Diesel purchase, but how to go about it?

Hello to you all, first post........

OK, i've decided to buy a manual , 95-98 DSE or DT. I've got upto 3500 quid to spend, BUT.....
Having had a good look round, the range of prices seems huge for what would essentially appear to be the same car. Ebay is a none starter me thinks??

So given all your choices you made, with the benefit of hind sight, which way would you go about buying one?

My ideas so far are
1. Full service History - should be well kept
2. Over 100,000 miles so anything that was going to break has broken
3. Trade seller so i get 3 months warranty or private and beat them down?
4. Coil conversion?? - i won't be offroading it, but i live down an easy dirt track. Is the air suspension really that temperamental?
5. I have another car so reliability is not that crucial
6. I can use a spanner and a laptop - reasonable mechanical skills
7. Make a ridiculously low offer and wait - how is the market in UK?
8. I have a mate down the road whose house name is 4x4 - he's mad into LR!!
9.Get a pre-purchase inspection done by some outfit before buying - any suggestions? are they worth it?
10. Any modifications or as is?

As per my profile, I spent 4 years adapting cars for the disabled to drive / get in and out of / ramps and hoists, as well as electronic clutches, if i can be of any help in this regard, for any car, let me know i'll do my best.

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Chris

For £3.5k it will be a complete gamble on what you get, so roll the dice and see! The manual versions will have been 'worked' in their lifetime, so you'll be hard pressed to find a good 'un.

I like your logic on point 2. by the way...

My mate paid 3k for a 1990 90 (bit older I know) but it's got a recon engine and drives like new although done a bit body wise. All in all a good buy I recon and dealer backing as well.

On pt. 2, my ignition amp died at 103K miles went MSD

Bring your friend along to look at the suspect before buying. Probably knows more than the "pro" on an older vehicle.

Fancy stuff is great when it's new; I would opt for coils and non ABS.

In my experience, installed upgrade parts sell at a huge loss. If you want anything like ARB lockers, it might cost a lot less to find a rangie with them already fitted. Keep your poker face and say, "what the hell's that?" when they brag about upgrades

My 2 pence worth !

Ive just bought a 1997 P38 DSE Auto from Ebay. It was reasonably local to me (about 1.5 hrs). It had a nice detailed description, the ebayer had good feedback, its done 130k, FSH with Land Rover but it needed a damn good valet, some nice wheels (imo) & a service.

I decided I would be happy to pay £3500, so as I usually do with this sort of thing, I waited until the auction had 10 secs left, counted 1-2 out loud & hit bid with £3500 (bidding was upto £2800 at that point with 2 bidders messing about at £50 a time) I won it for £3000 !

Went to see it/collect it & it was absolutely as descibed.

I think the point Im trying to make is, dont discount ebay as you can always walk away if the cars not as described

I would seriousely consider an auto due to the nature of moving parts underneath, everthing snatches everytime you pull away or change gear with a manual & you cant stall an auto, so the drivetrain has a much easier & happy life. Ive had 5 Classics before this and not had one drive train failure, although have had many other RR faults...........sorry I mean features !!!!!

Good Luck with your search

Steve