What are the pitfalls of buying a defender TD5

Had my heart set on a kept uptogether 90 or 110 defender tdi300 but after two months of looking at adverts saying bullet proof engine,no rust and never gone wrong until you go for a viewing and find out they are less than truthful I am thinking of going to plan b and paying a little extra for a 2000-2005 td5.
What are your thoughts or experience with the td5 rather than a 300tdi,pros and cons.
Thanks in advance for your help.

ive 2 td5's think its a brilliant engine, and very tuneable easy to service and diagnose if you spend a couple of hundred on a diagnostic tester, running gear is pretty much the same as 300tdi defenders

Best bet is to buy a late model TD5 post 2002 or late 2002. By then the engine had been upgraded to the 15p and the electrical system improved.

Had mine 3 years now and its on 80k, not had any electrical issues except a bad earth.

Excellent engine imo and very tuneable for much better driveabillity.

Every engine has it's pro's and con's.... TDi weak point was the timing belt, as I found to my cost!... currently running a TD5, 10P now on 115,000 miles... as easy to work on and service as my TDi, much more tuneable though.

As the engine management is electronic, you might be better off with a fault code reader to go with your TD5. Hawkeye, Nanocom, or more recently Lynx - they all have their devotees. I thought they were weird engines when I started, having grown up with Triumph Heralds, Morris Oxfords and the like. A centrifuge to filter the oil? Whatever will they think of next? But most of the routine service tasks aren't that complicated, and there are a good few examples on here of people completely overhauling the engine - new bearings, pistons, valves and the like. So it's within the scope of the keen amateur. Most of the rest of the transmission, chassis and suspension is very similar to the 300 TDi. So if you can do one you can do the other. Obviously, some components have been superseded, so they're not all an exact swap, but the basic shape and function of things is eminently recognisable.

They rot in a similar fashion though, so same checks apply when you are looking at them.
I've been to look at my mates 5yr old vehicle today as I needed to see where to drill holes in the tub to bolt the sill rails to it.
His seat box ends were dissolving, as was the ali behind the B post support bracket and the ali where the outrigger bolts to the tub. Doors looked ok though!

Thoughts?













Buy a Freelander instead.