Looking to get an ex-mod defender

[easyjo]

I'm looking to get an ex-mod defender, a 90 2.25 non-turbo diesel. I've had a look around at various suppliers and it seems that it would be about £8400 OTR.

I've had a look at multiple suppliers and was wondering if anyone had any better sources?

I'm primarily looking at:

evems.com

pablanchard.co.uk

and a few others.. any ideas?

[Happyoldgit]

Where did you get that price from? Eight and a half grand would be way too much for an old ex mil 90.

[Mondo]

easyjo,

£8K is way over the top. Looking at the PA Blanchard webasite the going price for an ex MOD 90 2.5 NA Diesel seems to be from £4K to £6K

I also suggest looking on Ebay as well as buying some Land Rover magazines (LRW, LRO etc..) and reading through the classifieds

[Scotian]

Same as above. You would be looking at around 5500 for what turns out to be a c,d,e reg Landrover.

Why do you want a 2.5 NA? Are you planning on changing the engine pretty soon. The 2.5 is very under powered (less than the 2.5 petrol that came with mine) It drove me crazy on the motorway, even the slightest incline caused me to change to 4th and do 40mph. Having said that it will be fine around country lanes and off road.

[mmgemini]

See what the Defender Centre is selling.

http://www.defendercentre.co.uk/ I think.

mike

Try was Lord Mayor of London. Can't died in the workhouse.

[Roz]

Most older Military 90's were 2.5 N/A diesels not 2.25, and anyone that thinks they are worth 8k+ is living in a dream world!!!

Have a look HERE for an idea of what's available, £5500 should buy you a fully refurbished one.......

HTH

[101sean]

The 2.5 NA is a good engine for pottering around in, not great for long runs. I wouldn't pay more than £4k from a dealer and it would have to be very good for that. For lots of private sales and all the dealers, check out www.milweb.net

[OilIT]

take a look at withams, they have some ex mil n/a defenders in their current tender - and they give you a guide price!

[easyjo]

Most older Military 90's were 2.5 N/A diesels not 2.25, and anyone that thinks they are worth 8k+ is living in a dream world!!!

Have a look HERE for an idea of what's available, £5500 should buy you a fully refurbished one.......

HTH

Yup I meant 2.5

Thanks for all the links everyone, £8k seems way over the odds, although the landys they supply have pretty low mileage, ie 20k miles. I'm not sure what mileage the pablanchard.co.uk ones are, I'll keep looking..

Cheers

[easyjo]

Having a look again it seems quite a few dealers offer

2.5 litre na diesel engine

Approx 50,000 - 90,000km

Choice of full hard top or new canopy

Fully serviced

Repainted to choice of single colour

£6,750+VAT

which seems a lot compared to other places, I'm not sure why a few of them are much more.. any thoughts?

Edit: pablanchard looks the best so far.

also I've heard that mod defenders are most likely going to have been trashed around quite a lot, even though I imagine this could be true. Should this be a reason not to consider one even with the good maitenance?

[Litch]

The 2.5NA D is a fine engine in when in good condition but mileage is very misleading as an FFR could have spent hundreds of hours idling away while putting no mileage on the speedo.

When I bought my ex-MOD 90 in 1999 I bought it direct and although it looked tatty on the outside it had undergone a very thorough mechanical rebuild prior to being cast including a reconditioned engine which was a real peach.

When solo it would pull top gear most situations however put a fully loaded Sankey behind it and it did slow down on the hills etc. I checked the (very accurate) speedo against a GPS and I found that it would rev out at a genuine 73MPH, the beauty of my engine was that it would pull this most of the time while still returning between 26-28MPG.

I drove it hard for over 5-years because I knew one day I would be changing the engine but I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of what turned out to be a very effective power-plant. In the end it was only the fact that production was soon to stop of the licence built 300TDi that I decided to go for a LR Genuine Parts re-power kit.

There is no getting away from the fact that a TDi is a much more powerful & economical engine but don't disregrad the NA D out of hand as depending on what use you are to put it to, they can be a nice engine to live with.

P.S. Yes, £8K is way too much for what is otherwise a VERY basic vehicle and you may not be as lucky as me in getting one which contained so many new parts. Also the MOD are retaining a lot more of their vehicles and putting them through for refurbishment so you may find that the ones being cast are past their sell by date.

[easyjo]

There is no getting away from the fact that a TDi is a much more powerful & economical engine but don't disregrad the NA D out of hand as depending on what use you are to put it to, they can be a nice engine to live with.

Thanks for all the info, is it even possible to get an ex-mod 90 with TDi, most seem to be NA, unless they've been refitted of course..?

[101sean]

Thanks for all the info, is it even possible to get an ex-mod 90 with TDi, most seem to be NA, unless they've been refitted of course..?

No, they are all NA apart from a few 110 V8s. There are a few 'white' fleet Tdi 110 station wagons around but they are basic civvy spec

[Litch]

That's correct.

When the TD & 200TDi were introduced to other markets the MOD stuck with the NA D and it was not until the introduction of the Defender XD that a military version of the 300TDi was used. There are plenty of ex-MOD 90/110's out there which although manufactured and brought into service in the 1990's are fitted with the NA D.

I believe that early versions of the NA D in the MOD fleet initially obtained a poor reputation for reliabilty but after some investment by LR the problems were ironed out and it proved to be an ultra-reliable unit which is more important than outright performance in most situations.

[Eightpot]

As said above, try Witham Specialist Vehicles, they have a contract to dispose of MOD vehicles direct. I think there are less and less unregistered GS 90's going these days but they might have a couple - follow the links for the tender list.

Also check out the EMLRA forum, there are sometimes some ex mil 90's for sale there.

The n/a isn't a bad engine, near indestructable and is surprisingly gutsy off road- not much fun on motorways though, you find yourself dropping down to fourth or even third on some long gentle inclines.