thinking of an old defender - lr virgin advice pls!

[petemurphy]

Hi,

We're moving to the country soon and so I really want to scatch the land rover defender itch!

Looking at a v cheap one so sub 7k. Any major issues I should know about? How reliable in general are they?

I have a bad back will the defender be bad for it? Thinking small journeys only as we'll have another car.

does mileage really matter that much at that price?

how much would it be to repsray one?

thanks!

[camel_landy]

Hmmm... At that price, there are a LOT of buckets out there. The main problems you've got are:

• Rust. Chassis & bulkheads are your main problems but then there are potential problems with brake lines too.
• Over inflated prices! Owners often have an over-inflated idea of how much their Defender is worth, thinking that throwing 'bling' at it, while forgetting about the basics... Such as servicing!
• It's a Marmite car! Go and have a drive in a couple before you set your heart on one... Especially as you have a bad back.

TBH - If you're new to the Defender, you would be much better buying from a dealer, with some sort of limited warranty. Often, you'll find a much better & cheaper car in a dealer than forking out for some over-priced, blinged up pile of rusty st!

M

[hidetheelephants]

camel_landy said:

• It's a Marmite car! Go and have a drive in a couple before you set your heart on one... Especially as you have a bad back.

TBH - If you're new to the Defender, you would be much better buying from a dealer, with some sort of limited warranty. Often, you'll find a much better & cheaper car in a dealer than forking out for some over-priced, blinged up pile of rusty st!

M

Definitely try one first; the driving position is antediluvian, even when new the seats offer mediocre support and your right elbow will get bruised. I'm not sure I'd agree about buying from a dealer, unless it's a dealer who leans towards selling to and supporting farmers and ag. workers rather than the Chelsea Tractor brigade. Round my way the best bet would be finding who the good independent garages used by the aforementioned farmers are and ask them if they know of a good used one for sale.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Tuesday 20th August 17:50

[petemurphy]

Thanks interesting!

[petemurphy]

am thinking something like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...

prefer the look of swb looks wise is there much tech/buying difference?

[rustandoil]

Ummm 3.2 petrol? I wonder what engine has been fitted?

[hidetheelephants]

petemurphy said:

am thinking something like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...

prefer the look of swb looks wise is there much tech/buying difference?

Looks good; different from what?

[Super Slo Mo]

Typo? Says 3.5 in the ad header which would be the V8, possibly on carbs.

[petemurphy]

hidetheelephants said:

Looks good; different from what?

between a normal size one? thks

[petemurphy]

Super Slo Mo said:

Typo? Says 3.5 in the ad header which would be the V8, possibly on carbs.

what engines did they come with at the time?

[Super Slo Mo]

The very first 90's (they weren't Defenders until the 1990's IIRC), had the old 2.25 litre petrol engine I think, although might be wrong.

Other than that, they had 2.5 litre petrol and diesel engines (N/A), plus a 2.5 litre turbo diesel engine, and the 3.5 litre V8.

ETA: At some point in the '90's they changed to the 200 tdi, then the 300 tdi, then the TD5, and then I think they ended up with a Ford diesel engine, but I don't know anything about new Land Rovers.

[petemurphy]

thanks will the v8 be more costly in repair / reliability etc? which is the "best" to go for? sorry v basic questions!

[Super Slo Mo]

Not really, although they are heavier on fuel. Mind you, even the 4 cylinder petrols are heavy on fuel, to be honest there isn't much in it. Expect 13-15 mph for the petrol engines and 20-24 for the diesel (tdi), with perhaps high teens for the old diesel engines.

Reliability, well, who knows is the simple answer. It's an old Landy though so not particularly complicated, but will not be like a new car in that it will need a bit of looking after.

The best to go for is entirely up to you, at the age you're looking at, no two will be alike, so it's almost impossible to answer. Buy on condition is the simple answer, get someone who knows what they're looking for to point out all the obvious and standard places they rust, and to help you work out what state the drivetrain is in.

[petemurphy]

thanks - the idea is that it will teach me more about cars and working on them but want it to work to start!

[Super Slo Mo]

If I could recommend something, go on the various Land Rover forums and have a read. There's usually also a selection of cars for sale. You don't necessarily need to ask any questions, just have a look at the threads, you'll get a bit of an idea for what's likely to fail, what will need replacing, what modifications you can do, etc.

As an aside, the white one you linked to looks like it's been refurbed or at least, very well looked after over the years. The people selling it aren't specific about the various mods it's had though (for instance suspension lifts can cost between £250 - £1000, so it's handy to know what's what), but there seems to be a decent amount of paperwork with it.

[hidetheelephants]

petemurphy said:

hidetheelephants said:

Looks good; different from what?

between a normal size one? thks

110s are longer and have more room inside and a correspondingly greater turning circle(think of a 3 point turn in the Exxon Valdez). 90s are handier to manoeuvre but have less space inside. The LWB/SWB label is usually only applied to the previous landrover, which is mechanically different and has leaf springs.

petemurphy said:

Super Slo Mo said:

Typo? Says 3.5 in the ad header which would be the V8, possibly on carbs.

what engines did they come with at the time?

V8s, 2.25 and 2.5 petrol and diesel and a 2.5 turbodiesel. Many have had V8s retrofitted as they are torquey, sound nice and don't have much worse fuel consumption than the 4 cylinder petrols. The non-turbo diesels are r-e-a-l-l-y slow but go on forever, the military bought loads for General Service vehicles. The 2.5 turbo(which is not to be confused with the later 200/300Tdi) gave a useful power boost over the N/A diesel but was fragile without careful use; it has the reputation of being the least reliable engine to ever grace a landrover.

petemurphy said:

thanks will the v8 be more costly in repair / reliability etc? which is the "best" to go for? sorry v basic questions!

Servicing costs can be a bit more(think 8 of everything), but really service costs are mostly in keeping the rest of the running gear happy; the wearing parts of landrovers are individually quite cheap, it's just there's lots of them.

[anonymous-user]

petemurphy said:

am thinking something like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...

prefer the look of swb looks wise is there much tech/buying difference?

All the guff about uprated this'n'that would put me off. Bit of an art to twiddling the suspension and there are too many DIY efforts out there which the owner thinks is st hot......and is only half right.

[bakerstreet]

hidetheelephants said:

Definitely try one first; the driving position is antediluvian, even when new the seats offer mediocre support and your right elbow will get bruised. I'm not sure I'd agree about buying from a dealer, unless it's a dealer who leans towards selling to and supporting farmers and ag. workers rather than the Chelsea Tractor brigade. Round my way the best bet would be finding who the good independent garages used by the aforementioned farmers are and ask them if they know of a good used one for sale.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Tuesday 20th August 17:50

I would not buy an ex farmer owner vehicle. End of. I speak from experience.

OP: Go away and do some reading. There are plenty of buyers guides on the net and try and test drive one you can decide if its for you. They are quite cramped and the heaters are crap compared to modern standards.

However, here is my shortlist of things to check

- Gearbox does every gear work including low range
- rust. What does the chassis look like? Check the bulkhead
- At 7k, you should be looking at something with a year's ticket
- Service history (Cambelt change isn't expensive)
- Check the doors. If they are very rusty and you want to replace, then be prepared to pay £250+ a side

If you do decide to get one, then take someone who knows Land Rovers with you to check it over.

[rustandoil]

Dont know where in the country you are, but a Land Rover show at Eastnor Castle this coming weekend, could be worth a look....

[petemurphy]

thanks all - all good advice - sounds like i have more research to do - or i could just buy the first one that looks cool and wing it