Used Car of the Day: 1997 Land Rover Defender 110

by Tim Healey

Published: March 20th, 2024

used car of the day 1997 land rover defender 110

I've said it before, but I have a weak spot for 1990s Land Rover Defenders.

So this one has me considering lottery tickets. It's a pricey 1997 Land Rover Defender 110.

It's left-hand drive, so it will be easy to wheel around these United States -- and Canada. The turbodiesel engine apparently runs well, and the mileage is an estimated 127,000.

Updates and upgrades include LED lights, 16-inch Land Rover alloy wheels, a new steering wheel, and a complete replacement of fluids and filters about a year ago.

It's a five-speed manual -- be still my heart -- and in addition to the engine, it appears the brakes and power steering function properly. The headliner is new and the gauges work.

There's apparently no rust and there is an aftermarket Bluetooth stereo.

There are relatively new mud tires on the rig.

Are there flaws? Just a few. Minor fluid "weeping" on the differentials and smoke puffs upon start up.

If the price wasn't similar to a Dark Horse Mustang, I'd be all over this Texas-based four-wheeler. Click here if you feel similarly.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 14 comments

Kwik_Shift_Pro4X on Mar 20, 2024

I like this. About the age (and older) I'd look for in a Land Rover.

Like Reply
ToolGuy on Mar 20, 2024

"this one has me considering lottery tickets"
• If you had taken half my advice you would own the building you live in by now.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Redapple2 I gave up on Honda. My 09 Accord Vs my 03. The 09s- V 6 had a slight shudder when deactivating cylinders. And the 09 did not have the 03 's electro luminescent gages. And the 09 had the most uncomfortable seats. My brother bought his 3rd and last Honda CRV. Brutal seats after 25 minutes. NOW, We are forever Toyota, Lexus, Subaru people now despite HAVING ACCESS TO gm EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT. Despite having access to the gm employee discount. Man, that is a massive statement. Wow that s bad - Under no circumstances will I have that govna crap.
Redapple2 Front tag obscured. Rear tag - clear and sharp. Huh?
Redapple2 I can state what NOT to buy. HK. High theft. Insurance. Unrefined NVH. Rapidly degrading interiors. HK? No way !
Luke42 Serious answer:Now that I DD an EV, buying an EV to replace my wife’s Honda Civic is in the queue. My wife likes her Honda, she likes Apple CarPlay, and she can’t stand Elon Musk - so Tesla starts the competition with two demerit-points and Honda starts the competition with one merit-point.The Honda Prologue looked like a great candidate until Honda announced that the partnership with GM was a one-off thing and that their future EVs would be designed in-house.Now I’m more inclined toward the Blazer EV, the vehicle on which the Prologue is based. The Blazer EV and the Ultium platform won’t be orphaned by GM any time soon. But then I have to convince my wife she would like it better than her Honda Civic, and that’s a heavy lift because she doesn’t have any reason to be dissatisfied with her current car (I take care of all of the ICE-hassles for her).Since my wife’s Honda Civic is holding up well, since she likes the car, and since I take care of most of the drawbacks of drawbacks of ICE ownership for her, there’s no urgency to replace this vehicle.Honestly, if a paid-off Honda Civic is my wife’s automotive hill to die on, that’s a pretty good place to be - even though I personally have to continue dealing the hassles and expenses of ICE ownership on her behalf.My plan is simply to wait-and-see what Honda does next. Maybe they’ll introduce the perfect EV for her one day, and I’ll just go buy it.
2ACL I have a soft spot for high-performance, shark-nosed Lancers (I considered the less-potent Ralliart during the period in which I eventually selected my first TL SH-AWD), but it's can be challenging to find a specimen that doesn't exhibit signs of abuse, and while most of the components are sufficiently universal in their function to service without manufacturer support, the SST isn't one of them. The shops that specialize in it are familiar with the failure as described by the seller and thus might be able to fix this one at a substantial savings to replacement. There's only a handful of them in the nation, however. A salvaged unit is another option, but the usual risks are magnified by similar logistical challenges to trying to save the original.I hope this is a case of the seller overvaluing the Evo market rather than still owing or having put the mods on credit. Because the best offer won't be anywhere near the current listing.