ere Blippie - yo Hippoo is an ex-camel - aint it? do yu think its lack of problems cud be because of the care and attention to its original prepping?
The 66,000 trouble free miles is on a TD4. (Only ever been one hitch with it and I don't count anything that was mended with a cable tie as a problem!)
The Camel is on 105,000 miles. It has had a hard life but the only time it's failed us "on the job" was a snapped aux belt. And it happened right outside a LR dealership! I put this servicability down to competant and aggressive maintenance on behalf of the owners it's had.
The preparation it has had means it is well proptected from accidents but it carries a lot of extra weight - huge under body protecton, a-bar, winch, roll cage, rack, etc. I've never got as far as a weigh bridge but I'd be interested to see what it's curb weight is. This extra wheight takes it toll, I'm sure. I reckon with its offroading and extra wheight for every mile it shows, it's done at another "hidden" mile.
Because of the life it's had, most of its transmission components have been swapped at some point - CV joints, for example, are virtually disposable when it's spent time in a sand quarry as an instructional vehicle - but there is nothing that we've had done that isn't directly attributable to the work it's been doing.
When we're off for a day's greenlaning or offroading, it is often difficult to decide which keys to pick up - the 90's or the Camel's...
Cheers
Blippie