Defender 1st timer - advice sought

[OldDuffer]

Man and boy, always been a Series owner - in the family from the 60s. Unfortunately the beard-set has these in a firm grip. Not sure why but the later models seem to get hit by the fairy. Chequer-plate is the first step, then a slippery slope of 'seen Crocodile Dundee once too often' tat. The winch and the 'Plastic snorkel of delusion' follows. You've seen them, you know the kind of thing...

Ahem...
Ah, that’s been hit by the Land-rover Fairy. Now the Land-rover Fairy... he’s like the tooth-fairy, only more magical. Make a wish and that night the magic starts. Next morning, wake to a Land-rover spattered in homoerotic-shonk, a fresh arse and a sixpence.

Once you're at suburbia's alloy rims/metallic-paint it's all over. I love mine, but careful. It's too easy to have them look psued, or like they fell off off a fairground ride.

Edited by OldDuffer on Saturday 27th February 12:53

[Chris_S]

Interesting to hear mention of coming out of a 911 or a C63.
I wasn't the only one then :-) I've had sports cars all my life like Porsches, Lotus, loads of BMW M cars etc.
Sold my M2 for a 2014 Ultimate Urban edition Defender 110 as I was moving into a rural area. So pleased I did and I've never looked back. It's still relatively subtle looking with all the money spent on the right mods like Bilstein suspension, engine tune, recaro seats, sound proofing, LED lights, Apple car play etc..
Fun to drive, not as slow as you think, ride no longer bouncy, can do long trips thanks to that sound proofing. The right mods can make it a nice daily.

[Red9zero]

Chris_S said:

Interesting to hear mention of coming out of a 911 or a C63.
I wasn't the only one then :-) I've had sports cars all my life like Porsches, Lotus, loads of BMW M cars etc.
Sold my M2 for a 2014 Ultimate Urban edition Defender 110 as I was moving into a rural area. So pleased I did and I've never looked back. It's still relatively subtle looking with all the money spent on the right mods like Bilstein suspension, engine tune, recaro seats, sound proofing, LED lights, Apple car play etc..
Fun to drive, not as slow as you think, ride no longer bouncy, can do long trips thanks to that sound proofing. The right mods can make it a nice daily.

Very nice

[m911rks]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've finally took the plunge & am getting a Santorini black 64 plate 90 XS station wagon with low miles and a LRFSH.

There's no checkerplate, no snorkel/raised air intake & it's pretty much the perfect spec that I was after. As several of you have suggested, the car is in outstanding condition & doesn't need anything modifying, so I've ended up extending the budget but I'm getting a mint car & what I was after.

I really can't wait to get it & I'll post pictures of it when it arrives next month.

Thanks again for your help, it's been really useful to help me get sorted.

Cheers, Mark

[Red9zero]

m911rks said:

Thanks for all the feedback. I've finally took the plunge & am getting a Santorini black 64 plate 90 XS station wagon with low miles and a LRFSH.

There's no checkerplate, no snorkel/raised air intake & it's pretty much the perfect spec that I was after. As several of you have suggested, the car is in outstanding condition & doesn't need anything modifying, so I've ended up extending the budget but I'm getting a mint car & what I was after.

I really can't wait to get it & I'll post pictures of it when it arrives next month.

Thanks again for your help, it's been really useful to help me get sorted.

Cheers, Mark

Sounds nice. Pics asap obviously

[Chris_S]

Enjoy Mark :-)

[Jonny TVR]

Well done.

Pic of my old ones.

[LooneyTunes]

m911rks said:

Thanks for all the feedback. I've finally took the plunge & am getting a Santorini black 64 plate 90 XS station wagon with low miles and a LRFSH.

There's no checkerplate, no snorkel/raised air intake & it's pretty much the perfect spec that I was after. As several of you have suggested, the car is in outstanding condition & doesn't need anything modifying, so I've ended up extending the budget but I'm getting a mint car & what I was after.

I really can't wait to get it & I'll post pictures of it when it arrives next month.

Thanks again for your help, it's been really useful to help me get sorted.

Cheers, Mark

Sounds tidy,but I like them largely factory looking. Not had a SWB for some years now but will add one one day. For the time being 110 works better for me and I can’t justify one of each.

Without wanting to put a dampener on things, don’t forget to think about security when you get it. If you look at marque specific forums you’ll see some people take it to extremes but given many parts simply unbolt and fit older models a bit of caution is sensible. At a minimum I’d be looking at spending the £30 or so to get it ISR marked (you can buy a land rover specific kit directly from retainagroup). Easy to do but hopefully a bit of a deterrent to those who steal to ring or strip for parts.

[Ayahuasca]

Small tip - watch out for the seatbelt bolt... it’s the one at the level of - and in line with - your temple, and it is the one that will punch a bolt-sized hole in your head if given half a chance.

[Red9zero]

Ayahuasca said:

Small tip - watch out for the seatbelt bolt... it’s the one at the level of - and in line with - your temple, and it is the one that will punch a bolt-sized hole in your head if given half a chance.

And the door catch that rips the belt loop off your jeans

[LooneyTunes]

Red9zero said:

Ayahuasca said:

Small tip - watch out for the seatbelt bolt... it’s the one at the level of - and in line with - your temple, and it is the one that will punch a bolt-sized hole in your head if given half a chance.

And the door catch that rips the belt loop off your jeans

Not to mention the door that will clobber you the first time you shut it and take at least five goes to close properly. Or the headlight switch that you can easily use to flip the slide lights on when you’re removing your key. Or the very localised heater outlet (until you fit the mud heater deflector). Or the rear door that will attempt to crush you if you park the wrong way on a slope and/or there’s a gust of wind.

Using any objective measure they are truly awful vehicles... but they don’t half get into your blood.

[m911rks]

Haha, now you come out the woodwork after I've ordered the car!! Where were you when I was making the decision?!!

Thanks for all the tips and I'll definitely look at the security side of things. The car has a tracker & alarm etc and will be parked securely, but I'll look into the ISR bit as that sounds like good advice

[Ayahuasca]

LooneyTunes said:

Red9zero said:

Ayahuasca said:

Small tip - watch out for the seatbelt bolt... it’s the one at the level of - and in line with - your temple, and it is the one that will punch a bolt-sized hole in your head if given half a chance.

And the door catch that rips the belt loop off your jeans

Not to mention the door that will clobber you the first time you shut it and take at least five goes to close properly. Or the headlight switch that you can easily use to flip the slide lights on when you’re removing your key. Or the very localised heater outlet (until you fit the mud heater deflector). Or the rear door that will attempt to crush you if you park the wrong way on a slope and/or there’s a gust of wind.

Using any objective measure they are truly awful vehicles... but they don’t half get into your blood.

I used speed bumps to turn my headlights on and off. First bump turned them off. Next bump turned them on again. And I used a bungee cord to hold the rear door open.

Due to moving I sold mine a couple of weeks ago after about 8 years ownership ... very sad day.

[LooneyTunes]

Ayahuasca said:

Due to moving I sold mine a couple of weeks ago after about 8 years ownership ... very sad day.

If you’ve had one for 8 years you’ll be back!

I’ve just had a two year absence after mistakenly thinking a FFRR could do everything a Defender could.

[m911rks]

I finally got my Defender today!

I've only done about 15 miles in it so far, but love it already. I can thoroughly recommend Nick at Auto Autonomy for sourcing the perfect car and an outstanding service

[Red9zero]

Very nice !

[CSK1]

Looks fantastic! Well done!

[bakerstreet]

m911rks said:

Looks very smart and the modern ones certainly improve on the levels of creature comforts.

What is the spare mounted to? If its just bolted to the rear door, you might want to consider a swing away wheel carrier from someone like Britpart. Only £140 delivered and probably a morning's work to fit

The rear door hinges can barely cope with the weight of the door let alone a 30Kg Wheel/tyre combo. However Defenders at least have three hinges unles my series with two.

Additional sound deadening is worth adding too. That's a bit more involved but worth doing.

Land Rovers get under your skin. I've had a Discovery 3 (Sold after 2 1/2 years) and a Series 3 which I've had since May 2012. Only been on the road for about three of those years, but hopefully this year that will change. There is a very lengthy thread on the subject in GC, but its quite picture heavy!

Of all the cars I have looked at, Mrs BakerStreet would still prefer for me to get a Discovery 4 or a Range Rover. its a status thing, but she'll never admit it!