It's got almost a year's MOT, how bad can it be?

[garethj]

With house finances going up and down like Uncle Buck's car, I didn't go and see this on Sunday.

 

It's got 11 months MoT, seems alright other than chequerplate sills and a moderately crusty bulkhead. Finding one that isn't

a) £2k

Knackered

c) A chicken shed

seems tricky, what's the Autoshite opinion? Time's ticking away....

 

Can you really get an MoT with both headlights a quarter full of water by the way?

[Spottedlaurel]

It could be dreadful. In fact I think it probably is.

 

Someone I know has just bought a 90 of some sort for £3k-ish. Broke down on the way home, then again on the way to the first day of his new job, has had £450 spent on it since, broke down again yesterday.

 

He doesn’t really need its off-road capabilities, so why he didn’t spend less on something 10,000 times more capable, comfortable and economical I don’t know. His wife is distinctly unamused...

 

Do you really, really, need one? I say steer well clear.

[Jon]

I'm assuming that's the one you're interested in and that it's parked outside the vendor's house, judging by the Discovery in the driveway. Would one of those be a cheaper alternative to the solution? Unless you've got 10 kids of course and want a car to fit them all in!

 

I'm sure Tayne is the man for the job here.

[Anglevan]

Make sure you check the ID and dont go by the vin tag on the o/s inner wing. Take something to scrape the o/s chassis leg and make sure the number on chassis is right and not tampered with. If he wont let you check it / scrape in the area walk away.

 

I'd also check the MOT online and check the history see if any advisorys etc issued.

 

Other than that just the usual

[Tayne]

.

[garethj]

It could be dreadful. In fact I think it probably is.

 

Someone I know has just bought a 90 of some sort for £3k-ish. Broke down on the way home, then again on the way to the first day of his new job, has had £450 spent on it since, broke down again yesterday. Do you really, really, need one? I say steer well clear.

I think that's very sensible.

 

I'm assuming that's the one you're interested in and that it's parked outside the vendor's house, judging by the Discovery in the driveway. Would one of those be a cheaper alternative to the solution? Unless you've got 10 kids of course and want a car to fit them all in!

A Discovery is more expensive to fix, and if it all goes wrong they're worth scrap value, a 110 is always worth something. Plus I don't want a Discovery, I want a proper one, but with power steering, disc front brakes and a diesel so it's not too hard to live with.

 

Make sure you check the ID and dont go by the vin tag on the o/s inner wing. Take something to scrape the o/s chassis leg and make sure the number on chassis is right and not tampered with. If he wont let you check it / scrape in the area walk away.

 

I'd also check the MOT online and check the history see if any advisorys etc issued.

 

Other than that just the usual

Ah, bear in mind he's 2 hours away and I'm in work for the rest of the day.....

[Tayne]

.

[garethj]

The bulkhead can rot, the rear chassis crossmember can rot, the outriggers can rot, repair sections are cheap and freely available but be prepared fit a shit load of welding! There's likely to be abut more rot that we don't know about ad well.

 

Doors can rot (alloy skin on steel frame) and replacements are expensive.

 

The suspensionand drive train has a lot of joints and bushes, I'd expect you'd need to replace some/all.

 

The drivetrain is likely to be quite long lasting though watch out for oil leaks and keep an dye on the timing belt.

That's the same as all Landies, although apparently this one doesn't have much driveline shunt so that's a start.

This truck is a project.

Given the rotten bulkhead and potentially bent MOT you could be buying a new chassis and bulkhead (£1500 -2000) and a bunch of other bits in time for the next ticket...

It does state that there's no rust on the chassis, and the bulkhead rust doesn't seem to have spread much. You think the MoT is a bit dodgy? I think I agree

And old Discoveries are also likely to be very rotten.

Yep, even more so in my experience.

[scaryoldcortina]

Even if the MoT is straight, it isn't evidence of much... the headlights being a good example. as long as they light up, are alligned and show the correct beam pattern they pass... no rfr for "half full of water".. same with the rotten bulkhead. it could be completely shot full of holes and leaky, it could even have rotted a mount or two off but as long as it isn't about to fall off, and brakes/steering/door opening are not affected it is a pass. The chassis could be about to snap, but if it isn't holed or so thin that hand pressure bends it that won't fail either (It could even be covered in thick underseal.....) The running gear could whine, clonk and grind, the engine could be completely hammered, all not tested. Passing the emissions smoke test doesn't make it good either.

 

Point is, an MoT is evidence that the vehicle reached the statutory MINIMUM for roadworthiness on the day it was tested. I'd want it checked much, much more thoroughly before spemding 2k on a 22 year old landie.

[Tayne]

.

[Tayne]

.

[scaryoldcortina]

Dodgy MOT?

 

Fishbowl headlights and a hole on the rear crossmember?

Given that the rear crossmember has two (possibly 4) body mounts and possibly the fuel tank mounts AND they rot like bastards I suspect it would be hard to get a rough one through an mot.

 

 

Is the rear crossmember hole within 12" of brakes, suspension or steering? Is it so severely rotten that brakes or steering could be compromised? If not, Pass, advise.

If the body has lost enough mounts to be about to fall off, it fails. if not, pass, advise.

Fuel tank only comes into it if it's about to drop off, then it's a fail on general vehicle condition.

 

I see a lot of hammered to death landies, all owned by fuckwit farmers who will ask for a VT17 and winge like hell when I fail it, so I make sure I'm spot on (and have VOSA tech on speed-dial)

.

 

oh, and the headlamps... well, you test them if the beam pattern is ok, it passses.

[Tayne]

.

[garethj]

To sum up then?

 

It's pretty stupid to buy an old car without seeing it, even more so with one like this, is that fair?

 

The obvious question is, how much is it worth?

[Rocket88]

Ah, I thought it was corrosion within 30cm of structural points that was a fail.

And the body and fuel tank mounts making the whole thing structural.

 

Bit irrelevant though, it'll need a new crossmember soon enough.

 

12" IS about 30 cms..........................

[AnthonyG]

To sum up then?

 

It's pretty stupid to buy an old car without seeing it, even more so with one like this, is that fair?

 

The obvious question is, how much is it worth?

 

Less than the current bid, I'd reckon. (£1300)

[garethj]

Apparently it was worth £1442, which beat my last bid of £1422. No idea how high the other bidder would have gone, or if the other bidder is real....

 

The money these things go for staggers me sometimes

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Owning a Land Rover seems to be a bit of a war. Why is it that I want one?

[Tayne]

.

[garethj]

What £20 more than you were prepared to pay?

Not sure I'd have been really happy with getting it at that price to be honest, but what I really meant was that £1500+ is the going rate for one with 170,000 on the clock and an interior like an allotment.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

It seems like you have to spend at least £4k to find one that has a remote chance of lasting a few years without major issues.

[Albert Ross]

Try buying a Series 2a 109 then if you think that's pricy. Mine's insured for £3750..... If it was a better looker, maybe £6500.

[Guest]

 

Can you really get an MoT with both headlights a quarter full of water by the way?

 

Well, my mate Tristan managed to get his 944 MOT'd with a broken speedo drive, so anything's possible if the tester hasn't had his Weetabix.

My place are mega strict but fair. There's a couple of cars my friends are running that would have failed had they been tested by my place.

[Volksy]

I don't think a functioning Speedometer is part of the test.

[pogweasel]

Try buying a Series 2a 109 then if you think that's pricy. Mine's insured for £3750..... If it was a better looker, maybe £6500.

 

Since when?

I've had 3 tax-exempt era land-rovers, all of them together were less than a grand. And that's including one that was actually really quite good.

[Albert Ross]

Don't get me wrong, cheap ones are out there, but legal, usable and complete ones are bloody hard to find and keep. My 2 stand me at £750 the pair. Add to that the new chassis, and all the other parts that went into recommisioning it, then look at what they go for on Eblag. Genuine 2a Diesel 109s are thin on the ground. Most of the chassis broke in 2 so had the diesels robbed to put into 88s. Mine was destined for this, but it was rescued by me! I will NEVER sell it. The other one (Ex MOD petrol 109, VERY early 2a) will be rebuilt as a civvy motor, and current values as RHD are roughly 2/3 of a LHD the same... So guess what? I'm making it LHD. Yes, I have ALL the bits to convert it. IN the Good ol' US of A, they are changing hands for about $25k. Guess where this one is destined for?

[scaryoldcortina]

 

Can you really get an MoT with both headlights a quarter full of water by the way?

 

Well, my mate Tristan managed to get his 944 MOT'd with a broken speedo drive, so anything's possible if the tester hasn't had his Weetabix.

My place are mega strict but fair. There's a couple of cars my friends are running that would have failed had they been tested by my place.

 

as noted, it isn't testable, regardless of the tester's preferred breakfast cereal. Also I have a thread idea.

[Guest]

 

Can you really get an MoT with both headlights a quarter full of water by the way?

 

Well, my mate Tristan managed to get his 944 MOT'd with a broken speedo drive, so anything's possible if the tester hasn't had his Weetabix.

My place are mega strict but fair. There's a couple of cars my friends are running that would have failed had they been tested by my place.

 

as noted, it isn't testable, regardless of the tester's preferred breakfast cereal. Also I have a thread idea.

 

Right well my local place owe me £52 then. They failed my Piazza on a broken speedo.

[Dead_E23]

Worth noting that the towbar is now a testable item, one that has made the state of the rear crossmember rather more MOT-critical - my 110 failed on it this year due to the lower face of the rear crossmember being raggy, so I had to have the towbar removed before it would pass.

 

Rotting rear crossmembers are a bit of a problem with these; since my fuel tank also could do with replacing I suspect that I'll be chopping mine off before the next test and fitting a repair section. Fortunately they are cheap, but a replacement galvanised chassis would be an even better solution - it's finding the space and time to fit it that's the problem.

 

Another oddity of 110 station wagons is that if fitted with the full compliment of seats they're classed as a minibus. This means that you need category D1 on your licence, the tyres only need 1mm of tread instead of 1.6mm (barmy!), you have to obey 'no buses' signs and not every MOT garage can test them (mine had to check whether they were allowed the first time it went there). However, for the purposes of the London LEZ they seem to be classified as estate cars, which makes them exempt; had mine been an ordinary 110 hardtop it wouldn't be allowed in the zone from 2012. (In which case it would have been getting a V8 and LPG - just to spite Ken!)

[garethj]

Here's a fine example that didn't meet its reserve for £1070.

 

And here it is again with an MoT 2 weeks later for £1995

 

From the same seller too....

 

I really can't get my head around prices