What to look out for, and best place to buy?

When buying an old disco, pretty much pre 1996, over 150k, what are the common or serious things to look for prior to buying?

Also, wheres the best place to get a good one but pretty cheap? Im not expecting miracles with a budget not stretching over £600. Autotrader & ebay are all i can think of.

Failing that, any other landy's (but prob not a defender) for that age/money? (i guess that just leaves a range rover lol)

I would also guess that auto's are a no go for off-roading and laning? Which engines are typically the most reliable too.

Thank you!

i have recently bought a 300 tdi auto and it is great both on and off road a lot more comfy than my old defender

Plenty of choice on ebay but you gets what you pays for for 600 quid. Expect rust, more rust, and then have a look for some more rust. Everything else is fixable easy enough but the rust can be uneconomical.
Autos are as good if not better off road it's a case of personal preference.
Engines? 200tdi or 300tdi are both great.

Hi Airflow
We've just bought our 2nd disco (1998 v8 manual), having sold our last one on (1995 v8 auto).
The main thing to look out for is as hughsey says is rust. You need to look in the front inner wings (give them a good poke), bottom of the door posts, driver and passenger floors but most of all the boot floor as these can cost anything up to £500 to replace. Don't be afriad to take a screw driver with you and take up the trim, carpet and underlay and use the handle to give the floor a good tap.
200 tdi is a good engine but sounds like a bag of nails. 300 is a much smother engine. V8 are great if you like that sort of thing but unless it's got LPG are very expensive to run.
Auto's are great off road as you can put them in low range and forget about them, but manuals are a lot more economical.
Your budget of £600 is unlikely to get a root free disco but they are out there.
My advice is to keep saving, don't rush into anything, if you're not sure WALK AWAY
Good luck

Thanks very much, much appreciated! Are they easy enough to fix, engine wise, by yourself? The engine bays seem very roomy, and i guess with old 90's cars, the days before all these computers, should make it a bit easier?

Airflow said:

Thanks very much, much appreciated! Are they easy enough to fix, engine wise, by yourself? The engine bays seem very roomy, and i guess with old 90's cars, the days before all these computers, should make it a bit easier?

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My husband is always under the bonnet of ours. The only times he's had to give it to a garage was when the LPG needed refubishing and when the engine needed rebuilding (coz I wouldn't let him do it on the drive). Other than that he's always fixed it at home.
If you have any questions, PM boomerv8, and he'll help you to the best of his knowledge.

get a nice big 1/2" drive sockect set good hammer(BIG) and a decent jack n stands.

goonarmy said:

get a nice big 1/2" drive sockect set good hammer(BIG) and a decent jack n stands.

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Haha , love tools! What if the boot floor has gone? Is it a big job to fix, is it even required, or can a plate just be welded onto it?

boot floor is common one can get a replacement and weld yerself or ask a mate!