Lest anyone be in any doubt, I wouldn't own another Land Rover if you paid me handsomely, but I know that some people adore them (I'm married to one such person). However, this is not for us, but a friend with a holiday home in Brittany.
They are looking for a scruffy, used Defender (not sure about spec/price) to chop around the local lanes and possibly tow trailers of logs and maybe the old small dinghy.

As my last venture into this territory was the worst car-buying saga on my impressive list of self-inflicted crap vehicle nightmares, I'd like to know what people's top ten tips are for buying a Landy.

Fire away...

check the chassis, in particular the outriggers. they rot, badly.

I know very little about Land Rovers, but from our BMW-engined diesel Freelander experiences... (servicing etc. for about 120,000 miles)

Three fuel pumps - all meant to be unreliable but spec changed around 2003 (is that the BMW era?). Possibly the same on a Land Rover.

Runs modern fully synthetic lubricants (engine, gearbox) so good lifetime expected.

Long-lasting turbo that provides good torque across the range.

Lots of filters that need to be kept up. (Fuel, Air, Turbo Vent, Engine Breather which can push the oil out of the dipstick tube when blocked)

Mud traps are good places to look for rust. Metal is quite good quality so it doesn't fall into holes overnight, but they've gone a bit light on the underseal.

Lots of nasty looking old skool UJs underneath that are promising to cost me a weekend soon.

Scare stories at the tyre shops about running unequal tyre wear rates on each side (supposed to wind up the transmission or something).

Good cheap spares and parts. e.g. air filter was just over £5.

We also considered a Disco for a while - the TD5 was the one I'd almost decided on.

I'm quite keen to own a Range Rover at some point. There are some amazing bargains out there - I'll be looking for one that's never been in a field .

Try this site mate - Landrover Defenders Buyers Guide

Cheers Hanny. Not back 5 minutes and you're already helping people out!

Not sure I want to get involved in buying another Land Rover, even for someone else, but this looks very helpful.

OK, I now have a budget and a spec for my friend's Defender idea:

She wants a LWB (110) with 7 seats for around 4k. Remember this is for mucking around country lanes, not posing in Paris or cruising on motorways, so a few battle scars won't be a problem.

Anyone have any suggestions (other than autotrader and eBay...!)?

Yeah. Don't do it.

My last work had a Defendser 110 diesel as a pool car.
It was 2002 with 65k miles and was possibly the 2nd worst car I've driven after a knackered Nissan Stanza.
It was especially bad for 'mucking around country lanes' as I always had the feeling that at some point it was going to bounce itself into the ditch. Even though it was a pool car we had our own garage and there was no expense spared to keep it 'right'.
My £4k would go on something like a Shogun.

Tim, you are a man after my own heart. My own (and only) Land Rover ownership experience was so ghastly that I'm not sure I don't still need therapy to get over it. However, as you will undoubtedly know, there are a baffling number of people for whom nailed-on 100% unreliability, unmitigated hopelessness and ferocious expense are dismissed as quirkiness and a price well worth paying for the privilege of owning (and very occasionally - breakdowns permitting - driving) a piece of British(?) automotive history; a legend of the off-road firmament.

This is why I am instructed to look for a genuine Land Rover.

I'd forgotten Land Rover Elbow (it must surely have it's own medical term) as well.
When I was a boy I always wondered why every farmer drove with the window down in all weathers and once I finally drove a Landie I quickly realised why.

Very Funny.

Your on to a Jim

Try Land Rover forums and off-road clubs. Just like here, there is more chance of finding a good one and you can usually trace a bit of history in the forums.

Good Luck

Exactly. I can only imagine the bruising to your right side if you do any serious off-roading.

Mine was the 2.25 litre petrol model and apart from using more fuel than the V8 (or the Indian mission to Mars), it also was virtually impossible to fill the tank thanks to a very long, shallow angled pipe into the tank. This would froth up after about 5 gallons, making further fuelling a test to try the patience of Job. Although this was probably a feature, to avoid pissing petrol all over everything in a 5-yard radius. The pipe on mine split, which led to a very hairy experience at a French motorway service station. Seemingly endless petrol pissing out everywhere, getting alarmingly close to a very hot exhaust.

Ahhh, memories...

<Landie Lover Alert>

Hi Jim.

There are a couple of quite useful related threads running on PH currently in the Land Rover section related to this - may be worth a gander.

Sticking by my old Latin motto, there are 2 V8-powered Solihull products outside this window as we speak. In fact I can't remember the last time there were none!

However, beware the search for an "old scruffy Land Rover" vs the cost angle; there really is no such thing as a cheap one, and there is definitely no such thing as a cheap good one, not unless you happen across Mr Magoo selling his, post-Alzheimer's diagnosis and on the day he left his specs at home. For something running and MOTd you will definitely have to pay around £2k upwards, and that will be a tip which needs a lot of love and work. There are c.30 year old Defenders (well, 90s and 110s to be pedantic, but same thing) advertised for £4/5/6k very regularly. Also, if it's going to live in France permanently, I believe le contrôle technique is a little more demanding than our MOT? Another hurdle for an oldie unless your friends are handy with a MIG and a bag of spanners.

A much cheaper (and some would say better) option would be a Discovery 1, which is quite simply a Defender with a more windproof body shell, but given the cachet attached to Defenders, the Disco is MUCH cheaper - £1000 would net a good 'un, although there are still pitfalls to be aware of, the rotten boot floor being a favourite.

Thanks Cappo, I was going to PM you in any case for the case for the Defender Defence.

That's an interesting point about the Disco, I'll mention it.

As I'm sure you know, part of the Defender experience is owning the dream. I know the people involved and I think they may prefer that, not least because they have the cash!

My mate bought a 4.6 V8 P38 Range Rover Vogue for £3.5K about 18 months ago and he still loves it.

Quite a bit has been spent on it since then, nothing major mechanically but various leaks and knocks, radiator, brakes, aircon etc. All fairly easy to work on and I've done most of it with him on my drive, lots of cheap aftermarket parts available so not too bad if you're handy with the spanners.

For a 12 year old car that's lost 95% of it's value it still goes very well, is very comfortable and the interior looks great, so long as you can handle the average 12MPG they're definitely worth a look.

Do they really need a big 4X4?

For every day use perhaps a Subaru forrester or Audi Allroad would be better?

Disco with a 200tdi or a range rover classic with a diesel and manual. Simple, cheap as chips, comfy as a comfy thing surprisingly decent on fuel (I get 30 out of my rangie) and (if its the rangie) going up in value. Whats not to love?

If they are friends surely you would spare them the fate of Land Rover ownership! Absolutely hateful things (I used to work on them)

The friends in question live in Paris, where they run... a Range Rover. I make no comment about the wisdom or otherwise of that choice, but there you go!

They have bought a place in Brittany as their family home where they can escape for weekends/holidays and I think they see the Defender as the perfect, rugged, leave it in the barn til you need it vehicle. Life in rural Brittany involves a great deal of mud (ask Aah4Fuxake from here!) and if you also like the sea, there's a lot of pootling round beaches, etc, too. It sounds like the perfect environment for what most people who haven't owned a Land Rover imagine it would suit.

Now, we may all know that the reality of trundling round in a cheap, rotten, frail old Land Rover is a world of pain compared with something sensible, but it doesn't prevent people wanting to live the dream!

I suggested the Disco route, but I haven't heard back yet... I imagine they could equally get a decent V8 P38 given they won't be doing much mileage.

As it happen Withams have some splendid ex military left hooker defender 90s. Many of them have been very well maintained and though a bit long in the tooth are in decent shape.

I had a bit of a look at those (or some similar) when I first posted this, but the required spec is 7 seater and those ex-military ones were pickups I think. I have a feeling they are a bit pricey too...

A statement you could apply to all Land Rovers I think.

Indeed; I think the Discovery route would be the most practical, as they are a lot more reasonable than the Defender in terms of value. However, I still think I'd be looking at something a bit more... Japanese...

Jim. I have bought a Mercedes 270 cdi on a 2000 plate with 113,000. For £3,000. Its a lovley bit of kit and perfect as a part time car.

If it has to be a landy,then a 200tdi engine has my vote.
Dont let them near any landy with anything BMW in it.

Joe, what model Merc?

Its a 4x4 5 door Jim. 2.7 diesel ML. Goes well and is ok for pulling about 2ton.