Thread: Suitable Touring Vehicle - Toyota 100's Factory TD Wgn vs LR Defender Wgn?

Or find a nice D3,it's better than all of them. Pat

Thanks guys.... keep the info coming. It's giving me food for thought..... I received a Defender brochure in the mail yesterday and started reading it.... I was a bit surprised to see the Torque no coming in until 2200rpm, but this maybe normal for most 4cyls ?? Would this be an issue when trying to start of on inclines when towing a heavy load or is the 1st gear low enough?

Originally Posted by Chops

I have a 2011 Puma crew cab. Opted for this over the 130 due to its size, but its not about driving issues, but load size,the theory being the more space, the more crap you'll end up carrying. In your case, with three children you may well need it, we only have the dog.

Issues for myself have been both mechanical and electrical, with a few others thrown in just for good measure. I have no driveline/engine mods on mine, and have had no issues in just being "standard".

Noisy clutch replaced,, seemed to be a common problem with the early units. Warranty replaced.
Drive line slop/noise/clunking. Warranty replaced.
A couple of other minor-ish things, all covered under warranty.
Water in fuel. Injectors/pump and ECU replaced. Insurance/warranty replaced. Lucky for me because, injector replacement (new) "is" around 5K depending on what sensors are replaced at the same time. Injector pump - $960. ECU $. Considering the ECU has been replaced twice now, I suspect water was not the issue at all. Who knows, but I've come away not trusting dealers at all.

The car itself,,,, I would'nt have anything else. Very comfy where it counts, and thats on long trips, especially on tracks. Can bolt anything you like onto it. Can take extra water and fuel tanks underneath. Can get a variety of roof consols for inside to help with storage etc as well, or you can custom make anything you want. And when doing custom type work to it, because of its boxy/square nature, it lends itself to the home handyman box workings, so it will never look out of place.

WOW upwards of $5k for injectors.... Now that's scary considering the potential of getting a dose of bad fuel in remote areas..... What options are there to install AUX Fuel Filters? To protect our Prado from a dose of Bad Fuel, I run a AUX 2micron RACOR Fuel Filter which has saved me from any major $$ to date....

Originally Posted by Rurover

The 2.2 litre Puma is certainly nicer to drive than the Td5. More power, more torque and much quieter. May even be sealed a bit better I think, and have less rattles.
I recommend you take one for the test drive and get a feel for these things.
But it IS very electronic, more so than the Td5. That brings some advantages in terms of a really nice "throttle free" crawler feature in 1st and reverse gear. Just put it in gear and let it crawl at constant speed over obstacles, or up and down very steep slopes, with no throttle input from the driver.

The fuel capacity issue can be addressed by adding extra sill-tanks under the drivers and passenger side, and even behind the drivers side rear wheel.
eg :: The Long Ranger :: Land Rover Defender

Re auto transmission. This would certainly be a significant extra cost as you'd have to buy an aftermarket transmisison, & adaptor plate, and re plumb tail-shafts etc to make it all fit. I suspect the Td5 may be an easier mod in this respect as there were plenty of auto Discoveries sold with Td5 diesels.

The 2.2 litre engine is a pretty standard Ford unit AFAIK, (used in the new Ford Ranger 4WD for example ) so I imagine engine spares and technical expertise are not too hard to find at your local Ford dealer.
The manual 6 speed Getrag transmission is also used in some Ford vehicles (eg Mustang), but from what I read they rarely give problems.

Spare parts for the Defender can be ridiculously cheap (eg Tail and indicator lights) to quite expensive , but there's a heap of after-market alternatives for axles, diff centres, shockers, radiators, inter-coolers etc.
Plus a huge range of add-on bits to enhance your Defender and make it a truly personalised machine.

Re the rear legroom in the Defender wagon. The latest Defender certainly has more comfortable (and practical) rear seats than the Td5. There's not much fore and aft leg room, but the seats ARE quite high, so you get lots of vertical leg room., I find this more comfortable on long trips than having your legs stuck out in front of you.

Hope all these observations help. As I say, best to arrange a test drive of one to really get a feel for the vehicle. Maybe one of the forum members near you could let you play with their vehicle sometime

Alan

Hey Alan, thanks for your reply. Having more Electronics can be a concern if they are unreliable and I guess by adding a Code Scanner to your Toolbox may help for any issues that may arise...... I did a search on LR Dealerships/mechanics and there's no a great deal of them through out Australia. Not sure if that would pose a problem when travelling in the outback areas.

Originally Posted by shanegtr

Not for the 1HD-FTE engines, it more of an issue with any of the newer D4D engines

Totally agree with u here.... I use to own a old 105's 105's Cruiser (Solid Axle F&R version) and it was ok, but I was never 100% happy.... Some years later I went for a drive in one with the 1HD-FTE and was won over, then add to that the performance mods, etc you can do and it was my vehicle of choice at that time, but the PRICE is way too high, but in recent times it hass started to come down albeit still with a fair bit of kms on the clock (200k+ kms)

Originally Posted by justinc

I would pick a good lc100 (hdj100) but be prepared for mediocrity. They drive/feel like a large 90's camry....:-( . For that reason I would at least pick a sahara model, they are almost lexus like in interior. The other problem with that though is they are selling for nearly as much as a new defender 110!! 10 years old And with 100k+ on the odometer, that doesn't feel good parting with that sort of money:-P . The best part about the cruiser is that fte engine. Imo the best 6cyl td ever to be fitted to a production vehicle, highly modifyable and immensely strong. The 5spd auto trans in the later ones 2003 onward are weaker than the 4spd auto in the earlier, but that isn't really an issue in most cases, only if you intend squeezing a lazy, reliable 650nm and 180kw out of it....B-) the fuel consumption figures are in the low teens for highway, and high teens to early 20s towing, and that is full height 3t caravan towing mind you...they are very economical for a non common rail engine. I guess you need to make up your own mind by driving both, you need long drives too, to really get the idea. in short, there are things about the new defender that will leave you shaking your head, it will most likely leak on you in the rain, it will be noisier and less 'comfortable' than a sahara, and be struggling to drag 3t of van around if that is your idea for the future. But, and the big but is you will not find a more character filled, smile factor 10, totally offroad capable without any mods, world class suspension yet so simple, and touring ready vehicle.

Despite all the plusses and minusses it will be a difficult decision, good luck:-)

Jc

Hey JC.... I've seen quite a few "well setup" 100's that look the goods and what not, but u are probably right in regards to the character of the vehicle.... I would be looking for a GXL as I'm not really after the added benefits (& possible more problems to go wrong as the vehicle ages) of the Sahara, leather would be nice though The price & kms is an issue at the moment, but I know the engine can handle quite a few kms....


rob