santana -good or better?

are these santanas any good?
advantages and disadvantages/are there any?

santana used to be build land rover under licence. the lt85 is the santana box

santana were leaf spring and iveco powered. No seat box.

I think they still do - theres a couple of 10 plate Santanas around Bstoke.

Good people are put off by the parabolics however they seem pretty good and the prices are well good at the moment!

Drove a 110 equivalent just a few weeks ago and it was more than capable off road.
Finish was a bit basic (but then so are Landys) and I did not like the lights but other than that they seem good value for money. Not sure how much santana specific spare parts are though.

Leaf springs.......

ther are 2 types of lt85 santana split case 22c and lr 20c solid case which is also the heavy duty one as is oil feed through pump

That 2.3l iveco engine can be expensive to fix as Iveco parts prices are but it's been in their vans for yesrs so secondhand parts should be OK to find.

I looked at buying one, 6k for an 06 plate looks good but what put me off was they still had them, defenders sell in minutes if they're priced right so why don't they.

I agree with Jai - they are a great wee bus at a realistic price. What you need to ask yourself is - what are the professionals buying? Well, Land Rovers are a military staple in many countries BUT Santana are winning prestige military contracts all over, based on variations of that original PS10. I think they have a civvy and mil version now called the Mastif. The interior finish is rounded and uncomplicated and I like the idea of a gearbox that allows 2 or 4 wheel drive selection. It's still a Land Rover in my mind - but where the designers have had some free reign and gotten rid of some terrible Landy features - eg the front fly screens. Why not read some reviews on the internet?