1997 Defender 90 CSW - What's it worth?

Hi all,

I am a perspective new owner of a 1997 P reg Defender 90 CSW. I have ALWAYS wanted to own one, and now have the chance as a friend is selling his which he has owned from new.

Being new to the Land Rover world I am unsure as to its current value. I am a competant mechanic and have owned many vehicles all of which I work on myself.

The details of the vehicle is below, and I would greatly appreciate any comments/advice and also your opinion on the asking price.....................


1997 P reg Defender 90 CSW (factory fitted SW)
Rivera Blue
85,000 miles
5 new BF G'ridge tyres
Original Alloy wheels
Cloth upolstery seats (three accross front)
Thacham Cat 1 alarm
Sony head unit and speakers
FSH from main dealer
1 owner from new
£7000 no offers


I spent some time looking over the vehicle and it is in very good condition. I peered underneith for a good hour and every thing looks sound with very little surface rust, some minor oil leaks but nothing I would be concerned over. The Landy has only been used on road with most of its miles on the motorway. I drove the Landy and the gearbox works very well with no crunching or slack in any gears. The transfer box is sweet and does not whine, high/low and diff lock engage easy. I've only driven one other landy, but I'm pretty sure the ride was as to be expected, firm but controlled, all the bushed looked and felt tight.

The interior is clean and tidy if not a little used looking.

Looking through the the service history, LOTS of money has been spent keeping the landy up together. Noticable items replaced include; Rear cross member, recon turbo, transfer gear, complete steering assembly (track rods and damper), various anti-roll bar parts and one rear shock absorber. The service list really is busy.

The only problem I can find with the landy is cosmetic. The front passenger wheel arch (the plastic part) is scuffed and scratched, the passenger door has three pretty deep dents each the size of a tennis ball, and the rear passenger side pannel just above the exhaust exit also has a minor ding. All th other body pannels are straight and clean, it's just the passenger side lets it down.

I have looked at the market and cant really understand the pricing of Defenders. The bottom line price for this Landys is £7000.

One part of me think its a good deal and the other thinks 7k might be a little steep.

I would appreicate the views of the forum as you all have much more experience than me.

Kind regards, and thanks in advance

Daniel

7k sounds a bit steep considering already had a new rear cross member - is the rest of the chassis rotting invisibly from the inside?

What about the front bulkhead - corners round the windscreen and the invisible-but-rots-first panel behind the dashboard?

Why only replace one shock absorber, should replace them in pairs to keep the balance...

If the bodywork was mint I would say it's worth 7 maybe as much as 8k, but you can get nearly mint rebuilt Landys with slightly morre mileage for quite a bit less.

It's a good grand over I'd reckon. £6.5k will get you an 1998 reg CSW in black with 97k on the clock on Autotrader at the moment.

Thanks for your replies guys.

I asked why the cross member had been replaced and the owner said they requested it be replaced because "it looked a bit rusty." On interigation I think they did not like the look of the surface rust, it wasn't that it was heavily corroded. They are not technical mined people and I'm sure they've never even looked undernieth the bonnet let alone crawled undernieth.

I checked around the front and rear bulk head, the main chassie rails and out riggers; no sign of corrosion. If it is rusting from the inside out then you are right it is invisible to me. All looked fine.

I agree why replace one shock not a pair? I can only guess at the MOT they were unhappy with the response of one shock and advised it be replaced. It would not occur to the current owner to replace the pair i'm sure.

I am pretty sure it is mechanicaly sound, it just has some cosmetic marks. It sounds to me like £7k a middle road price, and I could find a 90 CSW cheaper if I hunted?

PS- the srvice work has been carried out by Liveridge. Good or bad thing?

Keep the comments comming, I'm in two minds!

Do a search on Autotrader and you'll find a nice White 90 CSW with lots of toys, TD5, 100k miles, 99 T reg for £6195 in Manchester area (Urmston)

I'm getting the feeling you think their are better buys to be had!?

I'm after a landy around the 85k miles mark.

I understand that the higher milage landys seem to offer better value, but I'm trying to get a feel for what she's worth based on the details and todays market.

Anyone else bought a landy with similar details/spec recently? How much did you give? Is 7K way off the mark?

Daniel

No one's saying it's not a good buy - it's a question of whether it's worth £7k.

I would say not. My local Indy has a 99CSW with less than 50k miles and absolutely immaculate for £6495 with 12 months MOT / Tax / Warranty.

If you like it and it seems to be in good nick buy it. You could spend a lifetime looking for a better deal and it may turn out to be a dog. The thing with Landies is condition, not mileage. If looked after one with 150000 could be much better than an 80000 miler that's been neglected. Also top money doesn't mean top condition, you have to decide for yourself if you think the vehicle is worth the asking price.

Treworgey 90 - the 99CSW sounds like a great deal!

Does your indy have a website I could look at with the vehicles details listed?

Thanks for all the advice

Daniel

I recently purchased a 1997 90, csw with 120,000 on th clocl, excellent chassis,new radiator, new complete re spray, v good condition inside, 5 new colway retreads, 5 alloy wheels as standard, v little rust anywhere, apart from inside rear door.
I paid £7500 for mine with 3 month warranty and first service for free.
I'm sure I could get a newer, lower millage vehicle for cheaper somewhere else but at some point you have to stop looking and start buying!
If ya buy private then your prob save atleast a grand on the price for same from a dealership,I choose a dealrership cos I wanted a bit of piece of mind and a 3 month warranty made me feel comfortable spending the most money I've ever spend on a car(buy quite a margin).

My honest opinion is look around, grab some magazines that have price lists in new and used (will giv ya an idea of wat to pay for wat spec).
If ya go private ur get best price but u take more of a chance of buyin a lemon.
I feel my 7.5k was well spend (fingers crossed), even with its chirps, squeaks and odd drip of oil!
hope ya get wat ya want.
ted

Thanks for the Advice Ted, much appreciated.

I think if I could get him down to £6800ish I'd be happy. I could spend the extra £200 on having the dents taken out and a bottle of polish to clean her up a little! Then I'd have that content feeling you need when you buy a new car.

He just wont budge on £7k! Still it's only £200, I'll let you know if I go for it.


Any more comments on the value of this particular landy and/or recent purchase stories?

Ill stick my four pennies in as-well.
I bought last year; a 300tdi 110 and hunted around for about 6 months and travelled alot of miles all over the country seeing landies.

Mine was a high? miler at 115K but it was absolutely mint inside and out . I had it looked at by an independent dealer for a service and mot last week and he offered to buy it off me for what i paid for it, and he was going to put it on the forecourt!! Worth the 7.5K absolutely.

So i rekon get the best you can for your pennies. Dont go for one just cos its cheap it may cost you a fortune later!!

happy hunting!

lt.dan2000 said:

Thanks for your replies guys.

I asked why the cross member had been replaced and the owner said they requested it be replaced because "it looked a bit rusty." On interigation I think they did not like the look of the surface rust, it wasn't that it was heavily corroded. They are not technical mined people and I'm sure they've never even looked undernieth the bonnet let alone crawled undernieth.

I checked around the front and rear bulk head, the main chassie rails and out riggers; no sign of corrosion. If it is rusting from the inside out then you are right it is invisible to me. All looked fine.

I agree why replace one shock not a pair? I can only guess at the MOT they were unhappy with the response of one shock and advised it be replaced. It would not occur to the current owner to replace the pair i'm sure.

I am pretty sure it is mechanicaly sound, it just has some cosmetic marks. It sounds to me like £7k a middle road price, and I could find a 90 CSW cheaper if I hunted?

PS- the srvice work has been carried out by Liveridge. Good or bad thing?

Keep the comments comming, I'm in two minds!

Click to expand...

The last line says it all..... go somewhere else!!!!

Cheers Steve

Thanks for sharing your experience 1970Shirts, commparisons are useful when making a decision.

ebbadger - I don't get it? Have I missed somthing?

Cheers all

lt.dan2000 said:

ebbadger - I don't get it? Have I missed somthing?

Cheers all

Click to expand...

If your in 2 minds you must have doubts. if you have any doubts at all don't buy if your certain it definately the one you want then buy it.

Very true Redhand.

I know I'm the only one who can decide if I want it. Im viewing it again today so I'll see how I 'Feel' after that.

Thank you to everyone for the advice.

If I become an owner you'll be hearing from me again I'm sure!

Cheers
Daniel

Ahh, last but one line if you count your sign off line....Sorry for being slightly cryptic, I beleive there are certain rules on the forum about what you can and cannot say in open post about companies, I saw you posted that a certain company had done the servicing and all I can therefore say is .... nothing

However if you can get hold of Acropolis or Snake110 on LR Boards they may be able to offer their personal opinions in a private message.

Cheers Steve

nope - no rules - yu can post wot yu want - if they give yu crap service - tell us.
if they give good service - tell us.

if they are (in your opinion) sharks - then tell us.

please note my disclaimer

Snake 110 is probably a good person to track down, he is a very capable Landy enthusiast, was over the moon at getting a job there and left very soon because he wasnt comfortable doing jobs to the 'required' standard