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.
