well i have finally convinced the other half that a defender is a wise investment. feed her loads of bs about how we need one in the winter and she fell for it, happy days.


so my budget is £5000, not a lot i know for a 90 but was wondering what you think i should look for when buying. i am going to spend money on it as i go. i thought i should go for a good chassis and sort the rest as i go what do you guy think.

Check chassis, bulkhead, tyres, test drive it, don't just get the first one you like, hae a look around at others

£5.5k can get you something like this eBay: 200860744435

These are some examples of what you can get for £5k

170954721667
251183750120
181026023465

Congrats Cueball.
I just got my first one about 2 months ago - similar budget to yourself. I had a major hiccup though so the next time I buy one (although I hope my current one is the forever one), I'll be doing an oil check and giving it a good sniff. Sound stupid? Well, it turned out that mine had a crack in the cylinder head and diesel was leaking into the oil. It was driving extremely well, a really nice ride (as defenders go then one day I was accelerating at around 65mph to over take on the motorway and it started revving like a mad thing and when I pulled over and turned off the ignition, it kept running until it eventually just died in a huge cloud of black smoke. Not a very technical description I know but the best I can do - sorry.
I ended up opting for a replacement engine as the quotes I was getting from 3 different mechanics was about 1600 euro for a cylinder head replacement. The 2nd hand replacement engine, with 3 months warranty plus labour was 1650 euro.
Thats my bit of advice anyway. Enjoy the search. It will be worth it. Best thing I ever drove, despite my bad luck at the start.

Read, buy, enjoy....

Defender Buyers Guide

Of all the cars I've had (and still got!) my old 110 Defender is the one I enjoy driving the most. After 20 years the seat is moulded to my a*se quite comfortably. Its not the fastest thing on the road but its got a certain presence and trundling along at a steady 60 you don't worry about getting to your destination as much as enjoying the journey.