Funny about Jeeps. I owned a wrangler years ago, drove a cherokee as a company car a few years back (had to "off road" for official business), had a toyota tacoma, and now have an Isuzu Trooper (newest version) and a Disco II. All had problems. First Jeep was horible. What a pile. Fun, but a pile. Toyota was a good truck, ok offroad, but, had it's problems too and it was brand spanking new. Isuzu is surpisingly capable, now wife's car. Lots of room, good power, HUGE sunroof. Disco is fabulous off-road. Hasn't really given me any problems. I have a good local mechanic who is cheap. So that helps, but it's been a great truck.
Would like a D110, but that isn't likely. I can't see spending 45-60k for a rig that might have as much as 60k miles on the clock. There is an option to import a 93 110. It has been given clearance as a "substantially similar" vehicle. No more details are provided.
The issue with importing Defenders stems from LRNA goal in 1992. They brought a few 110s into the states (500), as "bait" for the new land-rovers, that being the revised range rover and the discovery. Which were going to be new for the US. It was also "bait" for the defender, to some extent, and the new "land rover adventure centers" and re-introduce the US to the adventure mystique of land rover. It was thier goal all along to only bring 500 110's into the states and follow it up with the D90, discovery, and range rover. In other words, it was all about marketing. A marketing tactic where you actually sell your marketing materials. It worked like a charm. It is actually pretty billiant and worked better than LRNA ever imagined.
The regs changed in 96 and I think they required both front passengers to have air bags. LR didn't want to spend the money to retrofit for 96. All while the emissions restrictions were getting tougher. LR wanted to sell the Disco and Rangie and now freelander to the less adventurous US which didn't demand the abilities of the Defender. So, they didn't see the point in changing the tooling necessary to build defenders capable of meeting the strict U.S. emissions and DOT safety regulations.
As gas prices rise, Americans may see more diesel engines. Jeep is introducing one I think in the Liberty. For some reason, we want to skip diesel and go straight to hybrid. Now that Ford owns LR, we may see Defenders re-introduced to the U.S. market. Lets hope that they don't change it much and that it actually happens.
Would like a D110, but that isn't likely. I can't see spending 45-60k for a rig that might have as much as 60k miles on the clock. There is an option to import a 93 110. It has been given clearance as a "substantially similar" vehicle. No more details are provided.
The issue with importing Defenders stems from LRNA goal in 1992. They brought a few 110s into the states (500), as "bait" for the new land-rovers, that being the revised range rover and the discovery. Which were going to be new for the US. It was also "bait" for the defender, to some extent, and the new "land rover adventure centers" and re-introduce the US to the adventure mystique of land rover. It was thier goal all along to only bring 500 110's into the states and follow it up with the D90, discovery, and range rover. In other words, it was all about marketing. A marketing tactic where you actually sell your marketing materials. It worked like a charm. It is actually pretty billiant and worked better than LRNA ever imagined.
The regs changed in 96 and I think they required both front passengers to have air bags. LR didn't want to spend the money to retrofit for 96. All while the emissions restrictions were getting tougher. LR wanted to sell the Disco and Rangie and now freelander to the less adventurous US which didn't demand the abilities of the Defender. So, they didn't see the point in changing the tooling necessary to build defenders capable of meeting the strict U.S. emissions and DOT safety regulations.
As gas prices rise, Americans may see more diesel engines. Jeep is introducing one I think in the Liberty. For some reason, we want to skip diesel and go straight to hybrid. Now that Ford owns LR, we may see Defenders re-introduced to the U.S. market. Lets hope that they don't change it much and that it actually happens.