I am currently looking at buying a defender 110 on the east coast of the US. It is a 95' with 190K on a 300tdi engine. The gearbox was rebuilt about 500 miles ago. I don't know too much about the typical engine life and general life of defenders, although i know they are rugged and can take a lot. The truck has also been very well maintained, as I know the owner. Does anyone know the typical life expectancy of the 300tdi, or a defender 110 in general. How many miles do most of you have on your defenders of this age? If the engine should need to be replaced at some point, what are the approximate costs?

 

You can get 2nd hand engines in the UK for anything from GBP 400 to GBP 1,000 - but we've got one heck of an expensive car culture compared with yours.

I've heard stories of Tdi Land Rover engines doing in excess of 300k miles before needing internal attention - servicing is the main issue - don't service it and you can halve or even quarter that [:-] How handy with a socket set and spanners are you? If you're happy servicing a regular car yourself then you'll be fine with the defender - there are a few more things to service than usual - 2 gearboxes, front and rear axles, hubs, 2 prop shafts and the engine itself - none of which is particularly demanding, just a little more time consuming.

To illustrate the above, a guy on another forum recently took the head off his 200tdi at 170k miles and could still see the honing marks in the bores from when the engine was built!

The rest of the truck is virtually bulletproof provided you don't let it rust - in the UK we have a 'rust problem' being a small wet island where they salt the roads each year to keep the frost off. If the roads near you get salted then check the chassis very carefully, the rear crossmember is a particular mud trap and if you mix a bit of salt and moisture in with it, then it'll rust like mad. The body panels are al alluminium, which is a good thing if you dent one as you can usually bash it out with your fist.

They're a spartan vehicle with no 'frills' - if what you're looking for is something that you can use with extreme confidence on or off road with no regard for personal comfort - then go for it! If you're looking for a little more 'fettling' in the comfort stakes then a Discovery is very nearly as good off road, (better in some respects than a 110 as the 110 has a longer wheelbase).

Hope that helps,

 

Thanks Adz, that is exactly what I was looking for. We have the same rust problem on the east coast of the US so I'm definitely going to look the vehicle over really well.