Landrover/Shogun/Defender – Some Thoughts

I currently own a LWB Shogun (main vehicle) and a 1983 Series 3 (purely for fun). Initially I wanted either a Defender 110 or a Disco 2 to cover both bases in one vehicle but was put off by rust, maintenance, poor comfort and the sheer cost of a 110 and reliability/rust with the Disco.

I ended up with the Shogun which was inexpensive to buy, comfortable, reliable, comparatively maintenance free, doesn’t rust and is good off-road. The Series 3 is just for fun. I love landrovers just because they are landrovers but going through the rapid learning curve of purchasing one I was shocked at just how poor they are in some key areas, chassis rust for example in the Defender. The degree to which Landrover have been riding both on their badge and on the willingness of an unusually high number of their customers to carry out their own maintenance or overlook issues which in other vehicles would be terminal is pretty poor in my view.

I was sad to see the end of the Defender but it had become so archaic I have come to the reluctant conclusion that it was time. What really interests me now is the new model – if Landrover get it right and take the positives from the Disco 4/5 but put them into a more utilitarian platform I think the new Defender could be a seriously good vehicle. The off road ability of the old Defender combined with much better comfort/noise/no rust etc..

Currently my Series 3 is unbeatable for roof off summer fun but there is no landy I can replace my Shogun with. For me the reality is that I would very rarely need the Defender’s superior off road capability over the Shogun and the Defender is inferior (for my use) in every other way. Both my vehicles spend far more time off road than the average UK 4 x 4 owner (landy enthusiasts excluded!) as I use them both for shooting trips and for expeditions (UK/France/Spain) – Shogun has BF Goodrich KO2 A/T Tyres on it but no other mods and is excellent off road. It manages well at pay and play sites too but that’s not really my area of interest.

So until the D4 becomes affordable or until the new Defender is released and I persuade the Mrs we should take out a massive loan to get one it will be Mitsubishi/Series 3 combo for me!

Just my thoughts on the Landrover versus other options scenario but would be interested to hear other people’s views/thoughts on this as we await the new defender….

You won't be able to buy spares for your Jap at some point, been there done that.

Nice intro post,

Welcome to the looneyzone.

That does it , I am selling my Landies and going to buy a Jap. Maybe a nissan as I heard the chassis on them were fantastic...LOL.

Cheers

Meh...

Coming on a Landy forum just to say how rubbish they are...







As if we didn't already know

blue beasty said:

Meh...

Coming on a Landy forum just to say how rubbish they are...







As if we didn't already know

Click to expand...

Not as rubbish as his keyboard strikes when he typed the user name in ...

Good point re spares. I see my shogun as disposable insofar as they are inexpensive to buy so I will swap it in a few years for a newer version and hopefully keep up with spares that way. Travel wise I don’t have the money to go to Africa etc so if there are spares problems there it doesn’t matter so much to me.

I will swap jap for Landy as soon as there is a viable option but I guess it frustrates me that jap was the better choice for me given that landies were such a pioneer off roader historically and we make them in the uk.

Yes, keyboards aren’t my strongpoint! Great forum - I’ve read bits of it for ages before posting, really helpful and masses of knowledge so cheers

Don't worry I will up my p155 taking of a Shogun owner near work. He kept on that his engine was bigger, but I replied with more cylinders, more power, more reliability.

Also got him with my D2 having traction control as well as diff lock.

Well i have to admit i love landies all sorts, yes can be a bit temprimental but i love my 1987 landy as it was british , Yes i was proud to be british ,i am not racist , but everyone is always keen to slag off landrovers they do what they say on the box no frills fix it in the field vehicle . Cant do that with your jap i had one hated it a lwb pajero it drank fuel , its a pity as we as brits dont have a car producing company and we sold ourselves out sad, look at vw germans still own them and we won the war really whos the fools now then , the japs they own theyre toyota honda ,and dare i say fiat , there we are rant over lol

One of the problems with LR (prior to the Defender being axed) was pandering to the Chelsea tractor brigade & failing to include a ROW (rest of the world) Defender in their model line-up, unlike Nissan & Toyota - hence the loss of sales to markets where working 4x4's have to be fixed in the field without the aid of lap-top diagnostic equipment. Making claims such as ''70 percent of our vehicles survive'' make me spit feathers as those statistics are reliant on owners spending both time & money fighting corrosion resulting from poor steel, inadequate rust prevention, or both If ever a company's success story relied on it's badge ...
Having said all that I have to admit to owning 5 series ( S2A / S3) & 4 Range Rover classics over the years, so does that make me an enthusiast or certifiable?