Who buys new Defenders?

I was talking to one of my customers yesterday (he works in agriculture) and he's just bought himself a new 4WD pick up. I saw the brochures that he still had: Toyota, Mitsubishi and Isuzu; He'd chosen a Mitsubishi.

My neighbour is an agricultural contractor. He changed his Disco 2 for a Mitsubishi 5 years ago and is now looking at a Toyota.

My local Land Rover dealer (Roger Young, Saltash, Cornwall) has just taken on the Isuzu franchise to run alongside their Land Rover products.

I meet quite a few people is the same line of work in my business and I know of just one person who bought a new Defender.

This got me thinking....

Is anyone buying Freelanders new in any numbers? Are people here simply recycling the last 60 year's production, or has anyone bought theirs new? Have Land Rover surrendered this part of the new vehicle market? This is not meant to be antagonistic in anyway, I'd just like to know.

tbh i would'nt buy a new fender if i had the wonga but only because of the engine/gearbox

buckshot said:

tbh i would'nt buy a new fender if i had the wonga but only because of the engine/gearbox

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What is wrong with the current engine / gearbox? I know the Transit engine doesn't seem to have many fans, but don't know why...

Tigger said:

What is wrong with the current engine / gearbox? I know the Transit engine doesn't seem to have many fans, but don't know why...

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IMHO the whole setup seems like a bodge up apparently the tdci engine is capable of better hp/torque than the td5 but it has worse MPG, there is a definete clutch issue ,the gearbox is a mondeo unit and the ratio's are all to **** ie;1st way too low, 5th way too close to 4th and 6th is way higher than 5th, and the new dash makes leg room very tight (if you are 5ft10 or taller if it has a front seat bulkhead you are fooked .

BT Fleet?

The L200s we have are pretty useless for the towing we do, but most of the guys prefer them as they don't sound like theyll fall to pieces over 50mph....

L200 useless off road though, we took the 110 and 2x L200s out and the trailer sockets broke off, plus there's a big gay bar at the bottom by the towbar that they kept grounding out on....

I've driven one at an off road center as well as having an on road test drive, and was pleasantly surprised, at how good they are. the anti stall feature is great for failed hill starts.

Redwings has bought a new one and is well happy with it.

buckshot said:

IMHO the whole setup seems like a bodge up apparently the tdci engine is capable of better hp/torque than the td5 but it has worse MPG, there is a definete clutch issue ,the gearbox is a mondeo unit and the ratio's are all to **** ie;1st way too low, 5th way too close to 4th and 6th is way higher than 5th, and the new dash makes leg room very tight (if you are 5ft10 or taller if it has a front seat bulkhead you are fooked .

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Thanks for the information.

The guy that had bought the new Defender (in my first post) had reported some shocking mpg figures, so that explains that. I sat in one in the showroom and couldn't believe how little space there was in the cab (I'm 5'11"), so that's down to the new dash then.

the pumas are horrid! i had the displeasure of doing some tuning work on them with the autologic computer. the already bad ratios are made even worse by adjusting the fueling and air systems, basically makes the engine rev up after you lift off... having driven pretty much all the engines land rover ever made and some they didn`t i can honestly say they should have stopped at the 300tdi/r380 combo.

Thanks for the replies, interesting to read...

Tigger said:

Thanks for the information.

The guy that had bought the new Defender (in my first post) had reported some shocking mpg figures, so that explains that. I sat in one in the showroom and couldn't believe how little space there was in the cab (I'm 5'11"), so that's down to the new dash then.

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not so bad if the bulkhead is not there .
if you got the window open and you close yer eyes for a sec sounds like yer driving a transit
just past 1 on the A303 earlier (90 truck cab) in my 110 double cab td5 , dont think he liked it so put his foot down got to about 80 and was all done i sailed on and left him standing (did'nt quite reach triple figures before i got to my tyrn off )

buckshot said:

not so bad if the bulkhead is not there .
if you got the window open and you close yer eyes for a sec sounds like yer driving a transit
just past 1 on the A303 earlier (90 truck cab) in my 110 double cab td5 , dont think he liked it so put his foot down got to about 80 and was all done i sailed on and left him standing (did'nt quite reach triple figures before i got to my tyrn off )

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Yep they're limited to 86 (IIRC)

make no mistake after fiddling with the ecu and reprograming almost everything in the fuelling,egr and air systems you can make them quick, but they
a. drink fuel like father jack
b. rev over for about a sec after throttle lift off
c. seem to resonate rather awesomely at around 85-90 mph

that said, i know a couple of farmers round my way who have them and are quite happy with them.

fleck said:

make no mistake after fiddling with the ecu and reprograming almost everything in the fuelling,egr and air systems you can make them quick, but they
a. drink fuel like father jack
b. rev over for about a sec after throttle lift off
c. seem to resonate rather awesomely at around 85-90 mph

that said, i know a couple of farmers round my way who have them and are quite happy with them.

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tbh if it was a tdci or a slitty then think i would have to bite the bullet (as long as the company footed the fuel bill of course )

the new cabs are hard to get into.Stupid dash sticks out too far.Was easier to get into me lifted defender than the new puma ones.

IMHO the thing with the older Defenders is the nuts and bolts engineering, they are basically simplistic machines but that does have a lot of obvious advantages.
As soon as they start to try and update it, hi-tec engine, fancy dash etc it kinda loses the plot a bit, it doesn't make sense so much and there is then a lot more competition out there in terms of vehicles which are of totally modern designs and not a halfway house as the TDCI is.

I bought one!
Love it. It works for it's living too.
Couple of minor glitches, but otherwise fine.
I'm 6'4" and a set of MUD rails plus a smaller steering wheel makes it comfy enough.

Got a couple of mates bought slittys at about the same time as me. The L200 has just had a new gearbox at a cost of £1400 (just out of warranty) and the Hilux has been at the stealers for the last 6 weeks while they argue about who's gonna pay for a new IP (£2000!!!!).

My brother bought a new 90 (cos he wanted to do some off roading) now has a new 110 better for the school run get more kids init and all the seats face the right way.

had my 110 utility for 4 months from new the wifes done over 6 k in it she loves it i dont even get a look in. put 1 litre of oil in it uses more than me 300tdi disco

Our local landrover dealer has maybe 2 defenders. Majority of the new stock they have are FL2s + disco's.

Most people ive seen driving new defenders are people that work/live in the city and at weekends put on the full 2011 collection of barbour clothing and take the dogs to the countryside for an hour.

lol... full 2011 barbour collection...