Message from the UK
Subman574
Thanks for the reply and for the encouragement. Living here in the UK and following the threads on a mainly NA site is great. I have not managed to read them all but have read a fair number and learnt so much. I have already purchased from Amazon the ipad felt pens for use on the screen, thanks to whoever recommended these.
It was my eldest son that encouraged me to make the decision on a Discovery, it would have been another motorhome, must admit I now fancy camping again instead of motorhoming which I did for a number of years when the children were younger. Have already looked at the quick put up tents where you can reverse the Discovery into the awning. My son is a petrol head having had porches including a 911 and for his wife Cayenne turbo S and now a BMW X5. If it had not been for my daughter-in-law he would have purchased her a Discovery so I think that is why he persuaded me as he thinks it will suit me in my retirement, people carrier for any of the 7 grandchildren, capabilities in the snow, great for DIY and fishing and of course nice to travel in when going down south and or north to visit my family. This is my first new car purchase having had company cars all my working life with General Motors (Vauxhall/Opel in Europe) so it will be treasured mainly because it is costing twice as much as I really wanted to spend.
I got a reasonable discount from the dealer and went a bit mad by ordering the UK HSE model and got carried away with the options, the HSE is the top of the range here and only has one engine option the standard SDV6 256hp a 3.0-litre, V6 turbodiesel engine with a ZF 8 speed gearbox and paddle shifts. This is the same engine and gearbox as in the Jaguar ZF and the published MPG is combined 32.1 with 0 to 60 in 8.8 seconds. (One UK gallon is equal to 1.2 US gallons), your large petrol engine vehicles must be great to drive having all that power, although I read you cannot wait for a diesel version over there.
Ordered the car on 29 December after hours of research and it is now at the dealer where a tracker system has been fitted for insurance purposes. Collect it the first week of March when the registration plate changes to **12 *** for 2012. We have 2 changes a year in March and September which this year will be **62 ***. Next year will be March 13 and September 63. This makes these 2 months the high volume months for UK vehicle sales as they can affect the residual values. You can see I worked in the motor trade, manufacture, as I can’t get away from it. Decided not to put the body side moulding or side steps on as most pictures you see are without them and the car or as you say truck looks good without them.
I really envy you guys in the states with such a variety of places to go and the possibility of using the cars off road, I will be going to Ireland fishing in June so some off road may be possible, although with the 20” wheels not sure I will do much off roading. I am however going on the Land Rover experience this coming weekend so maybe this will persuade me to do some off roading and use some of the other superb features this car has. We do have what are called green lanes over here, unmade up roads open to the public but they are few and far and difficult to find.
Must let you all know how I get on and if there are any visitors to the UK I am 20 miles north of London you must let me know and I will take out in a RHD diesel UK Discovery.
