Are Land Rover Defenders comfortable

I'm considering buying a second hand 4x4. I will be using it primarily for driving to work, driving around building sites, towing trailers and the occasional visit to fields. I have heard that while the Defender is great off road it is not very comfortable onroad. I also heard that driver legroom is limited. Has anybody experience driving them.

I don't think you'll have to worry about the comfort too much. It sounds like a heap of junk that will spend more time off the road than on it. Hope you have deep pockets

From honestjohn

Nicknamed the 'Deafener'. Very crude (for fresh air ventilation, open a flap under the windscreen and get it direct). Very noisy. Reports of crankshaft, gearbox and transfer case misalignment and failed wheel bearings. TD5 Oil pump prone to sprocket failure and without oil pressurer engine self-destrects. More on this at www.amanet.co.uk/td5oilpumpfailure.htm For those seeking traditional Land Rover virtues, take a look at Santana. LandRover had joint highest average cost in warranty claims for cars up to 10 years old in 2002 Warranty Direct index. Land Rover 3rd least reliable of 31 makes of car in 2002 'Which?' reliability survey cars 2000 - 2002; least reliable of 32 makes built 1997 - 1999. Land Rovers had third highest warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 167.53 v/s lowest 31.93). 18th from bottom out of 137 models in 2003 Top Gear survey. Land Rover 4th bottom of Reliability Index for 2004 combining average cost of repair of £367.03 with highest 46.23 failures per 100 Warranty Direct policies

Any reccommendations on an alternative? I thought with the number of Defenders that ESB, Laing O Rourke etc have on the road that they must be decent enough

Anything Japenese is worth looking at.

Here's the site to check anythinng specific you have in mind...

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm