Happy Festivus (Post #278) 12/23/2011

 As is the tradition with Festivus, I thought I’d start with the traditional “airing of grievances”. In no particular order (that’s why I numbered them). All questions are rhetorical and if you sense what I am saying has a hint of sarcasm, it is sarcastic.

  1. The first has to be with the price of ignition coils. Seriously, why does a coil have to cost so bloody much? 140$(US) is just silly.
  2. Why can’t we get a diesel motor option in America from Land Rover? Every motor company in the world has a clean diesel engine. Make it happen…FOR ALL LAND ROVER MODELS. Period.
  3. Why do I have such a hard time with electronics? I have to blame all the 16-18 year old GIRLS I went to school with for being so distracting. If I’d gone to an all boys school perhaps I would have paid more attention in vocational training.
  4. Why is taking care of leather seats so damn much work? I can polish a shoe as well as anyone, but I can’t save a leather seat from disintegrating under my ass.
  5. Why do automotive engineers think we all have lifts in our garages? Why do they feel compelled to bury parts that are listed on tick sheets to be replaced at intervals in places that require the engine to be removed to easily repair. Think about the ignition wires and coil packs on a 2000-2004 Discovery That is simply asinine.
  6. You design a car that can be driven from Solihull to the Horn of Africa. But if you roll down the windows more than 6 or 7 times the window regulator becomes wad of metal that resembles a pretzel inside the door panel. Think about our beloved Discovery 2 models again.
  7. ABS pumps. You make a vehicle that requires power brakes but the pump you use has only a 10 year lifespan if you are lucky and after 10 years becomes more difficult to find than the effin’ Holy Grail. And when you do find one, it costs more than the value of the vehicle it goes on. This is not helping brand sustainability.
  8. Cars in general. Think about the military contracts your country has to provide airplanes and tanks and trucks. Its not the initial cost of the item its the spare parts that you sell that make the money. If you want to be green, hug some trees and stop filling the land fills or in Oklahoma filling the washes next to creeks and streams, build a car that the owner wants to drive for more than 5 years and can get fairly prices parts for. 
    From http://www.surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/photoblog

This will conclude the “airing of grievances”.
Happy Festivus and Happy Rovering everyone.