I have an interesting question:

I was always told by my cousin (he owns a land rover shop and has dozens of land rovers & range rovers) that D1's are more reliable than D2's. He also said if I bought a D2, that I would most likely need a new engine due to the piston sleeves stripping. Now hold on a minute, isn't the engine block pretty much the same in both vehicles? They might be slightly different with different induction systems right?

I really don't know why I'm posting this; I just want to hear some thoughts about this topic.

 

sleeves - see https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...leeves+Slip%3F

D1 is a less sophisticated vehicle, fewer electronics items, less things to break. D2 has more bells and whistles for drive train,etc. D1 has stock CDL, not so with D2. I think there are about 620 differeneces between the two.

 

I think both vehicles are great, and I would own any rover that doesn't have a distributor. And maybe even any that had a distributor too.... but that's just more maintenance.

Anyway I think this "D1 is more reliable that D2" thing is pure fiction. As Savannah Buzz stated, there are more bells and whistles on the D2, so if both vehicles had an equal percentage of system failures, the D2 would have more problems. Even so, I don't think this is the case. They both have junky window regulators. They both have the exact same sun roof assembles that break and also leak water. The D2 does have a problematic Crank Sensor that will leave you stranded, but it's a cheap fix. The D2 usually runs like a champ, or it doesn't run at all. Go to the D1 forums and see how many people have complained about their truck running rich, or fast idle, or no idle. It's almost like magic to get a D1 to run well once it starts misbehaving. The D2 has expensive door lock actuators that can fail a bit. The D1 has a different set of expensive door lock actuators that can fail a bit. The D1 has rear windows that won't roll up or down.

Basically, my 03 D2 has less problems, more power, and more cool features with more miles than my 96 D1 had with less miles. Though the D1 was a great car too....

 

Though.... on a side note... what you want to do with the truck might determine which is better. It is certainly cheaper to build a D1 for off road use and there are more goodies you can buy, probably because of the similarities between the RRC and also the Defenders.

 

I have a '95 and my wife has a '97. Based on experience with both, if I ever buy another one it won't be anything newer than a '95.

 

knowing him he will never buy another....

 

I think the DII is much more prone to expensive engine related issues (i.e., head gaskets, oil pump) than the DI. Browse both forums and the amount of DIIs with such issues far outweighs those of the DI.

My 97 DI has 229k on it... I've never had ANY major issues with it. There are the common things (VSS sensor, bad solder joints affecting rear windows, stepper motor, common rust areas, etc.), but I think mechanically the DI is more reliable.

I also have a DII with 98k on it... it's currently at PT's getting new HGs, oil pump, etc... so perhaps I'm a bit biased.

If I could've found a low mile DI with no rust, I wouldn't have bought my DII. BUT, damn, the DII does ride really nice in comparison to the DI... it's hard to beat when it's running good.

 

Robertnsmith, when are we heading to the Badlands?!