What should i look for?

[Gladus Moo]

Hey guys i Use to own a very tidy 97 discovery but unfortunately that blew up on me in the middle of the gawler ranges and cost me an arm and a leg and a bit of heartache i loved the bloody thing!

Now I'm on the hunt for a new tourer, one that will give me and the dogs and the mrs (in that order) many years of service!

I have found a nice looking Defender 1999 300 tdi at about 10k (which is the budget limit) it is manual and has 210k on the odo.

it comes from a reputable dealer in adelaide not naming names but I'm sure you guys would know them. what should i look out for in a car like this? are the engines any good keeping in mind the 300tdi is the one that blew up on me. everyone tells me to keep away from land rovers "you'll just have the same pain" but i can't they just look so good.

[eddy]

I am guessing that the 300tdi that 'blew up' on you, either had a timing belt failure or overheated?If you change the belt, fit a Watchdog temperature gauge and a low coolant alarm,that should cover the motor aspect.

[Trundle]

Rust. I bought a 96 defender and whilst the chassis was good I have a truck load of rust through the doors and firewall. I also had the main drive shaft in the gearbox let go, but that wasn't something I or the mechanic saw coming.
Still wouldn't swap it for anything. But still need to throw money at it...
Good luck.
Cheers

[steane]

It always amazes me the kms you see on Defenders that are for sale. 210k kms in 15 years is completely possible but I'd be suspicious, especially given how easy it is to swap a speedo around. Doubly suspicious given they are a vehicle that people use for trips. You don't really buy one to go to the local shops once a week.

I personally think that a cheap Defender is not the way to go unless you plan on rebuilding it and $10k is cheap. I don't think it buys a good 300TDi or any Defender really.

Unless it's an absolute peach and been well looked after and the price is a mistake I would be expecting to run up quite a bill fixing everything the previous owner has probably decided was too expensive to contemplate.

Things like half shafts and flanges, wheel bearings all round, suspension bushes all round, A-frame ball joint, brakes, clutch, vacuum pump, swivel hub rebuild, idler pulley, water pump, p-gasket, bearings in timing cover, timing belt and pulleys, radiator rodding and cooling system flush, lift pump, steering box, power steering pump etc etc etc etc.

Then there will be all of the little things...

Driving it I'd be on the lookout for drive-line clunks as well as any vague or erratic ride and handling traits. I'd also be looking carefully at what oil is leaking from where.

Check for rust in bulkhead and chassis.

Good ones drive, ride, steer and brake very nicely for what they are. If it doesn't, it needs work.

The best thing you could do is get onto the previous owner and or get access to a service history for the Deefer and see what has been done and when (service history will verify the kms as well). If the above items I listed haven't been done then I'd be budgeting for doing some immediately and expecting others to need doing in the not too distant future. Others you might get lucky with but not many in my experience.

If you keep the cooling system in good condition and change the timing belt every 80k kms and run a low coolant alarm then the 300TDi should treat you well.

I'm not wanting to put you off buying an old Defender :p I'm just adding a dose of reality based on experience. It's been a fantastic experience BTW but not a cheap one.

I would not consider buying a $10,000 Defender unless I had a budget to fix it. There are some really good ones out there but they don't come up for sale very often.

If you do get lucky and get a good one or fix a not so good one then you'll have a friend for life. They are a lot of fun and way more than the sum of their parts.

[vnx205]

It always amazes me the kms you see on Defenders that are for sale. 210k kms in 15 years is completely possible but I'd be suspicious, especially given how easy it is to swap a speedo around. Doubly suspicious given they are a vehicle that people use for trips. You don't really buy one to go to the local shops once a week.

I don't think 210,000km in 15 years is odd for a Defender.

Perhaps that is because mine had 111,000 when I bought it at 8 years old and now at 16 years old it has 220.000.

The reason some of them do about 10 to 15k a year is because they are not used to go down to the local shops or to drop the kids off to Saturday sport or to go to church on Sunday. You can rack up a lot of kilometres doing that.

They sit patiently waiting in the garage for you to take them out on interesting trips and some people can only manage that a few times a year.

I believe that one of the advantages of a 98 or 99 Defender is that they had sorted out a lot of the problems of earlier 300Tdis before they stared again with a whole lot of other problems with the early TD5. :)

[Trundle]

I agree with steane and vnx205 to a point. It doesn't matter the kms done, it's the care. But even the best cared for defender can drop a $5000+ surprise.
If your budget is $10,000 then get it checked and gone over by an independent pro, but remember that once you own it, it might still cough up that expensive surprise. And talking from experience, buying and fitting a new gearbox/transfer box isn't cheap.
Some vehicles are weekenders or 'holiday' vehicles, others are daily use. My daily use vehicles get upto 150,000 per annum, my wife's vehicle would be pushing 10,000 per annum, and she runs around after three kids, I just go from place to place to place to place and back again. I would love to buy my wife's cars second hand....
Cheers