Can you get a reliable decent Defender without having to pay over £8000

wattfield said:

Are you buying a nice Ga- sorry, Freelander?

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I bought a 110. Haven't you seen it?

heatseeker872591 said:

lynall, im a bin man so i emptied all the bins around that area, i know in the estate next to the prison there is a red defender 110 that belongs to someone. lol

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Mines blue and used to be parked in the large car park behind them houses right next to the first mini roundabout, I think it may have been the prison overflow car park

well i come to the conclusion to just keep saving up till i see one come along. seen alot lately that look like station wagons with side windows and back seats but when i go to put the reg in on comparethemarket.com to see if it really is , it comes up as a pick up or panel van. dont know why people have tampered cos it really dont change what it is on the insurance, even got a quote for a "modified" van with windows and seats and it was £800 and thats with 6 years no claims. and that was with flux direct, no one else would give me a quote. definatley would like a real station wagon and it has got to be in dark green , no other colour. ill just keep saving my money for now.

As I said mines a 110 Pickup converted to a van body with rear seats (No rear windows yet), tonnes of other mods, all declared and I only pay £370 a year fully comp, I'm 31 and my no claims is used on my other car so no no claims on my Defender.

True some of the generic car insurers struggle with defender vans, but the specialists (Lancaster, Flux etc) don't

Insurance between car and van is a weird mistress. I just got a 52 plate TD5 with 48,000 on the clock. I paid under £8000 for it. Solid chassis, nice engine, clean history, 2 keys+immobilisers. I think the gearbox may be a little scatty (slight whine in 5th) but for under £8000 what should I expect for the money, most of them are going for between £9000 for an iffy high mileage one to £15000. Its a "Van" but for some reason is a car on insurance. I'm 19 with 2 years no claims and am paying around £500. I did however buy a GPS tracker from paddock for theft recovery, It was £108 well spent in my opinion. I'm with General Accident

one of the questions insurers ask is does your vehicle have an alarm or immobiliser? i do not even know? i am assuming they dont which is why they are easy to pinch? im sure the td5 onwards to the tdci has an alarm and immobiliser but not sure about the 200 and 300 tdis?

I was looking at getting a new-er TDI defender, but the price range was too high for what I wanted one for. I don't drive too much, so I wasn't overly bothered about MPG and set myself a limit of £2000.
I came across a very honest ebay seller, went and had a look at it to see if it was falling apart or not.
Its a 90 1987 2.5 petrol, bidding reserve at £1500 and local for me, so it was perfect...
BUT
There was a lot of rust on it. I tapped it with a hammer all over the place, I bought my Dad along too who has some experience with this kind of stuff and we assesed it there and then. The rust was all on the "surface" and was pretty solid the rest of the way through. New rear member, welded bulkhead, waxoyld semi-regularly until 2011 (I think this was the last, looking at service records) and the engine has had part replacements here and there. It had a few knocks which had caused some some rust all over the place, and the back carpet was a state. It was kept in a shed and used for casual small holding use.
The real problem was that I fell in love with it there and then. No one else bid on it so I got it for the £1500 asking price!

That was all three weeks ago, and I was heading off for a trip to the US and have only got back (Driven it once so far), so nothing has been sorted yet.

But some wire brushing, waxoyl, paint and seat covers, and it will be fit for picking up the Cornish chicks.


A newer car will be less work, and it seems as if I was in a similar situation as yourself when I got it. Its a good way to learn about the Defender, and I know a few people who can help me out with some of the problems. For a commuting vehicle, it would be **** as it is atm, but I needed a project for myself now I have finished uni.

More experienced Landy men (and women) may disagree with me here, but I'd say get a cheaper car and keep it as an on-going project. I was planning on getting a broken defender, and fixing it up over a year or so but they were more expensive than the one I got. Whatever one you get, expect to be doing repairs yourself to keep the cost down.

Keep us updated though! I want to know what you get

I had a similar struggle. Wanted to spend no more than £5k and really wanted a 200tdi. At that money, everything I looked at had rot. My main must haves were solid chassis and bulkhead- I see eveything else as a bolt on part and easy to replace.

I ended up going ex-MOD and managed a perfect chassis and bulkhead, BUT it has a 2.5n/a engine which is fun ... I also had to travel 200 miles to view and then again to pick up, but I got what I wanted. Reckon I can do a 200tdi transplant for £600ish

So far I have had to replace the gearbox and transfer box (My fault - didnt check the condition of the output shaft when I viewed and it was shagged, and the transfer has more play in the layshaft than I can live with!) and a few seals to attempt to keep the rain out.

Being specific on colour really limits options, esp if you want a factory station wagon, as they will be at a premium anyway. Slacken your requirements and buy on condition not colour

Mine is beige ..... it gets a few funny looks, but there is nowt like it in works car park and there are a few defenders in there!!

heatseeker872591 said:

well i come to the conclusion to just keep saving up till i see one come along. seen alot lately that look like station wagons with side windows and back seats but when i go to put the reg in on comparethemarket.com to see if it really is , it comes up as a pick up or panel van. dont know why people have tampered cos it really dont change what it is on the insurance, even got a quote for a "modified" van with windows and seats and it was £800 and thats with 6 years no claims. and that was with flux direct, no one else would give me a quote. definatley would like a real station wagon and it has got to be in dark green , no other colour. ill just keep saving my money for now.

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Hello mate, I've not read through the whole topic - but i'm 21 and have a 1989 90inch converted to a 200tdi disco engine... I got her insured as a standard for £300 fully comp.

Worth a look for an older one as there are plenty about already converted - and if you are mechanically minded you could convert it yourself... Would save money in the long run!

Hope this helps!

TheRealPlank said:

Hello mate, I've not read through the whole topic - but i'm 21 and have a 1989 90inch converted to a 200tdi disco engine... I got her insured as a standard for £300 fully comp.

Worth a look for an older one as there are plenty about already converted - and if you are mechanically minded you could convert it yourself... Would save money in the long run!

Hope this helps!

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hi mate , many thanks for the tips been looking at older ones on e bay for sell aswell going back to the 80s , theres one 5 miles away going cheap but its a 2.5 petrol, definatley not what im after lol

Buy it if solid then swap the engine

Dr_evil said:

Buy it if solid then swap the engine

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easier said than done, especially if its going from one fuelled engine to a different fuel? surely it would be more than just the engine that needs ti be swapped? the fuel tank the exhaust? basically everything mechanical?
sorry im not mechanically minded im just a guy that only knows how to top up oil and coolant lol

Exhaust is similar and easy job, tank is the same, wiring is more or less the same

If not buy daves solid one for £1500, send it to a garage if you're incapable, get a clutch and the bulkhead done for under a grand and you've got £5700 to mess with for bolt on upgrades and tidying it up

Too late it's provisionally gone. OP missed a bargain

the_wolf said:

Too late it's provisionally gone. OP missed a bargain

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i live a bit far from scotland anyway mate lol

Most people travel for the right vehicle.....I drove to Kent and back to get my series one

Dr_evil said:

Most people travel for the right vehicle.....I drove to Kent and back to get my series one

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i got a 65 mile limit, 2 hour drive. especially when its for a vehicle at a dealership and u can never drive away the same day, done this mny times drive all the way there to look at the motor do the deal and the part ex which i usually lose at least £1500 on and then back again 7 days later to pick the motor up again . planning on keeping my current motor this time tho and having the defender as a 2nd motor

There's your problem then....buying from a dealer