defender 90

[CompoSimmonite]

I don't think anything beats the practicality of a disco for the price of buying,running and insuring

Don't forget the constant need to keep on top of rust and weekly maintenance / repairs - especially if you use parts that come in a blue box . My 200TDi needed new rear floor at 6 years old as so rotten. My current 300TDi isn't any better. TD5 bodies last but chassis rot.
Wished I'd still got my '72 2 door RRC

 

[owas]

Even with the odd spare part here and there it's not too bad,
I brought mine when I knew nothing about cars, body was decent but the engine was not, swapped the engine out last year and it's been good mechanicaly since.
Last part I changed was the lift pump in december IIRC, seem to go often for me lol.

Anything else will be less practical, more expensive to fix and just as rusty.

 

[premmington]

Weekly maintenance on my 300tdi disco is putting fuel in.

That's it for 'regular' stuff in 7 years.

Yes, the cambelt went, I recently had to replace a propshaft uj and reshim a swivel bearing - and yes, there's rust. I've never owned a 19 year old, 145,000+ mile car with no rust though.

I have a feeling that there are 2 sorts of people who bang on about stuff breaking all the time - those who have never owned one, and those who bought a ****ter but refuse to admit it

I have a 2004 low mileage TD5 Disco 2, I spend all my time fixing door locks and fuel leaks.

Last Land Rover I will ever buy, it will be a Toyota next time (what ever the purchase cost).

 

[Freddy0309]

For what it's worth I spend far more time working on the in laws to5 then I do on my 200, fixing the air suspension, welding, window regulators, pretty much all the switches and not forgetting the leaks around sunroofs and alpine Windows. That's all within the last 12 months and in that time on mine I've had to replace a handbrake cable and front propshaft

 

[julianf]

Our disco breaks all the time.

Ive only ever had to call out recovery twice, in the 4yrs or so we've owned it. Once it was still drivable, but i was just too far from home to limp it. The other time it was cam belt failure - human error from the last change.

...but it does break all the time. Sometimes youre lucky, and its an electric window, or a seat folding mech, other times its a starter, or a PAS pump, etc. (not that theyre terrible either)

Its a 20yr old car that we've done up to 20k milles per year in. Does that make it a s****er or is that just an old, well used, car?

 

[wookie]

Well, bully for you.

Obviously, nothing ever goes wrong with a toyota and they're completely immune to rust.

Tell that to my MK3 Hilux pickup, it's been off the road for months whilst I chop out the rot and repair it, the list so far is...

1. last 3ft of chassis on both sides replaced,
2. spare wheel crossmember replaced,
3. rear fuel tank crossmember replaced,
4. both outer sills replaced,
5. both inner sills repaired,patched,
6. bottom of both doors repaired/patched,
7. both front wings replaced,
8. front edge of bonnet repaired/patched,
9. both rear wheel arches repaired/patched,
10. nearside rear body mount repaired/patched,

I've still got the rear tub to repair/patch and no it's not a lemon, it's a good one, I've seen a lot worse vehicles out there.

 

[owas]

Our disco breaks all the time.

Ive only ever had to call out recovery twice, in the 4yrs or so we've owned it. Once it was still drivable, but i was just too far from home to limp it. The other time it was cam belt failure - human error from the last change.

...but it does break all the time. Sometimes youre lucky, and its an electric window, or a seat folding mech, other times its a starter, or a PAS pump, etc. (not that theyre terrible either)

Its a 20yr old car that we've done up to 20k milles per year in. Does that make it a s****er or is that just an old, well used, car?

Just an old well used car imo,
Considering the crap discos are put through, there's inevitably going to be parts that will need replacing every now and then,

Mines full to the top with crap right now waiting to go to the tip tomorow.

If it's not stopping it running and driving fine it doesn't really bother me, I don't think it's really fair that people think maintenance items/perishables going bad makes it unreliable

 

[julianf]

Here is another consideration -

The front section of the exhaust was pinholed, so i changed it before the mot - £16 + vat for the front section. I think the rear, with the silencer, cost me £25 delivered when i did that.

How well do you expect a £16 exhaust to last? I know i could have spent £200 or so on a stainless, but that's about 1/5 of the cars value. So i went for the £16 one. And will probably do the same in a couple of years time, when it fails again.

...then you multiply that by all the parts on the disco. Theyre pretty much all cheap. Some will last for ever, some, like my expected exhaust, will need changing again in a couple of years.


Other cars have much more expensive parts, which you would expect to last longer?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I have a feeling that there are 2 sorts of people who bang on about stuff breaking all the time - those who have never owned one, and those who bought a ****ter but refuse to admit it

I'm basing my experiences of Land Rovers on 5 x Series, 3 x RRC, Defender & 2 x Disco's so class my self as an enthusiast of the brand but am also realistic when people ask what they are like

 

[The Devils Reject]

I'm basing my experiences of Land Rovers on 5 x Series, 3 x RRC, Defender & 2 x Disco's so class my self as an enthusiast of the brand but am also realistic when people ask what they are like

I agree very much with that statement. My 109 is noisy, draughty and agricultural. It is an experience to drive it. In the 10 months it's been back on the road it has needed a new starter motor and a couple of wiring jobs doing. A bit of investigation was required when the engine started making 'oh hell, is that a big end that's gone walkabout' noises. Other than that it has been routine stuff like oil and filter changes and adjusting the brakes. None of that bothers me as I am a Landy enthusiast.

On the other hand, my C3 ate it's turbo, then ate the replacement so it's going as spares or repair or failing that it's off to the scrappy. It's a tool as far as I'm concerned and it has done it's bit and I just want rid of it. It just doesn't light my fire like the Landy does.

 

[waldershelf]

Lets be honest, Land Rovers are not the most reliable cars on the road. I've run a 22 year old Defender for the last 5 1/2 years and its had its problems over the time I've owned, it both welding and mechanical, to be fair it's never left me stranded at the side of the road. There are however two factors that make it viable for me.
1) They are easy to work on if you have a basic (but large size) tool kit.
2) Spares are readily available and cheap.
Compared to more civilised and reliable(?) Japanese alternatives parts prices and availability can be a real problem. A couple of examples of recent jobs spring to mind, A replacement front bumper for a Toyota pick up truck £900 the vehicle wasn't worth much more than this but the MOT guy wouldn't pass it because of the rust holes and jagged edges.
A newish Nissan 4x4 with a trashed caliper, none of the usual parts suppliers could help, I was told there were a number of different calipers fitted to this model and the one fitted was not available, We ended up getting one from Japan at £600.
For the Defender a new bumper is £30 and a genuine Lockheed caliper around £80 both available from my local guy this afternoon if I need them.
I suspect this is the real reason there are so many old Land Rovers still around and there are so many of its alternatives in the scrap yard.

 

[ibrooks]

Lets be honest, Land Rovers are not the most reliable cars on the road. I've run a 22 year old Defender for the last 5 1/2 years and its had its problems over the time I've owned, it both welding and mechanical, to be fair it's never left me stranded at the side of the road. There are however two factors that make it viable for me.

So it was 16 1/2 years old when you got it. How many 16 1/2 year old cars are still on the road - let alone will still be on the road in 5 1/2 years.

As you say - most of the alternatives are likely in the scrap yard.

I get the impression that a lot of people "compare apples and oranges" as they see or hear of people having to work on old Land Rovers but they never hear of similar jobs having to be done on old Nissan/Toyota/Honda/insert other alternative. The reality is that the Land-Rovers have almost certainly outlasted the others already and are now needing their 20+year old parts replacing.

Part of what I like is their simplicity and that if something does go wrong there's a good chance it'll still get you home - and to the parts place to get the replacement bits later on. On the occasion when it does strand you it can probably be fixed at least sufficiently at the side of the road to get itself home.

Iain

 

[MrFluffy]

As everyone is alluding to, function over form. Theyre work trucks and thats what they were designed for, not for poncing round commuting in and a lot of the stuff and rattles and thumping things straight with a hammer after a whoops or wet feet in the rain goes with the territory + theyre getting old and need some tlc occasionally after a lifetime of abuse and neglect in some cases. If you find this surprising that a vehicle will need regular maintenance and the occasional issue sorting, then perhaps land rovers are not for you.
When I drove a efi range rover (had a few..) the central locking and door locks and electric windows and other luxury gadgets were always going wrong, at one point I crossed a shallow stream and the lock computer mounted underneath the drivers seat got damp and went into a weird loop cycling all the locks. Once it stopped going mad, the central locking rods were all bent and didnt work. I think the efi computer was mounted under a seat where it got damp and ended up driving home on 6 or 7 a few times, pulling the windows back up while flicking the button when they stuck or not winding certain windows became easier than trying to repair them. It was old yes, obsolete but the electrics were what let it down big time not the mechanical underpinnings. The 90 has manual locking and window winders and you can get your feet wet without having issues with things and I imagine the disco is much the same but with a bit more body rot to contend with.
Having said that, none of my land/range rovers have disgraced themselves so badly at the side of the road to need recovery, unlike my other much newer vehicles. I had a spate of japanese 4x4 ownership and my Shogun came back on a recovery wagon on at least 3 occasions I can remember. 2 of them with the same fault which was a service item and cost well over 500 pound in parts alone to have it sorted and was the reason I scrapped it in the end having got sick of it re-occuring. Or my merc sprinter suddenly loosing electrical power on the autoroute with no warning and needing recovering from the worlds grimmest unmanned aire in the north of France, which resulted in a 500 quid bill for a alternator (common weak point...) and which is currently waiting for 400 quids worth of rear brake calipers to arrive, or the need for the main dealer to do computer fault code stuff at 150 quid a hour because only mercedes star talks the right protocol for my version of sprinter. And my mrs's clio is booked into in the dealer for 380 quids worth of work to replace... wait for it... the rear windscreen wiper motor because it plays up intermittently. The more I deal with modern stuff the more I love land rovers.

 

[premmington]

I hate my Land Rover (2004 Disco 2 TD5). It is one of the worst vehicles I have ever owned.

The only good thing about it. Is its ability to tow anything.

I own a garage and I sometimes use it to tow my huge car transporter trailer.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I hate my Land Rover (2004 Disco 2 TD5). It is one of the worst vehicles I have ever owned.

The only good thing about it. Is its ability to tow anything.

I own a garage and I sometimes use it to tow my huge car transporter trailer.

May I ask why you hate it? I assume you do t use it off road then?

 

[premmington]

May I ask why you hate it? I assume you do t use it off road then?

Off road use (no). Well maybe towing my daughters horse box across a field.

I am 50 years old and a granddad, more seven seater use and towing for work.

I have owned a G-wagon, V6 petrol shogun, two Landcruisers and a 110 defender. Now this Disco2.

Out of all of them, this is the worst 4x4 I have ever owned.

 

[bigegg]

I had to change a brake light bulb in my 18 year old lexus last year.
Thats the second time the car's needed repairing (last time was 2004, and was the other brake bulb) - must have been a duff batch.


Its a bit rubbish off road tho, and will only tow 1.5T

 

[BrokenBiker]

Off road use (no). Well maybe towing my daughters horse box across a field.

I am 50 years old and a granddad, more seven seater use and towing for work.

I have owned a G-wagon, V6 petrol shogun, two Landcruisers and a 110 defender. Now this Disco2.

Out of all of them, this is the worst 4x4 I have ever owned.

what is it about the disco you dont like?

 

[wookie]

what is it about the disco you dont like?

The music is too loud, the strobe lights cause epileptic fits and I've got two left feet.

 

[waldershelf]

I had to change a brake light bulb in my 18 year old lexus last year.
Thats the second time the car's needed repairing (last time was 2004, and was the other brake bulb) - must have been a duff batch.


Its a bit rubbish off road tho, and will only tow 1.5T

And how often has it been sat on by a cow, stood up to it's axles in mud for a fortnight, been filled with rocks and towed a broken 40ft trailer out of a river. cos that's what my Defender was doing before it reached gentle retirement as my toy. I bet my Defender will still be around when catastrophic electrical failure, or one of the dashboard lights fails and can't be repaired means your Lexus ends up in the scrap yard, At 18 years old it's not worth much and one session in the dealers workshop will mean it's uneconomic to repair.