I'll agree with that, I've owned two now. each time I though I got a minter, few days in I start to realise that its not as mint as first though and I've ended up doing work to it (I'm buy ing a new car goggles). However I have learnt loads by having to do this work, so if you really want to get to know you defender buying a complete shed and spend some time making it like new! Its all simple stuff that can be done on the drive!



However if that's not your thing then if you were to look for one thing as above I'd suggest look at rust, particularly chassis, cross member and bulkhead, normally a better sign of condition that mileage

Ben
 
Thank you for the last few comments... in the last hour or so i have had a good chat with a guy who is selling a tdi 300 and I am off on a journey early hours tomorro to view it. It has very low milage, fsh, all previous mots, cambelt has been changed, all related documents available, appears to be in mint condition on the 20-30 pictures provided by him, so here is to fingers crossed.
I would much prefer to bag a good tdi than a tdci, least I will be able to learn about my vehicle inside out.

One piece of advice I could do with please... If I wanted to check vin plates, chassis plates, engine number to verify everything is legit where are these located. I appreciate all your help guys. If I it feels right, drives well and all appears above board Ill post my pictures tomorro night.
 
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Potential Defender 90 Owner said:
Thank you for the last few comments... in the last hour or so i have had a good chat with a guy who is selling a tdi 300 and I am off on a journey early hours tomorro to view it. It has very low milage, fsh, all previous mots, cambelt has been changed, all related documents available, appears to be in mint condition on the 20-30 pictures provided by him, so here is to fingers crossed.
I would much prefer to bag a good tdi than a tdci, least I will be able to learn about my vehicle inside out.

One piece of advice I could do with please... If I wanted to check vin plates, chassis plates, engine number to verify everything is legit where are these located. I appreciate all your help guys. If I it feels right, drives well and all appears above board Ill post my pictures tomorro night.
Click to expand...

OK!! ya takin the **** aint ya. One piece of advice from me :doh::doh::doh:
 
Good point made above, but depends on what you consider low mileage. If it was genuine low low mileage I would bother with a cam belt if it weren't need as its a bit of a pain! tming and all that.

Vin plate is riveted to the brake unit (LHS of engine bay up against bulkhead), I know where the engine number is on a V8; but no idea on a 300tdi as I've never bothered to look at a diesel. I'm sure someone else will know.

And again, if you REALLY want to get to know your Defender buy a really cheap one that needs everything doing!
 
Thanks for the VIN plate location. Milage is just under 60000. Any help with engine number and chassis number location please.

I can see that some people are thinking this guy is a right numpty and yea your probably right, but just trying to make sure I dont get ripped to the best of my ability, im sure you was all the same on your first purchase of a landy.
 
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engine no on top of cam gallery drivers side near front behind injection pump,check no in passenger window in front of dash ,and no on drivers side dumb iron in front of pas box bolts,windows have date code and seat belts are usualy dated too lots of info gives a picture,ie would be unusual to have one window with different date strange if all have same and not same date as number plate etc
 
I bought a low mileage (48k) 110 300tdi about 6 years ago and ended up replacing the chassis within 18 months coz I bought with heart not head, I replaced it with galvanized but also had lots of other issues that needed sorting and reckon I must have paid twice over for it.
On the bright side rust is now a thing of the past! (well apart from the 4 doors :D)
Be paranoid about rust not mileage.
 
no he must have found out that ownership is a life style and not like haveing children lol i hope he gets what he wants
 
drewster said:
no he must have found out that ownership is a life style and not like haveing children lol i hope he gets what he wants
Click to expand...


I reccon he might have got more than he wanted, a ****tin from the seller for asking dumb f*ck questions:D:D:D
 
My 97 finking mans fender chav mobile (disco) has full service history AND all its old MOT's :eek: :D olso one owner from new :D wiv 220000miles (when i bought it) now done 234000:D mechanical as perfect as they come and rusty as fook :( :D
 
mark g said:
I bought with heart not head.
Click to expand...

Having spent many hours online reading different posts, blogs, sites, tips etc on the vehicle I inspected I found a few issues which made me walk away from what appeared to be good purchase.... Im happy that my money is still in my pocket.... The above comments came in very useful so thanks Mark.

As sad as it may sound... even though I would prefer a Tdi 300 Ive decided that I am not up for the Landy Lottery... you can never know the true history of the vehicle you are purchasing... so on that note I am going to have to take on a TDCi... and Ive decided it will have to be a brand spanking new one... its gonna cost more... but Im cool with that when you weight up all the pro's and cons.

My minimal experience allowed me to find a few faults on the vehicle I inspected which highlighted that there was probably a lot more I had'nt uncovered and then started to make me think about the vehicles usage.... you never know if its been towing everyday for the last 10 years with a TDi...
 
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Potential Defender 90 Owner said:
Having spent many hours online reading different posts, blogs, sites, tips etc on the vehicle I inspected I found a few issues which made me walk away from what appeared to be good purchase.... Im happy that my money is still in my pocket.... The above comments came in very useful so thanks Mark.

As sad as it may sound... even though I would prefer a Tdi 300 Ive decided that I am not up for the Landy Lottery... you can never know the true history of the vehicle you are purchasing... so on that note I am going to have to take on a TDCi... and Ive decided it will have to be a brand spanking new one... its gonna cost more... but Im cool with that when you weight up all the pro's and cons.

My minimal experience allowed me to find a few faults on the vehicle I inspected which highlighted that there was probably a lot more I had'nt uncovered and then started to make me think about the vehicles usage.... you never know if its been towing everyday for the last 10 years with a TDi...
Click to expand...


before you jump talk to jamesmartin about the new ones the 6 speed from what i have been told by the Men that make there living working on them are junk and problems with the new (ford) motor It was detuned from the original used in commercial use.Just do a pm and they will answer you, go slow
 
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