Hindrances Because of Defender's Switch to Unibody?

[humvee4us]

I've been seriously thinking about a Defender, the 90, because of its excellent approach, breakover, and departure angles. However, has anyone experienced any issues specifically related to the Defender being unibody rather than body on frame?

[Orxy]

One caveat with JLR's switch to aluminium unibody: even minor damages from a collision can result in the vehicle being written off by insurance due to the exorbitant cost of repairs, not to mention that it requires special tools/skills that are not common.

[NvD42]

I can only say that my 110 is awesome.

Spent a bit if time in the "old" V8 D4 week or so back.

I love my D4 it has 270,000 km on and still drives like new - but man the new 110 spoilt me

The 90 is for me the best looking thing on the road..

On the written off after accident issue:

This is really on all vehicles:

I bought a new Kia Sedona in April 2016 for R568 995
Only used it for holidays and when everybody in the family needed a seat in the car thus was on 76,000 km

Family member had an accident 3 weeks ago - damage looked bad but not extreme - Airbags deployed ...
Un-Economical to repair - written off - value around R380,000

Get a 90 ND

Cheers

Nico

[BushNomad]

… not sure I recall such/many comparative disadvantages experienced over the years
with THE vdub beetles … in fact the flat belly topography, especially with larger tyres, even 16s, resulted in good clearance … and did accidents lead to greater body damage, more write-offs or excessive insurance etc ?
I tended to see their ‘tortoise-shell’ type unibody, without any conventional chassis, having more 3-D structural strength, probably conferring many benefits. IMO.

Technology had also progressed considerably since the age of the Beetle
eg seamless Monocoque body framework manufacture
and
Plastic foam injection into hollow tube sections such as door pillars etc which , once set, confers far greater strength in bodywork units whilst adding little weight. (… not sure of the technical terminology for this material/process. )