Thread: Which 130 Crew Cab

The choice comes down to preference. The TD5 has the computer and the TDI's don't. Big thing is get it checked and find out any history you can.

The 130 crew cab has been supplied with three engines, the Tdi200, Tdi300 and Td5.
All are turbocharged, intercooled 2.5l diesels. The first two are very similar, with the 300 having various improvements (and a few new faults that should have been rectified by now). The Td5 differs in having five cylinders instead of four and being fully electronic.

The Td5 is more powerful and quieter than the earlier engines, but the electronics put some people off, including the "fly by wire" throttle. It will be difficult to get repaired in remote areas, but is generally a lot more reliable (so I am told), and has a longer service interval.

Apart from the engines they are basically very similar, and although the older vehicle can be expected to have done more mileage and be in worse shape, the value is very much dependent on the actual condition rather than age or mileage, and on the service history. All the engines are very durable PROVIDED THEY ARE SERVICED PROPERLY.

Through the years there were various changes, which seem to have fixed earlier problems, but introduced new ones, so on balance there is probably little to choose on that basis.

The only specific 130 problem I have heard of is some cases of chassis cracking (which can be repaired), probably due to consistent overloading. Many 130s will have been originally business vehicles, and may have had a pretty rough life. On the other hand these are usually well maintained. There are issues with child restraint anchorages - look for a thread on the subject here, possibley in the archive. For that matter a search (top bar) on 130 would bring up some useful material. Most of the comments in this site on Defenders in general apply to the 130, and spending a few hours reading them would greatly improve your understanding of what you are looking at.

When I lived in Melbourne I used Fred Smith in Havelock St Wantirna and still do when visiting Melbourne, but there are a number of others.

Hope this helps
John