desertdude

I really wouldn't know as I usually do them myself or at a friends place, a service is what, oil and filter replacement, air filter cleaning or changing. Checking up on coolant and top up if needed. See if any hoses, pipes or belts need change, slide under the car to see all's well. Filter original costs around 50-60 dhs you can get aftermarket for 35. I put in synthetic oil at 120 per gallon, you can use any good synthetic oil with in the 40-50w range and even 30w in the winter months. although I think LR recommends castrol. , air filter was also around 60. Diluted coolant was around 35. belts and all, all under or around a 100 each, the most expensive thing i found was a paper gasket for the transmission pan with was 100 dhs, just for a piece of paper cut in shape! The gear oil filter itself was around 50. Anyways the sport SC doesn't have that, the filter is built into the pan and you replace the entire thing, not too pricey either. Once you drive a Range Rover, you'll forget Cruisers and Patrols, because literally nothing rides like a Range Rover. After a decade of driving Land Cruisers, around 10 yrs ago I got my first Range Rover and now I literally don't like anything else I drive, totally spoilt now ! I would also strongly recommend you get one of these http://www.icarsoft.com/web/icarsoftus/allproducts/landroverscantools/2012/201212/20121229123158a6ef0_1.html You can get one from ebay for around $150 and will save you a lot of headache, heartache and holes in your wallets if you end up with monkeys who don't have a clue whats gone wrong with the ride and just keep throwing expensive parts at it. Plus it can reset quite a lot of systems if you ever get stuck in a situation, like your suspension freezes for whatever reason, ( and it will tell you exactly whats wrong, so you can get to the heart of the problem right away instead of aforementioned monkey trial and error method, that alone is worth it

Before our resident mechanics come and scare the living daylights out of you, and force you to buy a 1990 corolla as a "safe bet" I say go for it, suspension parts are not all that expensive anymore, were when air suspension was a new thing, now almost all luxury cars have it, there are even places that will redo your air spring with a new bladder for as little as 500dhs a corner. And Land Rover has learned a lot about air suspension reliability since the 1990s and its not that common anymore, something that gave LR a bad name in the 90s as unreliable cars. I know three cars now model year 2002 ( 1st year the L322 generation LR came out ) still riding on original air bags which it came out of the factory ) but like tyres they are made of rubber and will eventually need to be replaced. Another thing is the air compressor for the air suspension failure, which is usually a few cheap fix, garages here will instantly tell you to get a new air compressor i,e $$$$ but its just the piston ring that gets worn out and you can order one from ebay for as little as $10 and its an easy non greasy and getting DIY fix. I even have a cheaper fix which will cost you a grand total of 2dhs, no thats not a typo and I kid you not. Sharjah has now atleast half a dozen parts shop dealing exclusively with Land Rover parts, which sell original as well as aftermarket parts at very reasonable prices, there are also a couple of Land Rover scrap yards and bits and bobs are plenty. Although I myself prefer the full size range rover the sports is my second choice, and the SC goes likes the clappers, be ready to see a lot of cars eating your dust in the rear view mirror. The Jaguar derived V8 is a solid tried and tested motor and you can put another 200k on it without worrying much if you just keep regular with the services. Just take care of the engine services and make sure to service the transmission at 100k, with a complete fluid flush and new gear filter and be 1000% of sure of putting in the right fluid as it does not like anything else. Don't trust the service history even if its says its been done. Just go ahead and do it anyways. The oil is a bit pricey starting from 30 to 100dhs per liter depending where you buy it from. Saluki in Al Qouz run by Mark Powell is a pretty good garage and they know their Land Rovers and so does Capital Auto also in Al Qouz. Avoid AAA and A2B

Thats correct, as you can buy performance cams for some engines which have a different lobe profile than OEM. On a ending note after having said all that Im going to quote the great Carol Shelby, some one who knows a thing or two about power. "There's no replacement for displacement" you can tune, modify, turbo or supercharge a tiny 4 cyl engine to pump out more HP than a V8 but there is nothing like a real V8 with all its natural grunt. Oh and Im talking proper displacement, not my engine has 50cc more than yours

All I read was Japanese blah blah blah ! LOL

Fuel Economy and Large 4x4s with big engines don't belong in the same sentence. You can't have your cake and eat it too. If he's worried so much about fuel economy then get a 4cyl Kia sportage

I agree, both are now big tubs of plastic. And there is so much more you can get for that much money, only if people get over that mental hurdle of only Japanese because blah blah blah blah

Well not everybody shared that sentiment, I know 3 people who sold their within 6 months of buying it from the dealers, they hated it, and myself I'm not a fan either.

Ahem ...lets just say it woudln't win any beauty competitions

Seems like you two got into some kind of argument over the weekend!

Comparing a proper 4x4 with a 3.5 V6 with a gay 4 cyl FWD shopping trolley!

Watching the market since last year and with the current economic downturn, its a pretty bad time to sell. Its basically a buyers market. Usually during the cooler months the prices of 4x4s appreciate slightly. So uts bettee to hold off until then. But I still doubt youll get anything to close to what you are looking for so be ready to make a bargain deal.

Unfortunately the current Jeep Cherokee is not off road worthy anyway. Its basically a front wheel drive, like most crossovers nowadays. And did I mention its ugly as fek!

Yes I know those shops. But we were talking only about the names mentioned earlier and Nissan wasn't among those, Skylines don't come in LHD to they do get converted but you can't register them anymore, earlier you could get conversions registered only in Umm Al Quain. Back then a lot of RHD Land cruisers were also stacked in those shops. But now UAQ also has stopped. proof is many Skyline R34s do you see on the roads here ? And why only Skylines how man LHD popular JDMs conversions driving around ? So anything getting converted is either being re-exported or for people who have some special connections, if you know what I mean.

How do I know its a real person who wrote this and not some bot !!!! Sometimes to you got to put some faith in some people or you'll go through life a paranoid basket case. I know what I'm talking about because I know someone like that and he doesn't trust anybody with anything. I have a great scrappie. He gets whole cars from Japan, and break them right there in his shop. Plus I know he wont buy local cars for breaking and he refuses to buy them. And sometimes you have to do have to take some people for their word. if you are going to be so paranoid in one's life, probably end up in the cuckoo house! Its a good idea to build up a good relation with your parts supplier and scrappy.

I've been dealing with Jap imports in some way or the there since the mid 90s and never seen a conversion. Must be some crap imports, Japanese prefer LHD imports as it a sign of an expensive import with more street cred even though RHD variants are available for the same car. Hence you'll find factory LHD Mercs, BMWs, Audis and even VWs imported from Japan. Other cars which come in LHD here are Jeeps and Chevy trucks Just visit the complex right across from Aweer used car complex where most of the RHD imports are and parked in between you'll see these LHD gems parked, not conversions. For example https://www.dubicars.com/2002-mercedes-benz-s-500-l-k60-lorinser-kit-101183.html

Mercedes is a European car so its a LHD Import

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Good question!

It could have a billion BHP but it will be still ugly as fek.

I dunno much about the new Cherokee but one thing I do know its one of the ugliest things ever made. Is right up there with the Nissan Puke

No only American and European cars imported from Japan are LHD here becuse they are LHD there also. You wont find LHD jap grey imports here, other wise the roads here would be flooded with JDMs Maybe what you are referring to are the US damaged imports they are all LHD but passed off by some scrupulous people as Jap imports, but they are very easy to tell apart

I wouldnt put in a second hand GCC engine unless I knew the car it came and the mileage and preferably some service history. Not some unknown junk engine lying in some yard. Jap RHD import engines are just fine as they usually have very low mileage on them, usually around 40-80k kms and for Land Rovers I know the guy and he brings in whole cars and we see what shaoe and mileage the car was before parts are ripped out. Ive also seen 100s of engines ripped apart and rebuilt without any issues. So Ill have to also disagree on that only the factory can put together a motor. My own engine on the P38 has a tick for more than two years now, I know its a tappet and a common problem with the Rover V8. It does no harm so I have no issues leaving it as is. And if the engine does explode I know I can get a jap import replacement at a very cheap price hence no worried at all. I would cost a ton more to fix it too. Having said that. Im from the school of thought once youre in the engineedo as many bits and bobs while you are in there. Not easy to rip open a motor everyday. So in a nutshell nothing wrong with rebuilding an engine just because one person has a bad anecdotal experienxe doest mean its going to be the same for everyone

Man people in Fukishima really didnt have good taste in cars. The only interesting car I see is the Caddy limo

Then go for mods that will actually help you without reinventing the wheel. Maybe some engine upgrades, like, CAI, exhaust maybe even a remap. Better suspension more suited for offroad use, better tyres etc etc. If you want to go all out get a stroker kit or bore out the cylinders or maybe even swap out the motor for something with more oomph if there is a compatible engine.

Well if you just partial locking ability like most modern 4wds have with traction control which they use instead of a locking diff. Then set up a manual brake lever for each individual tyre. A modification of the poor mans diff as I mentioned earlier. Like most professional drift cars and some rally cars have, a lever to engage the rear tyres to start a drift or get around hairpin bends in a hurry. But honestly I still dont see the point i.e not worth the effort And does the rav4 even have proper diffs up front and rear that can transfer power ? I would rather uprade to a car more suited for off-road use OR you could just weld the spider gears in the diffs and drive around with a locked car 24/7. Just dont curse your self making U turns or trying park in tight spaces and be prepared to snap an axel or two in the near future.