16years old and looking for a military defender 4 wen older

[bonze]

16years old and looking for a military defender 4 wen older
could i have some news on the best place to get one :(bloodshot):  :twisted:  :P  :(shades):

[Range Rover Blues]

Buy a couple od magazines like LRO or LRM and trawl through the ex MOD disposal places, ring a few or try the websites and get an idea of how much they are going to cost.
You'lll quickly realise that unless your hearts desire is a non-turbo diesel without power steering but with plenty of dents and a dodgy faded green paint job that your money will go a little further on a civilian Defender.  Only the Wolf is up-specced for squadies and you won't get one of them for under £10k, you won't insure it either.

[Jim-Willy]

Huddersfield Landrover Centre had some cheap exmil 110 300tdi's last time i was there.  Didn't look closely and can't remember the prices but it sticks in my head that they were cheap.

[Jake]

Try http://www.witham-sv.com/
Always good for ex army stuff
 :D

[karloss]

Huddersfield Landrover Centre had some cheap exmil 110 300tdi's last time i was there.

HLC and cheap in the same sentance! Am I dreaming? :lol:  :lol:

[Jim-Willy]

Huddersfield Landrover Centre had some cheap exmil 110 300tdi's last time i was there.

HLC and cheap in the same sentance! Am I dreaming? :lol:  :lol:

I know what you mean, they were selling some right old crates for mega bucks but the 110's seemed OK from what i saw.

[karloss]

To be fair they probably were. They don't tend to sell any old rubbish. But their prices.... :shock:  :shock:

[bonze]

cheers  just what i am lookin for

[pilgrim]

I'm in a similar situation to bronze, although a bit older.

Should I consider these ex-Nato or MoD defenders. I've seen several for round about the £5-7k mark, which includes hardtop, bench seats and repainting. It sounds like a relatively painless way to get a sound and tidy defender (albeit with high mileage) .... what are the drawbacks?

presumably different spec to civvies, but what does this mean in practice? should i just stick to looking in autotrader for a 'normal' defender, and then pay someone else to fix it up? (i can't tell one end of a spanner from another).

sorry for being so ignorant - i'm still learning, but don't want to get ripped off in the meantime.

[PUX]

dude u will find most MOD landys have very low milage if i was u try and find a ex RAF landy as they dont really leave the air base so thier milage stays nice and low  

[pilgrim]

most of the ex-MoD ones seem to be n/a rather than turbo'd. any views?again, apologies for my ignorance. i've only driven a tdi (about 12 years ago when i first passed my test and desperately wanted a landie - insurance meant i had to do with a 1l polo) and more recently a td4 freelander. obviously it's going to be a bit rougher round the edges, but am i still going to be ok on the odd long journey (200 miles or so) or will i be cursing the decision not to get a freelander?

[pondy653]

dude u will find most MOD landys have very low milage if i was u try and find a ex RAF landy as they dont really leave the air base so thier milage stays nice and low  

As a serving airman, your right they don't tend to leave the base area however they a generally driven for about 300 meters as fast as you can thrash them from cold, they are rarley washed and airfields are de-iced using consin, made from pig p***.  where as when the army come off a training area the vehicles are washed.
As for buying from withams make sure you go in person, don't rely on their website or their guide prices. Only the dogs make it into the Tender sale and the rest are over priced in my opinion.
Why not buy a civi Defender and then militarise it after all unless you are a real spotter you cannot tell.
Good luck anyway
Tony
At the Home of the Might Jaguar

[pilgrim]

thanks, i've had a look at witham sv and also l jackson & co - any other suggestions (other than getting off my fat @rse and googling).

not too bothered about it being 'military'. just thought it was a good entry point into landie-ownership, and relatively cheap.

that said, looking at some of the vehicles on here, am concerned i  could get the bug and spend some serious cash on upgrades. you guys don't do things by half! i'm seriously impressed.

[Jim-Willy]

thanks, i've had a look at witham sv and also l jackson & co - any other suggestions (other than getting off my fat @rse and googling).

not too bothered about it being 'military'. just thought it was a good entry point into landie-ownership, and relatively cheap.

that said, looking at some of the vehicles on here, am concerned i  could get the bug and spend some serious cash on upgrades. you guys don't do things by half! i'm seriously impressed.

My Uncle has just got a TDI ex mil 90 from withams, it is civilian spec from the falklands but still army green, it is beyond mint but the price was very high aswell, it is a R plate.  Previously He had a ex RAF from Crook's which lasted years and was very reliable but had no turbo.  A lot of the ex mil stuff has the non turbo engine which is very very slow.  For 5-7k you should be able to get a late civilian TDI Defender easily with cash to spare (You would get a TD5 probs if you wanted one), maybe a ex utility one as they tend to be well kept if high mileage, mine is ex enviromnent agency and had 107,000 on it when i bought it but is in very good nick and after another 12,000 miles in a year and a half very little has gone wrong with it and i treat it quite hard.

[PUX]

dude u will find most MOD landys have very low milage if i was u try and find a ex RAF landy as they dont really leave the air base so thier milage stays nice and low  

As a serving airman, your right they don't tend to leave the base area however they a generally driven for about 300 meters as fast as you can thrash them from cold, they are rarley washed and airfields are de-iced using consin, made from pig p***.  where as when the army come off a training area the vehicles are washed.
As for buying from withams make sure you go in person, don't rely on their website or their guide prices. Only the dogs make it into the Tender sale and the rest are over priced in my opinion.
Why not buy a civi Defender and then militarise it after all unless you are a real spotter you cannot tell.
Good luck anyway
Tony
At the Home of the Might Jaguar

umm we dont use pig pi** anymore lol and we do clean are landys very well also we dont keep em for very long as they are civvi leased the only ones we do keep for along time are the wolfs   and as for army vehicles i have done my time before the RAF working as REME on army landys and i would not be happy buying one as i know how they are fixed, bodge it and scarper springs to mind  :lol:

[littlepow]

Just beware most MOD landies have reached either the end of there service requirement, N/A diesel types or Rapier 127. Or they have been trashed beyond all belief and they want rid, due to high maintenace costs.

Anything from the Falklands will have been treated like dirt, and spend several weeks bobbing around on a frieghter getting back to the UK. That and not all of the Falklands has roads, so some have had a real hard life.

You might be best trying for an ex fleet TDi, usually better looked after and serviced.

[al]

Eyup Bonze,
           get yourself a insurance quote first.   I`ve just phoned sureterm for a quote for one of my lads and they told me not to bother untill he`s at least 21!!!!. I did`nt dare ask for the price after that comment.
   Cheers mate
     AL :lol:

[pilgrim]

the insurance was what put me off when i first looked 12 years ago. am hoping it shouldn't be too bad now.

surely they can't hold my points for speeding against me if i move to a n/a landie?

thanks for your help guys - certainly something to think about!

[Baj]

My LWT costs me £88 to insure. Unlimited mileage.

OK I am in my 30s but ExMils have their advantages.

Footman James
http://www.footmanjames.co.uk/site/default.asp

[Litch]

Up to the introduction of the XD and excluding the V8's (mainly rapier & ambulances) most MOD 90/110's used the 2.5NA D even when the TDi's were in widespread civy use.
They make very good basic vehicles which are very suitable to use as they are or modify to your own tastes. I wanted a good 90 and having bought ex-MOD direct before, I was more than willing to do it again but I didn't want it to remain in MOD spec but to turn it into civy spec

The way I did it was to find the best base vehicle I could and then build on it over a period of time, I did some searching and came up with what turned out to be quite a gem. Believe it or not this turned out to be an ex-RM 90 FFR hardtop which I bought for £3500.
The chassis was MINT (it had a slight twist but we put that right) and it had been fitted with a large number of new parts just prior to being cast. I got it registered and then proceeded to drive it around for 12-months just to make sure everything worked as it should and in the mean time, accumulated all the new bits!
The chassis was Waxoiled, every panel (inc bulkhead & rear body) was replaced with new items (excluding the seatbox which remains the only original part of the body) and everything was painted individually off the vehicle in 2-pack. A new factory fresh 300TDI, R380 & Disco T/box were fitted as was a replacement (disc-braked) rear axle and I changed the format to soft-top. All lights were replaced with NAS items and things like heated windscreen & mirrors, Recaro seats have been fitted to make it more civilised. In short, it is easier to list the original parts which have remained on the vehicle rather than list all the new ones (chassis, front axle, rear diff & halfshafts, suspension linkages, upper steering column, some of the dash and that is it!).

It has cost a lot of money but in its fading green paint & khaki tilt it doesn't look anything special and is still wearing its C-reg plate. I love it and am glad I did it this way rather than buying a newer (or even new) vehicle at the outset.