I've had my 2.5 NAD 110 Hard Top for over 5 years, and it has cost me less than £300 for essential bits in that time, and another grand on non-essentials!

OK it's not the fastest on acceleration, but she's a clogger and will cruise along the motorway at 'the legal speed limit' with around 20 mph in reserve!

0-60 usually less than 3 hours :)
 
If you are happy to tinker yourself go for it, if you need a garage for everything it'll get ridiculously expensive.

Mine is a low mileage 200tdi on a J plate with 77k.

Mechanically it's needed a fair few bits, gearbox, brakes, steering, bearings, etc. I still have a issue with wandery steering but I'm nearly there sorting that.

Chassis/bulkhead wise it's very good so I've been lucky, just needed a new rear cross member as mine was starting to go, rest of the chassis is mint tbh.

Including buying it mine owes me about £7.5k, i've spent £2kish on modding it and another £2k or so in the mechanicals, but I now have an (almost) sorted low mileage 200tdi Defender with a virtually rust free chassis/bulkhead.

Imho unless it's very new they all need work and money spending and they are very maintenance heavy, not such a problem if you are happy doing it yourself.

It's a whole different world from your Mini Cooper which is virtually drive and forget motoring!

That said mines our 3rd car so if it has an issue I don't need to use it (although it's my favourite to drive of our cars!).
 
well many thanks everyone for your tips. i think if i ever decide to get one it will have to be used as a 2nd vehicle to use on weekends etc. mechanically when it comes to maintenance i always relied on a garage, even for servicing as i havent a clue when it comes to manual work or mechanics lol

i think best bet is to keep saving up my money but as long as i get one before december 2015 when the values start rocketing up more than what they are now when the production of the defender comes to an end and replaced by that disgusting looking plasitc, computerized DC100.

many thanks anyway everyone
 
buy wolfs ;) cheap and it works

will leave you over 5k in the budget for upgrades, tidying up and running it
 
Bloody right it would lol. New clutch, bit of welding, a paint job and some TLC and you're laughing
 
I notice nobody admits to anything along the lines of "Yes I bought one and it looked like gold but turned out to be total dog ****".

My 90, D-Reg (87), has a Disco 200tdi engine in it, uprated brakes (discs all round), a 2" lift kit, steering guard, diff guards, rear bench seats and is a soft-top front and back.

It was £2,700 as it came and I bought it from a farm who'd obviously rung the local MOT place and told them to sign off an MOT for them to collect the next time they were passing - either that or the MOT bloke was blind and had no arms (possible I suppose - it was Pocklington).

My test drive felt ok and I stupidly fell in love with it there and then. This was stupid as on the way home it developed a bad earth problem where any electrical current for anything other than the engine basically switched the engine off - so think radio, wipers, headlights and laughably brake lights.

I drove from Pocklington to Leeds cursing the day that Land ever met Rover. Finally on the ring road swooping passed Sainsburys the gear lever came off in my hand leaving me the odious task of trying to keep it at just the right speed to hit all the green lights between Moor Allerton and Horsforth. Naturally I failed.

After replacing all the brakes all round, including discovering it's got Discovery calipers that don't quite fit on the front, new hubs, new bearings (again all round), new down pipe on the exhaust (which obviously isn't a standard part because it wasn't the original engine and therefore cost a fortune), new wheels because they were so rusty they were like brown doilies holding on cracked rubber things pretending to be tyres, so new tyres, new swivel housings (expensive), new ball joint things (shiny) and finally to add insult to injury a new fuel tank because that smell of gas just waiting for someone to set it on fire isn't supposed to be there.

In short I've blown at least as much as I paid for it first time around and am only now starting to think of it as loveable.

It is a testament to Defenders that it can put me through that much pain and suffering and for me to still love it with everything I've got.

...now if I can just get it to drive uphill for any length of time without overheating I'll be a happy man.

So anyway - yes, buy a Defender at once. Best by an older one that is easier to take to pieces and less of a hole in the wallet. And start saving and cancelling your social life now. It'll be easier in the end.
 
I suggest you look at the ' so you've bought a crock of **** thread'. I'm happy to admit that mine looked mint when I bought it but now upon looking I can see the bulkhead is shot etc... Doesn't bother me, it was a bargain for what it is. Most people on here will admit if they end up buying a scrapper but we love em and fix them up and keep them going
 
most of what i seen around my area in kent are for sale at garage forecourts which will sell the motor at at least £1500 more than what its actually worth, im aware i can get one cheaper if bought privately, just not many around at the mo and most defenders at £8000 and below do look very tired and average mileage is 150,000 miles lol but thats down to age - 20 years
 
Mines got 128,000 painful bone jarring miles on the clock. Not all with the same engine mind you. Hardly even run in.
 
150,000 miles is absolutely nothing on a land rover. With proper maintenance and care you can easily expect to reach 300,000. You do get good ones coming up for cheap but anything over 8000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend unless you want to jump straight in and drive without doing anything to it. Price doesn't make any difference though as it'll still rust and break the same as a cheaper one. Your choice but I know what I'd do
 
Trouble is there are plenty of chancers out there asking 8 grand for 1500 quid defenders. You need to know what you're looking at or you're going to get ripped off. Prices are ridiculous for what is really an old fashioned, poorly put together vehicle. And that's the new ones.
 
I'll sell you my £2000 Defender for £8000 if you want? Bargain! It even looks like it been used and everything so you don't have to worry about that new car smell
 
Ive just seen your location, just down the road from where I live and I bought my 90 from the row of houses right by the prison!
 
lynall, im a bin man so i emptied all the bins around that area, i know in the estate next to the prison there is a red defender 110 that belongs to someone. lol
 
buy a piece of sh*t with a rotten chassis and bulkhead, but decent body, engine, and running gear ;)

re-build with a new galv chassis and properly repaired bulkhead!

you'll know exactly where you stand, and in the long run you won't lose a penny :D
 
Mines 22 years old and has only 77k on it, and that's genuine with all MOT'S to verify the mileage.

That said it's cost me a fortune getting it sorted, luckily (apart from the doors) mines largely rust free!
 

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