Once in awhile, we will see people come into the local 4x4 and other automotive forums to ask about the Land Rover Defender. Yes, Land Rover built the Defender. For more detailed specifications, you will want to check out Land Rover's website.
We have decided to put up an article to facilitate the search that all future Defender owners will do and the various information that they'll need to know before eventually owning their vehicle.
There are several considerations you might need to think about before finally deciding on a Defender.
Ok, a few administrative facts about a Defender in Singapore:
- It's classfied as a Light Commerical Goods Vehicle (Closed). Unless you've got a deep pocket and can afford to register it as a car (S plate) i.e. paying 7x your normal road tax.
- This means, you'll need to have a registered company/business to be able to purchase and register the vehicle for road use.
- Business/company registration is simple and can be done online for a small fee. Do make sure that if done online, you've got internet banking or a credit card to pay the fees.
- Check http://www.business.gov.sg or http://www.acra.gov.sg for more information.
- Being a commercial vehicle, the loan interest rates are signficantly higher. The loan repayment period is shorter, leading to high monthly instalments. The insurance is also higher and the No Claim Discount (NCD) is capped lower than a normal car.
- You could choose to purchase it 2nd hand or brand new. There is a difference in the loan repayment period and interest rate when a Defender is purchased 2nd hand from a dealer as compared to a brand new one. Depending on your need, 2nd hand 110s are not as common as 90s. Do decide on a type of vehicle before purchasing one. You can always buy 2 and add to the LR family! ^.^
- Owning a Defender is not very expensive, especially if you buy a 2nd hand one as Land Rovers (LRs) have very steep depreciation value (up to 20% in the 1st year), and most owners give up their vehicles for a few main reasons. Either they are relocating, giving up their cars unwillingly, or they hate the car because they do not know what they were getting themselves into when they bought the vehicle in the first place.
- Do your calculations and work out a suitable budget and buying source that you are comfortable with.
- A brand new Defender can be purchased from Regent Motors. The showroom can be found along Alexandra Road, sharing space with Ford and Peugeot. Drop by to ask for prices and brochures with the respective salesmen on duty. LRs' booking fees are $5K and the maximum loan is 90% which can be taken for up to 7 years.
- Brand new Defenders come in the form of 90 hardtops and pickups (registered as goods vehicles) and 110 Station Wagons (registered as goods cum passenger vehicles) . 110 hardtops and pickups are no longer available through official distributors in Singapore. We hear that it can still be brought in via parallel importers.
- Speed limits have been revised to 70km/h and rear side windows are allowed.
Now that the administrative details are discussed, time for the technical information that future Defender owners should know:
- There are a few Defender models on the market. The 90 and the 110. What do the numbers mean? It means 90/110 inches for the wheelbases of the respective models.
- They come equipped with TD5 turbo diesel engines. The turbo is there to help move the 1.7 tons of metal, not accelerate from 0-100 km/h under 5 secs. Do note the difference. :)
- A lot of people buy the Defender because they like the rugged looks or they want to be associated with a perceived lifestyle that the car's image brings. But when they actually own the car, they realise that they get a lot more than they have bargained for. The Defender is not a car. It is a truck and it drives and behaves like one. Not many people can appreciate that and they will try very hard to make their truck perform like a car and of course fail.
- If you want a vehicle that can bash the jungle, then the Defender will serve its purpose. If you want a vehicle that can comfortably seat 5 and enter covered carparks without much worry, it won't suit you too well. The Defender has a height which is slightly under 2m. It'll need a minimum of 2.3m to safely enter a covered carpark if you've installed suspension mods, roof racks, etc.
- Because of this, future owners living in estates with covered carparks might want to check out the height limit of your carpark (before planning any mods) and if needed, check out the location of surface carparks nearby and the season parking prices. Note, paying for overnight parking in some carparks work out to be cheaper than the season parking. You can check http://www.hdb.gov.sg and http://www.ura.gov.sg for more information on carparks.
- Defenders are uncomfortable, noisy, slow, rattle and even leak. There are alot of unperceived ills that a new owner (unfamiliar with LR culture) is rudely shocked when they buy a 80K G-plate truck!
- The turning radius of Defenders is slightly bigger than your neighbouring cars. The 90 has only a slight difficulty when making a U-turn on a 2-lane road. Not to mention the larger turning radius of a 110, with an additional 20 inches to its wheelbase.
- To be able to enter Malaysia with a Defender:
- Your vehicle must be registered with the Department of Transportation of Malaysia.
- Your vehicle had to have a valid road tax issued by the Department of Transportation of Malaysia.
- You must have a valid registered business in Malaysia.
- You must have a valid commercials reason to enter Malaysia.
- You cannot enter Malaysia with a "G" plate vehicle for visiting or sight seeing.
- Should you need more information on the above matter, you can call the Department of Transportation of Malaysia on 07-3555444 and ask for assistance.
If you go beyond all these, you'll find that the LR is really the BEST 4x4. Both of us call it THE undisputed king, take you to places that you will not imagine possible and let you have an experience you would not otherwise have.
Both of us have finally decided on a Land Rover Defender 90 hardtop after ALOT of discussions with current Defender owners and searching through forums at Jeepnation, LRO Singapore. We believe that JarJar will serve our purpose very well and open our doors to a whole new experience.
We have made many new friends whilst in the process of deciding on our LR and the community in Singapore is a closely-knit one with many outings and exciting discussions on the latest 4x4 news. We have christened our Defender, Jarjar because it is one of the many LR traditions that all vehicles must have a name. We hope that the article has helped you as it did for the both of us to make a better decision on a LR Defender.