300tdi defender 90 totally original

Hi guys,
A friend of mine has had an offer of first refusal on a hardtop 300tdi defender 90 ‘p’reg GENUINE 22,000miles!!!
I've seen it and it is original and MINT!

Question, how much is it worth?
My friend has told me how much the seller wants for it, but being such a low milage vehicle its quite rare, and difficult to know how much its worth!

as much as someone wants to pay.

me - half a mars bar and a farthing chew.

The Mad Hat Man said:

as much as someone wants to pay.

me - half a mars bar and a farthing chew.

Click to expand...

Not a fan of dafenders then?

Low mileage doesnt mean its been sat in a dry garage for years, it means it hasn't been used, which isnt necessarily a good thing. Have a right good look over it, the usual suspects regarding corrosion, brakes etc.

nobber said:

Low mileage doesnt mean its been sat in a dry garage for years, it means it hasn't been used, which isnt necessarily a good thing. Have a right good look over it, the usual suspects regarding corrosion, brakes etc.

Click to expand...

I would second that opinion. Low mileage does not mean good condition, it has still had 23 year of rusting. It will also have had 23 years of everything rubber degrading. So even with the low mileage it may be in need of most of the suspension bushes and engine pipework replacing. An easy way to assess how well it has been looked after (despite the low mileage): has it had three timing belt changes? It will shortly be due a fourth. IIRC the interval for the timing belt on a 300tdi is 72k or 6 years, so although it is no where near the mileage on age, and again rubber deterioration, it should still have had them replace. Similarly is it still on its original tyres? These have a life span of about 10 years so are likely to need replacing.
All the low mileage means is that the drive-train has not had a chance to wear and theoretically (although problems can arise from lack of use) the internals of the engine have not worn. Everything else will be almost equivalent to a vehicle that is the same age with higher mileage.
As with buying any old land rover I would maintain that mileage is almost irrelevant and it should be bought on condition. If it has sat in a heated garage, regularly started and run up to temperature (or drained and prepared for long term storage), and meticulously maintained on age rather than mileage, it will be worth far more than if its low mileage can be attributed to being sat in the hedge on the side of the farmyard for the last 20 years.

Mikewilliams said:

Not a fan of dafenders then?

Click to expand...

expensive rust buckets!

As distinct from Discos - cheap warm rustbuckets and freelanders - over-complicated rustbuckets.

As i wrote in my original post it is in immaculate condition, he’s asking £8000 for it. I think its worth it myself.

You could buy a cheaper one and spend well over 8g to get it immaculate but you would know it inside out. Have a very detailed look over it and if it is truly immaculate, it sounds good.

Trouble with low mileage vehicles is if you start doing normal mileage in the they can start to deteriorate very quickly.

Is it really MINT. Have you got any photos?

Mikewilliams said:

As i wrote in my original post it is in immaculate condition, he’s asking £8000 for it. I think its worth it myself.

Click to expand...

Does it come with service history? Every service item has both a milage and an age attached to it and should be done at which ever comes first, hence my previous comment regarding the timing belt, but is the same for all the fluids. If this hasn't been done the first thing it will do is cost you aprox 1-1.5k to replace every fluid (and I mean every) and fit a new timing belt. Will cost less if you do it your self rather than at a garage, but still probably £500 worth of parts and fluids.

8k is not an unreasonable price if it actually physically and mechanically immaculate, however that is also the price you could begin to pick things up which have had a rebuild onto a galv chassis. It does come back to what someone, in this case you, are willing to pay. Although the market has begun to settle again you may still get someone who (wrongly in my opinion) believes as an original low mileage example it would make a good investment for the future and pay significantly more than that. Or you may get others, more like me, which at that price would want a galv chassis over the low mileage therefore would not pay that much.

8k, I wouldn't, unless I collected vehicles, even then I still wouldn't.

23 years, not 22k miles, think about that.

I

8k , I wouldn't.

23 years is a long time, condensation will have rusted things internally, even if it has been garaged. its will need a fair bit doing to it, mechanical wear will be minimum but rubbers, seals , oils and fluids, rust , rot on the ally, it will all still be present to some extent. And when all its original parts fail it will start getting expensive.

Will your friend be parking it in a show room or actually using it?

He’ll be using for occasional shooting days.

I was going to say £7k if it were a station wagon in mint condition (especially the chassis/bulkhead) but being a hard top £5- 6k.

Mikewilliams said:

he’s asking £8000 for it. I think its worth it myself.

Click to expand...

well buy it then .

does your friend think its worth it?

If it's for occasional shooting I would be looking for a well maintained rough and ready rather than an expensive showroom piece, 8k will get you a galvy chassis fairly sorted vehicle.

nobber said:

If it's for occasional shooting I would be looking for a well maintained rough and ready rather than an expensive showroom piece, 8k will get you a galvy chassis fairly sorted vehicle.

Click to expand...

Exactly if it is going to be used as an ocasional shooting truck much better getting an old truck which already has a farmers wing and a towball hole in the tailgate. Would cost a fraction of the price, achieve the same thing, and would not have the constant worry of damaging an expensive one.

if he does buy it don't forget the security on it cos the toe rags will soon be sniffing