We use Defenders at work, most are around 7 years old. We work in the utility industry and we use these vehicles to tow generators around etc.
It is not unusual to complete 350 miles in a shift and I have to say they are really not ideal.
Great for gymkhanas, going to market, working on the farm/in the forest and popping into town. Who said winebars
Motorway bashing - no.
Offroad in the right hands pretty unbeatable and I've dragged many a generator out of fields with them but it has to be said they are about 20 years out of date and the rest of the world has moved on.
Moved on to airbags, crumple zones and seat belt pretensioners and having decent sized accommodation. I'm not tall but my knees are around 3cm from the dash and you have to sit in the passenger seat if you want to read a newspaper or do your paperwork. We have had guys who literally couldn't fit into them.
Anyway, I'm sure my comments will not be welcome by a large section of readers and I can fully understand their loyalty to the product but do these readers cover the daily miles and hours that we do (12 hr shifts) - ours are quite often double shifted and the vehicle will only "rest" for an hour or two a day.
Right, that's it, tin hat on, coat and taxi at the ready.
P.S. I feel pretty confident that the issues I have raised will/ has been addressed when the replacement machine eventually appears - but look out because Isuzu and Ford have uprated their towing capacity to 3.5 tonnes now. Which is what our lot are starting to get on fleet.