Re:My Jimny Gen 3 vs 110 defender td5, opinions please

Ok serious answers please.

Before I start, I love my 2008 Jimny.........

But I have a chance of a 2000 landrover 110, mechanically unmolested and in good nick, looked after, serviced etc. It’s a local chap and I’ve seen the car about for a few years.


Now I know this is a Jimny forum, and understandably biased, and I really like my car, (have I mentioned that already?) am I being stupid even considering the landrover?
Has anyone lived with a defender and now had a Jimny or vice versa?

Why is my Jimny the better or worse choice.

I hadn’t even considered a different car up until this afternoon.

Help!


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I had a landrover defender 110 pickup for 5 years. what I ended up giving up on was that it didn´t hold water or air. whole winter it was wet with foggy windows. Most metal parts of it had only a thin layer of paint with no primer and it rusted fast. Other then that , it was a fun car to drive , especially on the highland , crossing rivers etc. I will never buy another Defender. Its just me.

Before that I had a landcruisers and Nissan Patrol´s ( 3 ) and was used to Japanese quality.

I´ m not yet a Jimny owner , but waiting for one to arrive in beginning of september. What I like about the Jimny is that its almost like a shrunken Defender but Japanese built. I know only time will tell , but never another Defender for me.

Hello.

I've driven both, at some point we've had Jimnys, Defenders and Discoverys in our house, so I've a bit of experience with both.

The TD5 is a lovely engine. It's full of torque but suffers badly with turbo lag, it can catch you out a little when pulling off roundabouts etc. It's generally accepted to be less reliable than the earlier 300tdi/200tdi lumps but to be honest, we sold ours with 210,000 miles on the clock and it was only routine maintenance.

Fail points on early TD5s are rare but include the factory seating/locating the cylinder heads using plastic dowels which can shift over time causing head gasket issues and fueling issues.

Fuel pressure regs can cause trouble too.

The injector harness runs down the back under the cam cover can soak leaky oil back up it's length to the ECU causing electrical issues.

Compared to the Suzuki M13, there's a lot more failure points.

The inside it's its own thing; it's agricultural. Very little in the way of creature comforts. We used to have to scrape ice of the inside of the windscreen on bad days. The heater is pathetic. The seats are crap.

Check for corrosion like you would on a Jimny, thus do like to rust (bulkheads, chassis, outriggers etc)

Gearbox is solid. It's the R380 and it's fine. Make sure the transfer case will shift as the selectors can seize in 4H through lack of use.

However they're also downright cool. Defenders will always be cool and much like a Jimny, they don't try and be anything that they're not. Always a smile driving one. So do your reading, leave a bit of money aside for the occasional repair if you do choose the LR. If you choose to keep the Suzuki, it'll always start come the morning however. Both will make you smile when driving though.

I have had a defender 90 300tdi. Aesthetically pleasing, but a reliability nightmare, 4 cam belt changes in 3 years and hours spent on the receiving end of the welder. Compared to Dreadnaught there is no comparison especially in terms of driving comfort and pleasure and ergonomics.

If it's in good condition and you can get it cheap, it might be a decent investment, as Defender prices are stupidly high at the moment.

I love Landys, but unless you need the extra load capacity, I wouldn't have one as a daily driver.

I would echo what the others have said. My experience (I have a 2005 Defender, Discovery and 2019 Jimny for reference, and have had 3 other LRs in the past including 2 110's, and a 2002 Jimny o2)

If you have the money, a 2000 LR defender can be a serious piece of kit. You can make it look great and work well.

BUT

If you are averse to spending lots of money (most of the time) the Jimny is a far better bet. In all conditions, it's more comfortable, reliable, easy to maintain and cheaper.

Defenders can look great, however, and that's a thing. I know that sometimes people don't want to admit a bit of vanity, but its there.