Hello from.... err... London!

Hi all,

Just thought I'd say hello and such. I am a Class A landy newbie, in a desperate pursuit to justify owning a ex-MOD 90 / 110 defender in London haha.

Haven't purchased my target yet, but there isn't much holding me back

So yes, after owning all sorts of sh*tty French plastic boxes and driving fords and Japanese cars about town frequently, I came to the (only) logical conclusion that an old Defender is what I need. I truly hope to kiss goodbye plastic dashboards in 50,000 shades of grey and more electrical warnings than Fukushima... forever!

I plan on using my Defender for social runs to the 4 corners of this fine city (insert hatred here ____ ) on evenings and weekends, and soon enough (with confidence in my vehicle) I want to get further into the wild .

So yes. Hello. I'll be posting annoying and basic questions all over the place soon.

Adam (oh yeah, my name is Adam)

Hello mate.
If you don't need the room get a 90 for around town. They are quite short and narrow so are not too bad.
Also turning circle on a 110 isn't great.

Yeah I'm thinking that - esp without power steering! But unfortunately the 90s seem to be scarcer and more expensive (looking to spend less than 4k).

I'm also thinking hard top (will be carting people and equipment around town), and I guess eventually I'd have to swap the engine out for a tdi (to cope with the impending oil crisis and subsequent breakdown of society).

Thanks for advice! Much appreciated.

Hello Adam. Sean here. Live the dream mate and enjoy. There is just so much you can do to the Landy to really personalise it and truly make it your brother... I have been into Morocco in all sorts (yota land cruisers ) but nothing compares to the sheer joy of my Defender! Enjoy bud....

Hey Sean,

That sounds epic. Thanks for the inspiration!

I guess I'm concerned about buying a dud - I've read quite a few horror stories about secret rotted chassis, costly engine swaps, abysmal efficiency etc etc. I'm handy with a wrench and a paintbrush (used to build bicycles at uni), so I hope to do things myself! Like installing rear benches, windows and things.

Exciting!

have you taken the LEZ into account?

I'm trying to get my head around that... from what I read you can classify a 110 in different ways, but I'm not certain. I better be sure though eh.
Cheers!

aaLDN said:

I'm trying to get my head around that... from what I read you can classify a 110 in different ways, but I'm not certain. I better be sure though eh.
Cheers!

Click to expand...

From what i have read it can be a bit of a minefield and reclassifying a L/R isnt as easy as sending off the log book and writing what you want it to be.

As i said though it is only from what i have read but it is certainly something to think about before parting with your cash.

DiscoPol said:

From what i have read it can be a bit of a minefield and reclassifying a L/R isnt as easy as sending off the log book and writing what you want it to be.

As i said though it is only from what i have read but it is certainly something to think about before parting with your cash.

Click to expand...

So I did a quick check, basically finding a few similar 110s on Autotrader and plugging the reg numbers into the checker site:

https://lowemissionzone.tfl.gov.uk/b/pb/lezComplianceProvideVRM.faces?referrer=lez

Interestingly all of them came out as exempt! I guess they must be classified as either cars or station wagons (both exempt), or they have been registered as exempt with TfL by fitting an approved filter. Jesus what a minefield.

I'll contact the seller and see if they can help.... :Cry:

Maybe I'll wait a bit and find a 90, I'd prefer one and I it'll make life easier in many ways!

I'll be back...!

With regards to the LEZ it doesn't matter if it's a 110 or 90. If it's a genuine station wagon (not a converted hardtop) a petrol hardtop or a diesel made after 2002 it'll be fine. Anything else and your stuffed I think.

That is depressing.