=jon= Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hi, This has probably been asked a few times before, so apologies... I'm looking at 'trading up' my 90 for a 110 - my lad is too big to travel any distance in the middle seat now, and most of the 90 rear load seats seem like bodges - and take away all the space! It'd also be good to have something for tip runs / holidays etc with a load of room in it! So - I've been looking at 110s to replace it with. My nominal budget is about 5K - which gets me a selection of 300's, but for a little bit more you are in TD5 territory. I know the TD5 had some teething problems, but are the ones at the bottom end of the market likely to be total dogs / money pits? The leftfield option is a v8 and convert it to LPG - I've got a megasquirt already so it would be a case of getting an EDIS and wiring it up... I was very interested in the one the HoSS has/had for sale a few months back, but he's gone quiet and stopped answering emails or PMs Does anyone know any decent 110's for sale - as said there's a few on ebay but I'd rather get a 'known' one if possible! Thanks Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 One thing I'll say is TD5's are surprisingly uneconomical, I've looked at them a few times in various vehicles and although they have a good reputation performance-wise they don't half drink. How many miles you're doing & what your fuel budget is would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I'd say it depends entirely on condition! Well-maintained and driven sympathetically, either engine/vehicle will last well. With poor maintenance and an unsympathetic driver they can both be a pile of scrap in a few years. With all my scondhand vehicle purchases I've always gone for the newest-I-can-afford irrespective of mileage. I'd rather have a newer, high-mileage vehicle than an older lower-mileage one. The newer one's likely to have spent more time with the engine properly warmed-up and doing faster/longer journeys for a start. It should also have seen more frequent servicing. It's also had less time for corrosion to take its toll (and IMHO just like Discos and RRs it's corrosion that renders most Defenders more suitable for parting-out than repair). As FridgeFreezer noted, the TD5 can be a bit of a dieseloholic when you use the available performance - but let's face it *any* LR has the aerodynamics of a medium-sized industrial estate and so it's going to be a heavy drinker when driven fast. Of the two, I'd try and get a TD5 as it's a smoother-at-speed, much more 'lively' and free-revving engine which suits my driving style and usage pattern better than the 200/300TDi. Your mileage may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 It wouldn't really be used as a main car - more a weekend toy and for holidays etc - so the difference in fuel economy would be pretty minimal cost wise to be honest - hence thinking about a v8 for the noise/power/smoothness and sticking LPG on it... V8 110s seem pretty rare though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Another approach is how much money you get for a genuine Defender diesel engine & box pulled out and replaced with a V8 which can probably be gotten much cheaper, could help the budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Hmmm - I'd not considered that approach, good idea... Am half tempted to go and have a look at: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191431301924?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT As it seems reasonably standard and has had some of the trouble areas like door skins done already.. Also found this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-110-V8-PETROL-COUNTY-STATION-WAGON-/271664185936?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f40728250 But it's a blooming long way away, and seems very very shiny - I guess it's been resprayed looking at it, and there's no details about the chassis... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 The V8 CSW is a nice travelling vehicle, but the fuel costs are horrendous , say 36p a mile avg which soon adds up if going any distance . Lpg conversion looses you quite a bit of room , and you need a big tank as it uses lpg faster than petrol . In hot climates the amount of heat fed into the interior from the engine/transmission can be a negative impact , it needs a really good aircon to counteract it . Going from V8 to 300tdi/380 is not a straightforward swap , tunnel and seatbase need modding . HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Also found this:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-110-V8-PETROL-COUNTY-STATION-WAGON-/271664185936?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f40728250But it's a blooming long way away, and seems very very shiny - I guess it's been resprayed looking at it, and there's no details about the chassis... It's not a million miles from me Give them a call, if you are still interested I could go & take a look on Saturday if you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 It's not a million miles from me Give them a call, if you are still interested I could go & take a look on Saturday if you like? Thanks for the offer, much appreciated.. If I stop going round and round in circles between petrol and td5 and 300TDI and make a decision in favour of the V8 I'll let you know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 The V8 CSW is a nice travelling vehicle, but the fuel costs are horrendous , say 36p a mile avg which soon adds up if going any distance . Lpg conversion looses you quite a bit of room , and you need a big tank as it uses lpg faster than petrol . In hot climates the amount of heat fed into the interior from the engine/transmission can be a negative impact , it needs a really good aircon to counteract it . Going from V8 to 300tdi/380 is not a straightforward swap , tunnel and seatbase need modding . HTSH Thanks for the info. I would have looked at underslung tanks, rather than in cab I think, so space wouldn't be taken up... But I appreciate the other comments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanT90 Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Recently watched an episode of wheeler dealers where they bought a 3.5 v8 110 and converted it to LPG cost around £1000 for conversion kit. They reckon 3 years to recoup cost so starts paying for itself. Personally I wouldn't have a TD4 or TD5 god damn modern electrics are a pain in the arse unless you have a diagnostic setup etc I have a 300tdi great engine easy to work on but thats my own preference. I have a 90 and have same issue with my son growing. I am going for rear side seats but have fitted forward facing in past to my s3 great option and folds out the way for trip runs. Or just get a roof rack for hols. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 New LPG kits are expensive, 2nd hand it's a struggle to give them away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I have a 110 V8 that was converted to LPG. It has three underslung tanks, so all load space retained. I could get around 250 miles from full tanks. However, I found that finding LPG can be problematic. When I was bringing it home, I found an app on my phone to tell me where petrol stations that stock lpg are. The first three I tried were all out of lpg, so I had to switch to petrol. When in France recently, there was a 50 mile round trip to get to a station that sold lpg from where I was staying, which somewhat negated the cost benefits of using lpg. I'm removing the lpg tanks and putting a big petrol tank back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I'm removing the lpg tanks and putting a big petrol tank back in. That's about the conclusion we've come to with the 127, for a low-use 2nd vehicle a healthy V8 with megasquirt gets enough MPG not to bother with the faff of an LPG kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 LPG is nice, but can indeed be hard to find. Not aided by all the online databases being horrible out of date (or wrong!). Forget about finding LPG in Scandinavia, the rest of Europe is generally OK. Work pays for my fuel, and this summer I had to drive on petrol for a month because of a problem with the LPG system. The fuel card company actually phoned my work to check wtf had happened, the fuel bill had gone up quite a bit LPG definitely makes a lot of sense when doing lots of miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Work pays for my fuel, That's always a bonus!! Especially when you drive a v8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 That's always a bonus!! Especially when you drive a v8. Word used to pay for mine.... They changed the scheme, which hurts a bit. Running a v8 with no LPG would be OK, but it would hurt come holiday time. With LPG it'd be better, but there's not many stations round here, so it would mean a special trip to fill it up - and I don't think the other half would cope with it if she was using it! I had a look on ebay at a few TD5s - virtually all of them are LEZ non-compliant which rules them out for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 With LPG it'd be better, but there's not many stations round here, so it would mean a special trip to fill it up - There you have recognised the biggest influencing factor. I converted to LPG some 13 years ago, and that only happened because a local garage I used to pass on my way to work starting selling it. Nowadays I fill up on a Thursday evening, when I pass a filling point on the way round to a mate's house, but it's still only 5 minutes drive away. You do tend to find yourself planning journeys around fill up opportunities, and for that reason I added extra under slung tanks to my RRC. I can carry 100 litres in total (all under slung), which importantly gives a decent range between fillups and I get to keep my boot space. When I spent a couple of weeks in France a few years ago, finding gas wasn't a problem. However I was having to fill up say every 250 miles, whereas the outlaws' diseasel Volvo would do at least twice that on a tank. From when I had the RRC running on petrol I recall getting around 250 miles/tank. As for reliability, there is no reason for LPG to be worse than any other fuel, as long as you keep the car properly serviced. I have to admit that for all round convenience, the availability and tank range of a diesel puts up a strong argument - but I am too much of a petrol head than that My 110 CSW (bought for same reason as you) is a great truck for space, even with the LPG tank in the back. I just need to add some extra tanks. On the Td5 vs Tdi consumption issue, my mother will confirm this. She has had 110s with both engines, she drives pretty conservatively and does a mix of short journeys and heavy towing. She reckoned to get on average 5mpg more from the Tdi. Interestingly her current FL2 Td4 auto does pretty shocking consumption with the same work load, but with much greater comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8Pete Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 My decision to go for a V8 was based on the fact that they are cheaper to buy (I reckon I saved about £1,000) and this would cover the cost of about 12,000 miles of driving given the economy and fuel price differences. As it was to be a 2nd car 12,000 miles would take about 3 years. Although this argument falls down if I have to sell it as I'll then lose my £1,000 saving unless the increasing rarity of an original V8 pushes the price up. Plus I prefer the V8 from a comfort/noise/cruising perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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