What is it like to live with a Defender 110 CSW?

[XianR]

I am new here and have some questions, if some owners can share their experience, please. My wife and I are keen on the 110 with Mellville & Moon package. We are around our 50's and need a vehicle that will last for at least a decade. We live in the city but get goosebumps when we see a Jeep Wrangler, TLC76, G-Wagen and, of course, a Defender!

Our situation is as follows:
So many lament expensive repairs and then some would point to Toyota. I must buy a vehicle that can do bad dirt roads, not obstacles. Deeply rutted twin-tracks in outback conditions with dirt, rocks and sand. I have a bad back and need to protect my spine. A 1992 Toyota Hilux 4x4 afforded me a neck operation within 3 months of using it. So I need something reliable and that is germane, sort of.

Toyota lost my trust after I had seen too many diff & transmission failures here in Africa, on top of failed gearboxes, Diesel injectors and even electronics. I simply cannot entrust a Toyota with my life and my wife's.

Current candidates:

1. Defender 110 s/wagon Defender 110 Limited Edition | Land Rover South Africa |2. Discovery XS (the plane jane one with 5 seats and coil springs)
3. Mercedes G300 professional.

Disco & Rangey: large rims with less rubber and on dirt roads worries me, as I have no experience of that. Is my concern justified? My wife is keen on the new Rangey Sport.

I live in the city and use public transport and cabs for shopping trips, so driving will be mostly open road for 3 - 20 hours on tarmac, from where dirt roads and twin tracks will be taken.

Advice, anyone?

[Michael2]

You know the contentment you have when you know you've married the right woman?

That's what owning a Defender is like. Its the right, sensible and reliable choice, and it always brings a smile to your face.

It's comfortable for long distance touring (in the front seats), and capable for off road ventures, without the fear that you're going to break because you're overloaded. The suspension and handling are predictable and compliant and the ecomony is quite good, especially appreciated when you're on the road and learn what other people are spending just to get from A to B in a boring car they can't sit for more than two hours in.

I have a family of five, and we can easily do 1,000 highway km per day (sometimes more). We did 700 corrugated desert kms in one day without anyone complaining (even the back seat passengers in a Tdi with an old style bench seat).

It looks good, it functions well, and you can accessorize it and make it your own.

[XianR]

Hi Michael2

I have married the right one, out of many sophisticated candidates, I chose one form the farm, who is prepared to seep on the ground or in a cave, one who had stood by my side through thick and thin. My wife sometimes lacks a bit of finesse; there is none of the glitz & glamour some have. Instead, she is loyal and utterly reliable.

She also is the one who said not to get a Toy but a Defender. In fact, her dream car is a 90 series wagon.

It seems I might be choosing right again!

[Michael2]

I think marriage is a good analogy, you can co-exist with most people, and you can co-exist with most cars; but there's one that will make you happy.

Look after it and it will look after you, and you won't get tempted by any fleeting fancy that drives by.

Really, how many Defender owners drive down the road and see another car and think, "I wish I was driving that." But how many people look up at a passing Defender and wish they had one too.

[XianR]

Where I live, we have a fair share of Rollers, Bentley, Maserati, Panamera, 7-Series, A8, S-Klasse, etc. "Flat-ironed Fiats" from Italy, Aston Martin, also Rangey, Cayenne, G-wagens are fairly common. G55, G500 abound, also captains of industry driving G300's in the city.


What brings my darlingmost wificle and I to a standstill will be the Boxy Shape, especially if there is a wheel stuck to the back as it spells out "bundu, here we come!"


What we do not have where we live, is parking space. We need to make just one vehicle do it all for us. Time is on our side and lots of research had gone into this before, now sentiment is playing mind games with us. We just love anything Land Rover, also Merc, except that we are worried about reliability of newer Mercs.

In all honesty, a Disco 4 should be the best option as it can service my needs as executive transport to convey visiting clients as well as take me to the Masai Mara or Mozambique. Also, the new Range Rover Sport has tremendous capability, with wheel articulation of well over half a metre, wading depth of 850mm, etc. Those low-profile tyres, though, cannot be replaced by smaller rims with more rubber on it, as the brake discs restrict this. Otherwise, that would have been a logical solution.

Defender seems to have become more civilised inside and I can perhaps justify my choice when transporting corporate clients, as our work involves travel into the northwestern desert regions and beyond our national borders into the rest of Southern Africa.

The heart is a terrible decision maker and a complicator, defying the logic of a spreadsheet.

[isuzutoo-eh]

You may actually win clients by shepharding them around in a Defender, it shows that you are not trying to prove anything with expensive price tags for otherwise useless vehicles...

My dad had a bad back and jokes about 'toyota back', he had a 60 series cruiser that caused no end of pain, then he bought an '86 County and hasn't had a back complaint since.
(could have been the built-in massage vibrations of the Isuzu though!)

[one_iota]

The heart is a terrible decision maker and a complicator, defying the logic of a spreadsheet.

Truer words were never said!

Owning a Defender defies logic....until you own one.

[Michael2]

...In all honesty, a Disco 4 should be the best option ....

In all honesty, the D4 will be worth a quarter the value of the Defender in 10 years time. The D4 will be dated, the Defender will remain timeless.

Put that depreciation in a spreadsheet, and then the math will align with the heart.

[cinders]

At 6ft I find my Defender very comfortable on long trips. Serviced "properly" and they won't let you down.
There are problems to be sure, but if you look at any make of vehicle they all have there quirkiness.
As stated above, here is a car that can tackle most environments straight out of the box and you get the added benefit of the wave!
Cheers

[XianR]

Thanks for all the good advice, guys. I really appreciate the feedback. The coil spring suspension and the high profile tyres already put it at an advantage.