Thread: Help - Wife wants a Patrol, I am heart struck on Defender

Originally Posted by rick130

That's not rubbish, that's called fun

BTW, it's the same on dirt, the Deefer is much quicker/more sure footed on loose surfaces.
Part of that is due to the Patrol's excellent LSD in the rear which can provoke the back end, possibly the best factory fitted LSD in a 4WD.

Maybe the Patrol's LSD is too good, there's no way I can even get a chirp out of a 3.0 in dry weather.


Am I not trying hard enough?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Which is why most patrol owners fit a front locker and leave the rear LSD in place.

However they ALL claim the rear LSD doesn't work

Lets face it, when there's ego's involved, is anyone willing to admit something helps ?

Dont worry about the position of the seat being too close to the door. you will drive it a few times and not even notice it.

I found in other cars my right knee gets sore on long drives. with the defender I rest it on the door and the position is more natural. No problems with the seats - support in all the right places.

There was a Defender wave thread a while back - the consensus seemed to be a female Defender driver was a sexy thing. How can your missus argue with that?

Originally Posted by B92 8NW

Maybe the Patrol's LSD is too good, there's no way I can even get a chirp out of a 3.0 in dry weather.


Am I not trying hard enough?

I don't know Joel, ours is powered by the 4BD1T of the Nissan world, the TD42T

Originally Posted by jasonedu

Dont worry about the position of the seat being too close to the door. you will drive it a few times and not even notice it.

Agreed ... and it really is a superior position to other 4WD's for off-roading and indispensable when navigating tight spots in the bush - you can very easily lean your head out the door and look down and see where your tires are in relation to everything and still be able to drive comfortably. I prefer it actually and find the door a nice cosy object to lean my shoulder into, and I'm pretty broad shouldered.

Tiki.

I sold my defender and bought a 3 litre (grenade motor) nissan patrol..

now I am up for $7,500 for a rebuild... at 174,000k !!!

DONT DO IT, stay with the deefer!!!

After reading the 300 Tdi horror stories and with next year's Canning Stock Route trip in the back of the mind, with the 130's odometer currently at 247000, I began to consider an ex Telstra 4.2 turbo intercooled leaf rear end ute. Showed the wife one and she just laughed and said "but look how low it is, that wouldn't have gotten us into Glen Annie gorge!" Guess I'll just fix the Defender if required then.

Hello gentlemen...

Firstly Glenn left this thread open on my laptop - hmmm wonder why

So I have had a quick read through and here is where I'm also concerned...

Love the look of the defender - truly do - I feel like I'm nice and up high whilst driving - i'm only 5ft3 so I have a bit of trouble with the distance with my legs touching the clutch all the way to the ground without pulling the seat far enough forward that I bang my knees on the dash... LOL...

Here is our story....

Glenn Loves the defender and previously in the past we have gotten every car he wanted...

we both started off with utes our first ever cars.. he had a Ford Falcon XH and I an older model XF - loved it and would try to take it anywhere it could go without breaking it!

Anyways we then moved to NT and we saw sitting in a salesyard an XH Outback which is a rarer model, long range fuel tanks etc etc totally fitted for the Aussie terrain...(as far as an XH ute can get fitted) He really really wanted it so... we got it...(We are currently driving this ute round now)

Then we travelled lots in it from esperance to Ayres rock to Pilbara - we spend alot of time in the pilbara and through the kimberleys but only go in the dry season of course..

Later on the year after we bought the outback he then spots a panel van XH - in the salesyard next to where we bought the ute... again he falls inlove so the next day I go to the saleyard pick it up and suprise him at work for a test drive..

as you can guess we buy it BUT we trade in my XF ute for it and his old XH ute(not the outback) to get his new toy... and fit it out with everything needed to travel we had a blast in the panelvan but a lady in a losercruiser ran into the back end of me and wrote it off the panelvan!!

So thats our past history regarding cars apart from the Ford Explorer in USA.

I really wanted the following..

- Full leather seats/more cushiony(?) seats that I could relax and have a comfy travel and fall asleep in whilst driving..
- A sunroof that goes all the way back and doesnt just pop out
-Room in the rear and to move around in whilst a baby chair is put in the middle of the 2nd row and nooks and cranny's everywhere to place goodies as I hate having bags around my feet! like door pockets and under seat space hidey holes etc..

Anyways i have the following concerns about the defender....as I've been thinking about this for ages.... I cant toss up between the both...

-Reliability - I have noticed that most people say that the defender needs a little work after you get it from the factory or you could be a lucky few that hasnt had issues at all.
-spare part costs
-servicing costs and availability - There seems to be more nissan dealers and patrols out there on the road than landrovers so how long will we be waiting if we get stuck somewhere with need for a new part.
-My arm on the door - I get really chilly on long drives so how is it with your arm against the thin door panel - how drafty are they?
- Leaks - is this just wading through water or with heavy rain too?? as we may be returning to darwin in a couple of years.
-I also have a really painful tailbone (from giving birth T.M.I I know and sorry) but it goes really numb if I sit too long on a hard seat not a cushiony chair. i'm worried I will get this as I get it sitting upright in a plane. and Landrovers reminds me of a plane lol and even the roof lining reminds me of the lining in the walls on the inside of a plane lol

If I think of anything else I will be sure to let you know but all of your help has been great...

and to the bloke who said get me a buzz box... - You GOT to be JOKING! I would smash one of them if I could...I may be female but I love the tuff look of the ute/truck/defer/4WD etc....

theres my...5cents lol!!

Kizzie