90 as a daily commuter

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lightning said:
Treat a car like many people treat Land Rovers and it would be scrap within five years.
Yet people will complain that their newly bought 25 year old seven-owner-plus-one farmer-veteran of numerous ham fisted off road excursions, home maintenance, pay and play weekends, towed-everything-from-horsebox-to-boat (including launching in the sea) stolen and recovered twice, never garaged or washed Defender is "unreliable"
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Agree with that on all counts! :)

As I use mine for work, and it is vitally important that it works every time, I adopt a completely different approach.
First off, I never buy anything with serious chassis and bulkhead rust.
When I buy an old landy, it comes home, straight into the shed, all fluids drained and changed. I would do this with any car that I bought.
But with a landy, I will also spend a whole day going right through it, checking for wear and worn out components. I measure springs, test shocks, go through all mot procedures steering, suspension, brakes, lights etc. Then the engine and trans are checked for wear, leaks etc.

And then I replace all the dodgy stuff, maybe not in a oner, but rolling resto over a few months.
May cost a few hundred, even a few k, but then it is as new mechanically, even if not cosmetically! :D And still vastly cheaper than a new vehicle when added to the purchase price.

To put it simply, I prefer to do the work first, then the motoring, rather than the other way round. More peace of mind! :)
 
Turboman said:
Agree with that on all counts! :)

As I use mine for work, and it is vitally important that it works every time, I adopt a completely different approach.
First off, I never buy anything with serious chassis and bulkhead rust.
When I buy an old landy, it comes home, straight into the shed, all fluids drained and changed. I would do this with any car that I bought.
But with a landy, I will also spend a whole day going right through it, checking for wear and worn out components. I measure springs, test shocks, go through all mot procedures steering, suspension, brakes, lights etc. Then the engine and trans are checked for wear, leaks etc.

And then I replace all the dodgy stuff, maybe not in a oner, but rolling resto over a few months.
May cost a few hundred, even a few k, but then it is as new mechanically, even if not cosmetically! :D And still vastly cheaper than a new vehicle when added to the purchase price.

To put it simply, I prefer to do the work first, then the motoring, rather than the other way round. More peace of mind! :)
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That's pretty much what I've done with mine. For example I changed all the wheel bearings and hub seals last Christmas. There was still some life in them probably, but I'd rather do it at my leisure than wait 'til they're rough and wobbly and spinning oil out over the brake discs. Similarly the year before when I did the suspension bushes and shocks, and the brake seals and flexible hoses; I'd rather do these things in daylight with a shed full of tools at my disposal than wait for the old ones to give up when I'm far from home. If the clutch makes it to 100,000 miles I'll replace it anyway just in case. I have had to get the AA out sometimes, but it has been for problems that turned out to be things like ECU failures which are hard to predict. Mechanically, it's been good.
 
Brown said:
That's pretty much what I've done with mine. For example I changed all the wheel bearings and hub seals last Christmas. There was still some life in them probably, but I'd rather do it at my leisure than wait 'til they're rough and wobbly and spinning oil out over the brake discs. Similarly the year before when I did the suspension bushes and shocks, and the brake seals and flexible hoses; I'd rather do these things in daylight with a shed full of tools at my disposal than wait for the old ones to give up when I'm far from home. If the clutch makes it to 100,000 miles I'll replace it anyway just in case. I have had to get the AA out sometimes, but it has been for problems that turned out to be things like ECU failures which are hard to predict. Mechanically, it's been good.
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Good plan, and reminds me my flex hoses are looking a bit tired.
Mine has been very good too, few little things in six years, water pump, things like that. But I did all the mechanicals suspension, steering etc. when I got it so no issues at all.
 
Yes, if I broke down as a result of a bearing or bush failure, or a brake pipe chafing through I'd be mortified because it would mean I hadn't been keeping an eye on things. Electronic problems are more capricious and you never can tell when a component is going to give up.
 
Brown said:
Yes, if I broke down as a result of a bearing or bush failure, or a brake pipe chafing through I'd be mortified because it would mean I hadn't been keeping an eye on things. Electronic problems are more capricious and you never can tell when a component is going to give up.
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No electronics on a Ninety! ;) :)
 
Aux heaters are indeed very nice, they are also an expensive pita when they go wrong and they will go wrong!
Ive had several over the years, diesel and petrol versions Webasto and Eberspacher, all failed, last one ecu went tits up worth more than the whole heater, on ebay spares and repairs:eek:
One on my D3 went wrong and that just needed resetting.
 
Well, real Land Rovers are either short wheelbase or long wheelbase. I never did get used to all this 90, 110 and 130 malarkey.
 
Brown said:
Oh yes there are! Unless you mean the pre-defender models.
The TD5 is a precision engineered masterpiece I'll have you know, not like the ancient bucolic turnip chopper you drive.
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Defenders didn't start with TD5s, Tdi Defenders don't have electronics. The most complex electrical thing in mine is the ancient JVC radio & CD changer!
 
When they announced the end of production last year, my other half and I went down to LR with a view of buying one before they went out of production. We had a test drive in a top of the range 110.
I didn't like it. There's nowhere for my right knee and my driving position puts the rear of the door frame in my line of vision to sit comfortably.
We initially went down to look at a 90 pickup but the seating position is awful. Unless you want to sit bolt upright and close to the windscreen it's not a nice place to be.

I got back into our Discovery 1 and immediately felt back at home. Much more comfy. I don't have quite so much of an issue in a series as there is much less bulk to the interior.

Try one. That's the only way to decide if you like it or not. They hold the value so well you can try one for 6 months and get your money back. If you buy smart you may even get your insurance and tax money back too.
 
My 1992 200tdi been my daily drive for 2 years now - usually bored of a car by now but hoping to keep it for the rest of my life! Absolutely love it- ps I'm a female so just coming in from that perspective - everyone tried to talk me out of having one saying their men's cars
 
wattfield said:
Defenders didn't start with TD5s, Tdi Defenders don't have electronics. The most complex electrical thing in mine is the ancient JVC radio & CD changer!
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They started using the 'Defender' name in around 1991 to distinguish it from the Discovery as I recall. There are some electronics that pre-date the TD5. The TD5 inherited the immobiliser from the TDi period - that green box that lives inside the dashboard. Not that it's very sophisticated (or even very good).
 
Malandy said:
My 1992 200tdi been my daily drive for 2 years now - usually bored of a car by now but hoping to keep it for the rest of my life! Absolutely love it- ps I'm a female so just coming in from that perspective - everyone tried to talk me out of having one saying their men's cars
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My wife prefers the Defender to any other car. Talking of female Landy drivers though, a District Nurse who worked in the same building as me was one of the best off road competitors in Scotland (probably still is!).

Brown said:
They started using the 'Defender' name in around 1991 to distinguish it from the Discovery as I recall. There are some electronics that pre-date the TD5. The TD5 inherited the immobiliser from the TDi period - that green box that lives inside the dashboard. Not that it's very sophisticated (or even very good).
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My 91 Tdi doesn't have an immobiliser, that must have came later.
 
wattfield said:
My wife prefers the Defender to any other car. Talking of female Landy drivers though, a District Nurse who worked in the same building as me was one of the best off road competitors in Scotland (probably still is!).



My 91 Tdi doesn't have an immobiliser, that must have came later.
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Ha ha like the sound of that district nurse & your wife obviously has good taste - defenders rule!
 
Electrics wise they are as basic as basic can be, the 200 has nothing and Im sure the 300 is when they started getting a little more toys, but even so dont think there were any proper electronics like modern cars.
The only thing I would check for on a 300 is if the inj pump is one with the security cover over the rear, but at this age I would imagine its long gone, I can vaguely remember something along the same lines on a 96 disco 300 manual
 
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