How Reliable is a defender???

Hi

i'm thinking about getting rid of my disco, and was wondering how reliable is 90 or 110.
When i fix summat on the disco, something else soon rears it's head. Are the defenders the same, just as you fix summat your straight onto the next problem?

Also i've heard the 110's aren't great for towing, so which do you think is better for towing 90 or 110?

Thanks

Well the engines are the same if you get a tdi. and the drive train and transmission are pretty similar. but they don't rot like discos.

As for towing the 110's are probablya bit better at towing than 90's because the longer wheel base makes em more stable and less likely to suffer from "the tail wagging the dog." The old 110/90's were a bit slow so towing was a bit of a pain speed wise. but the tdi's are much better.

Had my 110 for 4 years it is 13 years old, replaced the fuel tank 2years ago changed cambelt last year and up to press got a clunking coming from rear suspension which I am glad to say I am getting ever closer to solving ( process of elimination ) New clutch master and slave cylinders about two years ago new shockers when bought and various new bushes and ball joints. Not too bad for a car this age and still as reliable as ever (touch wood)

JAC said:

Also i've heard the 110's aren't great for towing,

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and apparently bread is no good for makin butties.

Cant see why people think Defenders and Disco's are unreliable - they are not.Seems to me that the problems start with lack of servicing and cheap aftermarket parts,some of the cr-p I have seen fitted is worse than the worn bits coming off.
The other problem I see is poor repairs by people who dont know what they are doing or bodgers who dont care.

Defenders... unreliable???
Most of the ones that people call unreliable are over 15 years old!!
Lets see how good a Porche Cayenne or BMW X5 will be in 15 years with little or no maintenance.
My 1987 110 has so far in my 1 year of ownership needed:
3 new wiper blades
Fuel filter change
New seat bases
All oils changed

I'd rather have a Tonka toy that can be fixed easily and cheaply on the side of the road or at home than a modern box crammed full of electronics that I can't diagnose 'cos the manufacturer refuses to release the fault codes (or they don't know what they mean)
My mates garage now just works out what section of the engine management system has gone wrong then changes the cheapest parts first then go onto the most expensive parts until the problem goes away.

Patman1200 said:

I'd rather have a Tonka toy that can be fixed easily and cheaply on the side of the road or at home than a modern box crammed full of electronics that I can't diagnose 'cos the manufacturer refuses to release the fault codes (or they don't know what they mean).

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Seconded!!! touch wood I've never not got it home! this includes: bending 3 track rods, snapping the low box linkage (with the gearbox between low and high!) ripping the wiring loom out of the chassis with something caught round the prop (at night), having a head-on crash with another LR in the snow (see attached photo) and every time I've repaired it at the side of the road and driven it home! AND I'M NO MACHANIC!

If you're looking for something to keep going a Defender is the one!

JAC said:

Hi

i'm thinking about getting rid of my disco, and was wondering how reliable is 90 or 110.
When i fix summat on the disco, something else soon rears it's head. Are the defenders the same, just as you fix summat your straight onto the next problem?

Also i've heard the 110's aren't great for towing, so which do you think is better for towing 90 or 110?

Thanks

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I just re read your question and the answer is this. How reliable is your disco? They're pretty much the same thing except defenders are easier to fix and will still be on the road long after your disco's steel shell has rotted away. Plus the troublesome electric bits are not present in a defender, well not one that's old enough for me to be talkin about anyway

Well thanks for all the replies.

hughesy said:

I just re read your question and the answer is this. How reliable is your disco? They're pretty much the same thing except defenders are easier to fix and will still be on the road long after your disco's steel shell has rotted away. Plus the troublesome electric bits are not present in a defender, well not one that's old enough for me to be talkin about anyway

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Well it's fine when it's running, but it's just that i fix 1 problem and i'm straight onto the next. Wondered if defender owners feel the same way?

eightinavee said:

Cant see why people think Defenders and Disco's are unreliable - they are not.Seems to me that the problems start with lack of servicing and cheap aftermarket parts,some of the cr-p I have seen fitted is worse than the worn bits coming off.
The other problem I see is poor repairs by people who dont know what they are doing or bodgers who dont care.

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Yeah i'm not convinced mine has been that well looked after over the years. I've had it 2 years, and it feels like i've almost rebuilt it!!!

My 110 has stuff that needs doing, but it's all stuff that was there when I bought it that I haven't got round to yet. It hasn't broken down yet and neither did the 200tdi disco I had for 2 years before.

Oh well maybe i've just got a bad disco then, reckon it was made on a fri afternoon!

How comfortable is driving 90/110 on long runs? That's the only thing that puts me off them really, love em from the outside, but do they do your head in on long runs? (The agricultural feel to em)

Thanks

Mine has standard seats in and I'm 6'4" but it's ok comfort wise. Not anything like a disco though. I've just stuck some hefty speakers in so I can hear the cd over the general din. Trick is drive a series about for a bit then a 90/110 feels like a flamin rolls royce

It all depends ya definition of comfort.

I have done over 300 miles in a run.
providing you have decent sounds on the radio, or the bride moanin her tits off, there is no better "truck" to be in.

Agricultural? only a word used by townies to describe trattas.

reliable? no major problems that cant be dealt with. all depending on previous owner maintanance, but if you are spannerish then no worries.

I am undecided whether to have another, as only had 9 so far.
ford engine and proper heating??+ 400 squid rfl, mite have to go back to s111, or 300tdi if there are any guduns left. nowt wrong with the td5 though.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you seem to get a lot of people posting messages with faults on their Defenders...but that's the only time they post anything, as they are looking for advice. Most people don't post a message saying "well, nothing went wrong with the Defender this year..."
I've posted a couple of faults for advice this week (I have a 2006 Defender 90) but I've just driven nearly 4,000 miles across Northern Africa in it...in the 10,000 previous miles it's been pretty good.

Well I have a Defender 95 and it has been perfectly reliable. Mind you I do look after it quite well. I will happily set off to do 2k kms without thinking about it. But on the other hand you should see the parts I take with me, including an alternator, UJ's, a water pump, a vacuum pump, belts, clutch m/c, 6203 bearings etc. Not that I have ever had to use any of the bits, but you never know....

One of the biggest problems with landrovers on whole is bad maintenance. Until a few years ago all the work on our 300tdi Disco was done by garages, we used to use a independent LR specialist and everything was fine, then we used several local garages who just didn't have a clue about proper LR maintenance. They routed serpentine belts the wrong way, they didn't know about seperate oils for the gearboxes etc... basic things.

So you end up with mechanics - pro and DIY working on them who don't have a good grasp of LR's, mixed with cheap parts essentialy reducing their reliability. These are often the older ones, BMW's and Merc's were in the scrappy 3 years earlier...