Thread: $20,000 to spend on defender, advice please...

Have a look in the Markets.
Biggest thing with you living up the road, is you have to be mechanically minded or know someone who is or have access to a Land Rover mechanic. If you go down the TD5 path then you also need to consider getting a diagnostic tool such as Nanocom or Rovacom Lite and learn how to use it.
Also you will need a good parts supplier as most LR bits including filters are not available off the shelf. If you do get one pm me and I will give you the details of a good supplier.
Craig

i'm overwhelmed by the generosity of the people here... thank you so much for your advice...

and i love how no ones saying 'given your situ...don't bother..."

going to check the linked suggestions

thanks guys...

I would get the best vehicle for your money, and don't buy a cheaper one without full history and something that won't need much or anything spent on it, I bought mine for $4000.00 however I have had it nearly three years and it has cost me the same again in parts,it has never let me down and did come with full service history.
It needs the firewall replaced, I have one but its the time to replace it. As also stated take some one who really knows land rovers with you, and get the vehicle checked out, some dealers do offer good after sales support, but be carefull of some as their support is not worth the paper it's written on (I found out the hard way with a previous Discovery) Newer the vehicle the better I believe. Don't skimp as it could cost you in the Long run, anyway I know my Landrover has cost me, however I like a project.

Good Luck

Originally Posted by weeds

oh and these pop up all the time............

I'm seriously thinking about parting with mine should I......shouldn't I

Given where you are, if you can live with a ute instead of a wagon, then you can get a whole lot more for your money. In desert travel, a ute seems to be the easiest vehicle to live out of.

A 300Tdi ute / wagon / dual cab, and for where you are you'd want

- long range fuel tank
- bull bar
- water tank
- upgrade headlights
- a good set of driving lights properly wired
- Bilstein or KONI shock absorbers
- A/C can blow very cold in a Tdi if it's properly gassed, so spend the $120 on getting that done.
- window tint
- bottle jack (the vehicle with the longest wheel travel comes with a wind up jack that lifts the body, not the axle, by the time you get a wheel off the ground the car is see-sawing on the jack)
- air jack
- UHF / HF Radio (as required)
- 2 Spare Tyres
- 235/85 16 size tyres (7.50R16)

hmmm... i can probably scrape together another $10,000 to give me $30,000.... should i be looking at a TD5...?

Originally Posted by ngarigo

hmmm... i can probably scrape together another $10,000 to give me $30,000.... should i be looking at a TD5...?

Nope , electrical drama's, oil in the harness ....and a list of other money consuming items
K.I.S.S keep it simple stupid , esp if your not that way inclined

Maybe look at an EX ADF one when they start coming through the auction houses which will be soon me thinks.