Fenda for every day?

[DaveG]

Guys, I'm due for a new company car at the end of the year and would like some feedback on getting either a 90 or 110 for everyday use. Obviously my heart says "do it" but my head says "you'll be sorry".

To give you some background, I travel around 150kms return trip every day from Geelong to Melbourne in crap traffic. Taking a new Defender for a spin at a dealership isn't going to provide me with a 'real world' experience.

What do you reckon, do I drag my ass out of my quiet, leather-appointed, automatic Toyo-bishi?

Thanks in advance.
-Dave

[KarlB]

Do it! My daily driver is a D90 and it is excellent with its high seating position and excellent visibility. They have a good turn of speed once you are away from the lights though it is easy to surprise other drivers by starting and accelerating away in 2nd gear. Changing lanes is good as people give way to you because you are bigger than them. 90s are no more difficult to park than an ordinary medium sized sedan.

Cheers
KarlB
:)

[Sleepy]

G'day DaveG,
I bought my first Def110 in 2001. I drive it across Melb every day. 100km round trip to airport and back.
Stop start traffic is a little painful without an auto but other than that, I love it. Good visibility, good economy, and I smile every time I jump in it.:D
I changed it over to a 90 in 2005 and still smiling.:D:D

[Blknight.aus]

let me put this in perspective for you...

I use a lwb diesel series III for a daily driver....

[JDNSW]

I cannot see where there would be a problem. Of course, it does not have all the bells and whistles that something else might have, and there is no auto available, but it is not much different, albeit in some ways superior to what everyone drove as a daily driver fifteen years ago. They are comfortable, albeit a bit cramped if you are big, ride well, and have good visibility and handling, although you have to remember that the 110 is a big vehicle and be aware that some undercover car parks may have too low a clearance (need 2.05m for mine, new ones will be pretty close to the same) for either 90 or 110. My daily driver is either the 1986 110 or the 1970 109 - both are a lot less civilised than the current Defender, but I had no qualms about driving the 110 across Australia and back or recently driving 1000km each way to Melbourne and back.

John

[Allan]

My wife drives a 90 and I a 110 as daily drives, on cold days the wife takes the 110 as she likes the heated seats. I find the 90 better around car parks ect but the 110 is very handy when going away camping.

Allan

[Sleepy]

let me put this in perspective for you...

I use a lwb diesel series III for a daily driver....
HEY DAVE, I USED TO HAVE A SIIID TOO, BUT I SOLD IT ABOUT A YEAR AGO And my hearing is slowly returning.:p

[steveG]

If its a company car (ie you dont pay for car or running costs) then I'd do it.
On the other hand, if its a novated lease or something where you are effectively paying for the maintenance and running costs you'd have to do the sums and weigh it up.

I've got a Falcon wagon as my official daily drive from Lara-Melb, but in the last couple of months I've driven my Isuzu county almost daily.
As others have said, a manual is a PITA in the stop/start traffic, but other than than I enjoy driving the county more. I'm sure its costing me more to drive than the Falcon, but I've been purposely driving it as much as I can to shake out any issues from the Isuzu conversion.

Its as comfortable as any car I've driven, and more comfortable than most.

If my company said I had the choice of a new sedan or a Defender - I'd absolutely take the Defender.

Steve

[IGL002]

I drive a 110 daily. As Karl indicated, the high seating position is excellent. Mine is 2.05m high which will accommodate most shopping centers.
The turning circle will surprise some people :(

Iglooist

[rijidij]

All positive comments so far :clap2: it's looking good for a Defender :D

[PAT303]

I've used my Tdi as a daily driver for 13 years,the first 5 or so in sydney and I didn't have a problem,by this time next year I should have two all going to plan. Pat

[tuffrangie]

Yep I daily drive my new Puma, do 40-50k a year and am loving it so far, cruise control would be nice but apart from that it is awesome. I frequently drive Cockatoo-Werribee.

Rob

[series3]

I found my dad's (2011 110) turning circle to be pretty woeful, and took some getting used to. Otherwise it was fast, frugal and comfortable on short and long drives during my loan. You are forever changing gears in stopstart traffic, but I would personally prefer that over an auto any day.

Sam

[Phoenix12]

Honestly, I love my 110, and I loved the 110 I had before it as well.........

BUT: If its a "work vehicle" and all you are going to do with it is on tar, then I would choose a nice commodore.

However if the work vehicle is able to venture off road, then its a whole different story :)

[DaveG]

Thanks for the feedback gents, you're doing a pretty good job at convincing me. Closer to purchase time I'll see if I can wrangle an extended test drive and give it a good run in the traffic. My only real concern is that I'm going to be knackered at the end of the day. I occasionally make the same trip in manual 2001 td5 Disco and it can be hard work.

Once again, thanks for sharing your own experiences.

- Dave

[scott oz]

I drive my 110 TD5 into Sydney and back every day. Love it.

However if money was no object and common sense were applied an auto would be so much easier in traffic, particularly Sydney CBD. And I'm getting 10L/100. not bad for a "big unit" in traffic!

Parking I never go into any car park with under 2.1 clearance.

I think the D90 would be more "fun" in traffic but the 110 more practical for camping etc at least in my case.

[twisted leader]

Hardly drive the Subaru since I bought my 300Tdi Defender. Not great in traffic but I love it. Every time I hop in my Defender, even when driving to work, I feel like I am on holidays.
David

[gitney]

Hi Dave,
I've got a puma 110 and use it as a daily driver around syd during most week days. I do a fair amount of work k's and love it in the 110. The last work car i had was a subaru liberty wagon 07 and for me the defender is much better for me. The fuel economy is better in the 110 than the liberty, you sit straighter up in the defender and have stacks more visibility to see ahead and around you. I would be sore as after a day in the subaru but now i feel fresh as at the end of a day of driving. There is a bit of getting used to taking off calmly from first to second, but if it's in traffic it makes no difference. The occasional tight roundabout needs to be driven over instead of around but that's part of the fun.
Cheers,
Chris

[the_prof]

If its a company car (ie you dont pay for car or running costs) then I'd do it.
On the other hand, if its a novated lease or something where you are effectively paying for the maintenance and running costs you'd have to do the sums and weigh it up.

Steve

If you get a company car (Novated or not), LR will give you free scheduled servecing for 3 years on top of the 3 year warranty. So your maintenance costs should be minimal!

If you don't like it after the 3 years, you can always sell it for a good price, as the Defender keeps a pretty good value after 3 years compared to most other 4WDs.

Cheers,
the_prof

[solmanic]

Both my wife & I drive the Defender daily in the city and the only issue is it won't fit into most off-street car parks. However, I reckon I've saved a fortune only using street parking - ($8 for 2hrs in Brisbane CBD on the street vs $20+ in a multi-storey).

Seats are extremely comfortable and you can't beat being able to see over the traffic. It is also quite easy in traffic when you just let it idle along whilst other people are BBQ-ing their clutches.

[camo1221]

If you get a company car (Novated or not), LR will give you free scheduled servecing for 3 years on top of the 3 year warranty. So your maintenance costs should be minimal!

If you don't like it after the 3 years, you can always sell it for a good price, as the Defender keeps a pretty good value after 3 years compared to most other 4WDs.

Cheers,
the_prof

Free servicing is part of the corprate partner deal isn't it? I understand it as your employee needs to be a certain size (gross turnover in $) and someone in the finance dept needs to approve the partnership, same deal for Jags.

I have had my LE 90 for 3 weeks now, novated lease, and was pretty happy when the dealer said I was going to get free servicing. I live in Hawthorn and travel to Orbost every 2 weeks for work. I love the 90 its a ball to drive in and out of the city. I cant get the grin off my face whenever I'm in it. Cruise control would be nice but I can add that anytime. It didnt take long to get used to the increased turning circle, my last car was a WRX and I have only found a couple car parks i cant get into.

It'll be the best motoring choice you ever make.
Keep in mind most people here are slightly biased, I know I am now.

[kenleyfred]

Every time I drive the SVX my state of mind improves no end. I love driving it.
However I work as a courier and my daily drive is a Hilux. There is no way I'd drive the Defender for the driving I often have to do. Very tight parking spaces, the odd sneaky u-turn etc.

That said though, ten hours in the Hilux leaves me buggared, I have never felt sore after long stretches in the Defender.

[ozscott]

I have a 2002 disco but it's got air bags in the rear coils usually running 20+pound for towing so she's as stiff as a deefer, rides on31i Maxis at on 16s and is the poverty pack manual (albeit v8). I love driving in and out to brisbane. 60k round. It always lightens my mood. I love changing gears and sitting up high. I love people yielding right of way. I much rather driving it than my Honda Accord Euro 2010 which as sedan is more comfy than many 100k Germans I have been in. Cheers

[The Cone of Silence]

I'm not sure you're really going to find many people on this forum who are going to give you a negative view as we all love our Defenders completely and almost unconditionally....and despite how hard we might try, we'll find it hard to remove all bias from our opinions!

I think the best course of action would be to find somebody with a Puma and swap cars with them for a couple of days. As you say, a test drive from a dealership on the weekend is going to give you no indication of whether you're going to enjoy the daily commute in it.

Many of the comments have been about using a manual in traffic - I've personally never minded this - keeps me engaged in driving, but I suspect this is just a personal thing as I've never owned an automatic.

We'd all love to see another Defender on the roads so if it's right for you then I say go for it....but make sure you give it a decent test. You wouldn't tackle a water crossing without properly testing the depth, right?

Bobby

[GoldCloverLeaf]

I do around 650kms/ week in my 2001 Defender, if you look past the spartan interior it isn't all that different than driving a range rover classic or discovery. Of course the driving position is different but it isn't hard to get used to.

I probably shouldn't talk though, in the last 6 years i have used cars like a '73 Datto 240z and '74 Alfa 105 GTV as daily drivers, so i must be insane. :bangin:

[twisted leader]

Further to my earlier comments, the only problems I have with my Defender is parallel parking and clearance in multi story car parks.
Kind regards... David

[DaveG]

Yes I've never seen a finer example of gilding the lily... But it's working.

Maybe by the time the one below comes out it will have an auto and tdv6 or tdv8 and then a decision would be a no brainer!


www.carsales.com.au/news/2011/commercial/land-rover/defender/aims-land-rover-commits-to-21st-century-defender-25523 (http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2011/commercial/land-rover/defender/aims-land-rover-commits-to-21st-century-defender-25523)

[GoldCloverLeaf]

Or if you don't want to wait, there is a UK mob that do a tidy TdV6 conversion

The JE TDV6 Saluki | Defender (http://www.jeengineering.co.uk/defender/engine-conversions.html)

Probably work out not too bad with the current exchange rate :angel:

[DaveG]

If only money wasn't an option!

[scotsmun]

I use my svx every day and have 52k on it, there has been 100 times i have decided to get rid of it ........bad turning circle, low clearance, bits fallin off....etc etc, but she's still there, it's like the girlfriend you tell yourself to break up with but there's just something about her that you would miss, and in this world of bland same old, same old cars the defender just gets under your skin.