Defender 90 TD5 as first car?

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Defender90td5

Defender90td5

Active Member
Posts
114
Location
York
Hi all,

I will be turning 17 at the end of this year and I am looking at a 1998 to 2006 Defender with the TD5. I have been brought up with landrovers and love them to bits! The defender has always been my favourite due to its quirks and character. Iam going to be training to become a agricultural engineer so i have no problem in fixing it myself. The main reason I’d like a defender is for going down country lanes (I live pretty rural) and also for towing my dirt bike box trailer as well as off-roading occasionally.

My question for you lot is:

- will £9,000 to £10,000 get me a good TD5?

- Also how much will I be expecting to pay in insurance roughly?

- Is there anything I should consider or know before jumping into them (I know the fuel economy isn’t the best and rust is a big issue)?

- How is the 90 at towing as my trailer weighs about 1 tonne and then I have 2 bikes as well as my brothers 2 so probs all in all around 1.25 tonnes. I will also be towing my fathers trailer which loaded is about 3.5 tonnes every so often up some hills and round the country lanes and nearby town.?

Look forward to hearing from you all,

Robert
 
Something to think about.
With your budget you could buy a ready sorted older landy with galvanised chassis and run it on classic car insurance which will save a small fortune in insurance costs at 17 years of age and take away the rust problem, and could also be free road tax and MOT exempt if old enough. .
 
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Scooby22 said:
Something to think about.
With your budget you could by a ready sorted older landy with galvanised chassis and run it on classic car insurance which will save a small fortune in insurance costs at 17 years of age and take away the rust problem, and could also be free road tax if old enough.
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My thoughts for the TD5 is due to the fact that we have a lot of spares for them unlike the 200tdi and the 300tdi. I think a series Land Rover would struggle to pull the 3.5 tonne trailer.
 
Your requirements would take priority of course but to be fare a TD5 would struggle to pull 3.5 tons as well, it will pull it but you will need to use low range.
I have towed 1.5 tons with mine and although it was no problem I knew I had it on the back which made me think 3.5 tons would be a nightmare.
I love my TD5 though and having power steering, servo assisted disc brakes all round, electric windows, central locking and alarm etc etc makes them more practical and easier to drive than some older series landy's.
 
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Towing small trailer is fine, I wouldn’t tow my big (3500kg) with the def personally fully loaded,empty yes. It supposedly can do it but I would think slow progress and need to be extra carful, very short distance I might consider it.
By the way your small trailer weighs a lot on it’s own?

And I take it you understand towing license groups and the need now for extra tests.

J
 
Insurance on a TD5 at 17 yrs of age will be a killer, you will be probably looking at £1k plus so bear that in mind, also if you need to do research on trailer licenses, a new licencee cant just tow any trailer anymore!
 
You will not be able to tow more than 750kg gross trailer weight without taking an additional trailer test.

For your budget I would also be looking for an older vehicle sat on a galv chassis, the 2/300tdi are very good vehicles, simpler to work on than a td5 (although they are not complex), and just as capable of towing. My 200tdi has just rolled over 300k and towed a twin axle car trailer loaded with an old tractor from derby to bath at the weekend. I would estimate the weight of the trailer to be about 3.3t. It was slow going up some of the hills but managed it with no problems. I would not want to tow that weight day in day out, but for what you are looking at weight wise for the bikes it would be no issue at all and as long as the larger trailer is not every day it would manage.

If you get and older defender being able to run classic insurance will make it significantly cheaper. I think it needs to be over 25year old to qualify for classic insurance. I do not know how much it would be for a 17yo but i pay about £450 a year on a classic policy for my 110 but that does 25k a year which makes it expensive.

I would also very seriously consider a 110 over a 90. 90's are very very small for a "big" vehicle. They have the same footprint as a vw golf. you can have either kit, or people, or dog in the back but only one of them. A 110 will cost less than a 90, as long as you do not want a station wagon, and a 110 hard top is about the cheapest defender body type you can buy. No more effort to work on, no worse on fuel, but hugely more practical and better for towing due to the longer wheel base. I would never consider a 90 and I know my fired who has one (who is too attached to it now to change) and now has a dog, does regret not copying me and buying a 110 to start with.
 
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My insurance on my series 2a was £1200 a year before the classic car insurance brought it down to about £300. I’m 24, I was 22/23 when I got it and I’d been driving since 17.

I’d imagine unless you aim to get one on a classic insurance policy, you’ll be shelling out big time on insurance. Would an early series 3 be acceptable for you? It’ll be a little slower but you’ll save a bunch on both tax, insurance and MOTs as you can keep it road worthy yourself.
 
marjon said:
Towing small trailer is fine, I wouldn’t tow my big (3500kg) with the def personally fully loaded,empty yes. It supposedly can do it but I would think slow progress and need to be extra carful, very short distance I might consider it.
By the way your small trailer weighs a lot on it’s own?

And I take it you understand towing license groups and the need now for extra tests.

J
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Yeah my dirt bike trailer is really heavy as it’s got a full metal flour about 2 inches thick, a bed area with water bowser for the jet wash, cooker and then at the back is weighted underneath the floor with cement to stop it bouncing about underneath where the bikes go.
 
Trench Rat said:
My insurance on my series 2a was £1200 a year before the classic car insurance brought it down to about £300. I’m 24, I was 22/23 when I got it and I’d been driving since 17.

I’d imagine unless you aim to get one on a classic insurance policy, you’ll be shelling out big time on insurance. Would an early series 3 be acceptable for you? It’ll be a little slower but you’ll save a bunch on both tax, insurance and MOTs as you can keep it road worthy yourself.
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I just think it’ll really struggle to pull the weights I pull daily. I love the series land rovers and we have one at home but the engine is just too weak ive found.
 
marjon said:
Towing small trailer is fine, I wouldn’t tow my big (3500kg) with the def personally fully loaded,empty yes. It supposedly can do it but I would think slow progress and need to be extra carful, very short distance I might consider it.
By the way your small trailer weighs a lot on it’s own?

And I take it you understand towing license groups and the need now for extra tests.

J
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Yeah I understand, I’ll be doing my trailer test about a week after as I can book both my test and trailer test at the same time where I live.
 
Defender90td5 said:
I just think it’ll really struggle to pull the weights I pull daily. I love the series land rovers and we have one at home but the engine is just too weak ive found.
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It would definitely struggle without enough modification to risk voiding the tax/mot exemption. My series III (2.25 diesel) will pull the empty twin axle car trailer (650kg) mentioned above but you certainly know it is there, and it is very slow on anything other than flat and down! It manages with no problems other than speed and I'm sure would be able to tow more and still be ok. The problem with today's roads is you can no longer sit at 35/40mph towing a heavy trailer because no-one else will tolerate it.
 
dag019 said:
It would definitely struggle without enough modification to risk voiding the tax/mot exemption. My series III (2.25 diesel) will pull the empty twin axle car trailer (650kg) mentioned above but you certainly know it is there, and it is very slow on anything other than flat and down! It manages with no problems other than speed and I'm sure would be able to tow more and still be ok. The problem with today's roads is you can no longer sit at 35/40mph towing a heavy trailer because no-one else will tolerate it.
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That’s my thinking exactly, Knowone would tolerate it hence I think maybe a TD5 would be better as it has a bit of extra grunt. Would a 200tdi cut it?
 
Defender90td5 said:
That’s my thinking exactly, Knowone would tolerate it hence I think maybe a TD5 would be better as it has a bit of extra grunt. Would a 200tdi cut it?
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Definitely, 200tdi is what I have in the 110, with a disco 1.2 transferbox, only engine mod is a full size intercooler, but not tweaked the pump or turbo. The truck itself runs heavy with and extensive set of offload guards, winch, tools, etc.. I happily tow heavy loads when needed, and below about 1.5t it doesn't really notice a trailer is there. At over 3t you will spend a lot of time at 50 rather than 60, but that is fast enough on modern roads, as long as you can keep up with trucks that is your baseline for speed.
 
payydg said:
Spend your money on a 200 or 300 on a galv chassis! You’ll thank us later. Easier to work on. Parts are adult available. No brainier
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Am i right in thinking that the 200tdi is a 4 cylinder diesel and the 300tdi is a 4 cylinder petrol?
I prefer a diesel where possible buy im worried about the fact that the 200tdi will lack a bit of grunt and doesnt sound as good as a TD5?
 
dag019 said:
Definitely, 200tdi is what I have in the 110, with a disco 1.2 transferbox, only engine mod is a full size intercooler, but not tweaked the pump or turbo. The truck itself runs heavy with and extensive set of offload guards, winch, tools, etc.. I happily tow heavy loads when needed, and below about 1.5t it doesn't really notice a trailer is there. At over 3t you will spend a lot of time at 50 rather than 60, but that is fast enough on modern roads, as long as you can keep up with trucks that is your baseline for speed.
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Yeah i understand what you mean, i just love the sound of the TD5 and not sure if the 4 cylinder 200tdi will sound as good.
 
Defender90td5 said:
Am i right in thinking that the 200tdi is a 4 cylinder diesel and the 300tdi is a 4 cylinder petrol?
I prefer a diesel where possible buy im worried about the fact that the 200tdi will lack a bit of grunt and doesnt sound as good as a TD5?
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Both Derv's.

Insurance will be sky high, it costed me £900 a year for a £600 fiesta..

And £1600 for an ancient worthless Jag..

So something to consider, but considering your budget i don't think insurance would be an issue..

300tdi 'fender would get my cash.
 
Henry_b said:
Both Derv's.

Insurance will be sky high, it costed me £900 a year for a £600 fiesta..

And £1600 for an ancient worthless Jag..

So something to consider, but considering your budget i don't think insurance would be an issue..

300tdi 'fender would get my cash.
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Any particular reason to buy a 300tdi over a 200tdi over the Td5? In my opinion the TD5 sounds amazing and the TDI's sound a bit 'flat'.

Also how much do you think itll cost in insurance? Ive budgeted around £1800 - £2000
 
Defender90td5 said:
Any particular reason to buy a 300tdi over a 200tdi over the Td5? In my opinion the TD5 sounds amazing and the TDI's sound a bit 'flat'.

Also how much do you think itll cost in insurance? Ive budgeted around £1800 - £2000
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Reliability the 200 and 300 are just "better" with 111hp they ain't the fastest but by gum they're fun, going fast in a 'fender aint fun at all.

Tyre turning Torque is what ya need and the 2-300 have plenty.

As for sound, all dervs sound the same to me and sound doesn't really matter unless its a v8..


Insurance will be up the tall end of your budget.

How will you pay if ya dunt mind me asking..



Apprenticeship and a side job?
 
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