Used Car of the Day: 1997 Land Rover Defender 110

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

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

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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  • Andarris Here in the Toronto area I haven't seen a 2006-2012 with intact rocker pannels for over two years now. I presume everywhere around the Great Lakes is the same ? They were super cheap dhring the first two years of the pandemic - could get one with less than 85K for around $6500 certified or a little higher mileage for $5000. Glad I skipped it, even in 2021 some of the 10's &11's were displaying corosion like you'd see on a 7 year older Impala, Camry or Accord. Also the mid-model switch to EPS made me balk at the few clean ones I found.
  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh I do not ever have delays. I only fly out of PDX or EUG to LAS or OAK and OGG then back .. have never been delayed in the last ?30-ish? trips to vegas/disneyland/maui/cruise ship vacations.... EUG has contract tsa so we never have any TSA delays. unsure which airports have PRIVATE contract TSA that is UNAFFECTED by the deadlock that i HOPE NEVER EVER END.
  • Big Al from Oz gidday mites how are yall feelin today? Want to have a barbie? We are right here gettin dee fire ready
  • Michael S6 The 3 Amigos better hope that the oil spike is short lived as 4-5 dollar a gallon gas would put a damper on their cash cows especially "Ford's strategic shift" of killing off the escape/Lincoln cousin. Most other automakers have a full line of vehicles with much better full economy. GM is sucking air and its Cadillac devision is mostly EV and geriatric line up of ICE cars and SUV's that were supposed to be phased out this year. The expensive gas may push shoppers toward EV but GM's horrible EV reliability is a barrier.
  • Tane94 I read the GM press release about first quarter sales 2026 vs 2025 and Buick is getting its butt kicked:Buick Total* 41,654 61,822 -32.6 The future is bleak for Buick.
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