Buying a new Defender 90

Greetings all!

I'm new here so my apologies if these questions have been asked before. I am planning to buy a new Defender 90 Hard Top (required delivery March 2010) for a mixture of work and leisure use and would really appreciate some thoughts on the following:

1. Is the ETC/ABS option worth the investment in terms of off-road and on road performance or is the vehicle just as capable without these, using the correct driving techniques of course?

2. Will having ETC/ABS lead to more expensive repairs later on?

3. When considering the options that have been made available in recent years, such as electric windows, heated seats, A/C, heated screens etc. the first thought that came to my mind was a less reliable vehicle in the future with higher repair bills. Has this been the case? My intention is to buy a new vehicle that I can look after well and use for many years. When thinking of long term reliability, would it be wise to just buy a base model 90 without any of the additional electrical options?

4. Why have Land Rover only fitted a centre diff. lock and not one for each wheel? Or does the ETC make up for this? Does only having a centre diff. lock cause problems if both a front and rear wheel is off the ground or loses traction?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and time!

i'd rather have a well looked after 15 - 20 year old landy with no electronics, than one ladens with fancy tricks that falter your driving skills

i read alot of bad reviews on the new defenders , i know the td5 has some electrics too but i'd go for the newest td5 you can get , i don't think much of the new tranny engines thats in the defender now i drive a tranny at work and don't like its preformance when cold in morning very rattley the fact that tata mortors own landrover now puts me way off

Thanks for the replies so far. Is the new Defender really so bad? I have been looking at some older ones too. Any thoughts on my other questions, e.g. traction control/ABS?
Assuming I can find the right one, would a TD5 be a better and more reliable investment?

I have to say that even tho I could go and buy a new Defender 90 tomorrow I would rather spend 18k on a top of the range VW Passat tdi and 4k on a 15yr old Defender 90 300tdi ....... thats what I did last year.
No regrets... the VW does 58mpg on motorways and the estate holds a big payload and I can wear decent clothes! My old Defender 90 is wonderful, not comfortable to drive, noisey, basic and averages less than 30mpg but if it gets scratched or bent a little when off road no problem, spares are cheap. I love it and would not swap it for a new one... as Sean says, no electrics and a great work horse.
I have been to the Land Rover dealers, looked at and driven the 90 and to be honest I can't see anything to justify a 22k price tag. In my opinion, they are nice.... but not 22k nice.
Sorry I did not answer any of the questions you asked but for me, the option of what car shall I take out today could be worth considering.

That does make sense in many ways. So, from the responses here and my other research on the forum, I am gathering that the opinion seems to be that the 300 tdi or td5 is better vehicle. Where is the best place to find a good one?

arctic said:

That does make sense in many ways. So, from the responses here and my other research on the forum, I am gathering that the opinion seems to be that the 300 tdi or td5 is better vehicle. Where is the best place to find a good one?

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have a look round the land rover dealers ,
i bought a 2004 td5 defender 90 hardtop from Donnelly Bros in Northern Ireland last march , she's green with wite roof bog standard no frill 55k miles very very clean landy 7.5k stg i oppted to buy it with no warranty or no service as i lived a few hours from them and could service it my self that knocked the price down a bit , they vallet it and polished it and painted the rear crossmember replaced a torn seat, filled it with fuel and met me half way on the road , these guys are great to deal with

What area are you in Artic? I am sure people on here can recommend dealers you can go and take look at and most have web sites

Finland, hence my initial plan to buy a new one. There are very few second hand ones available here and the prices are very high. I would of course prefer a LHD model but could probably manage with a RHD. Would an ex-MOD LHD be a better option than a new one?

the new defenders {tdci} are fantastic i am on my second one abs/etc dose make a big difrence off road my new one dose not have it last one did

Have you had any problems with them? Gearbox? Some research here has indicated that they had some problems, at least at first. Have these been resolved now or?

Sean said:

i'd rather have a well looked after 15 - 20 year old landy with no electronics, than one ladens with fancy tricks that falter your driving skills

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I have to agree with that one. Something like an early 1990s thru to 1998 would be avoiding the newer stuff.

Yes, the problem is finding a good LHD example.

first puma had new clutch at 20,000 only fault in 50,000

arctic said:

Yes, the problem is finding a good LHD example.

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You could consider a brand new LHD ROW 300 Tdi if you need a left hooker. Your getting the 300 TDI simplicity but brand new. Cheaper too.

Sorry, what is a ROW 300Tdi?

ROW - Rest of Word specification. Sold to countrys who don't have as strict emission rules

Where can I buy a brand new ROW 300TDI?

GAZ101....... if you can be bothered, I would love to hear a review on your defender as I too will be looking for a defender in the spring as I am contemplating pushing the boat out and buying a new 90 county.

thanks

I've heard both good and bad things about the new Defender so more opinions would be appreciated.