Landrover Defender on the cheap:p

[matek]

My mate who is doing the same sly trick as me asked his forum but they aren't car orientated gave him stupid answers and he wants a second opinion. So heres his question:

To cut a very long story short, I am able to get full comprehensive insurance on pretty much any vehicle (within reason) for no more than £400.

Now, I don't fancy on spending too much (about £1k), but then I don't fancy owning a shited up small 'typical' first time car such as a G-reg Ford Escort (no offence to any G-reg Escort owners wink.gif).

Thus due to the considerable decrease in insurance costs, I’m thinking of buying a 4x4 to satisfy my driving throughout the EU. A 1993 aged Defender or Disco, or 1995/6 Jeep seems to go at about my price range in pretty good nick on ebay. I'm willing to do a bit of work to it such as getting rid of rust, some bodywork, installing a decent sound system, etc - note I will be doing all this work myself over a two week period. However most of the cheaper Disco’s don’t seem to need any work what-so-ever.

I’m currently looking at the following cars:

Jeep Cherokee Sport 2.5l - 26mpg
Jeep Cherokee 4l - 19mpg

Land Rover Disco 2.5l - 30.1mpg
Land Rover Disco 4l V8 - 17mpg

Land Rover Defender 90/110 2.5l - 27mpg

However, I've got a few primary concerns regarding such vehicles

1. Will it guzzle petrol like no mans business?
2. Are these ebay prices not slightly suspicious to anyone, or do these cars (primarily the Disco range) depreciate in value considerably?
3. A vehicle of the above age, after all/any maintenance has been sorted, will it be fine and safe to drive abroad during the summer and to Austria/Switzerland into the mountains during the winter (note, chances of engine freezing up in the winter, etc)?
4. Are any of the above vehicles of that age likely to go wrong/need any expensive parts?
5. In regards to converting to LPG (which will cost be around £300 by a professional dealer in Poland), what sort of mpg increases would I expect?
6. Out of all the above vehicles, which would you choose for town driving and long distance driving across the EU during the winter skiing season and Summer holiday season?

Obviously my primary concern here is reliability, are there any better cars for my price range?

He also want your guys opinion on a jeep grand cherokee, and a Landrover Disco. Thanks

[Lagonda]

Where does he find Defenders for £1k ?

No way you can buy a Defender for £1k. Unless you buy a wreck. 1990 Defenders sell easily for 3x that amount or more.

Same goes for Discos and Grand Cherokees...


And I really wouldn't try to do a DIY paintjob unless you really know what you're doing and have the proper equipment.

[matek]

haha the wonders of ebay they're not in that bad a state.

And does any one know what proportionally prices of parts ore for these cars?

[kingofthering]

Land Rover Discovery's are powerless.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

I drive a 1994 Cherokee 4l, it does guzzle fuel.

around 450km to a tank.

And in regards to reliability, are there Landcruiser's or Shoguns within his price range?

[Coventrysucks]

What's the scam on insurance then?

I can't seem to get any quotes <£1000 on anything more than a unicycle...

[matek]

well if your polish you can go and get insurance in poland then drive the car abroad as if you were on holiday but have to return every year for the equivilant of a MOT.

So its no scam all legit.

And it doesn't really matter if its low down on power its about having fun

Also the plan is to convert the jeep with a 2.5l engine to lpg to double fuel efficiency as you'll end up spending half the amount of money on lpg then you would on petrol.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Don't really count on LPG being this cheap in comparo to petrol or Diesel forever. he'll still have to do a few KM's to make up to cost of the installation.

[matek]

instalation in poland is 2000 zl from a reputable company therefore around 300 quid that should be repayed reasnably quickly. and even so this is a first car everything on the cheap so by the time lpg isn't cheap anymore i think we'll have moved on from our first car.

But can anyone say which would be most reliable out of the cars selected?

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The only major problem I have had with my Jeep is the TPS (Throttle Pressure Sensor) on the Auto Transmission giving way, that cost around $500 AU (give or take 175 quid) to replace. It's been stress free motoring. I will only suggest though that if your planning to take passengers in the rear seats get the latest version you can (Facelift if possible) because it has the most uncomfortable rear seat in history.

other than that it's a pretty cool ride. very tough.

[matek]

sounds cool

But we really are going on budget around 1000 pounds for the car which leaves a thousand for other expenses i.e. converting it lpg and re-registering it, and petrol for the journey to poland.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Why wouldn't you go for something like a Lada Niva which could be repaired easily over in Poland?

[matek]

hehe duno maybe cause of the image of owning a lada

[h00t_h00t]

I'd own one. Paint flames up the sides...badly, cut the back box off so its louder than god and drive around banging your head to the loud, terrible radio.

EDIT Do this:

[nota]

5. In regards to converting to LPG (which will cost be around £300 by a professional dealer in Poland), what sort of mpg increases would I expect?
6. Out of all the above vehicles, which would you choose for town driving and long distance driving across the EU during the winter skiing season and Summer holiday season?

5. Obviously LPG decreases mpg, not increases it Any decrease in fuelling costs are entirely dependant on the margin-difference in price between gas and petrol at the pump. In other words it's all about cost-per-distance not specific mpg. Eg if your vehicle delivers 16mpg on gas, and gas is say 50% (?) less per gallon than petrol, then 16mpg on gas = an equivalent cost of 32mpg on petrol. You will have to crunch the numbers yourself to estimate the result (and the best fuel choice) as I've no idea how gas/petrol/diesel prices compare over there

LPG usually gives a 10% to 20% (<at worst) decrease in mpg, depending on the quality of the conversion. These days there are excellent quality kits originating from the Netherlands and Italy .. and Oz. (LPG L/Rs and Jeeps are a common sight here)

6. Land Rovers are tough buggers for sure, roomy but a bit of a truck to drive. However there are plenty of ownership horror stories, mainly Discos. Btw to access a defective reversing-light switch on his early R/R a friend first had to remove the seats, then the floor ..

Conversely Jeep 4.0 petrol is light and has plenty of pep but maybe unibody damage or rust and with the vaguest of steering

I'm no expert on either L/R or Jeep but if LPG is as financially viable as diesel then I might be most tempted by a torquey 4.0 6cyl Jeep on gas, which may offer the best compromise between performance/economy. Only a guess but I wouldn't be surprised if a 6cyl jeep might not be much more expensive to buy than a comparable (albeit gutless) 4cyl version, due to lower resale via higher running costs (on petrol)