What to do, Defender or patrol

[aloa9061]

Hey Guys and girls,

Here's the dilema.

The defender s now my daily driver and i do a lot of driving around Sydney for work. My defender has had a lot of work done to it and is very capable. few toys, twin lockers, gearing, set up for camping etc.

Problems:
Wife not comfortable driving the car around town after seeing to rollovers in friends 4wds and a wheel coming off the defender with her driving.
Being a 300tdi its fairly slow on the freeway for holidays etc.
Tight squeeze to use around car parks etc.
Getting a bit over the wet foot issue in rain!

My biggest issue with selling my car is getting something even closely capable without spending a bucket load of cash.

A mate is heading overseas and he is keen to sell his twin locked and chipped 3ltr patrol. I think i can get the patrol with less kms on it for about a changeover of 3/4k?

Defender:
99 300tdi
low range gears
twin lockers
bullbar, side bars, winch. lights
drawers,
watertank
cargo barrier
long range tank
2 inch lift
33 inch muddies
duel batteries
175k

PAtrol
2003 3lt TD
two inch lift
crappy allterrain tires 31inch (would def change)
twin locked
rear kaymar twin wheel carrier
long range tank
bullbar
lights
duel batteries
140k

[dobbo]

Buying the Patrol will put you in the same situation as you are in with the Defender, too big for the city. If your wife is OK driving the Paj, leave her in it. Surely it would be more feasible to buy a small and reliable throw away car for work and keep the 110 for play.

Speaking of play when can you come out?

[p38arover]

Why not buy a car for city work? Then the Defender can be your off-road toy. (For those who haven't seen it, it is a great unit.)

[Slunnie]

D2

You could even have kiddie seats in the back.


Are you still looking to do the auto conversion and you could hit it with some silicon or put some seals in those gaps where the doors were meant to go.

[Slunnie]

Why not buy a car for city work? Then the Defender can be your off-road toy. (For those who haven't seen it, it is a great unit.)

and there are a few goodies left off that list too.

[weeds]

swap cars with your mate for a week or two and let the wife dive it around......you may not be gaining much

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

Keepo the fender and get the wife one of those zippy $13999(or what ever they are now) drive away no more to pay little shopping carts.
She gets a brand new car and can squeeze into any tight city spot

[loanrangie]

swap cars with your mate for a week or two and let the wife dive it around......you may not be gaining much

A ZD30 grenade .

[aloa9061]

Shopping cart?

Don't think so!
My wife wants me to keep the defender and can drive it better off road than most people. She also learnt to drive in v8's so there is no chance she will want a shopping cart!

She has her own car anyway, a 5 door pajero io.

I would love to keep the defender and just have a city car but I can't justify the expense of a third car.

As slunnie mentioned an auto could still be an option.

[samuelclarke]

The Patrol might be nice and all, but does it have the character of a Defender? It's a question only you can answer in relevance to your needs and how much the Defender means to you...

The problems you've listed can be addressed to an extent.

Wife not comfortable driving the car around town after seeing to rollovers in friends 4wds and a wheel coming off the defender with her driving.

Any 4wd (or car for that matter) isn't going to fare too well in a rollover! A rollcage is the answer - sure it adds weight, but what is safety worth? I'm planning on fitting one as soon as I'm able to my Defender.

Being a 300tdi its fairly slow on the freeway for holidays etc.

I have a 200Tdi, and while it's no sports car, it easily cruises at 110km/h - I'd consider some performance upgrades.

Tight squeeze to use around car parks etc.

Patrol is going to be similar - the only legal answer in Aus is offsetting the rims. Unless you're running really wide tyres it'll make a big difference! Will also reduce risk of rollover with a wider wheel track.

Getting a bit over the wet foot issue in rain!

Tell me about it!! But it can be fixed fairly cheaply.

As I said it really gets back to how much the Defender means to you. For me the issues are worth it for the smile my Defender puts on my face - once they get under your skin it's hard to have anything else.

Or as Slunnie said you could get a D2!