way of saying they aren't 'really' Merc's, just badged. A
friend who I trust had three in a row, from new, all of which had a cooling
problem which resulted in head gasket failure. I dunno (couldn't be
bothered to see) if this was a 'they all do that sir' type problem or not.
He won't touch them again.

Signature
Paul ...
(8(|) Homer Rules ..... Doh !!!