2025 deleted member
Well-known member
You’re gonna be in it 40k by your estimates- so it will actually be 50-60. I’d wouldn’t do a swap- just get the nicest turnkey example you can find, it’ll be more reliable.
110, how bad really?
- Thread starter Roam.Wild
- Start date
Arjan
Fossil Overlander
Although perhaps a bit late, here are my thoughts on owning a 110 - 300 Tdi Hard Top.
It all comes down to maintenance, expectations and history.
- maintenance. You're getting a 30 years old vehicle and it will show. Unless you buy a totally 100 % rebuild vehicle – very serious money – you will get a project. Either small, or big. Chassis rot, bulkheads rot, metal and aluminium have a nasty reaction to each other and the electrics….
But, it is all very basic. 300 Tdi engine require fuel and will even run without electricity (don’t ask me how I know) and although they are not the strongest of engines, they usu. will get you home.
The green 110 in the picture is a vehicle I created for serious long distance Overlanding and it never failed me. Things went wrong, broke and all that but I always got home. It is a spartan vehicle and nothing you can do will change that. One can improve comfort, reduce noise etc. but in the end it is a box on wheels and designed to work for a living and hosed out.
I took mine on long trips – 6,000 – 12,000 miles at times – and I have learned to drive, live & sleep with them. But they are not for everybody. Headsets get old to have a conversation with your passenger, listen to music without turning the volume way up and elbow space is restricted. Speed is relative, towing a trailer takes planning and sleeping in them is when you’re 1.85 (6ft. something) a challenge.
The cage is something I really suggest to consider – if they roll there is not much protection and many people use them as a base for the rooftent. Also, please remember that the heater in this Defender is really a laugh.. I replaced mine with the biggest one I could possibly fit after seriously modifying the bulkhead and it worked very, very well…
So, eventually I accepted my age and sold it. Have “series III” left and changed to Discovery II’s that will basically do the same job but in greater comfort. Still can’t sleep inside really well but life is a compromise.
If you’re not afraid to work on your vehicle, deal with rust and are not in a hurry to get somewhere they are a fantastic machine that will try to keep going when most are about to give up.
Good luck making you mind up.
It all comes down to maintenance, expectations and history.
- maintenance. You're getting a 30 years old vehicle and it will show. Unless you buy a totally 100 % rebuild vehicle – very serious money – you will get a project. Either small, or big. Chassis rot, bulkheads rot, metal and aluminium have a nasty reaction to each other and the electrics….
But, it is all very basic. 300 Tdi engine require fuel and will even run without electricity (don’t ask me how I know) and although they are not the strongest of engines, they usu. will get you home.
The green 110 in the picture is a vehicle I created for serious long distance Overlanding and it never failed me. Things went wrong, broke and all that but I always got home. It is a spartan vehicle and nothing you can do will change that. One can improve comfort, reduce noise etc. but in the end it is a box on wheels and designed to work for a living and hosed out.
I took mine on long trips – 6,000 – 12,000 miles at times – and I have learned to drive, live & sleep with them. But they are not for everybody. Headsets get old to have a conversation with your passenger, listen to music without turning the volume way up and elbow space is restricted. Speed is relative, towing a trailer takes planning and sleeping in them is when you’re 1.85 (6ft. something) a challenge.
The cage is something I really suggest to consider – if they roll there is not much protection and many people use them as a base for the rooftent. Also, please remember that the heater in this Defender is really a laugh.. I replaced mine with the biggest one I could possibly fit after seriously modifying the bulkhead and it worked very, very well…
So, eventually I accepted my age and sold it. Have “series III” left and changed to Discovery II’s that will basically do the same job but in greater comfort. Still can’t sleep inside really well but life is a compromise.
If you’re not afraid to work on your vehicle, deal with rust and are not in a hurry to get somewhere they are a fantastic machine that will try to keep going when most are about to give up.
Good luck making you mind up.