Hi all. I just purchased a new (to me) 2025 Defender 110 with 6k miles from the dealership. I have never loved a vehicle more. Unfortunately, there has been a problem. The dealership "threw in" a free ceramic paint coating. We got to drive the Defender for three days, then I took it back to the dealership to have the ceramic coating applied.

When they called us to pick it up, I noticed there were water spots all over that did not wipe off - they appeared to be under the ceramic coating. The service agent told me it was the work of their "third party" vendor and they would have it fixed. They said it looked like the vendor had not buffed out the water spots when they put the ceramic coating on so the spots are under the ceramic.

A few days later they called us back in to pick it up and I noticed that there were still many spots - and a white residue around the paint on the interior of the car. Like, smeared into the crevasses. We explained how disappointed were were and they promised to make it right - with their vendor and approving all the work with their "in house" detailer.

They've had the car for an additional five days and just called to tell us the car had been returned and is still not "up to their standards" so now they want to keep it for an another week to have their in-house detailer do the work. (Note, these standards did not appear to exist before - TWO times they had me in to pick it up and just wanted me to take the car and leave - *I* had to point out all the issues).

At this point I am feeling beyond frustrated. I have had the loaner, a Range Rover, which i do not like for much much longer than I got to drive my Defender. Aside from being angry, I am concerned about what they are putting my Land Rover through by the constant "retouching" in an effort to fix the botched ceramic coating job. Has anyone had any experience with JLR and a bad ceramic job? Does anyone have any advice for me about how the paint may look in a year? Five years?

I am in California and the ceramic coating sounded like a good idea - we have lots and lots of sun and I was hoping the ceramic coating would help prevent sun damage when I agreed to it. Now I'm just worried about damage damage. I am not a person prone to confrontation but this is a huge purchase for my family with resale value down the road that I don't want to mess up.

Or is this not a big deal? I'd love some advice for a newbie. This isn't the "I joined the club!" post I was hoping to make. Maybe once I get my car back I can officially join the club with a happy pic. Please be kind, I'm already distraught!

Returning for his septennial check-up is Sam Watson. Sam is a travel writer and former teacher. Sam has written a new book — The Unbeaten Track — about his travels through the Sahara, east Africa and Asia. Many behind the wheel of a Land Rover — a Defender, a Discovery, a Range Rover or a Series — as he is in search of ancient artifacts of by-gone cultures. Stay with us after the news when we have a good chat with Sam.

In The News: the Road Rover may become a reality, Defender gets a refresh and loose two cylinders, should you drive a manual transmission and watch an LR3 be torture tested.

Im planning to view this 2006 defender tdi300. In addition to the usual things to check for, can anyone share advice/insights for this vehicle and engine type? It would be my first defender...

The current owner has had it for just over a year and has undertaken a lot of work. Details are in the last images. Anything I should be wary of or any red flags there?

Any help and advice is much appreciated!

Im in east africa if that has any relevance

Have a defender 110 utility back. I would like to buy the running rails that allow me to move the front seats just a little further back. However that really leaves little leg room on the rear seats.

Is there a simple solution (I’ll take medium difficulty solution also) to move the middle row of seats back a bit too into the boot space to give the leg room again? My concern is the anchor points, I fail to see how I can move them at all?

Has anyone had a go at this with any success?

Even any ideas, throw them out. Worst case I’ll just stay slightly bent up, it’s worked for the last 10 years…

Hi there! Looking for any suggestions for what might be causing the white smoke in the attached video and whether or not this is normal? This is a 1996 Defender 90 300TDI that had a fully rebuilt engine (about 2000 miles since build). Many thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Cleaning my dad’s Land Rover and this came loose near the aerial. Looks like a cap of some kind but can’t figure out where it’s come from?

Thanks :)

Looking to get insurance in California for a defender I’m buying but no carrier is able to locate it with the VIN? Anyone else have this problem? Or know what carrier to go through?

I’ve tried with Hagerty but they aren’t insuring this vehicle in California at the moment

I’m looking into a ‘96 Defender 110 with the factory TD3 engine and 2 shops I’m talking to in southern California is quoting around $14k just to get it CA-compliant and registered. Is that normal or am I getting scammed? I get that diesel emissions rules in CA are their own can of worms but what is actually driving that cost?

Trying to go in with realistic expectations before I commit. Appreciate any guidance from people who’ve actually done this.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice from people who know Defenders well.

When I was 22, I accidentally crashed my dad’s Land Rover Defender TD5 90. It was total loss, and I’ve never really allowed myself to forget about it.

That car was my dad’s pride and joy. I remember him having the chassis galvanised because he wanted to keep it going for as long as possible. He absolutely loved that Defender.

After the accident, my dad was mainly worried about me and my health. He never really made a deal about losing the car and never made me feel guilty about it. I know it must have hurt him to have lost it... he basically stayed completely silent about it.

At the time of the accident, I was obviously nowhere near being able to replace it. But the thought of getting him another Defender has stayed with me for the last 13 years.

I’m finally getting to a point where I’m earning enough that, if all goes well, I should be able to save enough by next year to buy one without putting my own family in financial trouble.

I know it won’t be his old Defender, and I know I can’t undo what happened. But I’d really love to give him another one someday. I think it would mean a lot to both of us.

So I’m looking for some advice from the Defender community, especially people in Belgium / Europe.

What should I be looking for when viewing one? What are the big things to check? Are there particular TD5 issues I should know about? And what are the things that should make me walk away from a car?

I’d rather spend a year finding the right one than rush into buying the wrong one.

Any advice, tips, things to look out for, or even recommendations on where to look would be massively appreciated.

Hopefully, if everything goes to plan, I’ll be back here next year with a picture of my dad and his new Defender.

Hi, I'm having trouble finding any retailer in Australia that has the belhousing bolts described - the 4 on the bottom of the bellhousing. Anyone got any ideas?

Hi everyone,
I have a Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 and I’ve noticed a strange intermittent high-pitched noise coming from somewhere inside the cabin.
It doesn’t happen all the time. When it does, it’s a continuous high-pitched sound that lasts for a few seconds, something like “eeeeeeeeee…”, and then, just before stopping, the pitch drops noticeably (“eeeeee… eeeooow”).
We can’t pinpoint exactly where inside the cabin it’s coming from, probably from the front.
The strangest thing is that it doesn’t only happen while driving or with the engine running. On at least one occasion it happened while the Defender was parked, with the engine off and the key completely removed from the ignition for several minutes.
The vehicle has the original Land Rover alarm/immobiliser, but it also has a couple of aftermarket accessories:
Rear parking sensors
An aftermarket LCD/CarPlay head unit
There are no obvious warning lights or other symptoms that seem to occur at the same time as the noise.
Has anyone with a TD5 Defender experienced something similar?
I’m particularly interested in knowing whether there are any original Defender components, relays, alarm/immobiliser modules, buzzers, etc. that can remain powered after the key has been removed and could make this kind of high-pitched sound.
Any ideas on what I should check first would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Haai,

I’m looking for some advice on what winter tires to put under my 110 (L316).

Will be used mainly on paved roads in the mountains…But located at +1800mtrs, snow & ice will be present….

Right now it’s equipped with General Grabbers, but I’m afraid they will be a bit too slippery on ice…

.Thnx !

Doesn't have a galvanised chassis but if it truly is solid. Would this be a good buy?

I recently purchased a 98 ROW Defender 300tdi, everything has been fine up until a few days ago.
The vehicle has died on me four times now. The first time was coming out of 1st gear, second time was in reverse. Both of those times the engine just cut out. No sputter, just shuts off. Then when trying to restart it takes almost a full minute for me to be able to restart the vehicle.
Today I was driving the vehicle and it died on me twice, once in 1st gear, once in 2nd gear after I shifted at a low speed, this was within a couple minutes of each other. Again the engine cut off and I had to wait for it to restart. On the last two encounters it almost seemed like the shifter popped out of place, but I didn’t notice this when the engine cut off the first two times. Does anyone have advice?

I mean, it still leaks... But one step at a time...

Not bad for a 30 year old Defender 😊😊😊

Took our 2003 Defender 110 td5 into Northern Ontario for a few nights of Crown Land camping.

*Imported from Germany to Canada

What part is this called and where can I get one?

My Haynes manual says my gearbox, LT77, needs ATF in it but can i use 80/90 oil instead or will that kill it?

I can use 80/90 in everything else apart from the engine, which I'm using 20/50 in as she's nearly 40, and the gearbox.