Mustbemental

Mustbemental

New Member
Or the saga of buying my first land rover........

I don't have much else to talk about on here really, not owning a land rover or knowing a great deal about them and all I though but I am starting to realise just how easy it would be to part with a big lump of cash for a complete crock of crap.

My starting budget was £2500 but by the end of the month I should have £3000 to spend so I'll be sitting on my hands and hanging on to see if I can get the best possible vehicle for my money.

I will try to keep this updated as I go round looking at vehicles but to avoid being seen as trying to flout the advertising rules I will only take one picture of each vehicle that I look at and will describe it as being "good" "ok" or "poor" and either in or out of budget or a maybe, plus I wont be passing on any contact details.

Cheers
Mental
 
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Good luck mate and keeping sitting on your hands.

Last year i bought my first defender. Wee 90 300tdi, nothing special to look at but running wise was sound. Had loads of recipts and history including a recent head gasket change. (pretty much sold it to me). She drove well and i spent a few months changing parts here and there. (pic below) I spent 3500 on her and sold her 6 months later for the same price.

I viewed some dogs in my search and learned quickly to walk away. if it looks good it dosent allways mean it is!

However i really should of waited and saved as what i needed was a 110 csw. I started the whoile process over again and found my 110 csw bit more than i wanted but looks fantastic for its age. But it had no paper history and i took the gamble.

4 months later i,ve changed 600 quid worth of parts to get her to drive as nice as the 90, (i should of swapped the engines over at work). She drives much nicer now but still has one or two issues that grip ma sh!t. Its more family friendly but.....was it worth the punt?

What i,m rambling on about is take yur time and veiw as many as possible, (i travled 220 miles twice to veiw the 110) there is plenty out there. Just beware of the shinny wagon that looks good but is a dog. I,m well aware of Defenders (we have them at work) so i,m not a novice but i got bit with my 110!

If your unsure ask on here, i only started using this site last year and the advice and banter is allways spot on and has helped heaps!:D...and good luck again!
 

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Cheers mental:D

i ramble loads! i,m looking at the beast outside, but i,ve been giving house work to dae by the wife.....but i want to finish rebuild my interior lol....if only the sun would pull its arse out!
 
I'm looking for a 90 but I seem to be looking at 110's all the time at the mo
This one form yesterday in a fetching snot green, was well in budget, ok but taty body and an ok to good chassis with a tdi3? 300 TDi? Disco 3? (what do I know) engine.


Gut instinct tells me to walk away
 
take a few more pics if you can, that way we may be able to advise on what your lookin at. we were looking for a 90 defender for our cousins lad, and believe me, it was not easy to find one. some real bits of scrap out there but if you keep looking, you will find a good one. they are out there but very well hidden.how far are you prepaired to travel?

ron.
 
Probably going to have to restrict my self to a 100 mile radius of the Bournemouth area just simply because I wont be able to afford to travel any further with out eating into my budget for the landy!

That one above is ex MoD (etb?) with a pto winch tyres were a bit rough too
 
Now this one on the other hand looks really good all over, good chassis, ok to good body and lots of toys, tax and test but is well over budget though it may be a maybe come the end of the month, its been to Africa and back but has had a lot of money thrown at it
 
Good luck in your search Mental. When you see the right one, you will know. I spent months looking for my second Landy (Silver) and as soon as I laid eyes on her, that was it, and she's been brilliant (touch wood, lol). :p
 
ron.[/quote]

Mustbemental said:
Probably going to have to restrict my self to a 100 mile radius of the Bournemouth area just simply because I wont be able to afford to travel any further with out eating into my budget for the landy!

That one above is ex MoD (etb?) with a pto winch tyres were a bit rough too
Click to expand...

Mate if you travel the ex-mod route be very carefull!

I have the joy of supprting/recovering Army landrovers. None of the 300tdi,s like that one have had PTO,S fitted. Most likely ex water/electricity/etc. Some of the Army rovers are totaly trashed, bear in mind some thick or not so clever squaddie has driven it. However most spares are genuine and the engines are replaced fairly reguarley, but some of the re-con ones are abismal.:mad: They are also well serviced.

Me personally i would avoid ex-mod.

The second 110 is a nice looking example though! As mentioned post more pics and we,ll have a ganders!
 
I'm going to go have a look at both of them again in a bit so will get some more pics

Just spoke to the chap with the snot green one, the engine is out of a disco
 
The 2nd one does look good. But with that amount of toys on it, I'd wonder how hard a life it's had.

The engine maybe fine, but you might find ancilleries start failing.
 
The bloke did say the previous owner had spent a lot of money preping it to take it it to North Africa so it has done a lot of miles and had a tough life but it has been well looked after, end of the day who knows but I can't see it being there by the time I've got the cash for it 3 and a half he wants for it
 
Been looking for 6mths now got a bit more to spend around 5k and having the same problem . There's some real ****e out there . I'm just looking for a solid car, but from what I've seen there ain't many, mostly starship milage rust buckets in the 5grand bracket ........ Unless you know different ........... :)
 
TBF North Africa aint THAT far.

We used to do Algesras (spelling) which is next tp Gibralter in Lorries. Only took 2 and a half days.
 
Rusty Spanner said:
Been looking for 6mths now got a bit more to spend around 5k and having the same problem . There's some real ****e out there . I'm just looking for a solid car, but from what I've seen there ain't many, mostly starship milage rust buckets in the 5grand bracket ........ Unless you know different ........... :)
Click to expand...

I don't reckon the milage matters too much mate so long as it has been looked after, my old nissan did night on 200 thousand miles before it blew the head gasket and to be honest if a landy has got high milage on the clock but its had a new engine does it really matter?

Also any landy in the £5000 or less bracket probably needs some work doing to it, that blue 110 I've just been to look at again has 225 thousand miles on the clock and water pouring into the passenger foot well through a hole in the bulk head but its still only just a little too pricey for what it is at three and a half.

Listen to me sounding like an instant expert :cool: though thats just me repeating what I've just been told.
 
Mustbemental said:
I don't reckon the milage matters too much mate so long as it has been looked after, my old nissan did night on 200 thousand miles before it blew the head gasket and to be honest if a landy has got high milage on the clock but its had a new engine does it really matter?

Also any landy in the £5000 or less bracket probably needs some work doing to it, that blue 110 I've just been to look at again has 225 thousand miles on the clock and water pouring into the passenger foot well through a hole in the bulk head but its still only just a little too pricey for what it is at three and a half.

Listen to me sounding like an instant expert :cool: though thats just me repeating what I've just been told.
Click to expand...

I disagree a car that's done over 200000 miles is due some major looking at, the engine at that milage all though its done well to get there, is going to need some work pretty soon bearings will be worn bores will be worn injectors and pump will be worn unless they've already been replaced so you would need to see a comprehensive service history ancillaries starter and alternator again unless replaced will be ready to give in .

Suspension and steering is going to be tired gearboxes and axles the same .And as you say most Landys in that bracket are going to need some work but you shouldn't be looking at anything major after shelling out 5k . I can understand your going to be looking at some sort of rebuild /restoration at 2 - 2.5k I've come to think people are blinded by the Land Rover badge have you seen the cars you can buy with 5k I know there not Defenders but come on prices are getting ridiculous lately . I'm not sure if people are actually paying these prices, as a lot of the stuff on eblag just keeps being relisted .

I've been around Land Rovers 30 years and its usually the new comers carried along by the nostalgia and dreams of mud plugging go out and buy a Land Rover for 3k that's realistically only worth about £800 , suppose that's the learning curve I've been looking 6mths now I've missed out on a couple but Ill end up with a nice tidy TDI not a **** box, but then I know what there really worth ;)
 
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