1997 Land Rover Defender 90: Future Long-Termer?

Perfect replacement for the Raptor. Thumbs up.. Lets do it!!

Buy IT!

Go for it. It will provide plenty of DIY repair posts!

@throwback HA!
Impractical, inefficient, mechanical nightmare. BUT, looks cool, something different.

I'm not into this kind of vehicle, but I do have to admit this Land Rover is awesome.

YES

Helz yeah buy it - before someone here does!

Buy it!

Sound great but how is the automatic "very desirable "?

tjpark01 says:
05:44 PM, 08/ 1/11

"Impractical, inefficient, mechanical nightmare. BUT, looks cool, something different."

They're only impractical and inefficient if you use them for purposes other than originally intended, ie. they aren't happy in the city or on the highway. :) As for the "mechanical nightmare" bit, not really. A lot of the components have been tried and tested for many decades. Worst thing I hear about are electrical issues.

All that being said, buy it! Or get him to threaten to sell it to me. These things are desirable for some very good reasons.

I'l be the first to disagree. No, this is not a fun vehicle. Your long-term FJ Cruiser was more entertaining. Didn't you get a lot of votes for a NSX, or something like that for the next used car?

But I'd like to be your friend so I can dump, I mean sell you one of my long term cr@pmobiles for more than dealer trade-in value.

Also, buy it so I'll have a reason to frequent this blog again. It's been Snoozeville here lately.

Which part of "We want the NSX" do you not understand?

I think we've told you guys (in more than one fashion) that we want a NSX so PLEASE GET ON IT!

noburgers says:
06:19 PM, 08/ 1/11

"I'l be the first to disagree. No, this is not a fun vehicle. Your long-term FJ Cruiser was more entertaining."

Depends on one's definition of fun. If you like to leave the pavement and go exploring/camping/crawling/hooning there are few vehicles more fun.

By the way, your friend doesn't happen to work for Raytheon does he? Because I just saw an exact same one parked on our lot last week...

felonius, you're right. I've tried it a few times (as a passenger) but turned out to not be as much fun as I thought. SHook my guts to pieces, maybe my mind a little too, but I know some people enjoy it. But for the tiny percentage of time the truck would be used as intended, I'd rather not read the posts on all it's freeway crawling. It should be stump crawling. Now the M3, Z06, Miata, and Porsche at least were intended for the street, plus maybe some track time.

How about a red 94 Defender with 58,000 miles and a 5 speed gearbox?

I get what you're saying, noburgers, and you make a good point. With this crew we'll see very few posts of the Defender as nature intended: out in the bush, killing mountains, traversing dunes and fording rivers. Instead there will be a whole lot of complaints about it's vague steering, sloppy suspenders and poor acceleration and fuel economy. I can see it now: "Took the Landie to IKEA today. I was the envy of every soccer mom there. I was also able to transport a veritable butt-load of Fludenhuoffens in its commodious hold (once I fugured out how to RTFM and stow the rear seats, of course), but the ride there and back was a literal pain in the backside. Plus, the placement of the HVAC controls is a joke, the AC is weak, the navigation system consists of a folded map wedged between the seat and the console (frightening lack of cubbies in this rig), and there are no seat heaters!"

It'd suck so much! So, I'll just have to change my vote to an emphatic, "NO". It would be such a waste.

defender 90, yawn....

get a refreshed 2011 wrangler 6spd hardtop. relevant, cool, and desirable to the general public.

This is good while I tend to agree that a NSX would be nicer since this is available just promise try and do most of the upkeep yourselves.

If you do buy it, you'll never be able to criticize your freelancers' stories as obscure again.

If you really need to get something silly like the Land Rover, just go with a new 4 door Wrangler. Maybe it will preoccupy the editors who are now winding out the vehicles that aren't made to be wound out.

Yes of course. NSX pffff I see one almost everyday at work and it sounds nasty like a modified japanese car with a fart cannon. It's a unique car in it's own way but it's not that impressive.

Go defender!

Agree with feloniousmonk. However, I would like to see all the off road "advantures" that the Raptor had experienced exposed to a long term Bentley SUV, while on loan from Bentley.

do it.

I would have killed for one of these when I was a kid. Will be my midlife crisis car down the road. Ten times cooler than your silly Raptor. Buy it!

Yes, absolutely. What a gorgeous car. I would die for one. It's an absolute shame they're not sold in N. America any longer.

Yes. Absolutely get yet another rugged, totally capable off-road vehicle that you will continually load with diapers, ladders and other s**t rather that actually take it off road. Didn't you guys get your 4WD posing out of the way with the Raptor?

That's the one beef I have with you guys. These long term blogs expose you all as nothing but hard parkers. You want the look, but don't know what do with the performance. Z06? Never went to the track. Viper? Never did anything. Raptor? You used it to move. Bravo.

Seriously. Get a Camry.

I am with firstwagon, WTF makes the automatic "VERY DESIRABLE"????

When I read it I thought "maybe that was a joke..."

-Rod

Buy it. Now. And then ford a river. Drive it like it was meant to be driven. If you plan on taking it off-roading regularly, then, and only then buy it.

YES please !!!!

I have always been fascinated by the Defender 90. It is the Yang to my EV Ying (previous lessee of MiniE).

I really like the many opinions that are gathered in your office wide usage patterns. Personally this will go a long way to letting me know that I should continue my interest of let it go. In a very similar way that your older 911 has sparked that interest as well. I am glad to see the idea of used luxury cars as alternatives to an endless fleet of new models. It matches the decisions we all make every year.

So YES from me. I would love to see a year of data and experience from your team.

One more thing to add. Don't necessarily just go buy your friends. If you decide to add it to the fleet. Do some comparison shopping and help us see hoe that parts works as well. You seem to have put a lot of thought into why that 911 was a good one for the group. I do want to see you go for a Defender 90, but start from scratch and see of your friends model holds up to comparison in price / features / quality

@oldno7

Agreed 100%. If you're going to buy a purpose-built vehicle (aforementioned Z06, Viper, Raptor, et al), then at least put it in its element once in a while. Don't just drive it like the stereotypical urbanite from the Starbucks to the Prada store.

Oh, and another vote for the NSX. How many times do we need to vote for it in the polls?

Its hard for me to think of anything that I would be less interested in.

Give it a shot, it'd be interesting to own and read about!

I'd also second an NSX...

As others have asked: What's so desirable about an automatic transmission?

Just buy it, your fleet needs a real off-road SUV

"They're only impractical and inefficient if you use them for purposes other than originally intended, ie. they aren't happy in the city or on the highway."

Hmm, what is LA made of?

No - you already have an old car that parts are falling off of - you don't need an old car that parts were falling off of when it was NEW.

Yeah, sure - get it. We can start a days-out-of-service pool.

Please, please, please buy it! I have always wanted one of these despite the fact that they are inefficient, impractical money pits. I think this one vehicle has more character than half of the IL fleet combined (probably more headaches too).

Yes. 1000x yes.

altimadude05 says:
06:57 AM, 08/ 2/11

"'They're only impractical and inefficient if you use them for purposes other than originally intended, ie. they aren't happy in the city or on the highway.'

Hmm, what is LA made of?"

That's why I changed my vote to no. Seeing this wonderful old girl cooped up in parking lots and strip malls of suburban hell would not be fun. Granted, Defenders actually do alright in the city, but that doesn't mean we should be subjected to lame anecdotes about trips to posh L.A. night spots and how jiggly it's ride is on the ubiquitous, yet crumbling freeways.

I'd say "yes" with some precautions: if it isn't leaking oil (from somewhere), it's out of it. Remember that, and you'll really enjoy the lawnmower on steroids. I had mine for a few years and loved it. (also a '97 wagon, but in the much better Coniston green with white top, IMHO)

Be wary of the white paint "chalking" if you don't wax it often and you will have leaks from the sunroof area where the top meets the window-frame & leading edge of the doors. Lots of 'em since you're in a warm climate. The seals deteriorate quickly.

Other than those quibbles and a few small electrical fires, the thing never stranded me anywhere... and it was unstoppable on mud terrains with air-lockers. We used to hum "nothing can stop... the Animal," when traversing the un-traversable. Good times. Lot's of 'em!

Enjoy!

I agree with others, the automatic would make it off MUCH less desirable to me.

Would be interesting but maybe it's time to focus a little more on the middle of the market. Between the Miata and Porsche (older sports cars), the Leaf and Volt (new tech cars), the TSX (wagon), the Jetta (diesel), and the Outlanders (count 'em, two cars from a brand on the brink) the long-term fleet isn't really addressing the heart of the market too well. I'm all for some outliers because they're fun and interesting to read about. But in terms of being useful to a large segment of the car-buying public the fleet isn't quite getting it done. Looking at the list in the sidebar there are about 30 cars in the fleet and maybe 3 of them are in the top 20 vehicles sold (that's including the Jetta where you've got the much less prevalent engine option). I'm not suggesting Edmunds fill the fleet with just top sellers but it would be nice to balance the "nice to know something about but I'd never buy one" information with some "wow, that will help me decide which car to buy next" information.

I'll add a vote for an NSX....or an E39 M5...

"gotak says:

08:01 PM, 08/ 1/11

Yes of course. NSX pffff I see one almost everyday at work and it sounds nasty like a modified japanese car with a fart cannon. It's a unique car in it's own way but it's not that impressive.

Go defender!"

Ignorance is bliss.

The ONE NSX you see everyday has either been modified or you have no idea what a great engine sounds like. An umolested NSX (increasingly rare these days) or a properly modified NSX sound nothing like a "fart cannon"... btw - what the hell do you eat that you know what that sounds like. Moreover, you've clearly never driven an NSX because it's a great drive.

We owned a 1998 NSX-T with the proper 6 speed gearbox for nearly five years and it was an incredible car. Dead reliable, very visceral, and special every time it got driven.

I say pass on the D90.

It has 2 doors? Count my votes as a big "NO"

DLu says:
08:52 AM, 08/ 2/11

"It has 2 doors? Count my votes as a big "NO"

Umm, why? A short wheelbase is better for off-roading. That's why a Defender 90 is generally preferred to a Defender 110 by serious off-roaders. Besides, this ain't no minivan.

find a softtop!

This definitely should fill the Raptor's spot in the fleet. Do it.

Buy it.*

*Note: While this is not something I myself would ever buy (your LT fleet would be pretty boring... for everyone else... if you restricted yourselves to only the couple dozen or so vehicles greenpony would buy) it would be a good, if relatively anemic, replacement for the beloved Raptor.

Really, I'd like to see you guys get your hands on a new Grand Cherokee instead, or a new Explorer. 4x4 of course.

Approved! Buy it.

Im gunna say its probably already part of the fleet if we know anything about these kinds of posts

Cool vehicle. :)

Scott, before you sell the Raptor, make sure you bend the frame just a tad. If it's not bent, you guys haven't driven it hard enough. ;)

A Defender in LA is kind of a joke. I spent a lot of time in Defenders outfitted for safaris in Namibia ad Botswana. 4 cylinder diesel with stick. Not much power but enough torque to climb a mountain. Thought we were going to fall off the side of this mountain at the edge o the Kalahari Desert but
It made it up no problem, where of course we had a sundowner cocktail party. I climbed o another nearby peak and took a pic that I could probably sell to Land Rover as an advertisement. Did some amazing off-roading in If you want one, find one that has been imported from overseas as a very bare bones field vehicle. Not this one.