Would it have been that hard for them to put airbags in the thing? That was really it??

LOL

Why doesnt ford bring back the Bronco?

2 door Expedition. Why doesn’t GM bring back the K5 Blazer, 2 door Tahoe.

A4 , maybe it was too difficult/expensive for them to make airbags that don’t open every time the car hits something during off roading, especially when the driver leans forward to have a better view.

The New Land Rover Defender: All the electrical issues and twice the unreliability of the last model!

Finally a new Defender. I wonder what the price will be. Does anyone remember where the ‘97 was positioned? Higher end of the LR line, middle etc…?

I love it Smegley. The marriage of the over priced and unreliable. Doesn’t matter if you can afford a Mercedes you can afford a back up car.

First time poster but I felt the need to respond. I have a 95′ D-90 and it has been a great truck. I bought it used in 97′ and I probably could sell it pretty close to what I bought for even with an addition 60k miles on it. The truck has been great and very easy to work on. Not much electrical (prior to OBD II) so no idea what Wanksalot is talking about. Denver-97 soft tops sold for around $35k if I remember correctly

this is the grandfather of all suv’s. respect. they’ll prolly ruin the new one, though. just like mercedes did with the gelandewagen when they started selling it in the us as the g, and with the unimog in it’s most recent update.

allroad- I am glad you joined to send that comment, the D90 /D110 is one of the greatest vehicles of all time. I think they were north of $35k though. I wouldn’t be surprised if you sold it for MORE than you got it for.
a4- It wasn’t just airbags, but yes, airbags for a true off road vehicle is tough. It also included everything from emissions to bumpers and side impacts.

LR: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Smegley Wanxalot , what electrical problems in diesel Defender ? maybe if the radio breaks.

Nice!! They should’ve just said “Oh Americans will only get the gas guzzling V8 instead of the fuel efficient high torque turbo diesel. We think America only wants their engines to guzzle gas and not operate efficiently” I don’t suppose the manual transmission will be available either because us Americans don’t like the thrill of a manual and like the boring automatic only which sucks for off-roading. And then Land Rover wonders why they’re considered one of the worst cars in the US and sell like ****.

I was actually commenting about LR’s in general. The ones in the parking lot at work (mostly newer models) are continually screwed up for so many reason I cant keep track. I friend was going to buy one and I told her to ask about an extended warranty – they wanted 4k for it and she called me to ask if that was a good price. I laughed and asked for the salesman and he explained it is more expensive because the vehicles are “prone to have more issues,” so I thanked him for his honesty and told her to skip it. She did, and is happy now.

Gotta say though, you LR owners or fans seem a bit thin skinned on the issue. I’d think clearly that most rational people could see the humour in what I wrote. Have you all never heard of Jolt Cola and its slogan?

By the way, when I said she skipped it, I mean she skipped LR altogether.

Airbags hard for offroading? Must be only for LR that has trouble. PLEASE bring a diesel. I’d love to get better than 5-10 mpg off road!

So this has nothing to do with Atari 2600?

Please please please bring the new model to the US. I’ll gladly take the V-8 just to get this vehicle back in the states.

Not thin skinned rather trying to point out the truth. The new rovers are good trucks but have a lot of technology and sometimes are a little shall we say “temperamental”. Enthusiasts love them nonetheless and so do I. 85Z- LR already sold a manual V-8 in 93′ (110), 94-95 and switched to auto in 97. Manuals are good in some instances but autos are great for rock crawling and other technical offroading. In fact some LR owners of 94-95 switch to autos for this exact reason. I actually had to add a hand throttle to my 95′ since it comes in handy when you are on a tough obstacle and can’t roll back.
Let’s just hope LR brings this truck to the US with a diesel option. There are a lot of reasons to think it will be a real truck since it likely will now be offered in India and will continue its role for military and commercial/agricultural applications throughout europe/africa. Airbags couldn’t be the only reason as Jeep has incorporated it in the Wrangler. Great site and love reading the comments, just don’t hate unless you can back it up.

I’m a huge fan of the defender. But my favorite combination is the turbo diesel with the manual. They should atleast make both available in the states.

I love all these new models coming out. Trouble is I would not touch any of them given there past reliability record