Defender 110 as first car

Go for it! I started driving my parents 110 as my first car at 17 last christmas. The looks you get from other driver (including police) can be quite funny as everyone who owns one near me seems to be a fair bit older.
Parking is fine if you reverse into the bays as the mirrors are huge compared to everything else I have driven! But finding carparks to park in can be hard if you have a roof rack due to the hight.
Only problem I have found is that as it is the only car I have driven for the last 8 months, and with not much time spent in other cars, getting into a normal car with a light clutch and sensitive/normal brakes can be a bit of a shock.
But if you have the money do it. It teaches you so much about smooth driving and reading the roads.

Go for the 110, chances are it will outlive any Corsa. You risk being volunteered as designated driver by your mates! Might be worth considering how much it will cost you in fuel to drive it every day, and road tax.

Extra bonus: If you drive your missus' "modern" car at the weekend, it will feel like a Bentley.

Alm.

Go for it... defenders arent physically that large, a 90 is shorter than a fiesta and a 110 is the same length as a ford focus estate, but 2 inches narrower.

Defenders just look big because they are tall and boxy

Thanks for all the feedback. Would a 110 van be worth considering too?

Anotherjosh said:

Thanks for all the feedback. Would a 110 van be worth considering too?

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A hard top is only effectively a 2 seater. Soon as you start adding extra seats you have to change your v5 and insure it as a modified car and it could put the insurance premium up.

Visibility out of any van when pulling out of angled junctions is quite limited.

Go for it, I had a 90 as my first car and for learning In and I loved it. Nothing wrong with a hard top just you need to stick your head out of the window more at junctions etc. also I think the insurance might be a tad less if it's insured as a van rather than a station wagon. After taking mine off the road for a rebuild I'm now running a corsa around and I miss the 90 all the time now for its character and use (corsa sits a little low at the back with 4 25l drums of oil in the boot &#128540

You might find that insurance on a van is more expensive so I would check that too. The 4 door version with windows will be much easier to drive as the vans have blind spots (try turning left at a junction where the road you are on comes to the new road at 45 degrees!). With a four door you have 5 or 6 seats and still have storage space. They are easy to work on and most parts are cheap so although the fuel cost might be higher the costs of other bits will likely be cheaper.

Also if the 110 is a NA, 200TDi or 300TDi you can run it cheaper using up to 75% veg oil especially in the summer. At 75% veg oil which is 75p per litre it is 130+75+75+75=£3.55 for 4 litres or 89p per litre. At 30mpg 89p per litre works out at an equivalent mpg of 43mpg. Having accurately measured my mpg on both pure diesel and veg oil I find no real difference with 29.5mpg on diesel and 30.5mpg on veg oil mix so the figures work out. I'm driving a 90 300TDi so maybe you would get a couple of mpg less but still good. Just requires a change of oil, oil filter and fuel filter every six months but worth it.

110s arent much more difficult to park than a 90 but just might be slightly less to insure....

cowasaki said:

You might find that insurance on a van is more expensive so I would check that too. The 4 door version with windows will be much easier to drive as the vans have blind spots (try turning left at a junction where the road you are on comes to the new road at 45 degrees!). With a four door you have 5 or 6 seats and still have storage space. They are easy to work on and most parts are cheap so although the fuel cost might be higher the costs of other bits will likely be cheaper.

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+1 to better visibility, plus dogs like having somewhere to look out of; rattly sliding windows can be annoying but quickly fixed.

Some of the CSWs are V5'ed as vans (Private Light Goods - PLG), like mine, despite always being CSW from new. This has meant I can't opt to protect my no-claims bonus, but then again, it is also LEZ exempt!

My insurance is around £400/year, but I had a Corsa flat-pack itself into the front bulkhead outrigger within the last 3 years. Try the specialists, the NFU insure my Lightweight for <£100/year.

Alm.

Just go for it. You'll love it. My story's pretty much the same as bushwwacker's (dates included). I got my first series III 109 in December 1996 and I passed my test 3 days past my 18th birthday in April 1997. I had a blast in that Series III for almost 7 years (and it really was a fanny magnet too!) until I replaced it with my current 90 in 2003. No regrets whatsoever.

Anotherjosh said:

I have been offered a Land Rover Defender 110 station wagon by one of my parents friends at a price I can afford. Is a 110 all right for a first car or should I get a 90?

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I've got a 90 - not as my first car... But had I been able to afford one, I would have done! Either way, first car is a landrover so you're definitely on the right track!!

Also - insurance is cheap on landies! If you can get pre tdi model, with a tdi conversion you're laughing!
I'm 21 now and fully comp I'm paying £300.
Not bad being as a Nissan Micra is about £850!!

Anotherjosh said:

Would parking be a problem? Even though I passed my license I have never needed to park in a bay between two cars. My mother doesn't want me to have a 110 and this is one of the issues she brings up.

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Landrovers are perfect for parking!! Your mum is talking rubbish!! From drivers seat you can see all the furtherst points of the car.
Get in any modern vehicle, and you can't even see how far the bonnet sticks out! Makes for very easy parking. Plus power steering, and it's not like it's a bus! Gotta learn to park somewhen, so why not a 110? Once you can park that anything smaller will be a doddle! go for it mate! Don't let her disused you!
Landrover is a far better first car than a god damn Saxo or some sh*tty hatchback.

TheRealPlank said:

I've got a 90 - not as my first car... But had I been able to afford one, I would have done! Either way, first car is a landrover so you're definitely on the right track!!

Also - insurance is cheap on landies! If you can get pre tdi model, with a tdi conversion you're laughing!
I'm 21 now and fully comp I'm paying £300.
Not bad being as a Nissan Micra is about £850!!

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You would need to declare that engine change as a (performance) modification, therefore you would pay the same or more than an original TDI. Fail to do this, come the day of a claim, you will find your not insured!

TheRealPlank said:

Landrovers are perfect for parking!! Your mum is talking rubbish!! From drivers seat you can see all the furtherst points of the car.
Get in any modern vehicle, and you can't even see how far the bonnet sticks out! Makes for very easy parking. Plus power steering, and it's not like it's a bus! Gotta learn to park somewhen, so why not a 110? Once you can park that anything smaller will be a doddle! go for it mate! Don't let her disused you!
Landrover is a far better first car than a god damn Saxo or some sh*tty hatchback.

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My partner doesn't like taking my 90 shopping as the struggles to park it due to the massive turning circle.

You get used to it though, and Land Rovers are infinitely more fun to drive than a normal car. Plus how many cars can you modify yourself and not get called a chav, boy racer or be made fun of? The only others that come to mind are VW beetles and VW camper vans.

blue beasty said:

Much more room fer....errrm.....'social' activities in a 110

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I remember when I got my first 110 when I was at college, my old man would say, you could get a mattress in the back of there!!
The only trouble was, I had to take all my mates to the pub and be the only one sober