Defender -things I should know?

[pete_w]

Hello all

Been a while since I posted here..... after parting company with the TVR over a year ago I'm desperate to restore some fun in my motoring. Since I wouldn't be able to trust myself with a Griff I decided a Defender was the way forward, but, knowing very little about 'em I'm after any advice you guys can offer.... so here's a few for starters;

Independent or private? -Some reputable independents up here but you pay through the nose by the look of it. Is the peace of mind worth the (what) £3k markup?

Price -10 year old, 100+k on the clock, £8k. Reasonable?

Is there the LR equivalent of Rob Ingleby?

Engine variants -TD, TDi 200 & 300, TD5? Have heard TD's have a tendancy to go bang? And 200's are better than 300's and TD5's?

Service -everybody mentions they have a genuine LR timing belt. Something to worry about?

2" lift. I want to off-road it, will I notice a difference? What tyres should I be looking for too?

Being a former TVR owner I'm used to things falling apart and going rusty, what should I expect with a 90?

Insurance -NFU Mutual seems pretty good, any thoughts?

Cheers for any help.

[slinky]

Where in the country are you chap?

Liveridge 4x4 in Earlswood are very good for refurbing/reconditioning landies..

Pa bought one from them last december, and it's a cracking car..

I think he paid 11.5 for his, a completely refurbed M plate 90... and it looked factory fresh when we picked it up...

hth

slinky

[chim_girl]

I was looking to buy something similar quite recently. I have pages of links to garages and buying guides written by owners. If you send me your email address I'll get them over to you later today. I've also bought a magazine with a Defender buyers guide in it, full of pictures and useful info. I'm happy to pass it on to you if want to send me your address.

Jo

[pete_w]

slinky said:

Where in the country are you chap? slinky

Deeepest darkest Derbyshire so I have quite a few options. All the locals seem to buy from two independents that have been established for years. I'm wondering if I wandered over to North Wales or similar I might find sommit cheaper

[Graham.J]

pete_w said:

Engine variants -TD, TDi 200 & 300, TD5? Have heard TD's have a tendancy to go bang? And 200's are better than 300's and TD5's?

Typically the 200TDi is supposedly a stronger unit than the 300TDi but both engines are good. The TD5 is a much newer, more powerful and generally better engine, but as it has an ECU if it goes wrong it's a pain, the 200 and 300 don't have ECU's and as such are relatively easy to fix. Which is why the army opted out of having the newer engine, it's a lot easier to fix the old one 'out in the field'.

pete_w said:

Service -everybody mentions they have a genuine LR timing belt. Something to worry about?

300TDi timing belts have a habit of going prematurely although this can be sorted by fitting Zeus timing gears.

pete_w said:

2" lift. I want to off-road it, will I notice a difference? What tyres should I be looking for too?

All depends on how hard you'll be off roading, compared with how much time you're going to spend on the road. I had a 90 with BFG MT's. The change and off road performance I noticed when I put the tyres on was astounding, it was virtually unstoppable. A 90's ground clearance is good as it is, unless you're doing pretty hard stuff you should be ok with a standard height. Although if you let me/us know what you'll be doing perhaps we can advise better, same for tyre choice

pete_w said:

Being a former TVR owner I'm used to things falling apart and going rusty, what should I expect with a 90?

Depending on how well it's been looked after, look out for rust around the door cappings, as Land Rover stopped glavanising them getting rust here is inevitable really. Bulkhead, check it thoroughly, rear crossmember and I think the outriggers as well. Good thing about 90's is that you can get underneath them without actually having to jack them up or have them on ramps

pete_w said:

Insurance -NFU Mutual seems pretty good, any thoughts? Cheers for any help.

I've always heard that NFU were good for insurance, I had the best quote from Tesco.

Hope this helps, good luck in your search......and remember, we want pictures when you get it

Graham

>> Edited by Graham.J on Tuesday 7th September 12:12

[pete_w]

Hi Graham,

You got the Westie going yet?

Thanks for the quick info. I've moved on from the Lightweight idea I was previously toying with now finances have settled. Think a 90 might be a better buy.....although it was mighty fun off-road in my mates lightweight

Tis but a purely self-indulgent weekend toy / workhorse for now. Off-roading aspirations..... mud, water, loose rock, steep inclines. That's a point; is there a directory of access land for such activity or a case of checking the OS maps?

[seaton]

pete_w said:

Hello all Been a while since I posted here..... after parting company with the TVR over a year ago I'm desperate to restore some fun in my motoring. Since I wouldn't be able to trust myself with a Griff I decided a Defender was the way forward, but, knowing very little about 'em I'm after any advice you guys can offer.... so here's a few for starters; Independent or private? -Some reputable independents up here but you pay through the nose by the look of it. Is the peace of mind worth the (what) £3k markup?

I personaly would be looking private, but has the risks of being burned, there are some real money pits out there!

pete_w said:

Price -10 year old, 100+k on the clock, £8k. Reasonable?

For that sort of cash I would want a good base model (van or truck cab) 300tdi or a good late model 200tdi station wagon.

pete_w said:

Is there the LR equivalent of Rob Ingleby?

Not to my knowledge

pete_w said:

Engine variants -TD, TDi 200 & 300, TD5? Have heard TD's have a tendancy to go bang? And 200's are better than 300's and TD5's?

TD's can be troublesome but bad ones can be esily spotted by heavy breating, but still aren't up to a great deal. 200&300 are both v-good engines if serviced regular, but 300's have a problem with cam belts chafing on the timing cover and snapping, but there is a retrofit update kit from land rover and its worth checking it has been fitted. Youl be lucky to get a TD5 for 10K

pete_w said:

Service -everybody mentions they have a genuine LR timing belt. Something to worry about?

See above not on 300's

pete_w said:

2" lift. I want to off-road it, will I notice a difference? What tyres should I be looking for too?

I would leave the suspension lift untill you are sure you need one. Simply changing the springs and dampers will cause castor issues on the front. As for tyres I would go for 238 85 r 16 or 265 70 r 16 BF Goodrich M/T's

pete_w said:

Being a former TVR owner I'm used to things falling apart and going rusty, what should I expect with a 90?

Prity much the same

pete_w said:

Insurance -NFU Mutual seems pretty good, any thoughts?

I used the NFU for mine but its always worth ringing around.


For what its worth, if i had 10k for a D90, I would buy a late 80's V8 for about 4-5k fit a noisy exhast, and spent the rest sorting out niggles, and buying kit for off roading, Hi-lift ropes tyres etc.



>> Edited by seaton on Tuesday 7th September 17:11

>> Edited by seaton on Tuesday 7th September 17:14

[pete_w]

slinky said:

Where in the country are you chap? Liveridge 4x4 in Earlswood are very good for refurbing/reconditioning landies.. slinky

Looking at the feedback they have on their website they seem like the people I should be talking to.

Cheers for the link

[ChelseaTractor]

pete_w said:

Price -10 year old, 100+k on the clock, £8k. Reasonable?

Don't bother, get a Td5 they are 10 times better than a Tdi (prepared to get flamed!)

As it happens mine is for sale at the moment ......

www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=28011&s=282

[Graham]

have you considered a rangey. for a lot less money that a d90 you get leather, v8, air con, elec windows, ect ect...

[heightswitch]

The Best Buy is a 300TDi pre anti roll bars and post rear discs. The 300 had the R380 Box, rather than the LT77. (Both boxes have their problems)but the R380 has a sweeter shift The TDi is leagues better than the TD5, It developes a lot more low down Torque, so if you want to Tow and Off road then you will find it much better than the TD5 which is not as good in low and needs rowing along more on the box. The TD5 also has Anti-Roll bars, which means it is not as good off road in standard trim. The TDi models don't have the electronic gubbins that the TD5 has and therefore are a lot less likely to break down and be expensive.

Don't listen to all the bollox people tell you about reliability / unreliability If cars are looked after then they are all the same. Too many "get ya from a-b people" that think the bonnet is full of elastic bands.

I drive classics and an audi S4 and I never owned a 4X4 untill a year ago. My 90 300TDi defender Van is the best vehicle I have ever owned. It tows 3 ton, it goes off road, it sits at 75 on the motoway all day it goes to the Builders merchants regularly. in short it does everything a car does and 100% more. You also don't get the "Ars***le" tag that other 4x4 drivers are often labeled with because it is a proper off road utility vehicle and not just a yuppie status symbol. it is also classless.

Don't let some of the internet pundits put you off. landies are as cheap as chips for what they are.

its just a shame that the ford marketing men are trying to turn the new models into something they were never intended to be.

buy a van rather than a county and spec it out yourself, this way you will save at least a couple of grand. don't be in a hurry to buy, there are stacks of them out there. look on the auto trader web site and be prepared to turn up on a thursday morning when the mag goes on sale. the best are bought by traders to sell on.

8K should get you a M,N,P 300Tdi 90. i paid that a year ago for mine and she is a minter with all the toys and freestyle alloys.(No its not for sale)

Neil

[Graham.J]

pete_w said:

Hi Graham, You got the Westie going yet?

Not yet Pete, thanks for asking though Hoping to have it finally running this weekend

pete_w said:

Thanks for the quick info. I've moved on from the Lightweight idea I was previously toying with now finances have settled. Think a 90 might be a better buy.....although it was mighty fun off-road in my mates lightweight

I've also moved on from the LW idea (not sure if I told you) but I'm looking for a cheap V8 90 at the moment for a little project

pete_w said:

Tis but a purely self-indulgent weekend toy / workhorse for now. Off-roading aspirations..... mud, water, loose rock, steep inclines. That's a point; is there a directory of access land for such activity or a case of checking the OS maps?

I was running 265/75R16 BFG MT's on White 8 spokes, absolutely FANTASTIC tyres will be the first thing bought for the new one. As for the greenlane situation I DID have a green lane directory knocking about somewhere that I'd found online, I'll try and dig it out. I think it's a case of checking your OS's and possibly the GLASS website.

[pete_w]

Cheers for the input people,

Range Rover -I like 'em, but I can see lots of things to go wrong electronics-wise and I'd be loathed to put my muddy boots near the leather

Nice looking landy Jon, alas the folding stops well short of the asking...eh, I'm a sort of building surveyor too, how come I don't get a shiny new blue Tiv

Anyways, I've fired off an email excusing my ignorance and explaining my wish list to the people at liverage. Fingers crossed the budget and wish list don't differ too much!

Fingers crossed for the weekend Graham J.

Cheers

Pete

[psimpson7]

I'd say get a td5 hardtop too. There is a lot of nonsense spouted about the td5's unreliability. I had to have a crankposition sensor changed on mine just after I bought it, which was done under warranty, but since then it has done 7k miles in the last 3 months without missing a beat. now upto 18k in total.

Few mods on it now including diff locks and 255 85 r16 mud terrains, oh and a xd9000i winch

Brilliant car, tows effortlessly, will sit flat out all day, awesome off road and looks brilliant. Not very efficient tho!!

Pete