Opinions needed - Looking at 2 Defender TD5's This Weekend

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, and I'm looking for some advice. I'm looking at two defenders this weekend, and I'd like your opinions on which would be favourable.

The first one:
02 plate, but only registered to DVLA end of 2005, 1 owner, 18000 miles. No MOT history on the hpi check except for its current MOT. No mention of service history, but looks in good nick and says chassis is solid.

The second one:
03 plate, registered within a month of being built. 5 owners, 68000 miles. Full hpi MOT history. Good service history (unclear if full). Also is good nick.


I'm leaning more towards the second one, but I'm not sure why.

What are your views? Can post links if required.

Cheers!
Will

Yeah link us please. I reckon the 2nd one has your favour since it's got documented good service.

Give this a read:

Have you any experience with Landys? If not then try and take someone with you that has owned one at some point and is mechanically minded if you're not.

Thanks for the reply - here are the links:

https://www.praters.co.uk/used-cars...-td5-county-3dr-milton-keynes-201805126428851

https://www.praters.co.uk/used-cars/land-rover-defender-90-2-5-td5-county-3dr-201805246814545

My friend who runs his own Landy Specialist garage has offered to come look, he also owns a defender TD5 and was a Landy tech for 8 years. I'll probably take him up on his offer to be honest!

Okay, let's talk about the obvious: 18.000 is a ridiculously low mileage. But possible of course. Since there ist no mot or service history, however, it's very hard to verify the mileage. AND of course it's hard to impossible to verify how it has been serviced.

Vehicle 2 shows a pretty low mileage as well. So for me that wouldn't be a factor in favour of vehicle one. Five owners is a lot. That's unusual. However it it has been well maintained, just from the numbers I would also lean towards number 2.

That said, it is impossible to judge the car based on those numbers. As usual it is more important if chassis and body are in good condition with manageable rust, if it has done hard work and how it has been driven. Take a thorough look at both cars. How do they start and run? Where are they leaking? Any noises, clunks? How do they steer and brake?

As always, mileage and build year are only secondary factors when picking a defender.

Both look very clean examples. But from experience it would bother me that the first one has such low mileage.
Not being driven for long periods of time and then possibly being used for short trips is more detrimental to a diesel than one that has high mileage. Most diesel engines really bed in around 100K miles.
I would be scrutinizing the clutch and drive train on the first one. But my money would go on the second one.
Definitely take your friend up on his kind offer. But whichever you go for, enjoy.
Mike

Kitai said:

As always, mileage and build year are only secondary factors when picking a defender.

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I cannot agree with this more. Buy on the condition you see in front of you. Up to a point even the documented history can be irrelevant. You could have a very poor condition vehicle that had a garage service once a year and nothing more but because of this has all of the paperwork vs a very good condition vehicle which an owner did all the work on themselves, regularly maintained and repaired but has not documentary proof.

As always with defenders buy on condition, everything else is secondary. If you have the offer of an expert friend this is going to be the best way to make sure you get the right vehicle.

Thanks all - I'll give both vehicles a good looking over.

I'll of course post some pics if I do end up buying one of them!!

As they are both dark coloured I would pick the one with aircon, if neither has aircon i would be looking elsewhere.

I assume this is a joke. :-D

Defenders got vents. That's the aircon!

I'd go for the 68k vehicle, just based on what you've said, but don't forget their age, they're around 16 years old .... check everything, especially drive train, axles and gearboxes.

The pics are not much good, they're both well prepared for sale, so taking a knowledgeable enthusiast with you is a good move, buy him a few beers ..

Kitai said:

I assume this is a joke. :-D

Defenders got vents. That's the aircon!

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Nope Ive got a darkish coloured 90, kin hell its like a sauna in the sun, also have a series with cream coloured roof and thats cool in comparison.
The 90 is so bad in the heat Ive bought a cream coloured roof for it which shows how much I love the car, aftter all the roof was 25 quid!

Wow, I didn't think it made that much of a difference!

My 110 is Caledonian blue but my roof is white and it was always much cooler inside than in "modern" cars.

It's hard to tell which one will ultimately be better value without a good look. Almost everything on a Land Rover can be fixed by the amateur enthusiast and parts availability is very good compared to many other marques. If I were looking at early 200s models I'd be interested in the chassis condition, especially the rear crossmember and the outriggers under the bulkhead. The bulkhead will have had plenty of time to rust too, so lift any mats and have a look at the lower parts of the footwells an the bottoms of the 'A' pillars. Mechanically, I like to give the props a wobble to feel for loose universal joints an the bearings in the transfer box and the diffs. I also like to wobble the wheels to see if there is any slack in the bearings or in the case of the front wheels, the steering swivels too. If the steering swivels look pitted or are leaking oil they'll need some work. While you're crawling around underneath wobble all the ball joints in the steering linkages. Similarly with suspension bushes, though these typically need quite a lot of effort to detect movement. The steering box is an expensive item, so undue slack or leaks could mean a lighter wallet ahead. Many TD5 engines soldier on for hundreds of thousands of miles but the weak points that people complain about include the head gasket, injector seals and washers, the sprocket coming off the chain driven oil pump and porosity or cracking in the cylinder had. If the engine starts easily, sounds sweet, isn't unduly smoky and pulls strongly up to 70mph it's probably OK. So called full service histories often just mean the book has been stamped - it doesn't necessarily mean they've changed anything! So once you've got your new friend home change the oil and filters and give the grease nipples some attention. Land Rovers love grease.

lynall said:

Nope Ive got a darkish coloured 90, kin hell its like a sauna in the sun, also have a series with cream coloured roof and thats cool in comparison.
The 90 is so bad in the heat Ive bought a cream coloured roof for it which shows how much I love the car, aftter all the roof was 25 quid!

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Is it not easier to just paint your existing roof rather than having to swap the roof and headlining? can get a very good finish with a gloss roller and it is high enough no-one will ever see to notice the slightly different finish.

go on condition.

I know it’s slightly different. But when I brought mine it was in a field of about 100 different 110, 90, hard too and soft top - I looked at about 10-12 (soft top 90 - were less of those) and brought the one that was in best physical condition underneath.

It came with unknown service history, no mot and I had no idea of the mileage was genuine and it had a recon engine.

All that didn’t fuss me as I went over it very carefully, and since then have maintained it meticulously. Been golden since, apart from things I have broken on it laning

dag019 said:

Is it not easier to just paint your existing roof rather than having to swap the roof and headlining? can get a very good finish with a gloss roller and it is high enough no-one will ever see to notice the slightly different finish.

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Sadly I also have the dreaded optional leaky crotch sunroof, if you have one you will know what I mean!
Also roof lining is saggier than my nans knicker elastic.
So my thinking was new roof. insualtion and some interior carpet and see how long it lasts.

Kitai said:

Wow, I didn't think it made that much of a difference!

My 110 is Caledonian blue but my roof is white and it was always much cooler inside than in "modern" cars.

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My 90 and the series live side by side, I have to move the 90 to get the series out, last week we had some sun so moved the 90, only 20 yards bloody hell it was hot, got in the series and down the tip we go, yes its warm in the series but the 90 is unbearable.

The 90 was my everyday car for 4 years and it was okay in the summer all the time the car was moving, get stuck in traffic and you melted, then in the winter you froze and the sunroof would condensate and drip water on you all the way home.

My wife used to have a modern black car, my god that was underable in the sun, you had to open all the doors to let some of the heat out to give the a/c a chance to get going before you could set off, we have never owned a black car since.

lynall said:

Sadly I also have the dreaded optional leaky crotch sunroof, if you have one you will know what I mean!
Also roof lining is saggier than my nans knicker elastic.
So my thinking was new roof. insualtion and some interior carpet and see how long it lasts.

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If the roof lining is a sagging it might be worth carefully pealing back the sagging fabric and re-gluing it as a temporary measure rather than resorting to carpet. I did this with mine and it lasted for a couple of years until the fire, at which point it was then replaced.

dag019 said:

If the roof lining is a sagging it might be worth carefully pealing back the sagging fabric and re-gluing it as a temporary measure rather than resorting to carpet. I did this with mine and it lasted for a couple of years until the fire, at which point it was then replaced.

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Did that a couple of years ago and its coming apart again, plus the lining itself is fooked!