Thread: 2012 defender worth buying?

You'll probably get very different answers to this question, some people love the new defenders, others hate them. Do a search for "puma" defenders, there's plenty of info already on this site.

My advice is to go and drive one, if you like it and it meets your requirements buy one, if not keep looking.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by 242stickman

..................................My question is are defenders a good solid 4wd that will last me along while trouble free?
......................................

The answer to the first part of your question is yes - >70% of all Land Rovers made are still on the road (or track) and some of them are 63 years old. Also, a Land Rover Defender is one of the very few 4WD's that you can drive out of the showroom, load up with your gear and proceed on that dreamed of trip without major suspension mods etc.

The answer to the second part of your question is a bit more difficult. All vehicles (irrespective of brand) are mechanical devices (the new ones with quite a bit of electronic controllers included) and any such device can fail in any number of ways. Looking after your investment and proper maintenance goes a long way to reducing or hopefully eliminating failures.

If you do the search suggested above you'll probably read a considerable amount of posts where members are reporting problems that they have had but remember that anyone who is or has had problems are about 10 times more likely to post (a complaint or seek a solution) than the happy, contented owner who is having a really good run with his vehicle.
I've owned 27 Land Rovers over a period of almost 50 years, have travelled over most of Australia and have never had a major breakdown or been unable to drive home from a trip or outing. So Land Rovers have looked after me pretty well.

At the current special price of $39990 on the road, I think the Defender 90 is an excellent buy so I'd say go for it. At least with a new one you have the warranty period in which to get to know and understand it.

Oh and by the way welcome to the forum and I hope to see you around quite a bit (on the forum and also the tracks) in the future .

I just drove mine across Oz and in two weeks will be driving it back towing my new camper and couldn't be happier with it.Best off the floor 4wd there is. Pat

Thanks heaps guys. When i saw the price of the new 90 defender i nearly fell of my chair lol
I have browsed the fourms and seen most of the puma threads but like was said, quite afew people have had problems with them.

I just wanted to make sure it will be a solid 4x4 as the current dodge had been shocking and im sick of always being at the dealer with it....

Ready to go straight out of the box. I practically drove my 2011 130 Defender from the dealers straight up the Gibb river road with no dramas at all.

if you do by one, get the mechs to check all the oil levels in the diffs, gearbox and tcase....

Originally Posted by Pilbara130

Ready to go straight out of the box. I practically drove my 2011 130 Defender from the dealers straight up the Gibb river road with no dramas at all.

Same here,mines done more offroad driving than onroad. Pat

I just about drive all the Tojo's at work, cos they pay me. My own vehicle Puma 110 it just makes me smile.