Your experience with a 2012/2013 defender

[AndyG]

Hi,
About to plunge in the deep end, and get a Defender, but would love to hear from those who have purchased one recently. Btw it will spend a lot of time resting and then dashes into the GAFA when I am back from overseas.

Last Q, difference between Puma & Defender? Is it a 90 series thing?

Thanks all.

[turbo6i]

Just picked one up a few weeks ago.

Puma is the current model, It is called that because of the current engine.
All models, 90/110/130 are Puma at the moment.

As for opinion, If you are one to purchase a car and treat it like a machine which is meant to form a function, and not have any room for compromise, you will not be happy with a Defender.

If you accept the Defender as a new member of the family, and are willing to take the good with the bad, you will be rewarded. It requires you to put time in to it and will give you plenty in return.

I love my new Defender.

[camel_landy]

Defender is the model name, which it has had since the 1980s. However, people have started using the engine names to help narrow down the age...

These are the approx dates:

Turbo D < 1990
200TDi 1991 => 1994
300TDi 1994 => 1998
TD5 1998 => 2007
2.4 TDCi / Puma 2007 => 2013
2.2 TDCi / Puma 2013 => TBD

M

[AndyG]

Thanks, and that clarifies TD5 which pops up as aDisco abbreviation, that had me confused. Wolf I worked out. Yes I realize they all have character, unlike my backup choice , an isuzu D-max

[Rurover]

Andy,

I suspect quite a few members of this forum will tell you that it's a largely emotional decision to buy a Defender. Which it is.... you have to WANT to put the Land Rover name on your list of vehicles to consider, given the "easy" way out would be to follow the majority and buy a Japanese or Korean 4-WD.

However for me, when I bought my first Defender (a 300Tdi) around 25 years ago I reckon, it largely came down to value for money. For significantly less than I could buy a Land Cruiser or Patrol I got a much more capable vehicle with full time 4-WD, full coil suspension, disc brakes all round a very efficient (albeit small) turbo diesel and a no nonsense vehicle that gave no concessions to the "needs" of yuppie urban types. No chrome, no carpet and no bodies designed by some ****** from Italy. (All of which you ultimately pay extra for).

The latest Puma Defenders still pretty well follow those principles, though I'd have to admit they ARE better appointed, more comfortable, more easy to drive and less noisy . Still the same basic body style though and still no chrome, leather or carpet. (Though you can get leather as an option I'm told).

The sceptics will say that Land Rovers are unreliable. Well I'm now on my third Defender (just recently bought a Puma) and the first two were super reliable.
I also hear plenty of horror stories about other brands of 4-WD being much less than reliable.
So is there a downside? Well, dealers are few and far between if something DOES go wrong. (Though this forum is an amazing resource if you DO need help).
The on-road ride is not exactly BMW class, and they do lack power compared with say a V-8 Cruiser or even a V-6 Discovery. BUT once you get off road then the Defender just feels right! It's got enough power & torque, great wheel articulation, plenty of clearance, a good traction control system and a great driving position.

Finally, unlike most modern cars the Defender body at least is a pretty simple and basic construction, Just a big (mostly) aluminium box sitting on a hefty chassis. So its easy to add all sorts of bolt-on extras for touring, camping, extra fuel, water tanks, fire-fighting, military use, whatever.

So there you are, some emotion-free reasons to buy (or consider) a Defender. But you DO get emotionally involved, because the Defender IS different. You're not buying a mass produced clone of the standard motor vehicle of the day.. it's a unique vehicle with an unmatched heritage and in fact the body shape still reflects those roots established back in 1948.
Oh, and if you DO buy a Defender, all other Defender owners will wave at you as you pass. That's got to be worth something!

Alan

[Lagerfan]

We've had our MY13 90 just over a year now and couldn't be happier. It is our first LR and it is literally a life changer in that we are out most weekends now enjoying the great outdoors and having a ball.

I'm pretty ignorant mechanically so can't really comment on that side of the truck much except to say we've had zero problems apart from some very minor warranty issues.

Things we’ve learned/observed since becoming Defender owners, in no particular order:
- You never see friends and family again, you’ll always be out on the road heading somewhere
- Not great after sales service from LR dealers, they seem very uninterested in engaging with you, which makes sense for a commodity car like a VW Golf but this is a Defender, bit disappointing – so we’ve started using a LR specialist instead (Ritters in our case)
- You’ll never have any savings in the bank again, constantly buying bits for the new toy
- Great community here on AULRO and in real life, the Defender is a real conversation piece everywhere we go
- The 2.2 just gets better and better, we're at 24k now and it's improving all the time (both economy and running)
- I'm a complete novice 4x4 driver but the Defender just goes anywhere you point it
- You can carry LOADS of gear and not even blink
- The Defender wave is alive and well, though my favourite is the Defender grin when passing close enough to see it
- 90s have pretty small fuel tanks at 60L, means those trips out to the GAFA generally require jerrys (we got the Rijidij rear bar and it is excellent)
- You'll want to buy a second one...

[AndyG]

Well my minds made up, a 110 defender for 50k & about 15 K of accessories in the first week, MRA are to become my new best friends, poor bastards. First thing will be a post delivery delivery check by MRA.

Where i work we have about 100 70 series, plus all the usual dozers, excavators,
20 tonne trucks etc.

We tend to break the ute chassis at 150,000 and the troopies at 200,000 , not to mention LC fuel pumps, gear boxes, diffs etc etc

I better start on the beard

Cheers, and hope to meet you all down the road.

[cinders]

Hi Andy.
Good choice there young fella.
The only thing I can think of that you really have to watch out for is mechanics who don't know the quirks of these beasties.
I've had a few bad experiences with a certain mob who were once located in Ferntree Gully. At the time I thought it was the biggest piece of lovable sh#t and I came close to getting rid of it, but a chat with a few fellow landy owners pointed me in the right direction and it's now at 230000km, 02td5.
Anyhoo good luck and don't forget to wave!

[RVR110]

Hi Andy.
Good choice there young fella.
The only thing I can think of that you really have to watch out for is mechanics who don't know the quirks of these beasties.
I've had a few bad experiences with a certain mob who were once located in Ferntree Gully. At the time I thought it was the biggest piece of lovable sh#t and I came close to getting rid of it, but a chat with a few fellow landy owners pointed me in the right direction and it's now at 230000km, 02td5.
Anyhoo good luck and don't forget to wave!

x 2. It is a specialist vehicle that needs a specialist mechanic. Paying more for a specialist LR mechanic will save you money and a whole lot of hassle.

[turbo6i]

Andy,
Oh, and if you DO buy a Defender, all other Defender owners will wave at you as you pass. That's got to be worth something!

Alan

Was disappointed yesterday,
my wave went unanswered by a 130 on ashley st Braybrook yesterday :-(