MOT repair work costs?

Sold my 1996 300tdi 110 in 2020, at the time it had an MOT with no advisories. To me it was a nice example, with galv chassis. Sad to see it go.

The following year 2021 it failed its MOT for the its new owner, with quite a list of major chassis failings (below). This surprised me due to it having a galv chassis. They did finally get it through an MOT but when that expired earlier this year it was never MOT'd again. So it's either written off or being used on private land.

So, what kind of costs and work would have been involved to have corrected the following fails..

Wow, lots of corrosion for a galvanised chassis, although it suggests the bodywork is the problem in some instances. Presumably the ally bodywork turning to dust?

That seems a great shame after you'd looked after it all those years. I doubt if it's the chassis itself. I think it's probably the body panels and their steel framing -the aluminium has gone powdery and the steel formers and struts have gone rusty. Because it says 'cab or chassis'. Oh, and of course the bulkhead. No idea what these things cost, as I try and do all my work myself!

Bet that was a normal garage whos never done a landy

Makes me wonder if it was even the same car, same reg yes but not the same car?

Brown said:

That seems a great shame after you'd looked after it all those years.

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I had it 15 years and looked after it. Or so I thought! (It also had a galv bulkhead).

It usually flew through, and without any major issues. Quite a surprise to see that list of failures.

I do think that with a Defender you need the right kind of MOT testing station, with the right kind of staff. Certainly not at a LR dealer!!
I had a good relationship with my local garage, and still do. One of the lads there is a Defender fan and understands them, no idea if that helped or not? But I always take them buns in whenever I visit them, I think that certainly helps when it comes to getting work done and being treated right.

I recently ordered a set of new tyres from them, for the wife's car. I removed the wheels myself and took them to the garage. They were impressed as it saved then having to do it. And I took them some buns. If I was a mechanic I would definitely want me as a customer

LeadFarmer said:

Sold my 1996 300tdi 110 in 2020, at the time it had an MOT with no advisories. To me it was a nice example, with galv chassis. Sad to see it go.

The following year 2021 it failed its MOT for the its new owner, with quite a list of major chassis failings (below). This surprised me due to it having a galv chassis. They did finally get it through an MOT but when that expired earlier this year it was never MOT'd again. So it's either written off or being used on private land.

So, what kind of costs and work would have been involved to have corrected the following fails..



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Did the new owner contact you or did you just look to have a wee nose, it does point to body
issues having a galv chassis/bulkhead & if you say it was in good condition then the new owner
might be a bit rough with it knowing its solid. Hard to put a cost on the repairs without pics
but at garage prices youd be well over a couple of grand.

kevstar said:

Did the new owner contact you or did you just look to have a wee nose.

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I just had a nosey on the uk.gov site, hoping to see that it was still on the road and being used by them or another owner.

LeadFarmer said:

I just had a nosey on the uk.gov site, hoping to see that it was still on the road and being used by them or another owner.

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Ah ok good that you've had no come back, kurt might appear now

LeadFarmer said:

I just had a nosey on the uk.gov site, hoping to see that it was still on the road and being used by them or another owner.

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I sometimes check all my old land rovers are still about, only the D2 ES is still around with 190k on the clock, all the tdis long gone.

Been in the sea perhaps. Shure accelerated the corrosion on one of mine. [ was not intentional, a very big freak wave got me]

Can't see that much going wrong in 12months if it passed with a clean sheet previous.

As Brown said, it does sound like body panels and steel reinforcements are in a bad state, such as the steel angle support that runs across the back of the tub and through which the tub is bolted to the rear chassis. The front seat belt anchorage points also mount the front of the tub to the chassis. If the body work around these points is shot, then the tub and cab could come adrift in a collision. The door post corrosion is a mystery, unless the bulkhead wasn't as galvanised as you were told it was! Or, did you fit it yourself? Did you fit the galv chassis yourself? If not, was the chassis painted when you got the Landy?

LeadFarmer said:

I do think that with a Defender you need the right kind of MOT testing station, with the right kind of staff.

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This. The tester needs to know LR's, and their quirks.. SWMBO's D1 almost failed an MOT some years ago due to "excessive play in the steering box" - but this was on full lock, where there is a load of play in the box from new .. as I was there, I was able to explain this to the tester.. ..

Disco1BFG said:

This. The tester needs to know LR's, and their quirks.. SWMBO's D1 almost failed an MOT some years ago due to "excessive play in the steering box" - but this was on full lock, where there is a load of play in the box from new .. as I was there, I was able to explain this to the tester.. ..

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Agree about the steering box mate, but that's very different to the body not being secured to the chassis properly.

Al2O3 said:

Agree about the steering box mate, but that's very different to the body not being secured to the chassis properly.

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Absolutely is, no question - my point was more related to getting and using an MOT tested familiar with LR's..

There is a sense of fear amongst MOT testers at the moment and they seem to be suffering from Advisoryitus ... 'Front coil spring corroded' and 'Brake disc corroded' are amongst the favourites.
A friend took his D90 for a MOT recently and got the dreaded (6.2.2(d)(i)) because the support strut supporting the floor of the rear tub was corroding away (admitedly there were holes in it) but ...
He also got a bag full of advisories - most of which (IMO) were there to create work/profit for the garage.
We can all get and fit a trackrod end for around £12 but the garge quoted him £30 + £45 labour.

I went in and asked (I know the guy) and he said it was corroded and 'near to a mounting point' - but it isn't supporting anything, other than the floor (which was sound) and the tub was mounted securely to the rear x-member.
We basically took the strut out went to A N Other garage and it wasn't mentioned = PASS

All of your 'faults' @LeadFarmer do seem to indicate that the rear tub is failing, i'm surprised you got a (7.1.1(a)(i)) as the seatbelt mount is actually bolted to the forward outrigger although it does 'clamp' the floor behind the drivers seat.
It's strength is in the L shaped metal bracket underneath however if the floor is failing, and the tester didn't know ......

I'd say that some of those Majors and Advisories are because the MOT tester didn't know Defenders and possibly didn't normally work on older vehicles (as per what @disco1 said).

REF:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-ins...-body-structure-and-attachments#section-6-2-2

Al2O3 said:

As Brown said, it does sound like body panels and steel reinforcements are in a bad state, such as the steel angle support that runs across the back of the tub and through which the tub is bolted to the rear chassis. The front seat belt anchorage points also mount the front of the tub to the chassis. If the body work around these points is shot, then the tub and cab could come adrift in a collision. The door post corrosion is a mystery, unless the bulkhead wasn't as galvanised as you were told it was! Or, did you fit it yourself? Did you fit the galv chassis yourself? If not, was the chassis painted when you got the Landy?

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Bulkhead was from Ashtree, who salvage used bulkheads and galv them. I arranged for them to spray it Bonatti grey before delivering it to me as I was eventually respraying my 110 from white to Bonatti grey. I think it may even have been a TD5 bulkhead that they modified.

LeadFarmer said:

Bulkhead was from Ashtree, who salvage used bulkheads and galv them. I arranged for them to spray it Bonatti grey before delivering it to me as I was eventually respraying my 110 from white to Bonatti grey. I think it may even have been a TD5 bulkhead that they modified.

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Nice people, but a set of comedians. I wonder if they ever delivered the correct bulkhead to anyone! I ordered a 300Tdi and got a 200Tdi. Unfortunately, I'd paid to have it painted before I realised. Was a pain having to create new fixings so I could fit everything back in the right place. I hope mine lasts longer that yours. Mine's been on for 8 years.

I'm sure the bulkhead was still fine, any reference to door pillar corrosion may have been the B pillar. When I bought it 15 years ago (when it was 10 yrs old) the B pillar had some rust that I had repaired straight away.