Hello, sorry if these questions are daft but my knowledge of cars is very low. I have wanted a Land Rover Defender since before I learnt to drive though and I appreciate any help.

First question: I want to buy an older Defender 90. What amount am I looking to spend so I don't buy a dog? I am hoping to spend around £5k but willing to go up to 10 if the extra cost is justifiable. Is a Defender from about 1970 - 1985 going to be a lot of work??

Second: if I want to own an older used Defender is it advisable to know about cars enough that I can work on it myself for minor jobs? If I don't know much about cars and just enjoy driving should I stay well away from an old Land Rover??

Third: If you exclude tyres, wipers and other consumables how much would it cost per year in repairs if I had to go to a mechanic for any work? I appreciate this can't be answered accurately but would really appreciate a ballpark figure!

Thanks in advance!!

Cant help with price... but the defender didnt come out until 1989
Landrovers from 1983 to 1989 were basically defenders but just branded as "110" or "90"
Older than that and it would be a series.

It would be wise to either have a large pile of money, or the willingness and ability to do at least minor repairs yourself with any old car.

First off, I'm unsure about the current prices of older Defenders and some might say even a 2000 Defender is a lot of work.
To keep the running costs down, you'd be well advised to learn about vehicle maintenance, having to put the vehicle into a garage isn't going to be cheap.
I would advise you to take somebody who does know Land Rover Defenders (even the AA or RAC, but they will charge for the service) with you when you go to look at a prospective purchase, there are some real dogs out there, but if you're patient and careful, you could end up with something half decent. Some users even claim that owning a Land Rover puts the fun back into motoring.
As you say, putting a figure on repair costs isn't really possible, but as a start I'd say you should be loking at about a thousand to fifteen hundred a year if it goes into the garage.

Thanks very much for the responses. I didn't know the earlier ones were just called Land Rovers but guess it makes sense as back then there weren't all the other model lines to differentiate from. I would like to learn to maintain the vehicle, it sounds like a lot of fun but due to space etc I would be limited to doing what can be done with a simple toolbox.. £1500 doesn't seem so bad if I need to use a garage not much more than my current car.

One minor advantage is that you can lie underneath without having to jack it up! Useful for changing the oil. I think one thing to bear in mind is that, yes, they will put up with a lot of neglect, but, in the end, such neglect has to be paid for. For instance, on my 1974 88" there are 8 or more grease nipples on the prop shafts and track rod ends. They will carry on working for a long time if they are not serviced, but in the end they wear out. Many of those you see in films about Africa etc (and probably on many farms in this country) would not be classed as roadworthy in the UK, but they keep going. And they ALL rust.

As for working on them when I bought my 90 I had no tools and barely knew which way round a spanner went. Now I could confidently tackle the vast majority of jobs without help. They are quite easy to work on, just got to get used to seized bolts and dealing with rust.

Buy a 150pc Halfords pro tool kit (they come on sale often so wait until they are), a big hammer and a small angle grinder.

Mechanic work will be anywhere from £50 per hour to £150 depending.

Learn how to service it yourself, (really is **** easy) and you'll save a fortune - DIY service >£100, Garage ~£300

Check out Land Rover Toolbox on youtube, loads of helpful videos!

Good luck

bankz5152 said:

As for working on them when I bought my 90 I had no tools and barely knew which way round a spanner went. Now I could confidently tackle the vast majority of jobs without help. They are quite easy to work on, just got to get used to seized bolts and dealing with rust.

Buy a 150pc Halfords pro tool kit (they come on sale often so wait until they are), a big hammer and a small angle grinder.

Mechanic work will be anywhere from £50 per hour to £150 depending.

Learn how to service it yourself, (really is **** easy) and you'll save a fortune - DIY service >£100, Garage ~£300

Check out Land Rover Toolbox on youtube, loads of helpful videos!

Good luck

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I'd generally agree with all of that, but doing your own service/oil changes could lead to slight difficulties in getting rid of the old oil and filters, which of course cannot be dropped on the ground or the drains, it's illegal these days.
Your local authority might run a scheme where you can deposit such dirty stuff at one of their local rubbish sites or failing that, get to know your local indie garage. They might allow you to pour your old oil into their collection system.

True. I poor all mine into a big container as I do my girlfriends car too, take it down the dump once a year or it gets burnt.

Always put filters in the bin in a plastic bag.

You haven't mentioned what you will be using your Land Rover for. If its just a weekend fun thing then an older one will probably be fine. However from what I can see you might find yourself paying a bit of a premium for an older one in good condition. ( I'm not that well up on pricing)
If you want something as your daily drive then I would find the pre 1990 a bit on the slow side to keep up with modern day traffic. I have a 200 TDI which is just about OK. Its not a speed machine but will hold a good cruising speed on motorways. Owning a Land Rover doesn't incite you to drive quickly. (Your normally just relieved to have gotten there.) Having said that if they are looked after properly, without using too many parts made in China they are fine. I find you get silly things going wrong, but nothing major. Mine has crossed the Sahara many times by the previous owner. Silly things going wrong like water ingress around the doors.oil leaks, that sort of thing.
Earlier Land Rovers are are very basic mechanically. If you are a DIY type of person you will probably be able to sort out a lot of the servicing and maintenance. There are loads of video's on You tube on how to do various task. Land Rover parts are also quiet cheap in comparison to modern motor cars. My wife reversed our Renault Scenic into the back of the Defender and broke both rear lights on the vehicles. £130 to repair the broken Renault and £1.50 to repair the Defender. Yes one pound fifty, that's not a typo. Our Defender is viewed as part of the family, things like water ingress we just laugh. My wife is very much into design and deco and everything has to be spot on etc. If we had to have a car cull it would be all the other vehicles we have that would have to go first.

Before you buy I would make sure you take a couple of test drives in both and early Land Rover and a Defender. And also take someone along with you that knows about them. They will know exactly what to look for as they are fairly basic.
Hope this might help.

Early Land Rovers tend to be fairly simple with all mechanical controls but as newer designs became available, say from later 300tdi and theTd5 engines, more and more electronics were added from Engine Control, Anti-lock Braking, Traction Control and so on, until you get to the later Defenders and Discoveries where you have electronics in almost every function of the vehicle.

Yes it will just be a fun vehicle, not a daily driver. I would not be doing any motorway journeys just country roads no more than 60 speed limit. Also no serious off roading just the odd dirt track/byroad and driving up on the verge when I meet another car just cause I can (lots of single track roads here oh and I would like to point out why do the people in brand new Range Rovers never move over that's what their car is for!!!).

I very much appreciate all the advice awesome forum!! I can imagine YouTube will come in useful I hear a lot of people using it for basic plumbing jobs etc. And will definitely be taking someone with me to look at them I know someone who is very into older cars if not him then a RAC guy.

My first 110 had cross ply tyres, no power steering and the 2.25 petrol engine. Took a bit of time to get up to speed, but great to drive and maintain (only up to basic level and when I was younger).
Interesting roadholding made the Mersey Tunnel and roundabouts spectacular challenges even after adjusting the play in the steering box to optimum.
Against one like that the new Range Rovers will be the ones to move over.

Enrol in a course for fabrication & welding, or make friends with someone who can do both
Older LR products left the factory with a resident rust-bug, no-one has ever seen the little blighters but they have a voracious appetite.