Faults:

Fuel lift pump needed replacing (replaced free of charge by the dealer).

Power steering pump developed a leak (actually a torrent rather than a leak). 200GBP.

Both rear shock absorbers have been replaced. 17GBP each.

Handle came off bonnet release cable. About 5GBP.

Rear section of silencer replaced. About 35GBP.

General Comments:

My defender has been remarkably trouble free (for a 13 year old vehicle). I'm sure this is mostly due to the previous owners (The Royal Air Force) having maintained it so well. It has only let me down once due to the lift pump failing, which was replaced by the dealer free of charge, as I had only owned the vehicle for a day.

It has an engine oil change approximately every 5000 miles, and I treated it to its 2nd timing belt change at 120000 miles (this was first changed, to my knowledge, by the supplying dealer at 74000 miles) and at a cost of 100GBP.

As can be seen from the prices I have given in the above section, parts prices are relatively cheap (in the UK at least) compared with a modern car (150GBP for a mid section of exhaust for a Peugeot 406 - was just a 2 foot section of pipe as it was a diesel, so no cat.)

I travel about 80 miles every day, to and from work, on the motorway and it is a pleasure to drive. It can generally be treated much like a modern estate car (albeit a slightly slower and noisier one), as long as multi-storey car parks and restricted height barriers are avoided, as they usually seem to have a height restriction of somewhere between 1.8 and 2 metres.

Where a Defender comes into its own is when you leave the tarmac behind. Although the only drawback behind this is first thing in the morning on a campsite, when it has been raining overnight. Everyone stuck in the mud in normal cars decide that you would love to be woken up to be able to have the chance to pull their car from the site ;)

Faults:

Engine cut out while driving, waited 15 minutes and could restart. Land Rover dealer could not find the fault on three occasions, refused to collect the vehicle for repair and it was a known problem by other motor traders. Very worrying not knowing when it would cut out. Problem resolved by an independent auto electrician who disconnected the immobiliser

Alarm went off for no reason - faulty wiring.

Required a new alternator according to the Land Rover dealer when it didn't, and again was down to faulty wiring. Land Rover GB repaid the repair bill.

Needed a new battery according to the Land Rover dealer when it didn't. Again down to faulty wiring.

Kept blowing fuse leaving no brake/reversing lights. Faulty wiring 'repaired' three times by the Land Rover dealer within about 6 months.

General Comments:

Love the vehicle, otherwise I wouldn't have kept it so long. In spite of the problems, you get hooked on owning a go 'anywhere vehicle' It might be noisy compared with a conventional saloon car, but it's in its own in bad weather snow and rough terrain.

Needless to say, the dealership after eight years of high charging for servicing, has lost the contract to an independent enthusiastic Land Rover specialist who are a pleasure to deal with and dependable