Pre-purchase questions

Hello,

We are about to buy a 2011 110 Hardtop. We've never owned one before, so I'd like some advice.

34,000 miles -- drives fine. Well the normal heavy clutch and brake but don't they all do that?

Drives and brakes in straight line at 70mph. No clunks or any odd sounds from the driveline. MOT pass about 2 months ago and the selling dealer is going to do a fresh MOT. I tried the low range and that works fine. So does the parking brake.

So far so good.

There is water under the front mats. From the seep lines it looks like it is coming down from the fire wall. Do that all do that? Is it an easy fix, something I just live with or a giant red flag??

There is some rust underneath. I took a few photos of the worst spots I could find. I would guess this is within the normal range for a 5-year old Defender. Am I wrong ? Is this anything I should be concerned about?

They *shouldnt* leak.

Probably windscreen or windscreen to bulkhead seal or roof seal or even coming in round the doors. Can be sealed up with silicon etc. If not sorted will rust out your foot wells. When sealed mats need drying properly.

Heavy brakes and clutch - they shouldn't be strenuous to use IMO, I don't find mine heavy particularly. Depends what your used to maybe

Chassis rust - not to bad - just clean back and paint to stop it getting worse.

Check the rear cross member for rust. That area of the chassis you have posted isn't the weakest area rust wise on a fender chassis

and if you do buy it get it cleaned down on the chassis and underseal before winter preferably

They *shouldn't* leak but they *all* do!

You might be able to stop the water from coming in but l wouldn't bank on it.
Buy a spare set of front carpets and swap them over when one set get wet.

I pretty much sorted my 110 but it still leaks depending on how it's parked (facing downhill a bit of water gets into the rear but not if l park on the flat, for instance)

Chassis looks like just surface rust. As suggested already get it wax undersealed.

I was at a local country fair at the weekend. A Land Rover dealer had a stand there and amongst all the Range Rovers they had a 110 Defender. Not quite brand new but as good as. I don't know why but I lifted the drivers side front mat and sure enough it was wet underneath. I does seem a common problem.

flat said:

Check the rear cross member for rust. That area of the chassis you have posted isn't the weakest area rust wise on a fender chassis

Click to expand...

Going back through the 20+ photos I'd don't have any good ones the rear cross member. I didn't see much of anything in the back. I'll take a closer look when we go to collect it. If there is a massive rust problem, we can still walk away.

It is going into the workshop today. Photos are from before they've done anything to it


These are the two best photos I've got of the rear.

The bolts on the top of the bumper look new. My guess is the previous owner took something off before part exchanging.

I have no idea why these are in the back instead of mounted on the sides.

When I was looking at my 2012 Puma at the dealers, I noticed the wet floor on the passenger side. Dealer said they all do that sir. Took that with a pinch of salt but then found the official Land Rover Leak Repair manual on line - who would produce such a comprehensive repair document if they didn't all leak? Traced my leak to the seal around the windscreen and fixed it with a run of clear silicone - quite easy to get the nozzle tucked behind the seal so it is all "inside". I have now (probably) got the only defender on the planet which has no leaks at all, think I'll have to drill some holes in the body to get some and restore normality.
The surface rust in your photos is nothing to worry about provided you get on top of it. Corrosion protection on the Pumas is high spec compared to previous models (with the exception of the front bumper - had to have mine blasted and powder coated at 3 years old). But check the box sections of the chassis are not full of farm / site muck and in any case get the chassis thoroughly flushed out (pressure washer and drain jetting hose does the job) and when dried out get it waxed - all DIY-able. Light wire brushing of the external chassis areas followed by jet wash and wax will get you on top of the job, then just maintain it.
Provided the truck has service history and all lubes changed on time, should be mechanically sound. Other than that, do the same checks you would on any other car you would buy. As a plus, it should hold it's value over time.

That looks a nice truck, and a nice low mileage too.

One word of caution about rust treatment - IME, and if you intend keeping it, do NOT underseal it - it holds the water and/or salt against the panels and creates a perfect environment for corrosion to eat the vehicle alive.

Plenty of threads on here about what to do about surface rust like on the chassis, but in a nutshell:-

That level of surface rust is borderline irrelevant.

So, As @Wimblowdriver said above, make sure the chassis is clean inside, and that all the drain holes are clear too, and then use a proper cavity wax to arrest the internal corrosion - something like Bilt hamber Dynax S50, or one of the Dinitrol range - again, a search on here will tell you lots...... ( even that I used to swear by Waxoyl, but now use Bilt Hamber, as the price is essentially the same, but the product is, IMHO, infinitely superior ). remember that the rust you can't see will be a lot worse than that you can see, and treat the chassis to better internal protection - IME, 99.9% of the time, they will rust from the inside out......

I would then treat the surface rust on the chassis with either Bilt Hambers De-Oxy gel, or Fertan. I use fertan, which can be applied with a garden sprayer, and painted more or less at your leisure. It also uses water against the rust, and I like the irony. Then treat with your choice of wax protection - the bilt hamber site is really useful, and they are helpful if you want some person to person technical advice too.....

In terms of the heavy clutch and brakes.... you can test the brake servo by applying the brakes (repeatedly) with the engine off to run the servo out of vacuum ( until the they are next to impossible to apply ) - then start the engine and simultaneously apply weight to the pedal - which should descend as the pump evacuates the servo chamber.....

The clutch will be heavy - ( you could possibly compare it to another 'fender, if the dealers have one... ), it can be tweaked by changing the spring in the pedal assembly, or servo assisted using something like the red booster kit, which is quite expensive, (£400 for the parts) or a remote servo, which can be bought off flea bay for less than £100....

I'm in the process of servo assisting SWMBO's clutch, and when I have done it, I'll post the details up.... but there's a thread on difflock:-

forum.difflock.com/viewtopic.php?t=52395&sid=731f953ed68cab38df960c7de03954a4

which should explain it well enough...

Best of luck with it...

Thanks to everyone for all the advice !!!

Best thing for stopping rust is to really thoroughly jet wash all the books and Fannie's on the chassis regularly, I do mine at least monthly and everytime I have been in mud.

The steel rusts when wet mud sits on it for prolonged periods of time

Mine is forever wet under the mat on the passenger side, had enough trying to find out where the water is coming from, I do think now though that it is the windscreen surround.
Anyway, I have now placed a rubber mat under the carpet, it stops the carpet getting wet and possibly rotting as a result.

It's not unusual to be wet under the mats. On mine I doubt whether I'll ever solve the problem but I do make sure to treat my footwells and bulkhead when I have the Dinitrol out. You may not be able to stop the water getting in but you can minimise the damage it will do.

Tonyj66 said:

Mine is forever wet under the mat on the passenger side, had enough trying to find out where the water is coming from, I do think now though that it is the windscreen surround.
Anyway, I have now placed a rubber mat under the carpet, it stops the carpet getting wet and possibly rotting as a result.

Click to expand...

the carpet rotting isnt the big issue, its the water trapped against the steel that will rust out the bottom of your bulkhead

Chassis looks pretty good for the age. Just surface rust, wire brush or flap wheel will remove. Afterwards, paint the chassis with red oxide, or at least a good job with waxoyl or dintrol, that will stop it rusting underneath. Dont forget to spray some dinitrol etc. into the chassis as well.
Underseal will just trap moisture and rust against the metal, and it will keep rusting underneath.

Am i the only person that hates chequer plate on landrovers.
Spoils the classic look but seems very popular, now kits are sold everywhere.

Gmacz said:

Am i the only person that hates chequer plate on landrovers.
Spoils the classic look but seems very popular, now kits are sold everywhere.

Click to expand...

Nope I hate it to