ManOfTheWest
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2017
- Messages
- 64
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Hello everybody, my name is Dan and I'm in North Pembrokeshire. I lived in Japan for about 20 years and returned to the UK a few years ago. This is not my first post but I have belatedly realized that I should have introduced myself, so here goes.
I am not an LC owner, but I could certainly use one given that I live in an old smallholding set at the end of a long, badly rutted track with a ford halfway along it. The ford regularly floods to a couple of feet deep in the winter, which is a problem given that the kids need to get to school.
I have a Defender Hi-cap pickup, but that won't seat the family, and whatever I buy needs to have an automatic gearbox because the wife can't drive a manual, which rules out a larger Defender. I have heard too many horror stories and seen too many terrible reliability rankings to contemplate a modern Land Rover.
The obvious LC choice is a 120 series, which is achievable given that I can stretch to about £10k once I have got my budget together. It must be reliable (my wife's Toyota Vitz, which came back with us from Japan has been literally faultless), so I would be looking for a relatively recent vehicle with less than 100,000 miles. I would use the LC as my local runabout and for the occasional long journey with the family on board. Probably 5,000 to 10,000 miles a year, with occasional pulling of a trailer.
Nevertheless, I am strangely attracted to the 100 series, and owners seem to love them. I have been researching for a little while and this has led to a few questions.
1) Do the 100s actually feel that much bigger than the 120s to drive? The first time I drove my Defender it felt enormous and ponderous but now I think nothing of it, though on the other hand it is narrower than a 100.
2) Reading about rust in 100s has left me with the impression that buying one in the UK is a lottery and sellers don't seem to give pics of the underneath of the vehicle (nathanrobo's beautiful 50th excepted). I notice that there are many 100s in Japan (albeit petrol 4.2) that do offer pics of the underside, that seem to be rust-free and for the most part reasonably priced even after import costs. Has anyone tried importing one?
3) I'm a bit puzzled by the dramatic variation in UK prices for 100 series vehicles on eBay from £5,000 to nearly £20,000. I thought it was mostly mileage, but this one is nearly 19 grand at 133,000 miles, while this one also looks nice at similar mileage and is £10,000 cheaper! Unfortunately, the cheaper one is over 250 miles and nearly 5 hours drive from me, which means an entire day of work and possibly an overnight stay just to look at the car. Perhaps unwisely, I would probably buy a 120 series (with service history) sight unseen if it cleared HPI and other checks. Is buying a 100 unseen an absolute no-no?
In the end I'll probably chicken out and buy a 120, but my heart is trying to persuade my head that a 100 might make sense. I'm open to being persuaded!
Dan
I am not an LC owner, but I could certainly use one given that I live in an old smallholding set at the end of a long, badly rutted track with a ford halfway along it. The ford regularly floods to a couple of feet deep in the winter, which is a problem given that the kids need to get to school.
I have a Defender Hi-cap pickup, but that won't seat the family, and whatever I buy needs to have an automatic gearbox because the wife can't drive a manual, which rules out a larger Defender. I have heard too many horror stories and seen too many terrible reliability rankings to contemplate a modern Land Rover.
The obvious LC choice is a 120 series, which is achievable given that I can stretch to about £10k once I have got my budget together. It must be reliable (my wife's Toyota Vitz, which came back with us from Japan has been literally faultless), so I would be looking for a relatively recent vehicle with less than 100,000 miles. I would use the LC as my local runabout and for the occasional long journey with the family on board. Probably 5,000 to 10,000 miles a year, with occasional pulling of a trailer.
Nevertheless, I am strangely attracted to the 100 series, and owners seem to love them. I have been researching for a little while and this has led to a few questions.
1) Do the 100s actually feel that much bigger than the 120s to drive? The first time I drove my Defender it felt enormous and ponderous but now I think nothing of it, though on the other hand it is narrower than a 100.
2) Reading about rust in 100s has left me with the impression that buying one in the UK is a lottery and sellers don't seem to give pics of the underneath of the vehicle (nathanrobo's beautiful 50th excepted). I notice that there are many 100s in Japan (albeit petrol 4.2) that do offer pics of the underside, that seem to be rust-free and for the most part reasonably priced even after import costs. Has anyone tried importing one?
3) I'm a bit puzzled by the dramatic variation in UK prices for 100 series vehicles on eBay from £5,000 to nearly £20,000. I thought it was mostly mileage, but this one is nearly 19 grand at 133,000 miles, while this one also looks nice at similar mileage and is £10,000 cheaper! Unfortunately, the cheaper one is over 250 miles and nearly 5 hours drive from me, which means an entire day of work and possibly an overnight stay just to look at the car. Perhaps unwisely, I would probably buy a 120 series (with service history) sight unseen if it cleared HPI and other checks. Is buying a 100 unseen an absolute no-no?
In the end I'll probably chicken out and buy a 120, but my heart is trying to persuade my head that a 100 might make sense. I'm open to being persuaded!
Dan