Thinking about it

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Wazzajnr

Wazzajnr

Well-Known Member
Posts
2,391
Location
Chorley
Ok,

first off, hi and thanks for allowing me to join your forum.

I have just bought a house in Czech Republic and it's down about a 3km tarmac Road. However, the road is not gritted or ploughed in winter and 2-3ft of snow is common. As we now have a house there and don't just visit 3-5 times per year, it makes sense to have a car there. (we normally drive down as it costs same as 3 airfares plus car rental and we get to drive our nice merc and not some rented grotbox)
Now, cars in Czech are stupidly expensive (1990 disco, tatty as hell, equivalent of 2500quid)
My thinking is, buy a cheap disco or rangy, drive it down, change it over to Czech plates and drive it on their cheap fuel and insurance.
In an ideal world, I'd want a diesel but as it won't be doing much mileage, I might consider petrol.

My questions to you all are (so far!!!)

1.what is realistic mpg on long runs and round town for both diesel and petrol. (I normally drive at 80mph on cruise control but could live with 70mph, don't want to be going any slower on the long journeys though)

2.how reliable /unreliable are the two options. Is the diesel more or less reliable?

3.going to be buying a cheapo and every one I look at has something wrong with it. Head lining and cosmetics I can live with and fix over time but I don't want to be fitting a new engine or box within 6 months.

4.seems there is lots of issues with air suspension. Are the coil conversion any good or is it better to fix the air suspension?

I'll leave it at that for now, I'm sure your replies will create more questions and I just hope that once I take the plunge I'll do some work, learn the cars again and be able to contribute myself (I used to do off road trials in a number of S2a landrovers when I was much younger so I have a reasonable knowledge of the marquee. However, they have moved on somewhat by the P38 and the new ones are streets ahead, both in tech and cost!!)

Thanks in advance.

Paul.
 
If You Know Series Landrovers,why not buy a series.with regard to the p38 not on coils it ruins them they need looking after and dont like being left unrun Discos I know nothing about
 
tarphenry said:
If You Know Series Landrovers,why not buy a series.with regard to the p38 not on coils it ruins them they need looking after and dont like being left unrun Discos I know nothing about
Click to expand...
Agree about P38's on coils - don't bother. Plenty of others will agree with this too.

Disco's are very good, BUT, they do rot - D1 its the body, D2 its the chassis - and the D2 has electronics too. If you are going to do the work yourself, then a Disco might work. If you are going to pay a garage to weld it up, then I might suggest looking elsewhere....

D1 diesels will tolerate being left stood without too much issue apart from the tin worm, which can be controlled with decent anti corrosion treatments. D1 diesels are pretty agricultural, ( except the later D1 Autos which have Bosch EDC, which is no longer supported - I.E. little or no parts availability) - the petrols have ECU's too, and may not tolerate standing.

If you can tolerate a manual, then you might be better looking at a defender, but not for long distance cruising without serious mods, like a higher ratio transfer box..... unless your budget runs to an auto conversion.

What is theft of vehicles like over there? defenders seem to be very nickable over here..... ?
 
Diesel around 30 mpg (on a manual); the petrol probably 18 mpg. Petrol on LPG is about the same cost here to run as diesel but so much more refined. Diesel probably less hassle but make sure the FIP is good.
 
Ok, I want something a little more refined than a defender. I know the later ones are better but still not in the same league as a range rover.
No problem with theft so that's not a problem. I'm currently watching a P38 diesel automatic on fleabay which needs a bit of work but looks pretty tidy.
Just want something reasonably cheap but good enough for an odd 2-4 hr journey across the country. Diesel is about 70p/l so not over worried about running costs.
The main reason for doing this is to avoid the overnight ferry then a 10hr drive as if we had a car here we can just pick cheap flights and be there in 2hrs. If we do that now, we have to hire a car which is what tips it in favour of driving down.
Thanks for the answers so far.
 
I live in the north pennines and we get a bit of snow too. Like for like tyres, a Subaru brat goes further than a defender, disco or rrc
 
No interest in a scooby. If I'm going 4x4 then it needs to be a real 4x4.
It's highly likely in the future that I'll be hacking across fields and into the woods with a trailer and chainsaw collecting firewood and some of the routes could cover some fairly serious terrain.
Nothing against the scoobys, for road work in the snow great, for forrest gravel tracks great but for mud plugging, probably not.
The other thing is, I'll probably be towing a 1.5 ton mini digger and trailer from a friends house to do work at mine and there's not many vehicles that can safely tow that kind of weight.
 
I have an L322 petrol and I love it but I love the challenge of getting anywhere in it, fault finding and repairing, the complicated electronics and ingenious diagnostic kit invented to deal with it, I think it looks ok and drives like you are floating on air but, and it's a big but, I don't rely on it. There are dozens of places to buy spare parts and the prices are more reasonable by the day
I am lucky enough to have a VW diesel that drives the same with 130K miles as it did when it was new so what I am getting at is if you need a vehicle you can rely on whatever the weather I would buy a Toyota Land Cruiser diesel. I have a good friend who has had one from new up to 170k, gets 30 to the gallon on his runs from the south coast to Scotland , has never been stuck and his biggest expenditure has been a set of brake discs and servicing.
 
Wazzajnr said:
No interest in a scooby. If I'm going 4x4 then it needs to be a real 4x4.
It's highly likely in the future that I'll be hacking across fields and into the woods with a trailer and chainsaw collecting firewood and some of the routes could cover some fairly serious terrain.
Nothing against the scoobys, for road work in the snow great, for forrest gravel tracks great but for mud plugging, probably not.
The other thing is, I'll probably be towing a 1.5 ton mini digger and trailer from a friends house to do work at mine and there's not many vehicles that can safely tow that kind of weight.
Click to expand...

If you're going to do anything seriously muddy then make sure you fit airlockers. The traction control on the P38 is clever but not all it is cracked up to be. I carry a Tirfur winch in the back when up in the woods. The air-suspension is fantastic with a heavy load of wood in the back though. Just doesn't notice it.

Another thing occurred to me. Gets quite cold out there in the winter. In those circumstances I think you'd be way better off with the petrol but maybe stick LPG on it. Make sure the thing is top-hatted though.
 
Grrrrrr said:
Another thing occurred to me. Gets quite cold out there in the winter. In those circumstances I think you'd be way better off with the petrol but maybe stick LPG on it. Make sure the thing is top-hatted though.
Click to expand...

Better still get a 3.5, stop worrying about liners & there's only one ECU.
If you are going to leave it for long periods the fewer electrics the better
 
Wazzajnr said:
Finally bought one. Looks OK and as I'm working away so much, I've taken a punt on it. Hopeit doesn't let me down but the guy seems pretty nice and genuine so I think he's been honest.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272266851574?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Looks like i'll have to take my tools I haven't used for years to Czech, as I guess I might be doing some work on it at some point!!! :))
Click to expand...

Nice looking car. Can see why you snapped it up. Decent price too.

Head gaskets done right on schedule. Don't know why he replaced the head though. Don't know why he didn't replace the last airbag. That's madness. Swap it as soon as you get it.

Check the RF receiver and may need BrianDSE's fob fix. Also worth getting a decent 1000 cca battery for it if it hasn't already got it.

Have a word with KurtJohnson on here and see if he has a spare EAS compressor for you. I keep a spare in my boot when travelling. You might want to check OvalRover's threads on what he takes when abroad as parts can be a little hard to come by and some items are bound to be used sooner or later.

Probably worth spending a spare grand on airlockers if you have it to spare ... after you fix he aircon and the imminent niggle that's about to hit you!
 
Grrrrrr said:
Nice looking car. Can see why you snapped it up. Decent price too.

Head gaskets done right on schedule. Don't know why he replaced the head though. Don't know why he didn't replace the last airbag. That's madness. Swap it as soon as you get it.

Check the RF receiver and may need BrianDSE's fob fix. Also worth getting a decent 1000 cca battery for it if it hasn't already got it.

Have a word with KurtJohnson on here and see if he has a spare EAS compressor for you. I keep a spare in my boot when travelling. You might want to check OvalRover's threads on what he takes when abroad as parts can be a little hard to come by and some items are bound to be used sooner or later.

Probably worth spending a spare grand on airlockers if you have it to spare ... after you fix he aircon and the imminent niggle that's about to hit you!
Click to expand...
No idea why he didn't do all airbags but it is on the list of first jobs if I ever find time!
Hoping I won't need airlockers for now. Not planning any serious offroading in the immediate future.
Best thing about this one was it's only 5 miles from home so easy pickup. Paid 1500 for it, not the 1700 advertised so pretty pleased with that if it been described accurately.
I'm hoping the Aircon just needs regassing!
Luckily, I've made friends with an English mechanic in Czech who's an offroading enthusiast (mainly discos but knows a fair bit about the P38 too) so he reckons parts aren't too bad to get hold of. If any problems, I can always buy in uk and ship them there.
So, are you talking about any particular "imminent niggle" or just the fact that it's bound to have some issues?
Thanks for the advice and kind words.
 
Wazzajnr said:
No idea why he didn't do all airbags but it is on the list of first jobs if I ever find time!
Click to expand...

Find time. Top priority. You have the part. If 3 others went the 4th is probably already leaking, just aybe not fast enough to notice.

Wazzajnr said:
So, are you talking about any particular "imminent niggle" or just the fact that it's bound to have some issues?
Thanks for the advice and kind words.
Click to expand...

Bound to! Inevitable! How's the headlining?!
 
Not sure about the headlining. Looks ok on the pics but not a top priority.
I'll post some pics when I get it at weekend.

Grrrrrr said:
Find time. Top priority. You have the part. If 3 others went the 4th is probably already leaking, just aybe not fast enough to notice.



Bound to! Inevitable! How's the headlining?![/QUOTNot sure on the headlining, from the pics, I couldn't see anything but I'm not too worried about that for now. If it proves to be an otherwise good car then I might do the headlining if it's sagging but it's not high on the priority list.
I'll post some pics when I get it at weekend.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Going to test drive tomorrow...
Replies
5
Views
469
RangeRoller dt
RangeRoller dt
D
L320 suspension query
Replies
6
Views
354
Graculus
Graculus
Radar1946
P38A Mobile mechanic near Lichfield, Staffs.
Replies
6
Views
255
Radar1946
Radar1946
R
Advice on buying
Replies
9
Views
641
rockorover
R
E
L322 3 Litre Diesel
Replies
4
Views
486
Henry_b
Henry_b
Back
Top