Company van

Hi All

I just bought my first Landrover - a 1988 110 Hardtop fitted with a Daihatsu 2.8 diesel engine. Trying to get it straight - paid over the odds on ebay - the guy selling obviously didn't own it long enough to notice any of its faults, or maybe he forgot to tell me before bidding. Hopefully he also did not have enough time to top up the oil otherwise I have a big leak somewhere - it needed 2 litres+ when I got back from picking it up

I bought it for my new Gardening business, www.landscapegardensolutions.co.uk (not sure if I am allowed to put a link in), so its a van to put all sorts of rubbish in the back. Not likely to go off road other than onto garden sites or go long distances!

I will probably be browsing to help me sort out problems as and when they arise - I have got a long list already. Will also be looking for some advice trying to work out what bits were made in Solihull and what were made in Japan.

Many years ago I use to do quite alot of work on my old MGB GT, but I have forgotten what each job entailed - and of course, everything is so much bigger and heavier and so am I. Not sure if I will go down the same route with the 110 - the cold weather is putting a bit of a dampener on things - its not even warm enough to apply Hammerite and it even rains inside the cab, something even my MGB never use to do.

-Ian

Welcome to the forum and the joys of owning a Landy!

Its people like your seller who give ebay a bad name and put people off. I got my Discovery from a bloke on ebay and have been really happy with it! Hopefully it won't break the bank sorting yours out and I'm sure any questions you have can be answered by one of the guys on this forum.

Good luck with the new business. (I'm sure a quick plug won't hurt anyone!)

Im not sure if the seller did it intentionally. He bought it a few days before (wish I had spotted that before I bid) and passed it on so quick, making a good many £££ profit that he didn't get a chance to check over what he had bought - I think he genuinly realised that it was not suitable for his purposes so upgraded to a more traditional van that would more comfortable/quiet on longer journeys.

However, if I knew that there would be a hole in the rear chassis (he said that the chassis was rust free), the engine used oil (un proven - don't know what is worse - an oil burning engine or one left to go way below low on oil) or there was a potential oil leak from one of the rear hubs I would have stayed away.

I guess the morel of this story is don't believe the sellers description, even when he gives direct responses to questions on the telephone and go and see any vehicle in person before you commit to buy. Buyer beware - I forgot that one simple thing in all the excitement of the auction.

-Ian