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Home > My Defender > Defender Newbie First Impressions.. Do I like it??

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Leroy Member Since: 20 Nov 2018 Location: Western Highlands Posts: 15

Defender Newbie First Impressions.. Do I like it?? Should you believe the motoring mag "expert" reviews? Spoiler alert! NO!! Hi. Brand new Deaf Ender owner here, and it’s quite a change from a Freelander 2 and Skoda Yeti which were the everyday cars up until last Friday. The closest I ever came before was a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport – which was supposedly a “proper� 4WD but would have disintegrated if subject to the sort of punishment a Def can take. And I drove it 99% on tarmac. I lurked on this and other forums and scoured reviews for weeks after the Defender urge was rekindled into flame a month or so back. I had come back to the wild west of Scotland to live - for a second time - from Oz last year. And not a Toyota Landcruiser to be seen, unlike back in Oz. Just Deffies everywhere. The motoring “expert� reviews were mostly not very encouraging; noisy, uncomfortable, slow, noisy, unreliable, primitive, noisy, no right elbow/arm space, strange people drive them, lousy onroad (but great offroad, though they never seemed to actually go offroad), noisy, agricultural, not really suited to daily driving, expensive to buy and run, and did I say noisy? …… and the negatives rolled on and on. Hidden in amongst the condescending comments were a few concessions to the fact that despite all the punishment, the owners seemed to actually like them. Very odd behaviour, apparently. I wanted to go via a Landy expert to try to find one, being a total greenhorn. So of course I didn’t do that, and grabbed a late 2011 , 2.2 (must be one of the first with this engine?), 33,000 miles on the clock, 90 pickup, in what seemed to be pretty mint condition. 2 owners, including the “Royal Household� for the first 2 years, (I think I can envisage her Majesty’s bottom imprint on the driver’s seat, but I may be mistaken) then a private owner who had done the princely sum of 10,000 miles over the next 5 years. And kept his beloved in a garage when it rained. And I drove it 100 yds and bought it. Then drove it across Scotland. Having not driven a manual car for many years. To later discover that the insurance broker had misheard the licence plate info I gave him over the phone, and had insured a lovely ……Peugot, for me. So I hadn’t been insured at all! Not amused, I wasn’t. So what are my impressions a week later? Noisy??; what the hell were they talking about? OK it has a small (pretty tiny actually, but I once had a Morris Minor pickup. THAT was tiny) cabin, which helps keep the noise down, but apart from interesting sounds that remind me of faint distant sirens or church bells (please don’t tell me that they signal pending disasters), I could listen to music perfectly happily. Not an issue. Uncomfortable??; well, I have long legs and a shorter torso, but with the seat as far back as I can push it without bending the cabin wall, and setting the seat far more upright than I’m used to just to get maximum legroom, we got by. And after driving a few miles, it ceased to be an issue. I got across Scotland without a twinge on arrival. I suspect that a hardtop or station wagon would give some extra space to tilt the seat back more? No room for the right elbow? Didn’t even notice. Why did so many of them say this? Heavy steering? Rubbish!. Slow? Sat on 60 on the straight bits like a dream, and was only starting to get a bit questionable at 75 when I tried it for a short stretch. 60 is more than enough for me on Scottish roads. Lousy roadholding? Not a Porsche perhaps, but it feels fine. Even on pretty basic and narrow rubber. Vague steering? More Porsche-like than the 30 (now 50) year old Merc I once owned. Loved it but it was like handling an aircraft carrier. IMHO the Def's steering is damned good. Strange people driving them? They actually seem really friendly and extremely normal to me. Haven’t seen a single one with two heads yet. Expensive to buy? Yes…..well, for what you get, I’d agree to that, but what the hell. It’s a bit of history. Expensive to run? Doubtful that it’s any worse than most, and I can do basic work myself. Primitive? I have heated seats and window, AC, a reasonable sound from a radio/CD player that also has an mp3 input, electric windows, immobiliser and door locks. What more can a boy ask for? Yes, I do know that the immobiliser and door locks are a joke to naughty people who lust after undefended Defenders, but it’s a start, and I now have added a Disklok, and if necessary will remove all four wheels and encase them in concrete if that’s what it takes to deter the local lads. But they seem to be pretty well behaved over in this neck of the woods anyway. So, am I happy? Yes. Though when I really get the hang of it I’ll be even happier. And then maybe hit some country tracks to see if it really is good off road. (I suspect it might be?) And this will be my daily driver. One of our “normal� cars will pick the short straw and be asked to leave, as we can’t really justify 3 cars and not enough space to put them. Plans? First, to try to figure why the glowplug lamp doesn’t come on, though it did for my first couple of days. I just wait a while till I hear a faint whine that I suspect is a relay shut off, then fire up. Second, to think about some "better" wheels and rubber, though mainly for cosmetic purposes. Third, new battery. This one seems to be OK, but it’s the original one, and I don’t want a midwinter misunderstanding on a very cold morning. It’s had a good innings. Fourth, get it through an MOT in about 6 weeks. Hopefully with flying colours. Fifth, do some homework on a rear view camera. Driving with the canvas canopy on across Scotland was a nightmare. Couldn’t see a thing behind me. I much prefer the tonneau cover. And back to First, actually…………….. to get some miles up and be able to find the right gear every time, instead of most of the time. And that’s it for now. I’m a happy chappie. I’d add a few pikkies but it’s been blowing a gale and providing horizontal rain all day, so maybe at a later date. In the interim here's a screen shot of a screen shot of the main ad pikkie that took me across the country.

6th Dec 2018 9:45pm

LR90XS2011 Member Since: 05 Apr 2011 Location: bickenhill Posts: 3612	welcome looks ACE , I love my 11 and have never regretted buying it, driving between 1500 and 1750 revs I achieve some surprising MPG but mines a 2.4. DEFENDER 90 TDCI XS, I hope everyone is well and your land rovers make you happy
7th Dec 2018 7:30am

TJH1985 Member Since: 22 Aug 2016 Location: Midlands Posts: 238	Welcome, Very nice Agree with much of above, my other half however has a different opinion
7th Dec 2018 8:24am

Zed Member Since: 07 Oct 2017 Location: In the woods Posts: 3009	Welcome. Nice truck.
7th Dec 2018 8:41am

OsloBlue Member Since: 14 Jul 2018 Location: Essex Posts: 822	Hey Leroy , welcome to the forum, I had a similar itch, test drove and found all the reviews to be wrong... Aside from noise, I’m sure my hearing loss is worse from motorway speeds... mind you I have a td5... I'm on IG: https://www.instagram.com/osloblue42/ Current: TD5 '110 "Lucinda" Thread here: https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic62562.html
7th Dec 2018 9:02am

williamthedog Member Since: 29 Dec 2012 Location: south wales Posts: 3441	Can't beat a nice 90 pick up
7th Dec 2018 9:36am

JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7873

Looks great, enjoy!! My 2012 2.2 has a 2.4 fuel cooler, just so you know a 2.2 fuel cooler guard won't fit. More photos when you can  James MY2012 110 2.2TDCi XS SW Orkney Grey - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic43410.html MY1990 110 200TDi SW beautifully faded Portofino Red - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post743641.html#743641 MY1984 90 V8 Slate Grey - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post744557.html#744557 Instagram @suffolk_rovers

7th Dec 2018 10:40am

Mike c Member Since: 11 Aug 2017 Location: Maldon, Essex Posts: 904	Welcome and nice little pickup 😎 Regarding the press reviews, you would think they were absolutely awful to drive etc etc but they are not, and I have an older TD5 model. Glad you went for it and bought one! Mike
7th Dec 2018 12:01pm

Wild Card 90 Member Since: 03 Dec 2014 Location: Gerlingen Posts: 1060

Well done Leroy on the most interesting, amusing and eloquent first post I´ve seen on a forum in ages. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the first impressions of your lovely 90 pickup! Congratulations. Another Defender finds the right owner. One who understands what the vehicle is about. You either get it, or you don´t. Keep the story going. It will be interesting to hear about your experiences.  1998 Tdi 90 SW, 2008 Td4 90 SW, 2012 2.2 90 SW, 2" raised Trailmaster/Terrafirma Heavy Track Raids, 255 MT´s, Recaro CS´s, anorak, wellingtons

7th Dec 2018 2:15pm

Blacksheep Member Since: 10 Dec 2017 Location: Highlands Posts: 190	^^^ what he said.  Time is precious, waste it wisely... Defender 90 D200
7th Dec 2018 2:34pm

jeffersj Member Since: 23 Jan 2015 Location: Near Preston Posts: 431	As all of the above! You can solve the wavy gearstick with the Slick-shift equivalent for Tdci. Jeff Ex 1968 Series 2A Ex 90 TD5 Ex D3 Ex D4
7th Dec 2018 3:10pm

Adam17 Member Since: 15 May 2018 Location: Within Bedfordshire Posts: 1193

Re: Defender Newbie First Impressions.. Do I like it?? Leroy wrote: Should you believe the motoring mag "expert" reviews? Spoiler alert! NO!! Hi. Brand new Deaf Ender owner here, and it’s quite a change from a Freelander 2 and Skoda Yeti which were the everyday cars up until last Friday. The closest I ever came before was a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport – which was supposedly a “properâ€� 4WD but would have disintegrated if subject to the sort of punishment a Def can take. And I drove it 99% on tarmac. What a fantastic introduction read!!! I know of a fellow chap - Edward who lives in Scotland - great writer and doing a blog himself ( https://www.moxymilsom.co.uk/ ), he is also on Facebook, he has done lots of modding to his defender.. And plenty of great knowledgeable people on here. He also inspired me to start my Defender Journey Blog. Anyways, I look forward to hearing from you and your truck. Keep adding picture each step of your journey. Regards Adam Loving The Duchess The Defender 110 TD5 XS My Defender story - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic64005.html

7th Dec 2018 4:22pm

Scotm Member Since: 28 Feb 2014 Location: Aberdeenshire Posts: 638	Suggest you check it has had all the recalls done particularly the oil pump. Looks very nice!
7th Dec 2018 9:19pm

Yulong Member Since: 18 Nov 2017 Location: Aberdeen Posts: 110	Nice write-up! Have fun
7th Dec 2018 10:08pm

Co1 Member Since: 19 Aug 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 3611	Looks great, I like the wheels, wouldn’t change them at all!
8th Dec 2018 10:32pm

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