$100 to evaluate a Defender near Tampa/Ft Meyers

Z.G

Well-known member
Damn, I literally just left Tampa yesterday. Are you looking for a drive report or just detailed photos?
 

acheck

Well-known member
If you'd like me to evaluate by email just PM me the listing or email me the photos you have and I can likely give a pretty detailed assessment without touching it.
 

Z.G

Well-known member
The person I know down there probably wouldn't be a qualified "driver", but could take good honest photos.
 
Here's the pictures so far
 

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Comments from the owner:

" Hello America, meet "Stella" (For all you Landy enthusiasts, you know Brits name their Defenders!)

I added photos of the underneath (Clean as a whistle), as well as the ONE rust spot on the car - at the base of a rear door. My wife took these photos for me, as I'm out of town. If you'd like more, please ask! Thanks!

The VIN is SALLDHMF7MA952568. I imported her from England in October, upon my return from an assignment there.
If you don't know anything about these old gals, be advised - they rattle, clunk, are drafty, occasionally leak a bit, and are the coolest vehicle ever distributed around the world! Either you get it, or you don't.

She runs great, I just put 200 miles on her going to get the VIN inspected by the State of Florida. I also have all the import documentation. She is on a clear Florida title.

As you can see from the photos, Stella has had a lot of work before her trek across the pond. The rear half of the frame is new, all the numbers match, lots of new suspension parts, new head gasket and upper half rebuild - the mechanic recommended NOT rebuilding the lower end, saying it has another 200k miles left in her. She has new rims and tires, lots of replaced material inside (plus a big speaker in the back), and comes with a lot of new spare parts I bought for the future. And more.....

Stella has a few issues:
The rear windows don't crank very well - thus I have 2 new window mechanisms and side track.
The driver side rear door lock keeps coming off the lever - I plan to repair this with the new window mechanisms.
She does drip a slight bit of oil - like all stately ladies her age! The mechanic said to expect drips even if we rebuilt the whole engine!
The lower driver door hinge is rusty. I have 8 new ones in the wrappers.

Beyond that, I also have a new clutch assembly (the existing clutch has about 40k miles on it), replacement brakes (all brakes have less than 5k miles on them), 2 complete service packs (oil and air filters), 5 steel wheels that could be powder coated or painted, and some odds and ends spare parts. If you would like to see the pages of receipts for the work performed on her by Land Rover mechanics in England, please just ask! Also, feel free to call the mechanics there, I'll give you the number - they are good guys and will remember Stella! You can also go to the UK vehicle website, her license plate (registration) will show her inspection history. "

"Yes, it's the original 300Tdi.

The coating is what the Brits call "wax-oyl". It is a sticky, black spray on rust proofing. It comes off easily with brake fluid or good solvent. The frame, which I'll answer next, was fully stripped, cleaned, and coated. I have an extra can of the stuff if it's ever needed again.

No issues at all since I brought it back. I don't know how many owners it had, but you can research the registration on the British road tax site. I have the ad from the guy that sold it to me, it has more information in it. It has not had any accidents or frame damage. However, as my ad says, the back half of the frame is brand new and was welded in place a few months before I shipped it here. It had significant rust at an angle, implying the vehicle must have been used to launch boats. The timing belt has less than a year on it, and the multiple pages of receipts I have document that. At the same time, we rebuilt the entire upper half.

When I get home Wednesday I will happily take pictures of all of those things. The doors are only a year or two old they were replaced, although the rear window mechanisms were reinstalled. That's why I got two brand new ones in the box.

The windows over the back quarter panel were removed by the previous owner. These old girls tend to leak and he chose to put the panels in instead. It's easy to put the windows back they're readily available for purchase online both from Land Rover and aftermarket vendors.

The front windows slide but the back ones are cranks. Ang again, I have the new crank mechanisms in the the-box."
 

Z.G

Well-known member
At $19,500 it's not a terrible price, though there's plenty of lipstick on that pig. The chassis looks like it was coated after a decent amount of corrosion. Engine bay looks good(for what that's worth). Personally wouldn't suggest paying over $15k for it, but Im guessing someone will.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
my first pass:

  • frame has had repairs but looks ok, waxoil hides alot so you should scrape some of it back to look for serious rust
  • front windows are off a series, not a defender
  • 300 head was prob off recently, its clean and good looking
  • stock setup otherwise
  • paint looks typical cheapish uk job, dont expect it to last
  • janky window mechs are really common and a pain to fix even with new parts, not a huge deal tho\
  • RHD and no rear side windows will make this a BITCH to turn onto highways, fixable

Ask for receipts of all work done
 

haru182

Active member
RHD and no rear side windows will make this a BITCH to turn onto highways, fixable

WOW.... Hadn't considered that until now. Recently had two pieces of culvert in the minivan totally blocking my view from the passenger mirror back....what a bitch. Couldn't imagine living with that forever with on-ramps.
 
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