Drive Before I Decide?

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Why not try a "wanted" advert on here, and the other popular Land Rover forum is worth putting a "wanted" message on as well.
 
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Anaconda said:
I think it's too rusty, by the time you have got rid of that rust, treated it, painted it, you will hate the sight of it.
Remember chassis is always worse on the inside than the outside and it's hard work to do anything with it.
It it's local then maybe have a look for experience, wouldn't travel a long distance.
It's not just the chassis that is rusty, mechanical parts also, along with the tub cappings.
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lightning said:
Sadly yes having looked at those pictures the chassis doesn't look good particularly at the rear.
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It's certainly not local, and after receiving those further photographs and the very helpful input from you both it's definitely a no-go, but it's all good experience.

The hunt continues although there's barely any 110s about. It's a big advantage being open to 90s and 110 though, it gives me a little more to work with.

Thanks for your quick and decisive opinions 😁
 
What about that blue one on Ebay. lt's an earlier one (but it's got the updated dash which was introduced in 2002) and not the XS so no ABS/aircon etc. ln fact it's the basic SW with vinyl seats and no central locking or electric windows.

Although that can be a good thing...less to go wrong.
 
lightning said:
What about that blue one on Ebay. lt's an earlier one (but it's got the updated dash which was introduced in 2002) and not the XS so no ABS/aircon etc. ln fact it's the basic SW with vinyl seats and no central locking or electric windows.

Although that can be a good thing...less to go wrong.
Click to expand...
That's quite tatty and the paint is flaking off which suggest a quick spray job after coming out of it's military career.
 
lightning said:
Why not try a "wanted" advert on here, and the other popular Land Rover forum is worth putting a "wanted" message on as well.
Click to expand...

Good idea I think I’ll get onto that this evening.

lightning said:
What about that blue one on Ebay. lt's an earlier one (but it's got the updated dash which was introduced in 2002) and not the XS so no ABS/aircon etc. ln fact it's the basic SW with vinyl seats and no central locking or electric windows.

Although that can be a good thing...less to go wrong.
Click to expand...

I think as an example of a tidy engine bay and chassis it’s really strong, certainly a stark contract from the one I sent previously.

But the spec is very bare, and the cosmetic changes alone I would make along with seating etc would run it up close to an already more ‘finished’ example like this:


Please correct me if I’m wrong but as a result of the above I think the price seems pretty high in my very modest opinion.
 
Good 110's tend to be £15,000+

That 2005 90XS looks like a great price if the chassis is good, definitely worth a visit to view it.

Again, that's the best specification and the best year (after they fitted the better doors but before the big road tax increase after March 2006)

Prices have fallen in the last couple of years, not massively but by a few thousand.
 
I am going to say a few things.


Stop looking at pretty, of course most sale ads like to show you pretty.

Wanna buy this:D.

Has manual AC but rust free.
No scratches (to be seen;)).

I may have said it, dont get sucked in by pretty, I guess at the level of option/luxury you are looking at you will pay a premium for a good mechanically/non rusty solid 1.

Good luck the right 1 will show up.

J
 

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lightning said:
Good 110's tend to be £15,000+

That 2005 90XS looks like a great price if the chassis is good, definitely worth a visit to view it.

Again, that's the best specification and the best year (after they fitted the better doors but before the big road tax increase after March 2006)

Prices have fallen in the last couple of years, not massively but by a few thousand.
Click to expand...

I'm struggling to even work out if 90s or 110s are more expensive, because the pricing is SO erratic sometimes. I would say a circa £15,000 example is my sweet spot at the moment and a well specced xs with a few of the bits I would upgrade already on the car as a bonus - ac seems to be a good one to catch at that price point if possible. I'm not worried about going a little above or below that budget thought, and i'll be judging case by case.

marjon said:
I am going to say a few things.


Stop looking at pretty, of course most sale ads like to show you pretty.

Wanna buy this:D.

Has manual AC but rust free.
No scratches (to be seen;)).

I may have said it, dont get sucked in by pretty, I guess at the level of option/luxury you are looking at you will pay a premium for a good mechanically/non rusty solid 1.

Good luck the right 1 will show up.

J
Click to expand...

That is definitely good advice. It isn't that i'm only focused on a 'pretty' example, but when it's towards the higher end I expect it to have a certain level of presentation generally along with the other fundamentals. I'm certainly trying not to be sucked in by a pretty top half though (as hard as that sometimes is). The rust/maintenance is my #1 concern.
 
It's almost impossible to price a Defender as two models of the same year can be wildly different in price and quality.
For a hobby car it's a 90 all day long, have a family then it's a 110.
Find one you are happy with then work out the price using man's maths and you will be fine.
 
Rewind 6-7 years when defenders started to really catch my eye and I would've told you 90 all day. The long term view brings the 110 into strong contention, but I honestly seem to change like the wind between both which is why I'm just choosing based on condition/spec/price and I'm not going to rule one or the other out (the wind is blowing towards a 90 right now though). It's going to be a weekend car for the foreseeable future while I have a company car for the weekdays, so there's that... but its primary use will be overlanding and travelling trips, along with hiking/mountain biking weekends.

But yes the man maths is already coming in strong, as I take into account cost of everything from tyres, maintenance/repair, modifications, and cosmetics. 😁
 
I would say if future is a bit of weekends away overlanding, Camping? How many people? You will not beable to sleep in a 90. If you have mountain bikes you may also have trouble getting them in a 90.
I belive the extra space in the 110 would be of benifit, if thats the sort of thing you want to do in the future.

As much as we love our 90 it was really brought as a fun car/winter use. Oh and chucking a few bales of hay for the horse at the time.
Fun car because we have loads of green(muddy as you can see) lanes and not many restrictions to use them.
Winter car because we didnt want to trash the L322 in the ditch in the deep snowy roads we get (unsalted hence no rust) when going to the shop.

Your reasons are different I think your original thoughts of the 110 is probably better, but hey we can always make the best of our man math choices :). Usually involing more man math🤔

J
 
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