A few questions...

Right, please be gentle with me as I have only just started looking into getting a Defender and just have a few hopefully simple questions!

Ok,

Q1 - one of the reasons why I am thinking about getting one is that they are said to last forever! If so, why have I not seen any for sale with more that 200k on the clock? Is it just because they are not used for everyday usage that much?

Q2 - Are they fairly easy to do simple jobs to such as replacing body panels etc? Am only a mere female but would like to think I could sort stuff if need be as my other half aint into cars and faffing with em!

Q3 - on looking for an oldish one (1990+) what do I need to look out for when checking out when viewing them? I have been told they are notorious for leaks but anything else I should check?

Q4 - I have seen a few that have come straight from councils etc - do peeps just get them from auctions or approach the councils? Just wanna cut out the middle man if I can!

I quite fancy getting an old one and repsraying and repainting it and adding bits and bobs to it internally as I go along. I cant pay any more that 5k for it but have seen some nice do-er uppers for that price with 1 or 2 previous owners and serice history etc.


Thanks for reading and be gentle with me as i'm a newb!

thats easy to answer......the speedo has packed up long before then! and for what £/you plan doing/council question

Brightwells > Homepage

hee hee hee hee.

:welcome: noob
hope yu gorra thick skin.

Hehe ok, shall I delete my account now?

noooo....the defender will do that for you as time goes by

:welcome2:

Neighlass said:

Hehe ok, shall I delete my account now?

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Hang in there sweetiepie. £5k is more than enough to buy a bloody good defender. £2k will get you a good un £3k will get yu a pristine example. Ignore all the dreamers on here who tell you they're 10/15year old defender is worth £5k, They just won't admit that they paid over the odds for theirs.

Give as good as yu get and ignore Vivnap, Beast o Bodmin and MysteryMan, every community has it's fair share of complete idiots we seem to have 3 of them.:welcome2:

il admit to being biased despite buying/selling them in the past.......so il just say look for 'TDi' 200/300 and youl be better off in the long run......though others in here will no doubt say TD5 lol

200tdi...ffs for 5 grand you ought to get a corker....as said 3 grand for a good un and 4 for a minter from around 1990..keep us posted, like to see what you get!

Here, donkey, I was nice to the booby nooby!! :welcome2:

reason you dont see many for sale with over 200k is they get bought with lots of miles on then no one wants to sell them we like them that much. mine now has over 260 000 on it.try gary drake at wakefield he sells all ex utility, council, etc all one owner. so at least you know your getting what it says it is rather than a ringer or a bitsa

HOOK said:

reason you dont see many for sale with over 200k is they get bought with lots of miles on then no one wants to sell them we like them that much. mine now has over 260 000 on it.try gary drake at wakefield he sells all ex utility, council, etc all one owner. so at least you know your getting what it says it is rather than a ringer or a bitsa

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Ah I went to Gary Drakes at the weekend - its really interesting going around there!! Its jus soo bloody hard to move around! I fell in love with the cows and ended up fussing them for a bit whilst having a think...

The thing with there is most are well over 4k to start with! I originallyhoped to grab one for about the 3k mark but can I hell as like find one from a dealer like that! There are a few sweeeeet privately sold ones nearby for that price but as I am wanting to part exchange it it knocks that idea out of the running.

I have only really looked on autotrader, been to Simmonites and Gary Drakes and that is it really. Any other places you can suggest to look?

Thanks for the advice so far guys and gals

Hello!

Simple answer to all your questions - the chassis rusts which is often the end for landys - for your budget you would be able to get one with a galvanised chassis and bulkhead, all other parts are replaceable!

:welcome2:

All the above; a itemised service history if poss and try and get one where you can contact the previous owners, again if poss.

Best of luck!

Neighlass said:

Right, please be gentle with me as I have only just started looking into getting a Defender and just have a few hopefully simple questions!

Ok,

Q1 - one of the reasons why I am thinking about getting one is that they are said to last forever! If so, why have I not seen any for sale with more that 200k on the clock? Is it just because they are not used for everyday usage that much?

Q2 - Are they fairly easy to do simple jobs to such as replacing body panels etc? Am only a mere female but would like to think I could sort stuff if need be as my other half aint into cars and faffing with em!

Q3 - on looking for an oldish one (1990+) what do I need to look out for when checking out when viewing them? I have been told they are notorious for leaks but anything else I should check?

Q4 - I have seen a few that have come straight from councils etc - do peeps just get them from auctions or approach the councils? Just wanna cut out the middle man if I can!

I quite fancy getting an old one and repsraying and repainting it and adding bits and bobs to it internally as I go along. I cant pay any more that 5k for it but have seen some nice do-er uppers for that price with 1 or 2 previous owners and serice history etc.


Thanks for reading and be gentle with me as i'm a newb!

Click to expand...

Welcome, it's fun in here if you give as good as you get!

The thing about the Defender is that it's design hasn't changed for donkey's years and it's designed to be repairable by the army in the field so everything on it is more than twice the strength it needs to be for wandering around UK roads, so of course generaly they last a very long time. Land Rover claim that 70% of all ever made are still on the road.

They do suffer from chassis rust but as the metalwork is so thick that's long after all other 'cars' are dead. Also from oil leaks owing to all the whirling machinery underneath.

The Defender is an ideal 'car' for you if you are enthusiastic, enjoy fiddling about with it at the weekend and want to enhance it over time. There are local off-road clubs where you can take it off road and get to know what they can really do, which for a newbie will be quite shocking. For Christmas / Birthday or Anniversary get a Land Rover experience day for abot £250.

If you are thinking of re-spraying etc tyhen I think I'd reccomend spending £3,000 and keeping back £2,000 for the enhancements. On another point ex Council or Utility company Defenders are nearly all of the 110 variety which are great if you want to haul stuff but are a bit tricky in the Tesco or office car park. The 90 is more manourverable and the county versions often have not seen commercial service.

We all regard ours not as a 'car' but a member of the family, my 11 and 14 year old daughters love off roading in it, what's more the Defender is in Clakson's ICE zone the're so cool.

Happy hunting for yours