New to Landrovers. What should I buy for £3000?

[pjd1001]

I've never bought or even driven a landy but have got the bug now. I can't seem to get them out my head and have decided to buy one. I have £3000 to spend and don't want it for any hard off roading. I'm a tree surgeon and will use it for my business.

Any help is gratefully accepted on models, years and any other advice.

I thank you all in advance as I'm sure you know what you're talking about.

It's a minefield out there!

Phil

[BIRD]

Welcome to the forum! As for my self I have an 04 Disco and I love it other than the day I have to put gass in her. If I could get one I would go for a Defender 110. That is my 2 cents

[pickuprover]

I assume that since you are stating a price in pounds, that you are from England or the UK? If that is the case then you should have no problem finding something for 3000. First thing is to go and look at a bunch and take a couple for test drives, find out what feels right. Then start looking for that model.
Join one of the local Land Rover clubs (they will accept you even without a truck, usually), this will let you get to know the different models and the problems/ advantages of each.
I have a feeling that the D110 wouldbe the best for you, but also look at the 130,gives that much more room if you need the storage. Guessing that you will be towing trailers as well, so I would be looking for a tdi engine (either 200 or 300) but that might jump it out of your price range, depending on where you are..
Things to look for on any model of Land Rover.... frame, make sure it is sound, get under with your hammer and test the entire frame... engine, how does it sound, do a compression test if possible, make sure that the cylinders are all running about the same pressure.... how does it run, any noise from gearbox, axles..... Take a freind with you that knows rovers.....

[jozg44]

In an ideal world a Defender 110 Hard Top with a Tdi engine would be the best bet for a tree surgeon- loads of load capacity, big payload, 3.5-ton towing capacity, excellent off-road ability- all the usual stuff.

Sadly, unless you're very lucky you are unlikely to find such a vehicle for that money, and if you do, it will probably be rather tired. Keep a look out for them though- they do turn up from time to time.

You could easiler get an excellent earlier (pre-1991) Land Rover (the version you would be wanting being called the 'One Ten'), which is the same vehicle as a Defender, just with older, less powerful engines. There was quite a range, but if you decide to go for one of these, go for either the 2.5 turbodiesel engine (be sure to check the engine over carefully, the early ones built before 1988 had some rather serious reliability problems, the later ones are much, much better and last forever as long as they've been serviced properly) or if the fancy takes you a 3.5 V8 petrol with an LPG conversion, which will be powerful, smooth, quiet and cheap to run, what with LPG being about 60p a litre.

The advice given by pickuprover in the post above is spot on for what to look for on these.

Personally, if I wanted a £3000 commercial vehicle, I'd find a Discovery Tdi Commercial (a Discovery with the back seats taken out and the windows blanked off). These were available with both 200 and 300 Tdi engines and are just as good as Defenders at everything, but are more comfortable, faster and because they don't have the image of the Defender, are much cheaper. Tdi engines are powerful (top speed about 90 mph if you really push it), economical (around 30 MPG), simple (no nasty electronics to go wrong) and are excellent at towing and off-roading.

Hope (at least some of) that helps (and welcome to the forum!),

Jack