Defender buying

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
R

ReadySalted

Active Member
Posts
444
Hi all,

I've knocked around here for some time now and have dipped in and out of landy ownership throughout that time having had no less than two series 3's, two disco tdi's and a defender. The last was the 1992 110 which I sold around the time defenders stopped being manufactured and somebody got a real bargain. I've had a vw camper ever since and it's been awesome (and completely reliable) but I just don't use it enough to justify it. I've been contemplating getting a disco 3 for months as my needs have shifted to needing something better suited for going shooting, and carrying the mrs, dog and maybe soon a child. The fact is, that my budget of around 6k doesn't get much of disco 3, and in all the time I've been looking, I've not been to view a single one. Last night I was curiously looking at defenders and my Mrs to my surprise said I should get another as she has a reliable family car and always liked the 110. I am so tempted, but they are at complete odds with the rationale I've been using to justify buying a disco 3!

The mileage will be higher, it will be noisy, equally as (un)reliable, much older, and a lot rougher, and yet the only question I am thinking now is, 110, or 90. Absolutely buying with my heart not my head but that's the best way isn't it!?
 
+1,

Love my 90,

But the space is very limited, once you start loading it you realise how it is limited , especially if you are putting people in there.

Cheers
 
Before you buy make sure you can fit suitable seats for the sprog at different stages of growing up.
 
Haha if money was no option I would. I must admit I never really liked 90s and always thought they looked a bit out of proportion. My 110 was pretty much my dream defender, but as much as I preferred its looks, I only ever used the cab space, and the rear area so it always seemed large and unessecary for just me. The second row was always empty. I actually removed all the seats in the end and for most of my ownership used it as a kind of one man camper. But the lack of space, curtains and other refinements, meant it was pretty pants and the fact I rarely used it off road meant it made more sense to get a proper camper which I did, and have used with a good degree of success. For me, mrs, Labrador, I think a 90 with roofrack would do quite happily and they seem a lot more available and a bit cheaper than 110 csw.
 
Had the 110 for many years, come back to it with a 90 and i would say 100% get the 110 or a 130. Have you looked at the rrc.
Pitchy the 90 is a bit small as others have said.
 
I have an ex mod 90 which I love but I wish I’d gone for a 110 (ideally a hicap pick up cuz I love em!!!). There is no room in a 90 at all in the back once there is a dog or some people or some luggage (ya can’t really transport more than one of those things at the same time!!) but the flip side of that is they are less cumbersome on a day to day basis.
Having said that, I rarely load it to the gunnels and transport people at the same time so it hasn’t been a big issue for me really.
Wimblowdriver makes a good point about the child seats. Not many fit well in the front of a defender (although it has been a while since I needed anything less than booster seats for my kids so things may have changed)

Rich
 
Last edited:
I have had a 110 for about 9 years now. I sometimes dream of having something like a Discovery with warm heaters but as soon as I get out in the 110 the dream goes. I go shooting and carry dogs. I wouldn't want to do it in a nice clean Discovery. Plus if anything does go wrong with the 110 they are cheap and cheerful to repair. I use my 110 mainly around the countryside here in France. If I was doing more motorway type driving and looking for more Car type comfort and performance then I might seriously consider a Discovery type vehicle. But at the moment the 110 suits my type of life style. I would never consider a 90. Too small.
 
It's a tough choice. I must admit 110s sw's seem to be a lot fewer, and I can definitely see their advantages. Thinking back to my series 3 swb the back was pretty useless. As it's just a big square. Not ideal for carrying stuff as you have to pile it up high and nothing is ever handy to get at. On the other hand there's a foot or two less of chassis to rot, not to mention two less doors to count the holes in. Given a free choice I think the 110 would be the preference all day long. But given the higher prices, and my likelihood of needing (not just wanting) and the extra space, I think the 90 has to be worth a try. To some extent the space issue can be gotten around with a roof rack. That said, I can see myself back here in a year from now looking to upgrade from a 90 to a 110 but will be fun to have tried both I think.
 
I'd ideally have gone for the 110, but with me, the Mrs and a Springer I couldn't really justify it. We managed a drive from Portsmouth to North Wales with the 3 of us and no roof rack needed (a weeks holiday in a cottage so luggage a was needed!)

If money no object I'd have both like a shot!
 
Dog cage on a platform with space either side for bags. A case fits underneath the dog cage with other bits and pieces and hold all type bags loaded into the back after the dog is loaded. It's tight but do-able. Shame as I spent out on a roofrack the week before the holiday thinking I'd need it! lol
 

Attachments

  • Dog in the back.jpg
    Dog in the back.jpg
    90.2 KB · Views: 163
Defender will be a lot lot cheaper to fix when it goes wrong and keeping the back of a D3 clean with a wet dog isnt fun.
The D3 will depreciate, the defender wont.

Defender with heated screen/seats and a/c would be an okay place to be.

90 is to small in the back and will be cramped with a dog and the baby gear.
 
Is usually only me the missus and the (little) dog, and occasionally the daughter in the back (CSW).
Can get plenty of logs / crap for the dump stowed so load space is OK
Only downside is that I can't kip in it without putting my feet on the backs of the chairs. +1 for the 110 there.
I love my 90, I think it looks great - Tonka for the mildly grown ups.
 
I’ve got a 110 CSW and the missus has a 90 CSW
Both TD5
The 110 rides better, l use it all day every day. Once the engine is warm the heater is fine. And it has loads of room, you can carry passengers plus luggage or mountain bikes, and my dinghy plus engine will fit in the back.
I took out the side facing rear seats and use it as a load space.
The 90 is more fun to drive and has a better turning circle. But it’s fairly bouncy even with adjustable dampers fitted, which did improve it to some degree.
 
Marmaduke said:
Personally if I were to get another defender I'd probably go down the 110 route, the back of a 90 just isn't that big but I'd take a fair bit to get me to part with my 300tdi discovery
Click to expand...

Definitely take a pig with you in order to test the suspension and road manners, very good metric is a pig.

Whatever you get check the VINs, rear crossmember, door bottoms, front bulkheads, in fact everything I didn't...I was too focussed on the pig, thanks @Marmaduke
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Engine swap ideas
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
dag019
dag019
C
Defender 90 TD5 Roof Load.
Replies
5
Views
696
casey66
C
D
Coolant loss 2024 Defender 110
Replies
1
Views
619
marjon
marjon
C
The new Land Rover Defender (L663 MY: 2020-)
Replies
4
Views
573
lightning
lightning
D
Changing TD5 Defender 90
Replies
4
Views
775
lightning
lightning
Back
Top