90 help advise please

hi guys looking into getting a 90 now im 20 buying my 1st house and have an 8month old baby,is it a good ide my missus would rather me keep the R plate passat tdi as its a sound car plus i work for vw so it has a few perks.
any one own a 90 and have a baby? im thinking the biggest problem is having the car seat in the front as its obviously a tight squeeze?
as for insurance being 20 (roll on september ill be 21) so i imagine insurance to be cheaper than the passat but only my opinion.
then due to buying the house i need it reliable i would imagine most common faults are mechanical and rot? as there are few electric's?
so any advise would be great also what sort figure sounds sensiable for a 90 on say a G plate?

hey guy,
I love my landy (i've a 90), they do have their problems but if ur mechanically minded (unlike me!) then they can b pretty easy to work on (savin cash on labour in the long run) they hold value pretty well and will run for pretty much EVER!

however, I would not recommend a 90 with a kid. They r really rather small (Same footprint as my girlfriends corsa) minus the sticking out A Bar. Seats in the rear is unrealistic option, so in essance all ya have is a two seater 4x4.
A 110 would be better with room in second row seats. Plus a landy is FULL of sharp potruding bits and pieces, really not suitable for a kid in my opinion.

edbell2005 said:

hey guy,
I love my landy (i've a 90), they do have their problems but if ur mechanically minded (unlike me!) then they can b pretty easy to work on (savin cash on labour in the long run) they hold value pretty well and will run for pretty much EVER!

however, I would not recommend a 90 with a kid. They r really rather small (Same footprint as my girlfriends corsa) minus the sticking out A Bar. Seats in the rear is unrealistic option, so in essance all ya have is a two seater 4x4.
A 110 would be better with room in second row seats. Plus a landy is FULL of sharp potruding bits and pieces, really not suitable for a kid in my opinion.

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cheers good advise what sort milage these things do when well maintained?

gti power said:

cheers good advise what sort milage these things do when well maintained?

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mines a 97 P plate with 130k on't clock.People say 300tdi engines aint run in til they past 90k!I expect mine to get to 250k before I'd have to consider a engine refurb. as long a oil, cambelt changes on schedule and serviced well, dont change gear like a boy racer and keep that chassis waxoyled they should run and run and run. Look on the series forums where people have been running landys that are like 50years old!they are sooooooo basic, it like a big mechano set, so if anything wrong you jus unbolt it and bolt a new'un on!thats why they're perferct military/farming vehicles!however I only use mine to go down't shops!

100's of thousands well over 300,000

but if you get a G plate (or early H) it will be a TD which have a varying shelf life but are renowned for not doing much over 100K without some major overhaul or rebuild unlike the 200 and 300 tdis which go on forever (200 was brought in in 1990). Very easy to work on but look out for the rust worm!

Hi gti power. I have 2 kids and drive a V8 90. I started of with the baby chair strapped down behind my drivers seat on top of the inward facing side seats. This worked well until my daughter got to about 9 months. She then started getting very frustrated with facing backwards. I then removed all 4 side seats , boxed off the floor level with the wheel arches (nice place to put some subs and build in a tool box) and then fitted 2 forward facing bucket seats. I now have a very nice 4 seater 90. Only one problem. Not very much space for any luggage. You need to tow a trailer if you plan to go on a long trip. Also the question of reliability. Go for a Tdi if you can, but keep an eye on the milage. Good solid van. The V8 is great but heavy on fuel. I live in hot South Africa so I cant comment on the insurance or rust problems. Enjoy looking for and customizing your landy.

just to say I'd go for condition and service history over millege in terms of importance

SA Landy Man said:

Hi gti power. I have 2 kids and drive a V8 90. I started of with the baby chair strapped down behind my drivers seat on top of the inward facing side seats. This worked well until my daughter got to about 9 months. She then started getting very frustrated with facing backwards. I then removed all 4 side seats , boxed off the floor level with the wheel arches (nice place to put some subs and build in a tool box) and then fitted 2 forward facing bucket seats. I now have a very nice 4 seater 90. Only one problem. Not very much space for any luggage. You need to tow a trailer if you plan to go on a long trip. Also the question of reliability. Go for a Tdi if you can, but keep an eye on the milage. Good solid van. The V8 is great but heavy on fuel. I live in hot South Africa so I cant comment on the insurance or rust problems. Enjoy looking for and customizing your landy.

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surly just bolting seats anywhere would need to pass some sort of safety test?

Yeah, the MOT so just do it the day after the MOT and take them out the day before!...although of course this is a fairly hefty safety compromise! It would probably also void your insurance if they failed in an accident and lead to prosecution for manslaughter if they were shown to be the cause of a death but that wouldn't stop you putting them in and using them in the first place!

For a family, 2 adults, 2+ baby/toddlers car seats, pram, toys for longer journeys, luggage when going away, room to move, then a 110 is the only safe way to do it. The rear seats and seat belts hold down the kids seats nicely and they get to see everything out of the windows (no Gameboys or DVD players allowed).
The boot holds everything and more for the tip, for travelling, for shopping and green laning.
My 2.5TD has been very reliable, but I've got a 200TDi to replace it with as soon as I get the time. The chassis and rear x-member rot easily but learn to weld and it's nothing to repair.
Mechanically they are Tonka toys and Meccano with a small amount of easy wiring.
But it's the initial buying cost that is the problem. A fairly sound 110 is £2000+, but even this will need some work.
On the plus side, once you've bought one you'll never get rid of them... they breed on your driveway.. suddenly you'll have 3 of them.
If you want a cheap Landy for family affairs then the best for the price is a 200TDi Disco, roughly £1500 for a sound one. Again rot happens, mostly on the chassis and boot floor, but you can get them very cheap, even from a dealer.
As to insurance, I'm 40 and it was £100 fully comp for the 110. Use the comparison sites.
Hope this helps.