Pierre Gillet Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Excuse my ignorance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Defender was the name they thought up for the old style Landrover when they started coming up with other vehicles - Discovery etc. Peterid=teal> 253 BHP K-seriesteeth.gif, no gearboxbum.gifid=red> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Aha, sorry it was a question from the French contingent: "Landrovers are off road vehicles and defenders are supposed to support the keeper in keeping the round ball out of the back of the net at your end of the pitch." I can see why you would need to ask such questions. Peterid=teal> 253 BHP K-seriesteeth.gif, no gearboxbum.gifid=red> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 14, 2002 Author Share Posted June 14, 2002 Come on Peter, I typed Defender with a capital D! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Obviously the English spelling... JH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 15, 2002 Author Share Posted June 15, 2002 How much does a brand new Defender cost in GB? Does it keep its value? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 15, 2002 Author Share Posted June 15, 2002 And is the Defender actually manufactured in metrics? I figure that this car would be legitimate to haul a Seven on a trailor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 You can buy LR Defenders in France. In fact I was contemplating getting one from Paris via a friend of a friend for UK use! I currently have a Defender 110 Station Wagon TDi. There is a euro spec 110 model which has 10 seats rather than the standard UK 12 seats. Good tow car, but not too fast! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 15, 2002 Author Share Posted June 15, 2002 Graham, why were you contemplating buying in France for UK use? Because it was less expensive in France or because of the 10 seater model? I plan to buy the 90. Any problem woth the diesel engine? I heard that it is an Italian engine. They had problems with the heads. Problem fixed? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyPandy Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I thought a Defender was a helicopter but I am one of the 'A-team' generation smile.gif mad.gif I AIN'T GONNA FLY FOOOOOL mad.gif teeth.gif Superlight 143 teeth.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 The Paris plan was to get one cheaper (and 10 seats). No real probs with the TDi (I have been very pleased with mine). There are a couple of weaknesses..the head gasket does sometime blow. The chap who maitains mine suggests a change of gsaket as a service item (at 30k miles). The water pump gasket sometimes goes as well, but again not that big a job. The TD5 might be 5 cylinders of BMW diesel, could be wrong though. The friend of a friend is actually a friend of a friend of a friend...#1 is the chap who looks after mine, #2 lives in Africa and runs safaris (with Defenders) and #3 runs the dealership in Paris! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 16, 2002 Author Share Posted June 16, 2002 Graham, If I determined to pursue, I would be interested to meet your friend in Paris. Would it be possible to do so? The current plan is to buy in September. Now I have a problem, my wife (not Lara Croft though) would like the Tomb Raiders one! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 16, 2002 Share Posted June 16, 2002 Pierre, I'll get the contact details tomorrow and let you have them. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 If you get a diesel you want a 'TD5', the earlier Italian engines are relatively crap. I tow a sizeable trailer with my hillclimb car in it with a TD5 Discovery. Works well. I think Defenders are more expensive than Discovery's and the Discovery is a much better car. (It went over the 30000 mile mark on the way back from Scotland last night. In 15 months. Including 16000 miles around South America. The only thing that has broken are the electic headlight adjusters. I'm quite fond of it.) Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 it's not often I feel the need to disagree with Paul, but the TDi engine is not crap and defenders are cheaper than Disco's! However, I do agree the TD5 is a better engine and Discoverys are a more comfortable, quieter beast! My TDi defender has done 65k miles, the first 35k miles of which were in Africa (!). The only problems of note were the water pump gasket and a clutch. Oh and everything is still covered in sand! Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 17, 2002 Author Share Posted June 17, 2002 Paul, Defenders are here about 10000 euros cheaper than Discoveries. In fact we like it because we like very "typed" cars. The Defender like the Seven is really in this category... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridgway Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 ahhh, a man after my own heart! Sorry I didn't get the details today Pierre. Will do tomorrow. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 18, 2002 Author Share Posted June 18, 2002 Thanks Graham. I read the details of a Tomb Raider model offered in Germany. The body is in ali. Is it specific to this model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I did say 'relatively'.... This is in the light of experience of 1996 and 2001 model diesel Discovery's. I can't find new UK prices for Defenders, but Discovery starts at £21810. This time last year the Defender was more expensive than the base Discovery, while being more base and less capable (IMO...). FWIW Discovery, Defender and older Range Rover have aluminium bodies, I don't know about the current 'monocoque' Range Rover. It may be of irrelevant interest to know that on our joy ride to South America last autumn all the 'old' diesel Discovery's blew up in one form or another, mostly with head-gasket or turbo problems. Our 'new' one had no problems at all. People had deliberately chosen the older model because they thought the ECU and high pressure injection was a reliability risk.... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Richens Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Pierre, the Defender is very much a workhorse as opposed to a luxury car(Discovery)..I have owned both the TDI defender 90 and now own a TD5 discovery....they both are excellent as towcars... The latest Defender TD5 has been updated internally to give more seating room in the front (with the bulkhead removed and a bar in its place)and has a few more electric components...as a tow car it probably is better than the disco as the gearbox has different ratios...it will be less money also. My new TD5 disco is brilliant and much better for my lifestyle with the auto box giving effortless power (its quite quick too)as well as being a family car. I did have a 5 litre Chevy engined Discovery too but it cost a fortune to run/repair !(it was fun though) If you plan to offroad either car will be fine although the defender will be easier to repair damaged body panels good luck John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 All the information shared here is very helpful to me. thanks a lot. I am curious to know if the Tomb Raider model is also offered in UK as it is the case in Germany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Ranson Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Having done some more research (I went up the road to the shop and looked in a mag...) it appears that maybe the Discovery/Defender price comparison requires both to have 5 doors and seats. The Tomb Raider Land Rover was fitted with a V8. AFAIK you cannot buy a V8 Defender any more. If you want the woofly noise you have to look at second hand models. And owning an oil well. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 I made a search on AutoScout 24 and found a Tomb Raider in Germany with a TD5 engine at 35 000 euros, one year old but 0 km. So my understanding is that the one used in the film was fitted with a V8, but limited editions were (are) offered in some countries such as Germany and may be Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Does the Tomb Raider one have pre deployed airbags? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted June 20, 2002 Author Share Posted June 20, 2002 Sorry Sir, air bags are not available for the Defender range, at least not ON the wheel. May be though AT the wheel, but this depends on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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