As luck would have it, my Series II Land Rover Discovery has incurred an antilock-brake malfunction corresponding with Vancouver’s first snowfall (and hopefully last) this season. Suddenly, three warning lights came on at the same time a few days ago, and they remain on.
The yellow lights indicate that the antilock braking function along with the vehicle’s traction control and hill-descent-control systems are not presently operational. Great—snow and ice everywhere and I’m back to the dark ages when it comes to vehicle control aids.
These three features enjoy a symbiotic relationship; they either work or don’t work as a group. Unionized perhaps? I did some online research and learned that this particular Land Rover malady—commonly referred to as the Three Amigos—is extremely common, and potentially, extremely expensive to remedy. No surprise there, after all it is English—and with the last name of “Rothwell,” I can say that without prejudice.
I made a quick phone call to my local Land Rover service rep and mention the “Three Amigos.” It wasn’t like I had to explain why I had three new friends of Spanish heritage—he knew exactly what I was talking about. Not only was he familiar with the problem, he was in the midst of repairing a 2004 Discovery suffering from the same Latin curse.
His “guesstimate” to repair my Disco was in the range of $600. Frankly, that’s a lot less than the $3,200 that was cited on some websites I queried. Phew. I’m planning to get the old tank in for the repair work in about a week or so. Check back, I will let you know how many pesos it costs me to run the Three Amigos out of town.
The yellow lights indicate that the antilock braking function along with the vehicle’s traction control and hill-descent-control systems are not presently operational. Great—snow and ice everywhere and I’m back to the dark ages when it comes to vehicle control aids.
These three features enjoy a symbiotic relationship; they either work or don’t work as a group. Unionized perhaps? I did some online research and learned that this particular Land Rover malady—commonly referred to as the Three Amigos—is extremely common, and potentially, extremely expensive to remedy. No surprise there, after all it is English—and with the last name of “Rothwell,” I can say that without prejudice.
I made a quick phone call to my local Land Rover service rep and mention the “Three Amigos.” It wasn’t like I had to explain why I had three new friends of Spanish heritage—he knew exactly what I was talking about. Not only was he familiar with the problem, he was in the midst of repairing a 2004 Discovery suffering from the same Latin curse.
His “guesstimate” to repair my Disco was in the range of $600. Frankly, that’s a lot less than the $3,200 that was cited on some websites I queried. Phew. I’m planning to get the old tank in for the repair work in about a week or so. Check back, I will let you know how many pesos it costs me to run the Three Amigos out of town.