By Mike S on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 11:51 am: Edit

I have been watching the postings on this board for awhile and enjoying the discussions. We are considering buying a Discovery (along with Acura, Infiniti and Jeep Gr Cherokee). We had the opportunity to visit the Land Rover Driving School at the Greenbrier in WV this week.
It was really great. Knowledgeable instructor, great trails and the opportunity to practice a variety of trails (with someone else's vehicle). It sure made us even more impressed with this vehicle's capabilities. We would recommend the Driving School to anyone who has the opportunity.

By MTB on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - 04:14 pm: Edit

Mike
Sure any kind of offroad instuction can help.
Now I hope there is only one SUV on your list and that should be Land Rover. They all have their + &- If you had fun at Greenbrier and would like to get into offroading I would get the Rover If you are going to cruise the malls and thats it the choice is yours.

Good Luck
Michael B

By L_Tilly on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 06:30 am: Edit

I was lucky enough to win a one-hour lesson voucher for the Equinox LR school in VT. It's only about 3 hours from where I live, but w/ my wife's schedule and mine we haven't been able to match time yet (she drives our Disco off-road too and really wants the extra info). We're both REALLY looking forward to attending early this fall. When I called them they were extremely friendly and helpful, and told me they just need about a week or so notice when I want to come up.

When we're ready to schedule they told me to let them know what my experience has been so far and some of the things I'm interrested in learning and they will taylor a custom lesson. Can't beat that for service!!! Since it's two of us going, I'll probably put in the little extra $ and upgrade to a two hour lesson.

I'd love to read more about anyone else's experiences at the Equinox or other schools.

L_Tilly lnctilly@mediaone.net
96 Disco "Beowulf" - NH, USA

By 94Rover on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 06:43 am: Edit

Hey Mike S,
how much did you spend @ Greenbrier? I was thinking of driving out there in September....Sort of a getaway for my wife and I, and oh, its also her birthday in September...

By David on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 07:20 am: Edit

Ltilly and all,
The Equinox was the reason I became interested in offroading in the first place. Originally, I had been out with buddies and their jacked up J$%ps and Suburbans. I was pretty uninterested. Did the instruction on a family vacation, and I've returned twice since then. I even gave my girlfriend a weekend their just so she could learn from the right people (not me) and on their rigs. It's posh and overdone, but it's still a great experience. I ended up trading in my Outback for a DSII this past winter....and I would attribute that to the Equinox.

Cheers,
David

By Steve (Steve2) on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 08:12 am: Edit

mike s

all the vehicle you listed have strong and weak points. the only one listed that has any 'metal' off road is of course the discovery. it is also my personal feeling after working on mine and doing some disassembly for accessories that the discovery is also the best built in terms of safety.

the acura mdx is based on the honda oddessy mini-van platform - so it is very close in concept origin to the much 'vaunted' pontiac azetc!

the infiinty of course is a pathfinder, with unibody construction. very carlike in it's character

the jeep is probably the closest to the land rover in off road capability, BUT having been a previous jeep owner i dealt with poor treatment by the service dept, higher service costs and weird problems that were never resolved, like the transmission spraying out atf out the dipstick on long high speed grades, running problems etc etc.

i have had 99 my series 1 for just about a year and have piled on 20,000 miles in that time, and i can say i have never had such terrible seperation anxiety as when it goes in for routine service! i'd rather wait for a repair than be with out it! the only item that needed somewhat immediate attention was a seeping coolant recovery tank. other than that - just small noises and rubber bits gone grey over time.

best of luck

By 94Rover on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 08:19 am: Edit

Hey Steve2 I am the same way regarding the service wait thing/...I never let the dealer do any of my service repairs due to the high costs, and the "way to long scheduled appointment windows", you know the "we can get you in here in about 4Months......anyway, everytime I have to have some work done on my 94Range, I always like to sit and wait...one time I waited for about 4hours and the whole time I didn't have a problem with that, now when its time to get the Accord serviced, I would rather stay at work for 24 hours straight.....which raises another question....I'll put it up on the board for those that go to the dealer for service.....

By Mike S on Sunday, August 26, 2001 - 02:44 am: Edit

94 Rover,
The Greenbrier is a very expensive place to stay (we dropped about $600/day for a family of four including accomodations and breakfast and dinner). The LR school is $150 for 1 hour, $250 for 2 hours, and $350 for 3 hours. We chose the 2 hour class. The cost is per vehicle and you can take a maximum of 3 people along with the instructor.

It is expensive, but we had a great time and made a mini family vacation out of it.
Mike S