Thursday 14 May 2015

For Sale - 1989 Landrover 90 hard-top 200 TDI - Green Colour - Location Devizes Wiltshire





Sellers - Comments and Details
1989 Landrover 90 Hard-top 200 TDI

My husband bought this Landrover for me in 1997.  I have now had him for 18 years and it is a real wrench to sell him (Landrover, not husband).  Paint is original (except for small touch-ups) and has a lovely patina.  He’s fun and simple – no complicated electrics that’ll be fried by an electro-magnetic pulse!  I would love to keep him but my husband has bought me a new 90 Station Wagon and it is impractical to keep my faithful companion too.   I hasten to add that I was happy with my old landrover but with production finishing this August it was a no-brainer.  But winding the clock back (not the vehicle’s!!) to 1997 we had been looking for a good used landrover for about 6 months but they were generally high mileage and then I spotted this one in our local paper, 7 years old and only 31,000 miles.  Upon telephoning the number given the seller transpired to be someone my husband knew through shooting and someone whose word on this matter we trusted.  He said he had purchased the 2 year old vehicle in 1992 from a farmer (Mr Carter of Lanner Farm, Cusgarne, Truro) in Cornwall and his own use of the vehicle, merely for shooting and leisure, accounted for its remarkably low mileage and excellent condition.  The next day we went to view the landrover, poked and prodded it and drove around to find fault but it was clearly sound and my husband bought it there and then and I drove it home.

So I have had him 18 years and he has been my only vehicle in that time.  I have used him daily for travelling the few miles to my horses and the only offroad work has been around flat grass fields.  I don’t possess a horsebox and the vehicle has only been used for towing on very rare occasions.

The only negative thing that I can say about my Landrover was that the rear brakes were poor and despite paying good money to have them repaired the problem persisted.  However in about 2006 I was recommended West Wilts Landrovers for servicing whom I found excellent and continued to use.  They fitted a Discovery back axle with disc brakes and that solved the problem in style – it was a fantastic improvement.  West Wilts were most impressed with the condition of the vehicle and its chassis and recommended I maintain the full Waxoyl treatment which I have done to this day.  The only bit of the chassis that ever gave a problem was the rear cross member and West Wilts replaced this for me.

One amazing improvement was when West Wilts recommended, bought and rebuilt a 200 TDI Defender engine and fitted this.   A reconditioned gearbox followed and upon West Wilts’ recommendation I had the transfer gear ratio changed to that of the Discovery which was another amazing improvement.  The vehicle became a pleasure to drive.

A galvanized bumper was fitted to replace the black painted one.  Alloy wheels fitted – a real delight.  More detail of these improvements and others are covered in the detailed description below.  Incidentally I asked a friend who has Landrovers to go through the vehicle and write the detailed description to ensure it is thorough and independent and I concur that it is.



Documents.

Original advert for sale 1997

Bundle of maintenance invoices

MOT Certificates:

MOT 1993 - 14460 miles

MOT 1994 - 19676 miles

MOT 1995 - 25211 miles

MOT 1996 - 29361 miles

MOT 1997 - 31753 miles

MOT 1998 - 37330 miles

1999 certificate missing

MOT 2000 - 42299 miles

MOT 2001 - 48933 miles

2002 certificate missing

MOT 2003 - 53941 miles

MOT 2004 - 59927 miles

MOT 2005 - 63255 miles

MOT 2006 - 66639 miles

MOT 2007 - 71149 miles

2008 certificate missing

MOT 2009 - 75637 miles

MOT 2010 - 80616 miles

MOT 2011 - 82185 miles

MOT 2012 - 83304 miles

MOT 2013 - 86217 miles

MOT 2014 - 90761 miles

MOT (Feb) 2015 – 94842 miles.  Advisories as follows:

001  Nearside front track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged but preventing the ingress of dirt.

002  Rear brake discs rusty.

003  Offside and nearside front hub oilseals misting of oil.



Detailed Description.

Bodywork.

Bodywork on the vehicle is as you would expect for a Landrover of this vintage. There is some alloy corrosion on the rear doorskin and numerous little dents and niggles around the bodywork although nothing horrendous.  Front doors are surprisingly good, the frames are solid.  On the driver’s door and on the passenger door the frame is also solid which is quite rare for a Landrover of this age.  Body cappings have had some slight corrosion in the past but this has been rubbed down and repainted as and when it has occurred.  The vehicle is finished in conniston green. Rear door has some corrosion to the frame and could really do with replacement.  Bonnet is in good order with none of the usual rotten frame.  Bulkhead looks tidy to the exterior without any holes on the top corners however there is a little bubble on the passenger side corner and there is a little bit of corrosion visible inside the door shut on the passenger side.  Tubular side steps were fitted a few years ago to replace the original fold-up steps and they are in nice order.  Nice galvanized front bumper fitted which looks much much nicer than the original rust-prone black painted item.  And set of 5 spoke freestyle type alloy wheels fitted with road based legal tyres (legal tread).

Mechanicals.

The original turbo-diesel engine was replaced six years ago with a genuine Landrover Defender 200TDI engine.  At the time of conversion the vehicle had covered 76,000 miles and the engine was rebuilt with new pistons, all new gaskets and new bearings.  The vehicle has now covered 94000 miles.  Gearbox was replaced by Ashcroft Transmissions with their unit in January 2012 and at the same time the transfer gears were changed to give a ratio lift to 1.222 to 1.  This is the same transfer ratio as the Discovery giving it much much more relaxed cruising ability, essentially taller gearing.  Engine is in super health, starts and runs well, without issues, no untoward noises, pulls like a train, and doesn’t smoke.  The gearchange is smooth and precise, as you would expect from a rebuilt gearbox and at the time that the gearbox was replaced a cross drilled imput gear was used eliminating the mainshaft spline wear that these gearboxes were prone to.  The rear axle was also replaced for a unit from a Discovery giving disc braking all round in place of the original drum brakes.  So this vehicle has the running gear and driving characteristics of one much younger than its true age.  As such the brakes work very well, stops as it should.  Power steering fitted and the steering works as it should, making it a pleasure to drive on the road.  The steering box is of the more reliable and stronger 6 bolt GEMMA type.  Underneath the vehicle its remarkably free of oil, coolant and other fluid leaks with just a minor weep from the driver’s side front swivel joint to note.

Interior.

The interior is the typical utilitarian Landrover interior with grey vinyl seats and rubber floor matting.  It has front headlining fitted but no rear head lining and no rear seats making it an ideal vehicle for farm, dogs or horses.  The dashboard is very tidy with no extra holes cut in it for extra gauges or switches and everything gauge-wise works as it should.  The lights illuminate as they should.  All standard interior, nothing has been faffed with or messed around with, exactly as it was when it left the factory.

Chassis.

As everybody knows the chassis are very important on these vehicles and as such this vehicle has been professionally treated with waxoyl treatment during it’s lifetime.  The chassis itself is in remarkably good order with original outriggers, no nasty welded plates, the only repair of note is a new rear quarter chassis and rear cross member was fitted about 5 years ago.  So the rear cross member that is normally again a rust point on them is of course as good as new and the vehicle has been waxoyled since that was done as well, so that has been treated too.  The exhaust was new at the time of the engine conversion and the axles are in good order.

Overview.

As hopefully you’ve gathered from this listing and from the way I have spelled out any defects and good points as I have gone along this really is a lovely old vehicle and we are very very sorry to see it go.  It’s not done huge amounts of miles and it benefits from a much much newer engine, decent brakes, uprated transfer box, and new gearbox.  On the road it pulls very strongly, keeps up with any modern traffic quite happily and with the raised gearing cruises quite comfortably at all legal speeds.  It has a lovely patina of age, not too tidy that you wouldn’t want to use it but equally not so banged up and tatty that you wouldn’t want to be seen turning up in it.  I’m sure it will give its new owner many many years of use and enjoyment.  Mileage now standing at 94,905 miles.  Any more questions please contact us.  Anyone wishing to view the vehicle likewise please contact and we’ll make ourselves available for viewing.