[SPE]

have had landrover and toyed with pickup but a van is hard to beet for window cleaning.
pickups have pluses if you only need or want one car for work and play, but in my experiance you can buy a much better van / newer etc than pickup

Did you use a landy for work Tom ? what was your experience?, have been looking for a 110 defender panel van at a reasonable price for some time now, a mechanic friend has warned me though to be prepaired to get my hands dirty on a regular basis
Simon

[Crystal-clear]

Why does the vAn beat a nice pickup they look mint and some have installed 500l tanks etc imagine going on holiday driving to Europe multi use work and play

[tompoole]

As said vans are cheaper to run and cheaper to buy.
Only my opinion , I was tempted by the pick up myself so
May suit some but for me van wins

[tompoole]

I started six years ago with a 110 station wagon then had a 110
Panel van .
Can't fault them as they're robust trucks but yes if you
Buy an older one that's been worked you could be in for
Weekends fixing it.... It really is luck of the draw.
My first ever landrover was a k reg with 30k miles on it
That never caused me any problems and I put 100k miles
On it no problems.
But my last two had 80k miles fsh and I spent £6000 on
First one and £2000 in six months on the other in repair bills.
Common problems ujs on props, bushes, cv , rear half shafts
Lift pumps, head gaskets, all these are cheap to repair but expensive
When the crop up week after week.
  Newer models suffer worse than older esp with clutch issues
On 2007-2012 models
1999 -2006 suffer from cracked heads and odd injector probs
Earlier ones best but dreaded rust eats them around bulkhead
And chassis.
I love landrovers but can't afford new enough one so have now bought a
Ford transit .

[formb]

I started six years ago with a 110 station wagon then had a 110
Panel van .
Can't fault them as they're robust trucks but yes if you
Buy an older one that's been worked you could be in for
Weekends fixing it.... It really is luck of the draw.
My first ever landrover was a k reg with 30k miles on it
That never caused me any problems and I put 100k miles
On it no problems.
But my last two had 80k miles fsh and I spent £6000 on
First one and £2000 in six months on the other in repair bills.
Common problems ujs on props, bushes, cv , rear half shafts
Lift pumps, head gaskets, all these are cheap to repair but expensive
When the crop up week after week.
  Newer models suffer worse than older esp with clutch issues
On 2007-2012 models
1999 -2006 suffer from cracked heads and odd injector probs
Earlier ones best but dreaded rust eats them around bulkhead
And chassis.
I love landrovers but can't afford new enough one so have now bought a
Ford transit .

Td5s are the way to go 1999-2006. In 2007 Ford got their grubby little mits on the beloved Defender and what did they do? Stuck a Chuffing transit engine in there.

On Td5s bulkheads chassis and doors are prone to rot. Engine and gearbox issues are rare but can happen.

[SPE]

sorry for highjacking this post with the landy questions
I was going to take a look at a 110 panel van, 1991 126,000 on the clock, polybushed throughout , waxoiled and new power steering pump, seller reckons needs new uj on prop shaft other than that the couple of pics I've seen it looks very clean for age, £2800, mechanic friend thinks I'm nuts to even consider it 

[formb]

Does it have its original engine? A 1991 should have a 200tdi. I have a 200tdi engine in my series 3. I estimate it has done 300000+ miles and is still going strong.

£2,800 is not a lot of money for a good 1991 110. I sold a 1991 110 csw about 2 months ago for £4500, it was a cracker though. Check the bulkhead round the vents and behind the dash, you can see it if you open the door. Any rust walk away. Go underneath with a podger (spikey instrument) and see if you can force it through the chassis especially on the rear cross member. Waxoyl can be used to cover up a rotten chassis.

Take it for a drive and watch out for excessive smoke. Try the diff lock, check the bottom of the doors, they can be £500+ for a good second hand one. Beware of oil back pressure from the dipstick while the engine is running (fire it up then take the dip stick out, if there is a problem you will soon see what I mean).

Got any photos?

[SPE]

Thanks for reply soupy,
Appreciate the advice as I know very little about landrovers
http://pictures2.autotrader.co.uk/imgser-uk/servlet/media?id=276745259&width=640&height=480
This is a fair way from me and will be a 4hr round trip just to walk away from it, so I may need to ask a few more questions and request some more pics,
Simon

[formb]

I notice it appears to have 2 fuel fillers? 1 at the rear quarter where you'd expect 1 just behind the door. There is probably a second tank under the drivers seat, this in not a problem in itself but the only 1 I have had that has had this was an exMOD FFR (ministry of defence, fitted for radio) which was a terrible Land Rover. FFRs have 24v electrics which need to be converted for civilian use, this is a big job and needs to be done right preferably by a professional.

Having said that, it is painted up like a camel trophy so it may be a secondary auxiliary tank for expeditions and such. I'd certainly ask about it if I were you.

See if you can get photos of the chassis, a close up of the bulkhead, the engine bay, rear tub and inside the cab.

[robertphil]

 ex military-that small door/compartment on the side is always  on the military ones

[Spruce]

One obvious disadvantage is that if you intend to use it as a car as well, you can not offset the purchase cost of the vehicle against tax. You would have to claim a mileage allowance or offset only a proportion.

I didn't think you could write of 100% of your van against tax either. There are certain concessions granted by the Receiver for individual companies ie motor trade and pool cars, but if you are audited, then they will start with this. The first question would be that you have never used your van for any personal use, even to go the the chippy, drive to the bakery just once to get some lunch, etc. If you say no, they won't believe you. If your van registration number is lodged with the council for 5 free trips to the council tip a year to offload household rubbish, they have got you.

I have my van with the tank split 90% business and 10% private, although the other van is 40% business and 60% private as I do use that for personal stuff as well.

Whilst the claiming of business expenses against tax is Self Assessment and how you see your business, this is one of those areas that they also have opinions that will differ from yours. Their opinions are usually the ones that matter.

[SPE]

Thank you Soupy and robertphil, I am beginning to suspect this is why he had recently dropped the price, however he was honest enough to tell me over the phone of the worn prop uj's. I could request more photo's but I think this is one I can only really decide on by taking a look in person. Glad I asked on here now, I won't let a bargain price cloud my judgement, Simon 

[formb]

exMOD is not necessarily a bad thing. My Series 3 is exMOD and it is 33 years old, still going strong. I suspect it probably is exMOD, it has wolf wheels on it and like robertphil says the side lockers are common on the military ones.

[SPE]

Sorry Crystal- Clear I should really have put my own thread up (although not strictly window cleaning related) But whilst I have your attention Soupy, I will ask the owner as to whether its ex mod ffr, but how will I know if the electrics are still 24v ?
I presume if its been converted for civilian use it should be 12v ?  could you please briefly explain to me the differences and what they would mean ? I do not possess a lot of mechanical knowledge but am learning (inherited a triumph spitfire )
Thanks once again
Simon 

[formb]

You don't have to change a 24v to 12v there is no law that says so. You would have a bit of a nightmare trying to get bulbs and stuff for it though.

It's a 1991 so it is unlikely to still be 24v (that is assuming it ever was). In fact looking at the picture it has plastic side light and indicators which would melt with 24v running through them, so I'm 99.9% sure it isn't 24v.

I may be leading you down the wrong path, worrying about 24v / 12v. It is just in my experience we bought a FFR which had been converted to 12v by a blind cowboy in boxing gloves. Best bet is to look at the wiring under the bonnet and under the passenger seat (if the battery is in there), if it looks like a bowl of super noodles you are likely to have issues. The Landy is 22 years old so it WILL have had things wired in here and there over the years, whether it was ever 24v or not. You are looking for shoddy workmanship, any sign of it start to worry.

Ask him why there are 2 fillers, it may just be that it has a secondary tank. Lots of Landy owners fit them.

The guy has told you it needs new UJs, these cost £15 each and take about 1/2 an hour to sort if you know what you are doing. Symptoms of ruined UJs can be the entire vehicle vibrating like buggery, that could also be an out of balance propshaft which is a specialist fix, not expensive but can take a while. I'd ask him why he has not sorted it. If a propshaft has a ruined UJ you can just remove it and run in 2 wheel drive.

The 2 main things to worry about are the bulkhead and the chassis, if either of those are gone you are looking at scrap. If you have any mechanical knowledge you will find that everything else is easy enough to fix. Oh, and if (when) you need parts look here first. 

[SPE]

Big thank you to you Soupy,
Simon

[PoleKing]

One obvious disadvantage is that if you intend to use it as a car as well, you can not offset the purchase cost of the vehicle against tax. You would have to claim a mileage allowance or offset only a proportion.

I didn't think you could write of 100% of your van against tax either. There are certain concessions granted by the Receiver for individual companies ie motor trade and pool cars, but if you are audited, then they will start with this. The first question would be that you have never used your van for any personal use, even to go the the chippy, drive to the bakery just once to get some lunch, etc. If you say no, they won't believe you. If your van registration number is lodged with the council for 5 free trips to the council tip a year to offload household rubbish, they have got you.

I have my van with the tank split 90% business and 10% private, although the other van is 40% business and 60% private as I do use that for personal stuff as well.

Whilst the claiming of business expenses against tax is Self Assessment and how you see your business, this is one of those areas that they also have opinions that will differ from yours. Their opinions are usually the ones that matter.

I do. Accountant says its fine.
I take the odd trip to the tip, stick the bikes in the back etc but I also use the car every now and then for work.
It balances out.
My accountant reckons it only flags up for her maj if you're claiming 100% on a van and 50%ish on a car

[PoleKing]

But back to the op.
get a van.
You don't want to only have one vehicle.
It's pony.
You'll look like a pikey.
By all means get a pick up for work, but have a car too.

[roundbuilder]

But back to the op.
get a van.
You don't want to only have one vehicle.
It's pony.
You'll look like a pikey.
By all means get a pick up for work, but have a car too.

Unless its the barbarian... What a beauty of a pickup truck. A bit ott for window cleaning though i think.

[EandM]

But back to the op.
get a van.
You don't want to only have one vehicle.
It's pony.
You'll look like a pikey.
By all means get a pick up for work, but have a car too.

Depends really on where you live and work. In sunny Devon you just look like everyone else. Posh people drive pickups and so do workers, like us. A van identifies you at a certain level - a pickup does not. If you want the ultimate classless vehicle then buy a Land Rover - The Queen drives one and so does her gardener...