Faults:

Transfer case seal at 55,000km.

FWD differential bearing.

General Comments:

This is an excellent off road vehicle. No major problems.

I spend a lot of time in the rivers of Costa Rica, and the only fault, is to be careful of the computer box under the passenger side seat; it doesn't come completely water tight, and the cost is around 2000 USD to replace it.

I have never driven a vehicle with such pulling power when you really need it.

The truck overall is fantastic, with the exception of the wipers and the defrost system; they are a little cheesy. I upgraded mine because of the amount of rain here in Costa Rica.

It's a truck built for off road and not comfort, but still has the classy look that still turns heads after 6 years of owning it. It's a keeper in my book, and won't be sold.

One last word to the wise; it's never happened to me, but I understand that overheating the motor will totally render it useless, so I keep up the maintenance on the cooling system and belts.

Faults:

AC unit packed up due to a faulty sensor, but was replaced under warranty.

The seals in the transfer case were leaking, but were replaced at 80,000km.

General Comments:

The Defender is an amazing off road vehicle. I work in the former Transkei region "Wild Coast" of the Eastern Cape, and the vehicle was made for the work that I do. It can pull a trailer through the toughest muck and climb where there are no roads.

In low range, the truck will literally climb a tree. It is noisy, but I find it comfortable and I'm 6'3", 195lbs.

The ABS is excellent and has worked perfectly for me on road on two emergency occasions. The traction control kicks in and does wonders for the vehicle on gravel roads.

The bench seats allow me to load myself and 8 other people, and I've had 12 when we squeezed a bit.

I've found the TD5 to be a very powerful and reliable engine platform with excellent fuel economy.