2001 Defender 110 advice

Hi Guys,
I've been dreaming of joining the Land Rover club since before I can remember. I'm finally in a financial position to be able to start looking around but in my current location in the middle east, choices are very limited.
I've found a 2001 Defender 110 for sale and am going to drive over and have a look in a few days. I was wandering if any of you could offer some advice regarding this particular model or if you would recommend holding out for a different year/version. What would you be looking for when inspecting the vehicle? The car has been kept in a very dry climate. I need a car with good sand performance.

SAL Manufacturer code: Land Rover
LD Model: Defender (for early models: Ninety, or One Ten)
H Wheel base: 110 inch
M Body type: 4-door station wagon (LWB)
F Engine type: 2.5 litre Tdi diesel, model 11L (200Tdi) or model 16L (300Tdi)
8 Steering and transmission: Left-hand drive (LHD), 5-speed manual (LT85, LT77, LT77S, R380 or other)
1 Model year: 2001
A Assembly location: Solihull, UK

Thanks in advance and I look forward to contributing to the forum in the future!

Josh

Hello, Josh. It's general forum etiquette to go to the 'Introduce yourself' section of the forum and say hello. Check out some of the other posts in there, if you are unsure about what to say.
If you were to approach a group of enthusiasts in real life you wouldn't just blurt out a question, you'd say hello first.
Your question is also a very common one, which most will be reluctant to answer because they would have answered the same question many times before. An age old question, on top of not introducing yourself, will get a slow response. If you use the search function for this topic you will get lots of threads to read. There may be something in the 'common faults and questions' section.
Members aren't being a pain or pedantic, trust me you will be the same when you have been a member for a year or two and made several hundred posts.
It's a superb forum and you will get a huge amount of support, just one or two small things to sort out first. Hope this helps, mate.

I think living in Saudi, the first thing l'd check on any used Landy was whether it had working aircon.

Check the cooling system is working well. Even in a hot climate, the tdi shouldn't be over stressed - they were designed to cope. If the temp gauge is reading high, it probably needs work. If you're going to use it in sand, sand tyres are an obvious bonus, as are sand ladders!

Any chance you could post up a couple of pictures of it?
If it's lived in Saudi it should be rust free. How many miles has it done?