Thoughts on what to get

[Rova Nasty]

Hey guys so we currently have 3 rovers here in the u.s. A 95 LWB classic, an 04 hse, and an 07 hse s/c. I was recently at our house in Suffolk, England. When i was there with my family we all realized that we needed a truck there to drive around on the 125 acres we have there and so we didnt have to try and find a rental car that fits 6 or 8 people and luggage. Anyways we started looking at defender 110's used for sale and found a few but they seemed too beat up. My dad saw a G4 and really liked the look and the orange on them. He said he didnt want a brand new one cause it will probably take a beating. But he still looked at one and is interested in an 08 defender 110. What would you all recommend? a brand new 08? or a 04 G4 version? what are some pro/cons of both and what do you think we would be better off with? thanks.

[Dutchgit]

Get something slightly older with the 300 Tdi engine, You can't go wrong with them.
The new TDc4 seems to be reasonable but it lacks a bit of power according to some people.
The TD5 have too much going wrong with them like failing injectors, oil in the wiring looms etc.
There are good ones about but I wouldn't take my chances.

[Rova Nasty]

does the g4 come with the 300? I heard good things about that engine too

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by Rova Nasty

does the g4 come with the 300? I heard good things about that engine too

No, it's a TD5

[Rova Nasty]

so what year would you recomend? I dont like the hoods on the new ones, the old ones are much better.

[antony110]

Hi the new 110s are only 7 seaters (all forward facing seats)so would probably not be big enough for you, there does seam to be some problems with the new engine/transmission with some remedial work,
The g4s are all likely to of been abused to one degree or another due to the very nature of the vechiles and depending if they were back up or entry vechiles to the g4 but will hold a better price over a longer period of time, The td5 does have its problems and will be more expensive to fix, but is more refined than the 300tdi,
the 300tdi is a good all round engine (i drive a 300tdi defender) the engine has very good reliability record and will is easy to fix (the british army would not have td5 engines worried about there reliability and the electronics so they had all there vechiles carried on with the 300tdi engines)
there are a hanfull of very well respected independent land rover dealers here in the uk that would sell you very nice exampoles of what you desire and could give you better advise than i can for your particulary needs or would even build one to your requirements if you are intrested i can email you some of thier contact details
regards Antony
The 300tdi engine

[Rova Nasty]

I think they can hold 9, 2 in front, 3, and 4 in the back on the bench seats. But anyways so your advice is skip the g4 and skip the brand spanking new one. Thats what i think we should do, what kind of miles do you recommend not going over?

[Dutchgit]

Ebay is your friend.

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by Rova Nasty

I think they can hold 9, 2 in front, 3, and 4 in the back on the bench seats.

No they are as Antony110 says; 7 passengers, 2-3-2.

Where, exactly, do you live? If you visit the UK irregularly, it hardly seems logical that you, or I guess your parents would need to buy a 110. Just rent one. It only takes an ATV to play around on 125 acres. Sounds like wishful thinking.

[Dutchgit]

The one in the e-bay ad holds 9. You've got to get along with each other quite well though.

[Rovin4life]

stick with an older 3.0 and get everything repaired on it and then you can leave it around for a few months when you are in the states.

The 08s are great but if you are going to tool around on 125 acres you need to buy a new set of tires at least. They come with road tires. The new ones are nice. you can get all sort of neat stuff with them but the appreciation value drops cause it aint used and you wont get much money out of it. Buy used and possibly buy LR used certified if you can to get some sort of warrantee if you want to.

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by Dutchgit

The one in the e-bay ad holds 9. You've got to get along with each other quite well though.

Antony said "The new one....." not a '99. The NAS 110 held 9 also 2-3-4, the '08 has only 2 FWD facing rear seats.
You guys talk about 125 acres like it was the Ponderosa. Suffolk isn't tough countryside, like Durham county and above. ( personally, my BS-tatation sensors were twitchin abit)

[Rova Nasty]

Yes, it does hold 10, but not straight off the lot, we were planning to buy the utility to avoid VAT and have a guy near suffolk who instals custom side facing bench seats that hold 2 each. So its not 9 until we put those in. And no they are right we need different tires, we rented a discovery, and by the way its impossible to find a car big enough to fit 6 people and luggage for rent thats why we need one, anyways we rented an 08 or 0-7 discovery and took it in our west park and got it completely stuck in some suffolk mud/clay, we had to pull it out with a tractor, the tires got completely caked with mud, they looked like racing slicks haha. You shouldve seen the look on the thrifty guys face when he saw the car! priceless haha.

[antony110]

Hi just a word of warning if you do go and buy a new defender sw
unless you export it you will still have to pay the vat but if you have your own company in the uk you will be able to reclaim the vat,
The reason that the seats are now 7 instead of 9 or ten or even 12 as they used to be is because of the uks new laws to do with side facing seats and childrens heights
If you take out the 2 rear forward facing seats and replace them with benchseats you will be breaking the law as the vechile was made after the law has been passed
You can however put up graded seats in the back of the older defenders such as the earlier td5 or 300 tdi if you google exmoor trim you will find a company who is thought to be the best in seat upgrades for land rovers in the uk.
as far as what mileage many 300tdi,s run at over 250000 miles and are fine and still go strong, the biggest problem is poor maitenance, abuse and rust which is why i would advise buying a refurbished vechile from a respected land rover dealer
I have brought many older land rovers from ebay in the uk and its not the way to buy trouble free motoring!!!
best regards Antony

[Rova Nasty]

Thanks for the advice antony, we were told by the dealer that if you buy the utility version which doesnt have rear side windows you avoid the vat because its considered a farm vehicle, then you have someone put windows in and side facing seats.