Thread: Did I pay tooo much for my defender?

i guess i,m in the same boat as ben, having purchased a 92 200 tdi, but i console myself by thinking that if the previous owner had wanted to fix it, i wouldn,t be its current owner. Its unregistered, not roadworthy,(yet).
and needs lot of parts, but at $5000, i,m not complaining, because i looked at what i consider the 2 main parts, body (straight),and chassis (minimal rust), (everything hangs off, sits in or on either one!), and i know that in time, it will all come together.
Joining and exploring this site has proved to be neat bonus, being able to get information from other owners, without a salesman, breathing down my neck,,.
regards,,,Laurie

Yeah that's one thing it has going for it... No rust in chassis/fire wall there is just a very small amount of rust in the drivers side door. I am glad I posted this thing to get a bit more possitive about the car... I will keep it and over time get every thing right... I think I should get the injectors checked out to see if that makes any difference to the way it drives... If they need work that is!

Cheers
Ben

trust me when you put some dollars in it you will be disgruntled.......BUT when you take it off road you will know why you have done it.

you will then spend more money on it for one reason or another and it will really **** you off, but again you will go off road and forget the money you have spent...

trust me I own 3! 2 of them are currently off the road and one is threatening to be ........but when I'm climbing those rocks I'm proud to own them

Originally Posted by dullbird

trust me when you put some dollars in it you will be disgruntled.......BUT when you take it off road you will know why you have done it.

you will then spend more money on it for one reason or another and it will really **** you off, but again you will go off road and forget the money you have spent...

trust me I own 3! 2 of them are currently off the road and one is threatening to be ........but when I'm climbing those rocks I'm proud to own them

What she said.

She forgot to mention that they are beautiful.

Yes you've bought an old car and things need replacing. "Cheap" maintenence is for people who buy brand new for ten times what you paid with 3 year warranty.

I've head it said that a Defender costs as much as a Troopy to run, what you save in fuel you spend on bits; what you spend on bits you save on fuel.

.

I bought a 96 130 D/c with my eyes open and had it checked out, thanks to Aulro members advice. I pretty much had the same dramas as you and had a serious case of buyers regret. Well, 5 months on I love the old thing, shes emptied my pockets a bit but i knew that in the beginning. Drive line slop starts with the bushes, all of them (only use rubber), then replace the shockies, and when you have recovered from that the axels and drive flanges will need to be replaced- this will change the vehicle. The rest of the slop comes from the gear box and transfer case and can be minimised when the gear box is rebuilt.
All i can say that besides the bushes which are not complicated to do but can be a bugger to remove -rusted bolts and big spanners, they are very easy vehicles to work on yourself with limited mechanical knowlege. just get yourself the manuals off ebay and some good tools.
my other advice is to use the best quality oils and parts. Once they are brought up to spec all that is need is simple maintanance. Defenders are good vehicles and considering that most are used for what they were designed for they are bloody tuff.
Happy motoring
Malcolm