1991 Land Rover Defender 110 Hardtop V8 review from UK and Ireland
"Expensive to run, shoddy detail build and paintwork"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
LT85 lightweight gearbox suffered rear mainshaft housing failure and was replaced by new R380. Associated with this was fitment of new transfer box input gear, made necessary by underlubrication of the splines due to inadequate attention to detail design.
Rotten bulkhead required replacement. Cause is missing earthstrap between bulkhead and transmission, causing bulkhead to rise to +1.5V above battery negative potential, with wipers, lights and heater blower all on. This electrolytic corrosion was never a problem on earlier (+ve earth) vehicles, or on military variants which had numerous earthstraps.
Corrosion of door and tailgate caused by use of aluminium panels over a steel frame, without either an electrical insulating barrier, or any meaningful undersealing process.
General comments?
Well designed, badly made.
The design team needs to read the Ladybird Book of electrolytic corrosion, and quickly.
The engine is excellent, and as usual for a Landrover, proves too much for its transmission.
Chassis is robust, but has no proper undersealing. The corrosion protection is simply "a dip in the black stuff" without benefit of any proper priming, or PVC stone.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1991 |
| First year of ownership | 1997 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2002 |
| Engine and transmission | V8 petrol OHV Manual |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 2 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 5 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 6 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 143000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 198000 miles |
| Previous car | Lada Niva |
| Date of Entry | 17th April, 2002 |