The best defender ?

[robs10]

Hiya

Which is the best model of defender ?

Looks, economy, maintenance costs, residual value.

Fav at the moment is the 50th but the fuel consumption is putting me off !

Lets say £3000 - £12000 budget....

Any advice really welcomed - dont want to get something thats sat in the garage most the time, I will be offroading it a fair bit.

cheers

[BLUETHUNDER]

Personnaly i would go with a 50th. Ive had mine two years now and the only problem i have had with it is a split door rubber at £30. And two services.

I get a thumbs up from people from all walks of life where ever i travel. It really is a vehicle that crosses all social classes. Doesnt look out of place on the Kings Road or some of the more rougher areas of London. I even get an offer to buy it at least two or three times a month. As you can see i love it. For your budget,then the higher end should see you in to something decent..........

[astroarcadia]

XS in Bonatti Grey

[defender50th]

Well the best is the 50th , but yeah not the cheepest to run.

[robs10]

yeah, I do love the 50th. The current cost of the 50th means I would have to consider selling my golf rather run one alongside it..

what sort of petrol consumption do you get ? is it painful to watch the petrol gauge go down so quickly on a long journey!

and what do you think of the depreciation of the50th over the next say3 - 5 years ? up (optimistic!) down the same ?

or my option is to getsomething like this.......


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

its the white one i like if a whole list comes up for 3 grand.

would probably run just one car ifi buy over 10 grand or just two if itsa cheap onelike the white one.....

[Marcellus]

In my experience (110) I think I would advise anyone to go to one of the recognised refubishers of Defenders (based around coventry & solihull iirc).

I tried to save a few ££££s by buying privately and have had to spend more than teh saving in the subsequent year on things that have gone wrong........ that said if I had a garage or workshop then I would probably have been able to do a lot of the things myself......

[Stu R]

50ths are kings imo, though for me a new / nearly new 110, with a slight lift, some big knobblies and a snorkel is just about perfect.

[robs10]

is that a twin exhuast on there ? thats not standard is it! how much was it and where from ? cheers

[BLUETHUNDER]

Value wise. Then you only have to look at equivelant Defenders that age(all 50ths built 98) and see that a 50th is worth more. Most of this is due to the rarity. It was the only Defender since 85/86 that was offered with a V8. And the only Defender offered with a autobox as standard. Other bits as well make it stand out as well from an ordinary Defender. Colour,Roll bar,and rear NAS step.

Infact nice 50ths are worth more than early L322,s.

[Andy Sargeant]

Your handbreak must be good to hold it on a hill like that.

[GKP]

It's an auto, therefore in P.

Ours has been ok for the past year or so we've had it. I rebushed and re-braked it when we first got it, since then (service items aside) it's needed nothing but petrol. Oooh yes, it likes a drink!
My Good Lady uses it as her everday car and gets low teens mpg, so that coupled with a relatively small fuel tank means refilling is a regular feature.

The tyres are starting to look close to needing replacement but judging by their overall condition I'd wager they are the original set. The car has done around 45k now, of which around 12-15k of those are ours.

[Andy Sargeant]

Standard fitment would have been 265/75x16 BFGoodrich AT which last for almost ever, would say they are starting to crack up from my experience, good replacement is the General AT2, quite a big saving over BFG and better wet weather performance.

Andy.

[Bill]

The 50th only comes as a 90 though?

The Tomb Raiders looked pretty cool. Shame it's a bird's car

[GLpinxit]

You say you will be offroading it quite a bit, what sort of offroading? And I'm not sure that is consistent with keeping a 50th in good nick plus if you plan to take it in the water then the V8 motors aren't the best and a diesel would be better.

[gtr-gaz]

robs10 said:

or my option is to getsomething like this.......


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

its the white one i like if a whole list comes up for 3 grand.

would probably run just one car ifi buy over 10 grand or just two if itsa cheap onelike the white one.....

Actually, that looks pretty good

I think I might go for an early defender instead. What are the benefits over the series 3 and how do running costs compare?

Cheers

[BLUETHUNDER]

gtr-gaz said:

robs10 said:

or my option is to getsomething like this.......


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

its the white one i like if a whole list comes up for 3 grand.

would probably run just one car ifi buy over 10 grand or just two if itsa cheap onelike the white one.....

Actually, that looks pretty good

I think I might go for an early defender instead. What are the benefits over the series 3 and how do running costs compare?

Cheers

The ride will be the biggest comparison. The defender runs on coil springs where as the series will have leafs. Running costs are low in comparison to other marques from LR. i.e RR, Discovery etc. Engines are different as well. On the series vehicles it was either a 2 1/4 petrol or diesel. On the 90 depending on the year you had...

2 1/4 petrol
2.5 petrol
2.5 diesel
2.5 TD (Avoid)
3.5 V8
4.0 V8
200 tdi
300 tdi
TD5
Puma

[superlightr]

robs10 said:

Hiya

Which is the best model of defender ?

Looks, economy, maintenance costs, residual value.

Fav at the moment is the 50th but the fuel consumption is putting me off !

Lets say £3000 - £12000 budget....

Any advice really welcomed - dont want to get something thats sat in the garage most the time, I will be offroading it a fair bit.

cheers

got to say a G4 defender. my G4 worth about £15 to £16k if would think

[superlightr]

[superlightr]