Thread: Service and running costs Merc vs Jag.

Originally Posted by gadgetman

Funny you should say that. When we finally found a manual 4x4 Hiace we found two. One had ABS and half the km's. The other had the left mirror sticking out the front with a mirror that let you see across the front. The mirror was more useful. Cannot think of a single occasion in nearly 40 years of driving where ABS would help me. With the extra height you can see trouble coming further off.

Man I wouldn't want to be caught out without ABS, sure you don't need it most of the time but the one time you need to do an emergency stop and their is a wet road or a patch to gravel you didn't see you would be thankful for it.
ABS isn't particularly unreliable anyway and using that logic may as well get rid of power steering and fuel injection too. I know someone who bought a 2wd non turbo Navara because 4x4 and turbos are just another thing to break. Whilst I can see an argument against common rail diesels, there's no way in hell I'd by a diesel without a turbo.

The Latest Land Rover Discovery I bought has air suspension in the back and a hydraulic anti-roll bar system (ACE) and I absolutely love them.
The air suspension in the back is great for towing and loading the boot up, no more arse sagging on the ground.
The ACE system is fantastic, there is virtually no body roll in corners which is amazing for the size of the vehicle. The system is pretty reliable too, seems to have less problems than the ABS system, which is hardly a problem.

I did have an issue with electric windows for a while in my first Discovery, but I wouldn't go back to manual windows, reaching back to do rear windows is a mighty pain in the arse.
There was a problem with the window ECU and a bad solder joint, a common problem that was easily fixed. The circuit board has printed on it 'Made in Japan'.