old landy (defender)

Nick Fahey

Well-Known Member
thinking of getting an old landy for stalking. have heard some pros and cons, and was wondering what you could get away with spending
all ideas info welcome
cheers
Nick
 
I have a M Reg (94) Landrover Discovery 2ltr MPI (PETROL):eek::eek: I get between 22 and 31 MPG out of it, (Same as most 200 and 300 TDI's) cost me about £700 2 years ago, reasonably neat and tidy, runs on 60/40 tyres (60% road 40% off road). Does me, never been stuck.

Down side:(, no air con:cool:, no cruise control:cool:.:lol::lol::lol:

Does me just fine
 
Nick,
I am new to this game and have only been shooting for about 18 months. This season I got invited into a shoot so I had to get something I had the deer and the birds and couldn't use the company car really. I bought an old Landy 1966 which somebody had spent a lot of time on. Defender front wings, grill, doors and put an old J series turbo diesel engine in. I get about 25mpg it will go anywhere, I can put anything in it. Yes it did cost me a bit more £1750, but cost me £109 to insure and free road tax. I have had it about 4 months.

Down side there is no creature comforts in fact there is no comforts except a very good heater. Not sure I would go any distance in it, haven't tried yet. But for most of what I do its working out fine so far.

ATB
Les
 
How long is a peice of string ? it really depends on its previous life engine wise the 200/300 tdis are really reliable units my last 1995 def 90 topped 200.000mls and the guy I sold it too finds its still gives good reliable transport ideal for shooting, if I was to give you advice on what would be the ideal defender it would be a 300 tdi unit most will have now covered 100,000mls + but as I just mentioned if looked after will last and last now things to look out for there are quite a few, chassis just in front of the rear outriggers and the rear crossmember notorious for rusting through, the steel frames of the doors front and rear fall apart also look for signs of corrosion on the aluminium but some supprisingly good ones out there yet just make sure you give them a good check,bulkhead signs of rust will show along the front air vents below the front screen,gearboxs are pretty good though early ones had a mainshaft problems but that should be sorted as they got older, to do with the transfer gearbox input gear having no oilways and the shaft stripping the splines,engines had a timing belt problem but they will be sorted by now unless you find a really low mile vehicle just make sure the replacment kit was installed, if you dont know what to look for get some one who does get him/her to go with you to give a good overall check of any potential purchase price wise you buy a defender on overall contition not is age, I really miss my 90 never let me down would recommend a defender to anyone but as already said just make sure you know what to look for before you part with the cash!!!all the best ;)
 
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Little doubt that as an off road vehicle the Landrover Defender with the right tyres takes some beating. Without going into the problems that you could be buying depending on model I would well advise you to get someone who knows landrovers to go with you to inspect any potential purchase. In the main Defenders are easy to work on and parts are readily available but there are some out there with problems that could put a large dent in your wallet.
 
I gave this some thought a while back Nick and did some looking around as my VW Golf just wasn't up to forest tracks and the like, mostly due to ground clearance. After some consideration I decided that it would be less expensive long term to trade in the Golf for something 4WD and higher rather than to run two cars with two sets of insurance, tax, mot and so on. It was also the case that older cars almost always cost a few quid in repairs over a year.

I looked at a relatively new LR Discovery (2nd hand) but found the attitude of LR to be awful, absolutely disgraceful, and also the Discovery web forum was a litany of faults and failures plus running costs are well OTT with an oil change costing up to £600. They are a great vehicle but there is no way I'd ever have a LR after what I witnessed. I also looked at Land Cruisers but there aren't many about and most dealers are asking a lot of cash for decent examples, well over the odds, and I'm sure these prices will soften once the school run mums forget about the snow.

In the end I went for an ex-demo Nissan XTrail (partly as a result of seeing good comments about them on here) with only 10 miles on the clock. It isn't as capable off road as the some of the really serious vehicles but is a lot less costly to keep and it still has 2.5 years of warranty left on it. It drives well on the road and on the first run out I saw 50mpg but so far the average is above 40mpg including short town runs, forest tracks etc. With a decent set of AT tyres I suspect that it will go everywhere I need it to go and, a big plus over the big vans, the boot is plastic lined rather than carpet and appears ideal for throwing a deer in the back. I'm also told that the seats in the XTrail will fold flat and it is long enough to throw down a sleeping bag and sleep in the back.

Here it is in action on Tuesday, when on my own I don't think I'd take a Disco or LC anywhere that I wouldn't take the XTrail to be honest:

HDR024.jpg
 
Land Rover defender is hobby, not a car. Do not buy it as an everyday vehicle unless you live on farm, on tarmac they are unbearable.

Disco would be a better compromise if you are determined to ruin your free time.

Some love them some hate them. If you are good mechanically fill yer boots if not either have a mate that is cheap and handy or dont bother.
 
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Either I've been lucky with my Defender or everyone else is unluck, or just repeating what they've heard. My 1987 90 is my everyday car (I commute in Bristol - shudder) and it goes anywhere it's pointed, it's had the same cheap remould all-terrains for the past 6 years and they're only about half worn. Insurance is 209 quid a year, fully comp. It has a 200TDi engine from a Disco, but only because I wanted to, not needed.

And anyone who says a Jap 4x4 is easier to repair is in dreamland!

Do it, you'll never look back!
 
not easier to repair, but you do it a lot less often...

The jap ones (Toyota and Nissan anyway) are tougher and more reliable, but not always more capable off road. The coil sprung LR takes some beeting for axel articulation, but I still take leafs anytime due to toughness.

Having said that I love my LRs, and have 1950 80" and use a 1964 SIIA and have wokred on/used many 90/110s
 
I've had a H reg 90 for about 6 years. Its ex MOD & although its had a few problems, it is very easy to work on.
Yeah its not as comfy as a jap 4x4, but its a lot more fun, especially with the soft top off in the summer.
 
I've done exactly what you are thinking of - bought a ground up rebuild of a '65 2.25 Petrol Series 2 purely for my stalking three years ago when I got fed up with the car not being able to get where I wanted. It does about 2000 miles a year, is terrible on fuel (17mpg) but servicing costs are cheap, it is tax free and only costs just over £100 fully comp to insure. With Deestone tyres it goes anywhere. It is an investment in that the old Series, if looked after, will not lose value if and when I decide to buy a more modern 4x4.

Regards,

KRS
 
go for the land rover any time !i also wont hear anything against daihatsu but theres just something about land rover yes they do have niggles but they are much cheaper and easier to fix than jap vehicles and in my area many farmers who bought mitsubishus or nissans a few years ago guess what they are back using now!
 
problem is you can't get the proper landcruisers and patrols here so if you want a heavy 4x4 the ONLY choice is land rover. All the jap ones available are their lightweight ones which are a different class of vehicle.

Love it the way people are still using SIIAs as viable vehicles. I love them - and think they compare favourably with a SIII
 
I've had the Land Rover Defender, now I've got a Hilux. The Hilux is better off-road, miles better on-road, has a heater that works, wipers that work, electrics from the current century, doors that close properly and is better on fuel. When it does go wrong (not very often) you can get bits fairly cheaply from the likes of Roughtrax. Much as I liked my Landy it is not a patch on the Toyota. Every time the Landy went for an MOT it failed, usually suspension problems. Yes they are easy to fix, just a grown-up Meccano kit really, but I got fed up fixing it. If you are unable to work on it yourself I hope you have deep pockets as you'll probably be paying someone else many times to fix it for you. But then you might be lucky and it never go wrong :cool:
 
I drove land Rovers for years, about 10 I think, and was happy enough, but I always had a second car. I final gave in when my back advised me that something a little more comfortable would perhaps be better. So I sold my 300Tdi LWB and got a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I was a bit wary at first but with suitable tyres I ended taking my Jeep everywhere I took my Defender and worse. I sold the Jeep and have now got a LWB Pajero, which is just an imported Shogun. The thing is I am willing to gamble that your average 4X4 is far more capable then your average 4X4 driver, and with suitable tyres pretty much any 4X4 of your choice will do the job.

If you are really determined I know where there might be a P registered Defender 300 Tdi pick up truck going. It has an Ifor williams truck top on it, has done less than 80,000 miles, got those fancy Rostyle wheels on it, it is even shiny or has the potential at least, and is just going for it's MOT. It belongs to an old farmer friend of mine, and has done less than a 1000 miles or so a year for the last 5 or 6 years. The bed in the back is pretty much unmarked it is exceptional really. The cab is like a tip, and he smokes, it usually gets driven down to his barn everyday to feed the cattle, round trip of about 4/500 yards. Last week he was talking about selling it and his Mercedes and getting a new Japanese pick up to replace the two of them, he was talking about £3000 for it. This was last week, this week it could be a new tup!

John
 
I've had countless landys of virtually every denomination form series 1s through defenders and a few specials such as the stage 1v8. The most reliable truck I ever had was a p reg 90 300tdi and the only thing that went on that was the clutch (which happens to all vehicles at some time). A mate has it now and it is still going strong. Best thing to do would be to get a 90 or 110 that has been looked after. Definitely take someone who really knows what they are looking at though as there are some real dogs out there.
 
cant agree with hairybiker on this im afraid,ive had plenty experience offroad in some rough country in argyll with both land rover and hilux and while i agree that a hilux is along with the isuzu the best pickup offroad a standard 90 will go further every time without any shadow of a doubt and it doesnt have that annoying beeping every time you get out the door to try and shoot a fox!granted he is correct about the wipers no arguement there or the heater!but just try and get a hilux turned on a very narrow hill track at night and try not to cringe going up a rocky hill when the hilux(not the older ones)are getting grinded underneath that the 90 sails over.Icould go on but i just feel that land rover gets bashed by folk too much these days and as far as im concerned if you use it for what it is then it is the best out there fair enough if you want a multi purpose vehicle maybe a pick up is better but id rather a discovery in that case!!!!
 
i have had defenders and ok but bought a k reg diesel disco for £600 about 6 months ago,got 260,000 miles on clock and still runs well,goes anywhere and more comfortable than defender.if it packed up in 6 months it is still worth 600 in parts and scrap
 
Well when I was considering getting a 4x4 several years ago now Landrover was one that I thought about that is until some very good friends who have loads of Landie experience advised me strongly against it. My old stalking mentor who had every model from the very first to a Defender said :-

Don't do it as it will break you :cry:

but if you do go for one then I have a barn full of bits that might be of use to you ;) you'll need them at some point if you buy a landrover.

Anyway it took some more looking and on our very tight budget we could not afford any landrover that was not a pile of rust :oops:. We needed a vehicle that not only was capable of poor conditions use such as snow and a bit of off road use but both Mum and Dad could get into and be comfortable as at times it has to be our main form of transport ;).

After viewing quite a few and trying out several we ended up with an old Jeep Cherokee 4.0L on a K plate with 83K on the clock and it cost just under £1000 with a years ticket and a new tow bar. We have now had the Jeep for 3 1/2 years and in that time have replaced a worn water pump, a tail box, front brakes (discs and pads) the output shaft oil seal from the transfer box and had the auto box serviced. The rad split and started leaking at the plastic alloy joint last summer so was replaced and it now needs a new electric air con fan as the bearing squeals and it vibrates. We will order one fom the US as the Jeep dealers here want £400 for one yet we can get one from the US for about 1/4 of that. It now has about 116K on the clock

It's not perfect but it does what we want and depending on tyres fitted we get between 22 -26 mpg and in fact we got 26 MPG out of it while towing a trailer with another car on it. The Jeep also has a bit more elbow room.
 
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