Defender 90 advice

Benlandroverbryant · Feb 22, 2014

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and land rovers so please dumb everything down for me!
I have just passed my driving test and would love to get a Defender 90 as my first car. I am looking at spending about £3000 (I know this isn't really a lot but it is all I have! ) I have read up about defenders and people have said that the insurance is huge but I can get insured for about £1400 (still a lot but not too bad for an 18yo!) Ideally I would like one with seats in the back with belts and obviously in pretty good shape.
I was hoping people could give me advice about year, engine, fuel consumption, costs (MOT etc) and anything else you may think I will find useful. I have seen several people recommending series land rovers but I don't really want one of those because of the age of them and the things that are associated with its age.
Thanks in advance
Ben

ebbadger · Feb 22, 2014

ben, try a search..... people are unlikely to come on and type reams of stuff that's been typed a million times before... the info is already available on here.... id be looking 2.5 na given your age and inexperience... may be cheaper to insure

cheers steve

JJbing · Feb 22, 2014

I'm the same age as you, got my fender just before my 17th birthday, and my insurance for the first year was £800, and now in my second year it is £590, try aviva, and possibly use the money saved to invest in the fender, and trust me you'll need it. Best first car anyone could wish for, but most expensive to keep!

Benlandroverbryant · Feb 22, 2014

Hi JJbing,
Thats a really good price, I'll have a look at Aviva thanks.
What age defender was it? I'd have thought it would have to be quite old to have such low insurance?
I would definitely try to invest the money that save in the defender, I would like to do it up with spot lights, bull bar etc but I expect I will end up spending most of the money on running the damn thing!

cornish rattler · Feb 22, 2014

Benlandroverbryant said:
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and land rovers so please dumb everything down for me!
I have just passed my driving test and would love to get a Defender 90 as my first car. I am looking at spending about £3000 (I know this isn't really a lot but it is all I have! ) I have read up about defenders and people have said that the insurance is huge but I can get insured for about £1400 (still a lot but not too bad for an 18yo!) Ideally I would like one with seats in the back with belts and obviously in pretty good shape.
I was hoping people could give me advice about year, engine, fuel consumption, costs (MOT etc) and anything else you may think I will find useful. I have seen several people recommending series land rovers but I don't really want one of those because of the age of them and the things that are associated with its age.
Thanks in advance
Ben

You will be surprised what you can get for £3,000 I bought this two weeks ago for £2,750 1988 county converted to 200tdi admittedly off another forum in there for sale section

Benlandroverbryant · Feb 22, 2014

cornish rattler said:
You will be surprised what you can get for £3,000 I bought this two weeks ago for £2,750 1988 county converted to 200tdi admittedly off another forum in there for sale section

wow, wish I'd beaten you to it! that looks like exactly the sort of thing I am looking for.

Im still concerned about the running cots though, it looks like £400 for a set of tires and the fuel consumption is worrying, although I wont be driving that far so it hopefully wont be too bad.
1988 is a bit on the older side, would you say that it is a safe bet to buy something that old or would you expect to have to do some repair work on it?

nickliv · Feb 22, 2014

the fewer seats you have in the car the cheaper the insurance should be. Less people to claim for whiplash etc following a bump. (Not that I'm saying that's going to happen, but the insurance company think it is)

cornish rattler · Feb 22, 2014

Benlandroverbryant said:
wow, wish I'd beaten you to it! that looks like exactly the sort of thing I am looking for.
Im still concerned about the running cots though, it looks like £400 for a set of tires and the fuel consumption is worrying, although I wont be driving that far so it hopefully wont be too bad.
1988 is a bit on the older side, would you say that it is a safe bet to buy something that old or would you expect to have to do some repair work on it?

Well I found that when I was saving to buy one a 300tdi was about £3,000-£4,000 a few weeks earlier then when I had the money 300tdi's became £5000 + which I couldn't afford and they was pretty rough at that either chassis needed work probably after the mot ran out the following year, there was something wrong with them, or they had been foooked about with so thought do I get a decent 200tdi defender for £3,000 or a foooked 300tdi defender for £5,000 and then this came up on the other forum went to look at it as it wasn't that far from really and put a deposit on it

JJbing · Feb 23, 2014

Benlandroverbryant said:
Hi JJbing,
Thats a really good price, I'll have a look at Aviva thanks.
What age defender was it? I'd have thought it would have to be quite old to have such low insurance?
I would definitely try to invest the money that save in the defender, I would like to do it up with spot lights, bull bar etc but I expect I will end up spending most of the money on running the damn thing!

1995 300TDI, got it for around £5k, but this was purely because of what had just been done to it (new clutch & gearbox) and mods put on already by twisted performance. Looks brand new now though, after a galvanized chassis and touching up some dodgy paint work!

mick the builder · Feb 23, 2014

Benlandroverbryant said:
wow, wish I'd beaten you to it! that looks like exactly the sort of thing I am looking for.
Im still concerned about the running cots though, it looks like £400 for a set of tires and the fuel consumption is worrying, although I wont be driving that far so it hopefully wont be too bad.
1988 is a bit on the older side, would you say that it is a safe bet to buy something that old or would you expect to have to do some repair work on it?

Dont be too concerned about the age, it all depends on how they have been maintained. Mines an 88 with a few patches on the chassis. Sooner that than a newer one from the coast or never undersealed. all body parts are pretty much transferable so you could end up with an 88 running late 90,s parts. Just read up on the various models problem ares and check these when you go to look at one. If alls well, age wont matter . Good luck

Benlandroverbryant · Feb 25, 2014

Thanks for all of the replies everyone they have been really helpful. If I find one that I am thinking of getting I will post a link on here to get your opinions. It's really just the running costs that are stopping me from getting it because I am still a student :/

Defender 90 advice

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