Approx £2,500 to spend...

Howdy folks,

I'm looking to buy my first landy in the next couple of weeks - using a friends volvo estate (940 2.3 turbo) for work at the moment, which is slightly less economical than the XJS 5.3 HE I used to drive and, although big, doesn't have the same load carrying features I'd really want.

I'm led to believe that a post 1990 Defender 90 with a 200 TDi lump is likely to be about the best bet for the money (approx budget in the title) does this sound about right to y'all?

Been reading the forum all evening, seems a great place to be.

Cheers,

Adam.

hi and welcome.
lucky to find a deepender for that sort of money, but youll get a nice disco for up to 2.5k?

should be able to get a 300tdi too.

Welcome, I agree with Ormus you'll struggle to get a good Defender for that money, much better value to look at Disco's especially it you're looking for something that drives like a car. There're much more comfortable and are almost as good off road.

Yeah wot they sez.

Been looking on a few sites for 2nd hand 90's - and I see what you mean. Might have to raid the savings a little harder and splash out a little more.

Driven a few disco's, not a huge fan of them on or off road - freelander is a much better car on road, defender off road every time. Besides, if you're going to have a land rover, might as well have a 'proper' one eh?

Cheers for the advice all,

Adam.

Driven a few disco's, not a huge fan of them on or off road

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Discos are as good as a 90 offroad.

freelander is a much better car on road

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Go have a read of the gaylander bit the only thing there good at is going back to the garage.

if you're going to have a land rover, might as well have a 'proper' one eh?

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Absobloodylutely get thissen a 90.

you be paying a high premium for having a "proper" landy.
get a s/h disco mate. best value for money since Eve was a slapper.

itll do almost anything a RR or a deepender can do, and cheaper too.
and remember, a good driver in a disco will **** all over a bad driver in a defender.

Ah but there's one factor I kind of 'ommited' - the Mrs.

She's kind of taken with the idea of a 'proper' landy, but a disco has already been vetoed.

Know what you mean about drivers... used to paste Evo, Scooby and Elise drivers at track days in my 1991 UK MR2 on a regular basis - the phrase "All the gear, but no idea" fits really well sometimes.

Besides... I want something not designed by wind tunnel (even if they did do the disco from behind, err... so to speak)

Cheers,

Adam.

I agree with you adz, i had 2 300 tdi discos, now have a 2.0xdi gaylander and a 200 tdi 90, and the gaylander is much better on road than the discos, and MORE RELIABLE.

(DUCK.......................INCOMMING)

You need to raid the piggy bank or sell a few things
to make the money up to around 4k to 5k I drove very
disco they brought out thought it was like driving a tank
BTW I had 2 new Freelanders petrol and TD4 for my caravan
towing i did like them as they drove like a Car.........

But the Defender's are something else in my life time I have had
lots of new Cars Porsche Mercs etc but one thing that brings a
smile to my face is when i get in the Landy its just so Quirky

Go for the Defender and bring that smile to your face

Terry

Right - just got back from looking at a '93 200 TDI 90 - rear cross member just under the rear door has rusted through, it's had a slightly crap cosmetic respray and one of the boxes on the exhaust is shot at the exit pipe. Will probably need new tyres before too long too... It's got a couple of months MOT and 6 months tax, mileage (if it can be verified) is about what I'd expect for a '93 car, so perhaps a little high for a landy - then again, I wouldn't know what was average for a years driving any more to be honest.

Anyone know how big a hole the rear cross member would put in my wallet? Exhausts are kind of 'consumables' really so I'm not too worried by that, but the cross member is going to be make or break I suspect - particularly if it's an MOT failure type item.

How much should I offer the bloke for it in it's current nick?

Rear crossmember has come up before but can't remember when and how much, try a search. Have you had a realy realy good look at the rest of the chassis and the bulkhead. Bung another couple of realys in there!!!!!!!

Centre box cost me £50 ish to fit myself, which was a pain 'cos I realy wanted to make an exhaust that came up behind the cab but had to sort it in a hurry.

Four new tyres minimum of £200.

Only two months MOT is it at a dealers can you get them to Mot it. If it's private why's he selling it so close to MOT time. Me cynical? never!

I'd say 2grand Max. Difficult without seeing it.

It's private - I brought up the MOT subject, he was quite happy for me to stick it through an MOT before buying it (ofc at my expense) so I don't get the impression he's got something to hide.

£200 for 4 tyres isn't as bad as I was expecting, I realise that it's the minimum though. They're all legal at the moment though so it's not something I can really beat him down on much :-/

Searched the forum for crossmember info - seems like up to £500+ for a main agent/indie specialist to do it for me is the general concensus - now there's something I can beat with ;-D

He's asking £3,700 - I'll try him at £3k and we can haggle a bit - always provided I don't find a complete horror story when I go to have another look (in daylight this time and with more time to spare) on Sunday. Advice re the rest of the chassis taken to heart - will beat the bajaesus out of it with a plastic mallet and see what falls off ;-)

Cheers fella,

Adam.

from what youve described, offer him 2500 quid max.