Defender

Luke,

There are many on here that will "defend a Defender". I won't. Bear in mind that I'm judging it from a "working vehicle" point of view.

I have 2 professional prospecting mates that have had Defenders and had so many different problems with 'em that they gave up with 'em and traded 'em in on Troopys.

The Troopy's do the same hard bush bashing, carrying the same heavy loads and never seem to stop.

My mates are much happier and they no longer have to put up with me "extracting the urine" when we meet up in a far away places 'n spend an hour or so over a brew listening to the latest icelandic Saga about the latest broken driveshaft or blown transfer case. We now talk about gold instead.

BTW - I have no vested interest in this discussion as I drive a "Multi-factional vehicle",,,,,,,,,,,,,a Nissan Patrol with a V8 Chev diesel in it.

Good luck - but I'd stick with the Prado,,,,,,,,,,,,

PS - This message is coming to you all from my new laptop that I set up for the internet all by myself,,,,,,,,

My PC warlock son would be so proud of me,,,,,,,,

Bilbo - "The clever little hobbit

Hi Luke,

I have owned a defender Tdi 130 trayback for 5yrs. There are definently issues with them, as far as things breaking you would have to be a rough operator, but!! there is a lot of fast wearing conponents on them, a lot of this can be overcome by aftermarket modification, Re, driveline issues. You have to get to know the vehicle in sideout and drive it accordingly. They are not a fast touring thing! would be nothing like the prado on the black stuff. Having said that Off road in standard form they would be the most capable thing out there, with further mods even better. In my opinion only, the best buys are the very last of the Tdis or the very last of the td5s, there were probs with both enginesi in there early years.

Toyo and Nissan have the biggest market share, But they both have had their own
mechanical issues along the way, When its all said and done for what you have to pay the whole lot of them are crap really!!.

Good luck with whatever you purchase

Cheers Axle.

HI there Luke, do you have any issues with the prado or just looking for a change of vehicle. Regards Steve m

Luke.
I have a '97/300tdi disco and a '97 L/C trayback. Both have done similar km's (around 200k/km) and both have worked for their keep.
Always keep the maintenance requirements going, and neither have given a moments problem.
The td5 is what I would stay clear of, lots of potential "electrickery" things to get you perplexed. The same thing seems to happen with the new electronic turbo Troopy configuration. When going well, these go like a shower of bleep e, but for me (who likes to know whats going on) I will stick with the old system of pipes and filters and things.
I would have bought a Landy 130 tayback at the time I bought the L/C, but $12g. cheaper made the difference.
If you find a '98 (last of the 300tdi) Defender at the right price you would have a good unit.
Next years Defender will have a 2.4 Ford diesel in it (Ford Transit)
furph

hi luke,we just spent 12 months traveling oz=77000 KMS,on clock,replaced clutch slave cylinder under warranty tighened a few bolts on gibb river rd, other than scheduled services no problem ,03 td5 model.