Tata Loadbeta... Bought and Pics!

[DodgyBastard]

Went to see this

 

Tata Loadbeta tdi by srblythe, on Flickr

 

Tata Loadbeta tdi by srblythe, on Flickr

 

It's a bit rusty but drives well enough. Has anyone ever owned one? It's a tdi but I'm unsure as to whether its a 4wd or rwd. The owner thinks it's fwd but I had a quick look at the rear and there's a diff at the back. He also didn't think it had a turbo though Derskine thought he saw one under the bonnet...

 

Is there any reason to avoid these like the plague? It's probably the wrong forum to ask on...

[RedSparrow]

Just noticed how much the front of these looks like a Merc.

[vulgalour]

The front end looks a tiny bit like a Mercedes, so quality is guaranteed.

 

 

EDIT: Redsparrow saw it too! Phew, not just me then.

[AndyW201]

Bloody hell! I saw that very vehicle yesterday when delivering to a pallet shop in Fordoun. It's even better in the metal than the pictures! I'm sure someone else on here was considering one of these, I think the gist was that they are surprisingly reliable.

[KruJoe]

And the doors look like they came from an Isuzu.

 

Old Merc dizzle oily bits. Veg friendly. Check for rust and generally shoddy build. And rust.

 

That one seems like a 2wd to me... I think the 4x4's were taller.

[twosmoke300]

I drove one of those for a summer . Main memories were a dogleg first iirc , no 4wd even though it looked like it .

[AndyW201]

I'm sure some of these used Peugeot dizzler engines as well. Apparently the muddy wellie brigade rate them quite highly as workhorses.

[Shep Shepherd]

If the adverts for them in my local free newspaper in the mid-1990s are to believed, Loadbetas are equipped with various cast-off Mercedes-Benz mechanical parts.

[Lacquer Peel]

I think the engine is a version of the erstwhile Indenor diesel but with OHC and a cambelt. The low ride height suggests it's a 2wd job.

 

You should buy it.

[Matt]

Someone asked me to help sell theirs a few years ago. It was in good nick but had the gearbox replaced under warranty at like 6k miles or something stupid like that. It didn't strike me as a particularly good quality product. If you need something like that fair enough but I don't think it would be worth buying just for the sake of buying it cheap.

[wuvvum]

These have the best hazard light switch of evar.  Looks like a red Tictac sticking out the top of the steering column.

[DodgyBastard]

Someone asked me to help sell theirs a few years ago. It was in good nick but had the gearbox replaced under warranty at like 6k miles or something stupid like that. It didn't strike me as a particularly good quality product. If you need something like that fair enough but I don't think it would be worth buying just for the sake of buying it cheap.

 

I think you're on the wrong forum, that's the exact reason to buy it. 

[twosmoke300]

I was told that they were merc engined and gearboxed . May be bollocks tho as I was young and naive .

I think the bits were made under licence from merc though .

[skattrd]

These have the best hazard light switch of evar.  Looks like a red Tictac sticking out the top of the steering column.

 

Only on Autoshite do you get information like this.

[DodgyBastard]

I'm probably going to buy it, Mrs Foad can get insured on it as the main driver cheaper than she currently is on the Jumbuck as a named driver!

[Lacquer Peel]

I don't think they owe anything to Mercedes apart from the front end styling.

[derskine]

One conclusion I have drawn is head room in the rear of these is fuckin' shit, I was touching the roof and I wouldn't call myself overly tall.

[Lankytim]

I heard these were the equal to the Range Rover Evoke for build and ride quality.

[Semi-C]

Buy.

 

The Lada dealer in Bury St Edmunds supplemented his forecourt with these when they first appeared.

 

Hope that answers all your questions?

[New POD]

I heard these were the equal to the Range Rover Evoke for build and ride quality.

 

 

And similar credibility of the current owners knowing anything about how it actually works.

[dollywobbler]

There was a Tata specialist not too far from me. Still has a few of these (and the legendarily naff Safari) parked up. I've no idea what they like but when all around you are buying UMMs, it seems a good response. Who's going to buy a Safari then?

[Timewaster]

Be sure to decorate your new Safaris with Ebay Discovery badges a'la Bently badged 300cs

[Joey spud]

These are woefully crap.

I looked after one owned by a small builder who bought it new.

It was poorly made frequently broke down,went rusty and the interior fell apart all within 18 months.

 

The modern equivalent is the Great wall Steed or as one pissed off owner i met recently called it a Great walk Steed as he stood beside one with the gear lever in his hand.

[AnthonyG]

These are pretty horrible, crude and basic and not in a good, Lada Niva, way. As DW says there were a few sold in West Wales as a Cardiganshire farmer will buy anything really cheap at least once.

 

It will be RWD if not a 4WD. Tata did have some links to Mercedes back in the mists of time, so the engine may be a Mercedes design but it will be built in India like the rest of it.

 

It will make your Proton Jumbuck feel like a Rolls Royce, I'd be keeping that instead.

[Cavcraft]

I got offered one a few months back and like an idiot, I jibbed it. I expect they're utterly horrible to drive/own and therefore we only want to know that you have bought it.

[JohnDeere]

I drove its near relative, the Tata Sierra, in India many many years ago. So many years ago that they were then regarded as top-of-the-market, along with the other derivative the Tata Estate. Odd to drive, dog-leg gearbox, and I'm pretty certain a Pug-derived n/a dizzler lump.

[DodgyBastard]

It appears I've managed to buy something else instead

[dollywobbler]

Excellent. I hope you can fix its suspension.

[320touring]

It appears I've managed to buy something else instead

Looks like a Laurel laffs..

[Alan_Green]

I would've said Toyota Cressida, but the badge on the grill seems to say Nissan, so must be a Laurel. But either way wont that be a grey import and hence costly to insure?