This Classic Land Rover Defender Pickup is Surprisingly Affordable - Here’s Why! 

As a fellow LR D90 300 TDI owner, I want to say job well done Tommy and Case! You hit all the stuff and have a great review of a classic gentleman.

Such a well balanced review as always. The 300tdi Defender is such a great option, simple and tough. In the US, you still miss out on the diesels to the current day and they are the best and by far the most popular in Europe. As a working vehicle the huge towing capacity is a real bonus. It’s a quirky, primitive vehicle, but is so functional and capable. That was a great price too. Enjoy!

When Prince Philip was brought to his final resting place he was transported in the bed of a Land Rover pickup. I felt so much of a connection to the man that day because he requested a pickup and hope that I still have one in my herd when my time comes so that my family can make similar arrangements. At sixty two I think it’s time to upgrade to Denalis, King Ranches or Lariats to ensure a formal looking service like Phil’s

Thank you, Tommy and Kase. I've loved the Landrover Defender since I worked for a Landrover dealership in the 90s. Great vehicals

I cannot fathom the condition of the bulkhead and floorboards given the price point and the rust you showed... also the rover V8 in it's 3.9L and 4.0L form in the Discovery 1 are very reliable, they are just small pushrod V8's! Headgaskets on the D1 are extremely easy to do and relatively inexpensive unlike most modern and late model vehicles. You are thinking of the 4.0 and 4.6 from the 1999-2004 Discovery 2 which are known for slipped liners. It's a common misconception because the Discovery 1 and Discovery 2 tend to blend together for the unfamiliar.

if it passed emissions in the Netherlands, I wouldn't be worried about passing in the States.

I’ve been watching you guys more or less since you started, but the last couple years you guys have really grown on me. Keep up the great works boys!

Those 130s are the perfect overland vehicle because they can carry huge payloads, are simple, tough, economical and reliable. Our 2009 110 2.4litre diesel station wagon with the 6-speed manual is a great workhorse. It has just towed our caravan 4000 kilometres around the dinosaur trail in Western Queensland and made it look easy. After 200,000 kilometres it is going fine. Recommended upgrades include extended front seat runners for more legroom, a gas strut for the rear door and a larger intercooler. If towing, add airbags to the standard rear coils for stability. The original coils and gas shocks are still fine. They are just a classic workhorse.

So cool! Rugged, simple, unique. I'd love to see what this thing could do at Tumbleweed or even Red Cone. I'd buy one of these over a similar vintage Wrangler. I love unique and oddball cars and trucks. Plus, this has a little more utility with the bed and the extra two doors in the back. Also, the 4 cylinder diesel is very cool. MPG loop?? Good job guys!

300 TDi had the timing belt that tended to break. Swapping in a set of Zeus timing gears and its pretty much bomb proof. When you place your 4x4 into 4WD it doesn't split the engine power 50 percent to the front axle and 50 percent to the rear axle, it gives all the power to the front and all the power to the rear axles. When the center diff is unlocked its an AWD vehicle (all the power goes to the tire with the least traction. The other 3 tires are your friction tires.) Same principal with an open differential, the tire with the least amount of traction gets all the power and the other tire is your friction tire. For example, on a side slope that has a loose driving surface the driving tire pushes the vehicle forward and the tire with the most traction keeps the vehicle from sliding sideways down the slope. Locking differentials give all the engine power to both tires on the axle to provide driving force. The problem that is the vehicle will be pulled down the hill by gravity when both tires are driven. In short, a 4WD without traction aides is a two-wheel drive vehicle one powered wheel in the front axle and one powered wheel in the rear axle.

I saw so many defenders in England and Scotland. Made me jealous.

These are lovely to look at, but not so much to own and use. Terribly slow, very noisy, every square inch will start to rust, and you’ll be battling interior water leaks for ages. Not worth remotely what they go for in the states

When 2 different metals are in contact, electrolytic corrosion (rust) occurs. The steel is able to rust where aluminum will just get a white dust on the surface

Great review!! Thanks

What a great video Thank you for the great show this am you both have a good interaction for your vids love it

Well… As a Landy owner here in Germany 🇩🇪 I always wandered why the 130 is not more popular in the US 🇺🇸 Reliable car… Any farmer can fix most things out of his own shed… And really a good Off-roader … What’s not to like 👍

Dream truck. Would love to own one.

The upside to a rover V8 is the fact that it is a good old American (Buick) engine.

This needs to go on tumbleweed ranch. I am still waiting on LR3 on the ranch.

Those 200 and 300 tdi engines go on forever! Over here we still enjoy them with 2 and 300 thousands miles on the clock with no issues.

got 2 x 300 tdi and a td5 double cabs love them all

I grew up driving a 1976 Mercedes 240D. I had to pull out the lever to warm the glow plugs then pull some more for ignition. I would get passed going up hills by mopeds as there was no turbo. Then a 1980 Mercedes 300TD wagon, never really felt the turbo kick in. Then a variety of medium duty diesel trucks for work. I also got a 2014 BMW 328d 4-cylinder turbo diesel that I got in 2018 didn’t like the DEF. I’m really looking for a diesel Land Cruiser, preferably from a LHD country

I live in Brazil and own a Defender 110 HCPU (single cab), and it's interesting to see how these cars have spread to every corner of the world. I'm actually selling mine, and I've heard some rumors of people buying them to send to the USA and Canada.

We have a NAS 110. Wonderful truck. Old Land Rovers are cool.

Super cool rig! I'd have preferred an oil pressure gauge instead of a clock though, strange choice

Nice car, and nice Moonswatch! It suits you. 👌🏼 Greetings from Spain! I wish you could review the Nissan Patrol 260 Top Line II that I inherited from my granfather, you would love it (waaaay taugher than a Land Romper, as we call them here 😅). Keep up the good work!

The 130 is still pretty expensive here in the UK, prices dropped for a while but they're sought after now, mate bought one 6 years back for £7k, I've not seen one that cheap in years. The 300tdi does suffer from head gasket and cracked heads if overheated and the snag is that it doesnt take much water loss to starve the high mounted water pump, spares are plentyful and cheap though, even new heads. The 200tdi was probably more robust and will stand low coolant much better but some parts can be difficult to find. Both tdi's performance can be improved, even a new boost pin and spacer ring for the pump give a good improvement. The 130 is really nice with the Td5 engine but it brings electronics with it. 👍

These specification Defenders, and most of the newer ones with this shape, are simple and reliable. I have a Puma defender from when the Ford owned LR and its great. I would say these Defenders are almost as reliable as similar spec Toyota Landcruisers available outside the US, mainly because of they are so robust. I would happily take a Defender into the desert anytime.

Defender 130 is great , i have a puma 130 2.2tdci but the defender 157 is my dream truck.

Nice truck!! Regarding what the two of you said about the Defender Pickup,,,,,, I agree!! 😂😂. Surprise,,,usually I have some criticism,,,, not this time! Haha. Must be getting soft in my older years,,. Now I gotta look into this for Canada. Take care guys!!

As an owner of a 200tdi 90 I would agree these TDI motors are certainly much better than the V8 NAS motors. I had a v8 D2 so familiar with head gasket issues. This was a steal at 18,500.

Should add 130 has a payload of 1,400kg + tow weight of 4,000kg. It’s a beast just don’t be in a hurry.

Love it! They are just such honest vehicles, made to work and take you to work and back or in on a Safari , like Chevy, Ford and RAM base trucks that don’t pretend to be luxury vehicle or race trucks, those too are hard to find. Also enjoy two young men that really appreciate the trucks and cars of the past and not complain about the lack of a digital screen or massaging seats or self driving capabilities, guy that appreciate the driving, the scent of diesel or gas and the truthfulness of older vehicles. I read somewhere that in the 50’s and 60’s a Land Rover was the first vehicle most people around the world ever saw! Great Show!!!👍👍👍

Awesome video…makes me think about a future daily 🤔🤔

I have a 95 Wrangler with a 1.9 TDI swap and I absolutely love it. It's 160hp and 285tq, it's not fast... But it's not meant to be... But it can go forever, it's super realizable and gets 30mpg

i notice you said the bed wasn´t separated from the cabin ,when i never saw it being sold the other way normally when new they only have the cabin doble or not ,then you choose metal or wood in the bed and we also use BF goodrich tires, defenders were in the past the only land-rovers (horrible cars to drive) but there was the range rover with a litle confort not like the ones sold today but a all iron beast with a gasoline V engine .I have one more litle than the english ones all built with aluminium in spain and a litle improved dash all in metal because of the places near the sea so it doesn´t rust and good to drive on the beach when it´s low tide ,if stuck in the sand with too much water, one just take the air of the tires and it jumps out of the sand then just ask a fisherman to let you fill the tires with a compressor they normally have for the tractors to take the boats from the beach

I wish we could get trucks like this that are more midsized with high payload numbers. Our trucks are so larger and overbuilt with too low of a payload. This Defender in high capacity version can haul over 2000lbs easily.

The 2007 - 2015 year models were the final revision. They have a much quieter engine, 6 speed box and many other small refinements. I think Americans will like it when you are allowed to import them.

Canada also got the N.A. spec DEFENDERS as well.

Lol, I have a 110 with 300tdi inside. They are a lot of things but reliable. They do have overheating and head gasket issues. What they are in fact are simple, very easy to fix engines.

We swapped the 300Tdi out of my 110 Hi-Cap 3 years ago for a 3.5 Rover V8 and I couldn't be happier! In fact, there's a 4.6 going in the engine bay in just a few weeks! The 200 and 300Tdis are good, solid workhorses, but that "charming" diesel clatter gets old, really quickly if you actually try and maintain European motorway speeds. As a recreational vehicle, (which is what most Defenders are now to their owners) the Rover V8 makes a lot more sense. It's an easy engine to work on and any issues are now well documented. With petrol as cheap as you guys get it in the USA, I wouldn't entertain the notion of a Tdi other than as a placeholder for something better.

God they are everywhere in Australia quite often with 400-500,000kms all of ours had 4 and 5 cylinder diesels

Your welcome to my series 3 for 8k, il even wash it first. It's great to see some landy love on one of my favourite channels.

Have always liked the defender lwb and used to drive one for work as a park ranger in UK. I am intrigued how people feel about the ineos grenadier's looks as I still prefer the old defender.

Great classic defender review, but why are you reviewing an off-roader on road? I hope you guys will make a second review of it going into the mountains please 🤗🤗🤗

Defender 90, CJ5, and Toyota Hilux (not available in NA) are the best vehicles in the last 75 years.

When i was in Paris, i saw a D130 being used as a tow truck. I thought it was interesting. The heavy duty option was clearly flexible. Took pics of it.

I would kill for that diesel clatter ❤

Any problems with 200/300 Tdi Landies seek out Uncle Mike at Britanica Restorations up in Canukistan

Awesome truck for sure

you would love the TD4 models. More torque, more useable power, better seats, proper AC...

Is that the owner running away at 4:04 hoping Tommy is going to keep the Defender ? 😂

Tdi's are low geared for work and towing and in their factory state are too low geared for motorways/highways/high speed driving. But...Ashcroft Transmissions in the UK can supply you with many different gear ratios if higher speed driving is what you want. I have driven 900 miles/1450km in one day in a standard 110 and it was fun, if tiring. The 300Tdi is good for 300k miles if you service it regularly and use high quality fuel and oils. No electronics to go wrong. My last one (Tdi) went to the African deserts 5 times, nothing went wrong. Parts are easily available but some cheap ones are low quality so beware. Best buy genuine parts or research for quality pattern parts on the forums.

You can get a 2015 Defender from Mexico. I think that’s the last model year they had.

That’s so Badass - i’d buy one of those in a heartbeat and make it my daily driver!!!!! especially for $18K

Now that's a truck I'd love to have.

You really need to understand the Rover V8 a little more, I am trying to be nice but look at the TVR reliability, it was the tuning to meet emissions standards it the engine was improved many times over and had it not been tuned so lean they would have been fine.

Looks like the same rover 90 front axle but I noticed it had a Dana 60 out back.

love it.

Where does this sit in terms of onriad drivability and reliability vs Land Cuiser 70 series vs original G Wagen. 25 year rule 1998 vehicles can be imported.

U should let Andrea also reveiw it as he is a great engineer

Being european i was thinking it’s illegal in USA to call “heavy duty“ something without 4 tyres on the rear axle. 😂😂😂

they are like brothers

by the end of the 60s the rover v8 was no where near "basically" the buick 215 by the 90s it was absolutlely different hence gm tying to buy the redesign at least twice after rover reworked it the first time they tried was in the mid 70s i think

Love it!

Can’t believe they are that expensive in the states. They’re everywhere in aust

What would the towing capacity be in this defender 130 setup?

My 110 was from France and in great condition for less than $20k, 4.0l V8 and under 180000km. And no rust.

I would move that tire to the bed. Staring at that tire while driving down the road would drive me insane...

I would probably buy a v8 model shell and swap a LS or something into it. Then build a solid offroader with it

that exact truck is what i always wanted. diesel all the way

Compared to a Jeep of the same age, these can tow and carry stuff. They have a max train weight of 7000kg, they weigh just over 2000kg and the max vehicle weight is 3500kg. So you have a payload not much short of 1500kg and (in certain specs and if you reduce the vehicle payload slightly) you can tow 4000kg if the trailer has coupled brakes. The coupled brakes option was really rare over here in the UK but it did exist. In terms of payload, that's heading on for F250 sorts of figures, though obviously with less towing ability.

What about replacement parts? How easy to find would they be here in the US?

Sort of cool old vehicles. Definitely better than the modern hunks of junk like the one TFL tested a year or two ago. What a disaster.

What's the mpg?

I was hoping you would take it off road too, maybe another episode. Also Bishop and Rook in MN has a ton for sale at a lot of different price ranges.

Defender in it's natural habitat

if they pass emissions in most of europe they won't have many problems passing anywhere in the states

defenders from most of th erest of the world are so well geared they don't really need the hp most americans want

Most major European cities now ban these old diesels so there are plenty more out there for you to snap up😊

Sadly not so affordable in Norway 😅😅

I was never a fan of how flat the doors were making it too small inside:/

The older TDI Landrovers were really good and reliable, but I would suggest giving the TD5 a skip, they are terrible engines, very unreliable, they had the TD5 in both defender and Discovery

i had one just like that with larger wheels and proper for mud or roads that with the rain become mud and more important the holes in the roads that sometimes people covered them with stones ,it had a 2.5L turbo-diesel engine from BMW but only kept it for 5 years then i bought a landcruiser by toyota, it was too hard on my back it was a TD110

Funny that America imports Defenders from my native Netherlands 😁

Case's ig? ✌️

I would Rover V8 4.6 swap this all day long, they are reliable and super easy to work on.

Considering its rust condition this truck would not be road worthy in most EU countries, would probably not be worth much here. A lot of work and money to restore it, the rusted bulk head is a pain to change... Oh and LR are also considered unreliable in their diesel variants... particularly Defenders that have a lot of other problems than the powertrain.

Our fearless leaders crushed it again. Amazing job. Awesome enthusiasm big smiles. Laughing. Just wholesome togetherness. 2:46. Good vocal note I’m proud. I like the suv body’ type of that a bit more then the truck version.

thats a 200 tdi by the look of them. there was also a 300 tdi in the same era, more commonly found in the Discovery, unless there has been some changes carried out as the 300tdi had a flat panel air filter, whereas that car has a cylindrical air filter from the 200 tdi

Jeep’s are agricultural vehicles. You could perfume and add pearls to a farm animal and it remains a farm vehicle. Let us pay 💰 less for our agricultural products, and stop other people from spending our money for us. If you want to perfume your porcine then you buy the Channel 5🇺🇸✅

18K with duties and shipping? Seems really cheap

I almost forget some years ago maybe in late 90´s there was a study made about the more green car in the world ,this because of the several bad electric cars for sale ,that were considered a ambiental hazard because they have battery´s that are badly built with a life of 3 to 5 years at the most and no where to discart them and being most of it built with plastic, it would increase the problem of the pastic waste but the batteries being their more dangerouse problem as already seen on the tv news they send them to africa in country´s that receive them with the payment of huge amounts of money to fill giant holes but normally that money is kept on a dictator account in a european bank and rivers with crystal clear water coming from springs in the mountains now are getting not only jungle animals but entire populations of human being sick because heavy matals on the batteries that are liking for the water that makes people very sick and as i said before the few savage animals still out of the zoo´s, and the most green car in the world or enviroment friendly is the land-rover defender because they don´t have plastic ,only on the gages or speakers and have a life of 50 years in average, this a european independent study ordered by europen comunity and do not forget 90% or more of the electricity consumed come from nuclear powerplants ,so just saying that electrical cars are not the future maybe only for some with deep pockets like mr.Elon Musk who looks mentally ill or no one noticed that already, but to end you´re driving the most enviroment friendly car that exists with back seats and four doors and the TD90 not so long car

It looks as if it can do the real business.

Brill video...... but you have exposed Land Rover/Defenders problem!!!! They no longer build vehicles that are work horses!!!!! All Land Rover products are catering for the up market domain!!! Hence that’s why the new Grenadier 130 inch four door Ute is gonna beat JLR!!!! Regards Ian 👨‍🎤🇳🇿🏉

Really good steering? In a Defender? Eh? I've had mine from 13k miles and it's never had really good steering!

Personally, I have never understood the attraction for the old defenders. They're awful. They are suitable for very limited uses

I would buy one with a roasted engine and LS swap it!

High Capacity Defender 130, you guys don't really know anything about these trucks. But make videos about them like you know something about them.

I don't understand how Tommy can enjoy this ancient, uncomfortable, primitive, underpowered Defender but not like the H1 which also embodies all of those same elements.