anonguest Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 So, last week, for the first time ever I had the generous loan and opportunity to use a Landrover Defender 90 TD5 for a day and a bit - just for around town driving. As an 'ordinary' car owner and user all my driving life I had often wondered the appeal of the 'ancient' Defender and the seemingly silly prices paid - even if old and what would be huge mileages for any other 'ordinary' car. I had vaguely appreciated that it apparently still has good off road qualities even compared with more modern 4WD vehicles with nicer comfort/equipment/etc levels. But even so it seemed to be more of a cult following thing to me, as far as I could always tell. That said however, after actually driving one, I must confess to being absolutely smitten with it! Now I can't seeing it being 'fun' for a motorway journey of any reasonable length. I can't quite put my finger on it and why BUT there was an element of fun to driving it. So now I find myself SERIOUSLY contemplating and wanting to buy a Defender of some sort. BUT, being a (mostly) boring pragmatic kind of person, I have to be able to assure both myself and the dear wife that it won't end up being an expensive mistake. I realise there are probably many Landrover dedicated websites/forums I could post this question on BUT want to try and avoid undue favouritism and bias - so thought I would address it to some more general 'petrolheads' of which I am aware there are a fair few lurking here. So.... Anyone care to offer any quick thoughts/opinions IF owning a Defender doesn't come with longer term cost burdens that more modern 4WD cars don't (e.g. reliability, build quality, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 I'm not an expert - but isn't that self maintainable, and isn't there a large amateur support network for cheap/swap spare parts? I would think if you are going to own one then half they point of it is that you maintain it yourself on a shoestring just for the fun. Maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I suppose the stereotypical Land Rover is held together by duct tape and bailer twine, so... Wish I could find some reason to have one myself but unfortunately it would be completely the wrong sort of vehicle for my use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habeas Domus Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Friend of mine has a III which he only runs in the summer - he spends about one weekend every month underneath it fixing something. There are plenty of cheap spare parts available, but that's because they are constantly breaking. Wonderful cars but I would only get one if you also enjoy the maintenance side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddog Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 One negative, is it doesn't have airbags. One positive is they do not seem to depreciate, as they aren't making them anymore, I imagine, there will be literally no depreciation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AThirdWay Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Never buy anything with the word Rover on it, especially not Land Rover. The most unreliable motors going, don't ask how I know! If you want something rugged and reliable, get yourself a decent Isuzu Trooper with a manual gearbox and a service history. Take you to the moon and tow it back to your house for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.