Defender 90 Tdi reliable for wheeling?

[eric90503]

I love my Taco, but these Defender 90's look pretty nice.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/car/335159371.html
However, I have a gut feeling these things are not the most reliable.
I buy a lot of my trail gear at expedition exchange, and they are always
trying to convert me. They look bad ass, But in a lot of there trip pictures there always doing a lot of trail repairs. Knock on wood I've never had to do any major trail repairs on my vehicle.
What do you guys think about land rover dependability?

thanks
eric

[CYi5]

yea i have heard poor things about land rover dependability, and when you do have to fix them it's usually expensive. Maybe that's why on expedition exchange the drivers all look like doctors and have some crazy nice camp meals, haha. I agree they look sick and I would love to have one if they were as reliable as say an 80's toyota truck.

[eric90503]

Originally Posted by CYi5

Maybe that's why on expedition exchange the drivers all look like doctors and have some crazy nice camp meals, haha.

No shit huh... lol. Everytime I go pick up stuff there, I feel like I'm shopping at Gelsons when I normally would shop at the ghetto Ralphs on Anahiem/Redondo.
eric

[_BEN_]

I looked into buying one a few months ago after I saw that they have a diesel option. It had what I wanted. Compact, Diesel, 4x4, styling I liked.
But they are too expensive for what you get imo.

Used mid $30,000 with Tdi throw another 10k on top of that.
It's stupid for something that is comparable to a Jeep. ohhh but it's a Land Rover.

It is funny too. If you were to read the wiki page about the Defender. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rover_Defender
One would be lead to believe that they would be reasonably priced or maybe even on the cheap side because they have such a simple design, interchangeable parts, and that they have been in production for long.

[kaliformula]

I've had a 94 d90 now for 7 years and I haven't really had any major issues with it. I do mild offroading (jeep miller trail or azuza canyon) a couple times a year and I haven't had any issues at all. I think that the only thing that holds me back is knowing that if something goes wrong, it's gonna come pretty deep out the pockets. But on the other side, I love the truck, it does a kick ass job on the trails and it's a nice feeling to know that not many people out there has the same car as you. But my favorite is when a $100,000 range rover pulls up to me and I know that my rover is the big dog on the block.

[Rattlecanpaint]

Yea most land rovers are a POS. Outstanding off roader if you can keep them running. Easy fix. Buy used land rover, remove engine and tranny and replace with ford or chevy or toyota. Preferably Toyota, but that'd be a bit more expensive.

[kaliformula]

Originally Posted by Rattlecanpaint

Yea most land rovers are a POS. Outstanding off roader if you can keep them running. Easy fix. Buy used land rover, remove engine and tranny and replace with ford or chevy or toyota. Preferably Toyota, but that'd be a bit more expensive.

POS? I beg to differ unless you've actually owned and drove one for an extended period of time. Have you ever been out the country? Land Rovers are as common as hondas in other countries. I traveled to Africa, guess what I got driven around in?...A defender. Traveled through the outback of Australia, guess what we rode in....hmm, a defender! Do you know what the Red Cross uses to deliver supplies through the rain forrest? If you gotta ask, then I guess you can't put 2 and 2 together. Just because a vehicle costs more to up keep doesn't make it a POS. Buy any car from across the pond and your gonna pay a higher premium on parts, even if it's a Volkswagon Bettle. I know everyone has their opinion, but I'll take a Land Rover out the box against most moderately modded trail rigs.

[Rattlecanpaint]

Never owned one, just worked for the dealership in Scottsdale, AZ. I saw one in there with 15k on the clock. thye were tearing out the engine. I was like wow, that's kind of new for an engine replacement, what happened? tech says, oh the one of the cam bearings came out and destroyed the engine. Broke the camshaft which left valves down which embeded themselves in a piston etc, etc. A few days later, same thing. So I asked, cam bearing? The tech goes, well yea, but on this one we can't seem to find the cam bearing. Not sure if it disintegrated or just wasn't put in at the factory. Hmmm, quality, I think not. I asked one of the lead techs about their quality and he said they expected to see 80% on the (then) new ones back in the shop for a new engine, transmission, computer or any combination of the three within the next 5 years. Quality, I think not. Maybe different in other countries where they don't use an engine that was designed in the 40's or 50's that buick couldn't make work they're a bit more reliable, bu not here. Had a Range Rover come into a shop that I was working at with a bunch of electrical issues, come to find out the radiator fan relays had caught on fire and melted the wiring harness all together at the fuse/relay box. Quality, I think not.

The original land rovers were the shiznit off road, but not anymore. Ask any mechanic what he thinks of them and he'll tell you he loves them cause they keep him in buisness. Like I said above, outstanding offroader if you can keep them running long enough.

[kaliformula]

OK, I do admitt that I might be alittle jaded since I have a 94 Defender. I can't vouch for any of the new rovers, but my 94 is still running like a champ. I do have to agree on the fact that I would never buy a new one. It still bugs me how a company, who only makes SUV's and has such a rich heritage in off roading, all of a sudden turns into these big luxury boxes. I've seen endless diagrams for the new redesigned defenders but still haven't seen shit. My father also drives a 2000 Discovery with over 80k and loves it, hasn't had one problem, it is a nice car to drive down the highway but I don't know if I'd turn it into a trail rig. I guess another advantage that I have is that my mechanic is an independent Land Rover Guru and he hardly charges me anything to work on the truck.