Interesting thread.
I would have one of those toyota pick ups over a defender if they were availabl over here. The jap offerings in Gb are just not man enough for the job in my opinion. For some reason al the jap pick ups seem to be made on chassis that are a joke- the rear aend of hiluxes are made from pissy little channel, and IIRC the back of an isuzu trooper is paper thin 4x2 box section. Yet they build the Landcruiser like a battle ship and fill it with seats.
Although they have a reputation for ultra reliability, I dont find this to be the case. Once these jap things are put to HARD work day in day out they fail in spectacularly expensive ways, and on the sterength issue again, I bent my hilux in the middle.
I have to say that i believe landrovers have an excellent engine and drivetrain, but is a victimof its own ruggedness- the attitude being that they will take anything you throw at them , and therefore do so, resulting in abuse and subsequent necessary repair. How i see it is that in the UK if you want what is basically a glorified tractor you get a landrover, if you want a glorified car that has 4x4 you get a hilux. If you want a cheap 4x4 you buy a ranger or l200 etc.
Where landrover fall down is all the crap they bolt onto it- rubbish electrics, poor quality interior fittings and bodywork fabrication.
I am thiking about replacing the chassis of my defender in the next 12-24 months with a galvy one. The garage said it would be better built, as LandRover build with a 1/2 " tolerance!!!! In a car (and jap 4x4 etc etc)these tolerances are fractions of millimetres, thus with landrovers you get the famous leaks and draughts etc etc. I went wading with my bro in his landcruiser and the water was over the windows, yet none came in. WTF are LR playing at.
This is the point- with a defender you are buying a glorified tractor, end of- refinements havent been discovered at Lode lane yet!