Thread: More 05 / 06 Defender buying/owning questions

Will you get a petrol or a Diesel?

Official service intervals on a TD5 are 20,000Km, but my mechanic recommends every 10,000. My one and only service at the main dealer was $600. From then on I went to an independent and they are around $300 to $350 for a normal service.

My kids are 17 and 15 so no idea on the child restraint points but I'd reckon they'd be built in. There's sure to be an ADR that makes it compulsory to have them.

I've got a 2000 defender 110... no anchor points.

I took it to a place in Alexandria that specialises in fitting anchor points, child restraints, etc.

They actually had a brand-new 110 sitting there in the workshop. I had a look inside and didn't seem to have anchor points. Ok so this guy reckons...
- none of them come std with anchor points
- he can't bolt anything to the floor or roof because there's no support and because it's aluminium
- what he does is take off the upholstry on the back seats, puts some reinforcing frame in to support 3 anchor points half way down the back of the seat, put's it all back together for 1100 bucks.

Not quite willing to fork out over a thousand bucks, I did some ringing around... The guys at Graeme Cooper said that if your Defender was built in South Africa... no anchor points, but if it was built in the good ol' UK... 3 anchor points on the roof somewhere, near the rear window. They said the same as the guy at the 'restraint' place.... you'll have to get them fitted to the back of the rear seat - that's the best way to retro-fit them.

They said that about my 2000 model... not sure about a brand new one.

Mine for sure has nothing, so until kids grow up I'll be motoring them 'round in my commodore wagon.

Scott

One more thing regarding ADR.... the guy at the 'restraint' place in Alexandria said they don't need to comply for ADR when it comes to child anchor points because it's not classed as a 'family-mover' (or something like that)... I think it might be the same with dual-cabs and so on... I remember looking at the new toyota hilux and couldn't see any anchor points in that either.

When I was considering making the decision to buy a defender I found this thread on www.exploroz.com... in the end it really came down to personal taste (which according to my wife and most of friends, I don't have any)... but I love my defender and even though I've had some initial problems would definately consider buying a brand-newie later on in life... having said that though, it's definately good to have a boring-but-stable-family-mover that my commodore wagon gives me.

Anyway, here's the link to the thread http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/ArchiveView....ame%3D%26PN%3D3

Originally posted by spudboy
Will you get a petrol or a Diesel?

8O 8O 8O

Do you know something I don't ? :wink: :wink:

Anchor points.

None of the Defenders come with anchor points fitted. In Australia Defenders are classed as light trucks, and as such aren't required to provide them. Hiluxes and such do provide them - 3 in the floor of dual cabs.

If you have a 110 you can get a bar fitted behind the rear seats. It bolts to the pillars on either side. It costs about $150-250. The pillars are steel, so no worries about tear through.

If you have a 130CC or a single cab it is a whole other story. If you want to know the story, look here.
http://www.aulro.com/modules.php?name=Foru...child+restraint

Which covers the topic thoroughly. Total cost for child restraints in my 130, under $200.

There is a place out in Hornsby that administers all of the child restraint fitting stations in NSW on behalf of the RTA, they are best to talk to. The guy in Alexandria http://www.karlisles.com.au/ is the guy you get sent to if you have a problem installation, like a 130.

PM me if you want more info.

Cheers
Simon

Oh yeah Rosco - that was dumb! Was thinking Disco not Defender.

It was late last night after a wine or two though...... that's my only excuse.

So what are the rear seat belts bolted in to, especially the lap belt?

Just looking at mine, they are bolted through the floor and a cross member, which are all aluminimum.

The guy who owned 'Kimba' before me had a child seat in the back.

He went to great lengths to explain what was done to fit the restraint, I must admit at the time, I was not paying all that much attention, but he was pretty excited about what had been done.

As I get older, it seem to be a more topical question and I am now wishing I paid more attention :wink:

But anyway, here is a pic of what has been done to mine. Restraint in the middle of the floor. Climbing underneath, the point goes straight thru the same cross member as the seat belt restraints. Is this not legal in NSW (as it was done in Vic).