Thread: "upgrading" to a county 110

The 110 is a uniquely iconic vehicle. When touring people will come up and want to talk to you. You are less likely to get that in another Land Rover. In a Range Rover people avoid you.

A turboed Isuzu is a really good bush vehicle, but it's not a great HW tourer if you're in a hurry trying to squeeze in trips within school holidays. My family has done a few big trips in my 110, but now are at the age when they will only do shorts trips. The RR with IFS and rack/pinion steering makes it much easier doing lots of HW km. On most of those trips I didn't need anything near as capable as a 110.

The ageing electrics will be an issue with most vehicles around 30 years old, particularly with bad earths. However electrical problems will just be frustrating rather than be a show stopper. Although relatively simple mechanically, these cars can be expensive to keep running really well in my experience. However, servicing is cheap and simple.

Take an Isuzu 110 for a drive. But I would also look at a 1998 Tdi 110 or 2005 Td5 110. A bit newer & quieter than a 30 year old Isuzu 110.

I'm with Pat, Rar, and Junior, I'd go for something later model for a family wagon, with a bigger pool to choose from 110s or dicos, The country was a great car in its day, but I would be thinking ahead 5 years from now. TDi discos are cheap , as and have a great reputation for comfort and economy to run, though i think getting difficult to find one without 300,000 kms on it. When we bought our car 15 years ago we thought it was expensive, $ 25,000 - (1995 300tdi -110 wagon, 100 k on on the clock). It looked good and everything worked, ( most important for Madam, the air con worked). We travelled a lot places with 5 children ( Vquip engineered third row of seats). It has been a fantastic car we don't use it as much as we used to due to lack of time. Cheap to run and service, and reliable, comfortable enough (as far as defenders go.
I always liked fiddling on my car, but i wan't looking for a another job, for that reason alone would be enough to put me off something made in the 1980s. good luck in your search, cheers simmo.

County 110, you are just as likely to find one with rust as a disco 1? Isuzu 110 is a simple set up with solid truck engine that can do more k's than a tdi and the whole body and chassis is replacable new. I'd certainly prefer a county over a tdi d1 for longevity! See a lot of unloved d1s with body work rusting out. Counties seem to get looked after.

And for family camping you get a lot more in and on a 110 than a disco.

I've been looking at either an ex ADF 110 or a Defender TDi, don't know how much the ex ADF will go for as it only finishes on Wednesday, seen a 97 TDi for $7,750 with history, done 400K km. Still in two minds what to go for! If the bids go over $6K for the ADF I'll more than likely go for the TDi but the KM do but me off a bit, read this thread and thought I'd ask you lot for your opinion! I have to factor in a new hood ($1600) and all the other add extras to rego the ADF vehicle but I know I'd have a cracker of a car, going to use it as my daily drive and to go over the island in Morton Bay.

The last lot of work was as per the advice above - handyman electrics installs. Nearly had a fire in the cab when a dodgy install shorted and melted main power connections to ingintion, lights and a few other items. While fixing it we found that the driving lights had been installed and drawing power through the headlight curcuit which goes through the steering column switched.

Have fun.[/QUOTE]

Yep, we have experience with DIY electrics, they once stranded us out the back of Menindee in our series 2, less than one week into a 12 month trip! we will be inspecting closely!

Originally Posted by rar110

The 110 is a uniquely iconic vehicle. When touring people will come up and want to talk to you. You are less likely to get that in another Land Rover. In a Range Rover people avoid you.

A turboed Isuzu is a really good bush vehicle, but it's not a great HW tourer if you're in a hurry trying to squeeze in trips within school holidays. My family has done a few big trips in my 110, but now are at the age when they will only do shorts trips. The RR with IFS and rack/pinion steering makes it much easier doing lots of HW km. On most of those trips I didn't need anything near as capable as a 110.

.

I didn't mention at the start of this post that we actually WANT a county, not just a new vehicle for the family. For the uniqueness, the challenge and pleasure of maintaining a classic 4x4 and for fun! We drove a series 2 around Australia and it broke down a hell of a lot, but we also met a bunch of interesting people, and certainly most of the conversations we had on the road started because of it.
We want to do the same with our kids and aren't afraid of a challenge, we may be looking for a "family vehicle" but our family are the slow driving, interesting type, not boring and reliable!
Just want to make sure we buy the right one! Thanks for all your help, most of the points everyone raised have been addressed by the current owner, it's getting checked by the mechanic tomorrow, so hopefully by next weekend we will join the county club!

I like your reasoning. Would you be disappointed if it didn't break down on your travels? Cos I reckon an Isuzu Country will rumble on regardless, you might be unstoppable this time round! Enjoy the adventure.

A County is an upgrade to a 2A.

Good luck.