Landrover Defender

V-Spec

V-Spec

V-Spec

Soldato
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Posts
3,698
Location
London
I'm just wondering about Land Rover defenders, the older ones from around 1990 ish...
I do a lot of fishing and driving to and from work with a lot of kit and I quite fancy the idea of a defender, as I think they can be made to look quite cool and they are built like bricks. I don't know anyone who owns one, so im wondering what running costs are like, i've been looking at 2.5l diesels etc, so I imagine they still do reasonable MPG.. also, things like engine reliability and drivetrain quality of the 4wd system, I assume things like this are very good however If anyone on here could give me any advice on them, or what sort of things you look for when buying one.. there are a lot of cars on autotrader for around £1500-3000.. this is about my price range.
 
A 1990 will be a 200TDI, very good engine, nice and powerfull and around 111hp with a heap load of torque to go with it :) However, if its motorway miles your after a defender is not the best choice. Yes it will plod but 70mph is about it. Cabin noise can be loud at this speed. Around town i loved driving mine! They are one of the most unfriendly vehicles to drive lol :) As 1990 is old check the chassis for rot. They are common on the rear crossmember and outriggers which hold the body to the chassis. You can weld on complete new replcements but it may be costly if you have to pay! A rear crossmember is around £150! not including welding! Back to the engine, they pretty much bomb proof and a lot more reliable than the 2.5TD which suffer badly from oil breathing, blocking up the filter and causing it to go bang! :) The gearboxes are faily stropng although check they go into gears correctly. But bear in mind it isnt a car so gears will be stiff, mine were until it was warm! Checdk for any whines coming from gearbox and diffs as these can be expensive for replacements. Check for play in the prop shafts also check it doesnt pull when to either left or right while driving and/or braking. Wind noise in the cab can be quite bad to, being a land rover the doors do not completely seal properly so it can be loud while traveling at speed. The body is ally so it doesnt rot although where the metal inside of the doors etc meet the ally it does come thru. The front doors are common to rot at the bottoms so not to worry unless they are very bad! Doors can be upwards of £150 PER DOOR and thats second hand. Fuel comsumption is bad :) It was worse than i expected to be honest, but being 2 ton + and having the aerodynamics of the titanic its to be expected. Offroad.. well i dont need to go into that lol as we all know how good they are. And finally, price. For a 1990 it will be 200 TDI as i said. Its sought after and £1500 will buy you a complete dogm if your lucky! Id expect to pay around £3000+ for a nice one! I paid £1750 for a 1986 2.5TD Land Rover! Make sure if you buy one it has a reasonalbe ammount of MOT on it! As people selling them with little MOT might have something to hide! Good luck anyways!
 
Well I use a pug 205 for my runaround/fishing car, which gets nailed with me thrashing around gravel pits etc... Also its a nightmare to get gear in cause its so small.... I've always liked defenders.. Always makes me laugh watching them tackle any terrain, the only terrain they can't handle is upside down!
 
They really are awesome mate. Ive owned one and i loved it! :) Make sure you buy a solid one. Dont buy one which needs welding on the chassis if you can help it :) Engines can also be very expensive to get ahold of for the 200TDI
 
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