"jasmits" (jasmits)
10/13/2018 at 00:51 • Filed to: None
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"jasmits" (jasmits)
10/13/2018 at 00:51 • Filed to: None | 8
| 11 |
I’m midway into my second month of Range Rover Classic ownership. I’ve fallen in love.
This evening, I had to run out to grab something from the store and as I do anytime I’m not going far or under a time crunch, I hopped in my Rover as opposed to my 2018 Tacoma. Like always when I drive the Rover, I ended up taking about a half hour route to the store that is three minutes from my house. I simply enjoy spending time in it. As I’m getting close to home again(well, technically close to my destination three minutes away from home following a 25-minute drive) I my thoughts went full sappy car guy. Me mentally: “I mean, in just a month and a thousand or so miles I’ve formed way more of an emotional connection with this 30-year-old Range Rover than I have over 8 months and 30,000 miles with my Tacoma. The Tacoma is the perfect vehicle for my life in every way. Reliable, manual, capable. It simply does everything I ask without complaint... But I wouldn’t make a three minute drive a 30-minute drive just because I don’t want to stop driving it. The Rover is unreliable and automatic and inefficient.... But shit it just feels so right. And listen to it! I thought the Tacoma was a forever car, and I bought this as a short-term toy but what if in 10 years the Tacoma is gone and this thing is still in my garage?” Right as that thought drifts through my head... *sniff sniff* “Something smells like coolant... eh, definitely my paranoid imagination.” I pull up to a red light a few seconds later. Simultaneously I smell MUCH more coolant, the coolant level light pops on and a huge cloud of steam appears from under the hood.
I decide to make a break for it home( just two blocks), and I made it in a massive cloud of steam. I didn’t think to take a picture when the steam was really thick, but this was after it had calmed down a bit.
I popped the hood to find coolant absolutely everywhere, as well as a ruptured upper radiator hose. Looks like it’s time for some cooling system work! I started it for a few seconds later to pull it into the garage and it started and ran like normal so I don’t think I managed to overheat her and do any permanent damage. Tomorrow I’ll do some assessment and see what I need to do.
It was almost a reminder from God of why I like Toyotas so much, but I still love this more.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> jasmits
10/13/2018 at 01:46 |
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You crazy bastard
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jasmits
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/13/2018 at 01:57 |
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Hey, now that you’ve turned into an adult all of a sudden someone has to keep things interesting around here!
Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
> jasmits
10/13/2018 at 02:18 |
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Tell us more...what about it tickles your senses? Hope it’s not the mere experience of overheating or otherwise
breaking down.
Svend
> jasmits
10/13/2018 at 02:36 |
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They are like pets, they give love, need attention, have off days, etc... and they get into your heart and mind and become a member of the family just as much as a dog (more than a cat), like you say you’ll take the Rangi e on a 30 drive to do a three minute errand, you’ll start associating places you visit with the Rangie , ‘That’s where me and the missus took our son for his first horse riding lesson, he was a champ and the Rangi e blew an indicator bulb which took so much longer to change because I didn’t put my screw driver set back in the car after using it at home in the garage. No mechanical issues and we stopped at a highway diner on the way home’.
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jasmits
> Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
10/13/2018 at 02:47 |
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No, no I’m not that crazy! It’s actually been relatively reliable until tonight. There’s just something about Land Rovers that vibe with me. The awesome capability , the amazing visibility, the old-school luxury feel(gotta love everything being leather and real wood), the looks, old school Rovers are refreshingly simple mechanically. T hey just have a ton of character . Oh yeah, and the Rover V8 sounds wicked with minimal muffling:
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jasmits
> Svend
10/13/2018 at 02:52 |
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That’s exactly how I always explain it! Owning my Tacoma is like having a really amazing tool that does a lot of things very well. The Range Rover is like having a dog, objectively it adds a lot of unnecessary work to my life and can be very annoying but it enhances your life in less tangible ways and you’ll kill anyone who tries to take it away from you .
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Svend
> jasmits
10/13/2018 at 03:17 |
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The Toyota is a modern day appliance, it does what it’s supposed to do, it does somethings great, it does others not to great, but it does it non the less.
The Rangie is a classic car that instills a passion, a fondness, a rugged beauty, it wears it battle scars well and every scar has a story, but not every story leaves a scar on the car, it leaves an imprint on your mind and in your heart .
It’s like ourselves, as we get older we wake up each morning and find another part of ourselves doesn’t work as well as it did when we went to bed. We get unexplained niggles, not always causing pain but something to remind ourselves we are mortal and not all things last without taking a little more care than we did but we still push ourselves to enjoy some part of our youth or to remind ourselves of what we could do without any thought, only now knowing we will pay for it in the coming days or sometime in the not too distant future.
Modern objects brake down from time to time and need maintenance but they don’t instill the same emotions, in fact when they do they aren’t like ourselves or a pet but more like the neighbours kid who acts up from time to time, it’s an annoyance, an inconsideration, etc...
You keep on Rovering mate.
Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> jasmits
10/13/2018 at 10:47 |
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Sounds about right haha. If the RRC is anything like the D2, you’ll thank yourself for a full cooling system refresh if it is in the budget. A cooling system is only as strong as it’s weakest component and these thing love to overheat.
I had a similar experience with the Alfa a while back. Picture this: Driving down the highway, pleasant temperature, all gauges reading normal, wonderful exhaust note coming from the little Italian engine. I was just thinking how much I love this car and that I need to drive it more often... then one of the chrome headlight rings come flying off and over the car. *sigh* All I could think was “that’s going to be expensive...” and it was.
DipodomysDeserti
> Svend
10/13/2018 at 10:58 |
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And then the other 99% of Rover owners just take them to go shopping.
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jasmits
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
10/13/2018 at 12:11 |
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Yup, ordering the full hose kit!
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Svend
> DipodomysDeserti
10/13/2018 at 13:02 |
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Or use them to show their wealth and attempt to be a higher classic by association.