Looking to buy first Defender. Advice please.

Hello,

Looking to buy my first Defender. Been tempted for many years but a work colleague has just bought one so seeing it every day has really whetted my appetite again.

I have a few criteria, I dont know how realistic they are, but i'll present them anyway.

I have a budget of £10K, maybe a little more

I am absolutely useless mechanically, so reliability is paramount. I am also quite mean, so whilst I understand that buying a Defender as an 'investment' might be folly, something that holds it value well and has a good chance of maybe becoming a 'classic' would be great.

I won't be doing any serious offroading in it. I am looking at a more commercial vehicle, maybe a pickup or van or double cab. The only 'refinement' I guess would be the option to install heated seats - for the missus you understand.

Won't be doing much in the way of motorway miles. It really is just for banging around in and being semi useful.

I don't really understand the engine options, but the most economic would be great though I have read there are some concerns with parts moving forward for newer electronic based parts.

Looking forward to the advice.

Cheers

Options:

1. try and find an old one for about £4k and then keep the spare £6k for the imminent repairs, engine swap, gearbox change, chassis welding, Mot failures, etc.
2. get a newer one that's all shiny with a full service history, no mechanical problems and no rust and start saving!

You should be able to get a good TD5 hardtop or truck cab for your budget of £10-12,000.
The Station Wagons are what most people want, and they can easily top £15,000 for a good one.
The TD5 is your best bet (1999-2006) as it's quite refined and is the best bet to use on road.
However be aware that the newest will be over 10 years old so you cannot expect perfect reliability.
Most will have been well used, after all you wouldn't buy a truck cab/hardtop Land Rover and then use it as a car.
At your budget you'll probably need to look at private sales rather than dealers. There's plenty of info on here and elsewhere about what to look for, just google "Defender TD5 buying guide" or similar.

Beware its a minefield try and find someone local who really knows landrovers when you go to buy , as
its very much a sellers market at the moment , and the wrong buy could cost you several thousand to sort . Good luck ps have you driven one , as it can be a reality check for your average car driver

Thank you all. I have driven one. I also ride sixty year old motorcycles so my comfort expectations are low!

"reliability is paramount" - I'd say a Defender is the wrong vehicle lol. If you must have one (like everyone here) I'd be looking for a more recent one with a very good service history, or an older one that has been lovingly rebuilt. Like old motorbikes, these vehicles absolutely need regular maintenance and if you ignore them they will bite you in the pocket.

110's are less bouncy due to the longer wheelbase.
I do 1,000 miles per month in my 110. The missus has a 90 CSW and the 110 is quite a bit better.
The TD5 is also a lot more refined than earlier models, we had a 300tdi CSW for 6 months and while we loved it, the TD5 is better for use as a car.

If you are mech useless and dont have any mech mates I would buy something else in fact anything else as it will be less hassle.

I guess he has a point. A 12+ year old Land Rover is going to need looking after.
You will need to learn how to do minor jobs like replacing shock absorber bushes and basic servicing such as changing the oil and fitting brake pads.
Otherwise you'll need to make friends with your local garage, preferably one that specialises in Land Rovers.
The higher maintenance costs can be offset against the fact that your Defender will hold its value, unlike most cars where they become worthless over time.

My pristine 55,000 mile Z3 3.0 is worth 20% of the price paid new in 2002.
My Defender 110 has done 80,000 miles and is worth about 60% of the price paid new in 2005.
It's currently worth about £4,000 more than l paid for it in 2014 even though l've put 25,000 miles on it.

If you're mechanically useless, it doesn't mean that you have to remain that way. When I bought my first Land Rover, a 19 year old Series III, 20 years ago when i was 17, my spanner-wielding skills were limited to adjusting bearings and seat height of a push-bike. I quickly learnt how to carry out my own basic servicing but didn't go further than that for the first couple of years because I felt that I wasn't mechanically minded. Once, while conversing with a man who was an expert in my opinion, he told me "you may not be mechanically minded but you're not illiterate". That was the push I needed. Since then, no vehicle I owned has been worked on by anyone else. I've swapped engines, carried out engine builds, stripped, rebuilt and fitted axles single handedly, done countless clutches and also earned some money on the side working on other people's vehicles (I had to stop due to time constraints). There's nothing that cannot be done by a novice on a Land Rover. Nowadays, novices are even luckier thanks to the internet.

PeteWales said:

Hello,

Looking to buy my first Defender. Been tempted for many years but a work colleague has just bought one so seeing it every day has really whetted my appetite again.

I have a few criteria, I dont know how realistic they are, but i'll present them anyway.

I have a budget of £10K, maybe a little more

I am absolutely useless mechanically, so reliability is paramount. I am also quite mean, so whilst I understand that buying a Defender as an 'investment' might be folly, something that holds it value well and has a good chance of maybe becoming a 'classic' would be great.

I won't be doing any serious offroading in it. I am looking at a more commercial vehicle, maybe a pickup or van or double cab. The only 'refinement' I guess would be the option to install heated seats - for the missus you understand.

Won't be doing much in the way of motorway miles. It really is just for banging around in and being semi useful.

I don't really understand the engine options, but the most economic would be great though I have read there are some concerns with parts moving forward for newer electronic based parts.

Looking forward to the advice.

Cheers

Click to expand...

My first piece of advice would be a sanity check... yes seriously

Now I love Land Rovers, but I grew up with them. But so many people don't know what to expect.

A Defender will NEVER be a spacious, comfortable, refined, quiet road vehicle. It's basic construction and design prevent this. So even if you spank £20k in mods on one, you'll never succeed if this is your goal. Understand this now, to avoid disappointment.

If you wanting these things, then Land Rover expelled much effort and money tackling the basic underlying issues. Their answer was the Range Rover and the Discovery 1. Both of which are hugely similar to a Defender under the skin, but with some rather key design and construction differences, which largely address all the short comings of the Defender design.


The only good thing here is, Defenders seem to hold their value fairly well, so it does offer you the chance to buy, sample and sell on, for little overall loss.


As for maintenance. As a rule the older more mechanical Land Rover's are pretty reliable and robust. This makes them dependable. What they are however is labour intensive to work on and due to the design and age of many of the components, require regular service and maintenance. If you aren't prepared to get your hands dirty and do a few jobs here and there, then you will likely spend a fortune paying someone to do often simple jobs.

Re: engines.

As a car range, they really couldn't be simpler tbh, so a little confused why you are having trouble here.

Over the 'Defenders' production there have only been 6 different engines. Two of which are identical pretty much, as are another two and one was a special edition. And almost none of them where sold alongside each other.

Here I'll list them, oldest first.

-200Tdi
-300Tdi
-Rover V8
-Td5
-2.4 Tdci Puma
-2.2 Tdci Puma

The 200 and 300Tdi's are about 98% the same engine and there is no benefit over one or the other.

V8's where limited edition in the 50th Anniversary model and rare.

Td5 is a Land Rover own engine and brilliant.

2.4 and 2.2 Tdci Puma engines are the same engine with the same power. No advantage over one or the other. Both are Ford engines, and suspect the 2.2 was simply cheaper for LR to buy as the 2.4 was bespoke for LR originally, but then not used by anyone else.


MPG on all of them will be pretty similar, but if mpg is important, then a 4wd off roader is probably not for you. Most of the diesels will average 25-28mpg, with highs of about 30mpg and lows of around 22mpg. V8's less good on fuel, but more powerful.

The older the engine the more noisy and less refined it'll be. Tdi's and Td5's are likely to be in budget.

There are older pre-Defender Ninety's and One Tens that people confuse as being Defenders. Although to be fair, they are by and large the same vehicle. These has the 2.5 TD, 2.5NAD and 3.5 V8 Low CR for the most part. All good engines, but all less powerful than those that proceeded them.

Parts supply is superb for pretty much any variant.

Cant get better info than that imo ^^^

If I were to run one everyday id go for a td5 personally. like most I knew nothing about mechanics when I started but owning a 90 soon made me learn. goodluck

Wow that's an awesome run down!
I certainly did not have mechanical experience before buying my 110 200tdi but I did have the will to get stuck in where I could. Also I have my Haynes, Land Rover Toolbox on YouTube and Landyzone. And between them so far I've managed to change all belts, change all diff transfer and gearbox oil and up to changing to an uprated alternator. I helped change the gearbox and clutch but the key here is I want to learn more therefore it turns out to be a hobby rather than a chore. In my case my hobby is also my only mode of transport, so I do a lot of research using those sources to do what I can to save the £40 per hour that my friendly landy specialist charges. Before buying 1 get a complete rundown on Land Rover Toolbox




I love this channel and watched the video on inspecting a landy 3 times before buying mine. I couldn't find the link for you but these ones cover different aspects.

Good luck

I cant thank you all enough for your input. It's really appreciated and so much food for thought. I'm really not interested in comfort. Most of my journeys are 5 miles or less. My work colleague with the Land Rover is pretty good mechanically so maybe I can press gang him into helping!

Thank you all again.

The thing is to learn about your car, so if you read someone has had an issue with a specific part, get your torch out and have a look, you will be amazed what you can learn from listening/reading even if you only skim/speed read.
Sadly the financial pitfalls are massive on older defenders.