Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Reykjavik
Posts: 31
International trip a week or two after delivery of new D4?
Hi everyone.
I wanted to check with you all about your experiences regarding delivery of new D4's. I ordered a 2016.5 HSE which is scheduled to be delivered in the first week of April. I am really looking forward to it. I live in Iceland, and the car is being shipped here.
My girlfriend is currently living in Oslo, and I was thinking of taking a vacation in the spring, rather than summer, and going to visit her. The ferry from Iceland takes about 3 days and stops in the Faroe Islands halfway through. I thought it would be really fun to take the car and drive around Norway and Denmark for a bit, as I have not had the chance to really visit them much.
I asked if it was possible to just pick up the car from Solihull, but Land Rover Iceland said it was not...
In any case, the biggest variable I see in this plan is the challenge of taking a nearly new car and going on a major trip before it is broken in. Is this inadvisable? I know the D4's are supposed to be more reliable, but I know that major problems tend to happen quickly if it is a manufacturing issue. I don't really want to be stuck in a Land Rover shop in Torshavn as the ferry sails away...
What is the consensus on this? I will likely leave two weeks after delivery...
12th Feb 2016 2:11 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73125
Will be fine. What's the point in buying one if you can't use it to do what you want when you want?
12th Feb 2016 2:15 pm
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14479
Mine went from dealer to Verbier 24hours after I collected it. That was 11 years ago, so you'll have no problem.
To be honest, it was probably the best way to run it in. D4 HSE EU6 (Known as Jeeves)
New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!) Sold
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
12th Feb 2016 2:35 pm
grzesiul
Member Since: 11 May 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 6415
We have done 3000 miles around two weeks after picking it up and it was awesome. So much quieter than old one better seats at least for me and my fooked back.
Just enjoy it if it breaks it is only a car - fixable.
G
12th Feb 2016 2:42 pm
StuartR
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Reykjavik
Posts: 31
Thank you all for the confidence! This is my first new car in 15 years...I am currently driving a Freelander 2 that I got nearly new in 2009, so I am quite excited to step up to the D4. I am photographer and drive all through the country, the highlands, through rivers and so on, so I wanted to get the outgoing model as it is a bit more rugged and more geared towards airiness and visibility than the newer models. I was shocked at how low and dark the Discovery Sport felt compared to my FL2...it drove nicely, but the visibility and driving position felt awful to me. I live in a beautiful place, so sit me up high and give me a lot of glass!
The photo below is a picture of the road out to the farm I stay at several times a year. An hour and a half down a single lane dirt road, only open about 5 months a year.
12th Feb 2016 5:50 pm
boyd
Member Since: 26 Mar 2014
Location: Brackley
Posts: 217
Have done various overland trips with D4's and RRS's straight out of the box, even drove to Montenegro from the UK in a Sport two days after collecting it from Gaydon and apart from the Nav freezing in Germany with a map download error all was fine.
12th Feb 2016 5:58 pm
boyd
Member Since: 26 Mar 2014
Location: Brackley
Posts: 217
StuartR wrote:
Thank you all for the confidence! This is my first new car in 15 years...I am currently driving a Freelander 2 that I got nearly new in 2009, so I am quite excited to step up to the D4. I am photographer and drive all through the country, the highlands, through rivers and so on, so I wanted to get the outgoing model as it is a bit more rugged and more geared towards airiness and visibility than the newer models. I was shocked at how low and dark the Discovery Sport felt compared to my FL2...it drove nicely, but the visibility and driving position felt awful to me. I live in a beautiful place, so sit me up high and give me a lot of glass!
The photo below is a picture of the road out to the farm I stay at several times a year. An hour and a half down a single lane dirt road, only open about 5 months a year.
That route 622? Looks very similar....
8)
12th Feb 2016 6:01 pm
Fitzy73
Member Since: 09 Feb 2014
Location: Truro
Posts: 2407
On topic - I am sure it will be absolutely fine and if there are any problems they are most likely to be small.
Off topic - I have always wanted to visit Iceland, the scenery always looks so stunning.Andy
12th Feb 2016 6:09 pm
StuartR
Member Since: 23 Dec 2015
Location: Reykjavik
Posts: 31
Hi Boyd,
No, it's in the East, but the road is not so different it seems!
Re: International trip a week or two after delivery of new D4?
StuartR wrote:
Hi everyone.
I wanted to check with you all about your experiences regarding delivery of new D4's. I ordered a 2016.5 HSE which is scheduled to be delivered in the first week of April. I am really looking forward to it. I live in Iceland, and the car is being shipped here.
My girlfriend is currently living in Oslo, and I was thinking of taking a vacation in the spring, rather than summer, and going to visit her. The ferry from Iceland takes about 3 days and stops in the Faroe Islands halfway through. I thought it would be really fun to take the car and drive around Norway and Denmark for a bit, as I have not had the chance to really visit them much.
I asked if it was possible to just pick up the car from Solihull, but Land Rover Iceland said it was not...
In any case, the biggest variable I see in this plan is the challenge of taking a nearly new car and going on a major trip before it is broken in. Is this inadvisable? I know the D4's are supposed to be more reliable, but I know that major problems tend to happen quickly if it is a manufacturing issue. I don't really want to be stuck in a Land Rover shop in Torshavn as the ferry sails away...
What is the consensus on this? I will likely leave two weeks after delivery...
my D4 only had 600 miles on the clock when we left the UK for Spain in Sept , Towing a 2 ton caravan, don't worry, if your car is as good as mine you have nothing to worry about, we only hear news about the cars that have problems. Enjoy, Denis.
12th Feb 2016 6:19 pm
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7441
Wow, what a great first run in the car! I would have every confidence that it'll be fine.
Having driven FL2's for over 4 years (and 130,000 miles or so), having sat in DS's and seen the Disco 5 I couldn't agree with your comments about the driving position, visibility and glass area more! 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: 2 x FL2 as “second” cars 🙄
2021 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200
2022 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200 & sidecar!
(One of only two known to exist in the world!)
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