Overview of the Landrover Defender
Defender is a relatively modern name (introduced in 1990), though it's applied to a vehicle that has barely changed since two brothers at Rover decided to build a superior British version of the World War II Jeep in 1947.
Beloved by off-road enthusiasts, farmers and countryside dwellers alike, the aluminium-bodied Defender finally went out of production in 2016 - after 67 consecutive years of production.
LAND ROVER DEFENDER GENERATIONS
1947-2016
RUNNING COSTS
Fuel Consumption
2.4L 4-cylinder turbo diesel: 10.0 to 11.1 litres per 100km
2.2L 4-cylinder turbo diesel: 10.0 to 11.1 litres per 100km
= Highly economical.
= Good economy.
= Average fuel use.
= Heavy consumption.
Servicing
Contact your nearest Land Rover dealer. Land Rover Defender parts and accessoriescan be found on Gumtree.
SIMILAR MODELS TO LAND ROVER DEFENDER
Jeep Wrangler
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Toyota FJ Cruiser
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: LAND ROVER DEFENDER
The olde worlde Defender has a legion of fans who all usually have one thing in common; they like to drive off-road.
Fortunately, the Defender was very good at this, but it's always worth a close check underneath to see if anything has been damaged on those weekends jumping logs and crawling over rocks.
It's also worth checking the condition of the oil in the differentials, too (although it's not especially easy) for contamination of the oil by water (from river crossings).
The five-cylinder turbo-diesel model could have problems with oil pumps failing which sometimes led to a complete engine melt-down.
Some early manual gearboxes were also a bit flimsy. And as anybody who has ever owned a Land Rover will tell you, the axles can be a weak link in the chain.
The diesel versions all need a timing-belt change at 80,000km intervals so look for evidence that this has been done.
