I read about the rear door struts could be loose etc. So things like that, things you have experienced that could be giving problems.

I will make a list off the things you mentioned and take that with me.

Thanks Roel

I recently bought a G4D3 and the following problems were evident:

1. All over paintwork damage, mainly light scratches but every panel (event the roof) has at least one scratch down to the original (silver) paint. If your vehicle was originally a different colour you might find that the paintwork has chipped more readily than you would expect. I have been quoted £1500 to £2000 to put the car right and this is the only problem I would live with. Also worth noting that the paint may be badly faded - mine is very obvious in places. The technical explanation I have had is that the paint is baked as part of the application / drying and curing process. If it is later exposed to a higher direct sunlight temperature then it can cure a second time and change colour. This is not normally noticable but the G4 cars are covered in advertising graphics - so my car bears a faded paintwork impression where all the graphics have been removed.

2. Drive shaft gaiter split

3. Warped front discs

4. Worn front pads

5. Wear in steering rack

6. Wear in front lower ball joints

7. Wear in front suspension bushes

All of the above came to £1000 including a full service but this was done by a friend. He estimated 14 hours labour - so at a Land Rover dealer this is something like £2,000 with the parts he thought.

8. Lack of service history (mine has no service record for a 3+year period)

9. Poor quality fitting of some of the accessories - I would take a really close look at how the front bumper has been cut. When the aux lights were fitted the cabling has been poorly routed and damaged trim down the side of the windscreen. Rear ladder has signs of corrosion.

Other minor defects are:

10. Mine had a broken windscreen at some point in its life - glass inside a lot of unusual places - pollen filter, both A-pillar trim pieces were full of glass and behind the head-lining.

11. The sunroof drains were totally blocked on both sides resulting in a lot of water coming in (about an hour of work to fix and simple though)

12. Uneven wear in the tyres (although a minor problem a full set of tyres is £1000 - so worth bearing in mind)

12.5 Spare wheel was a different style alloy (7 spoke) to the rest of the car (6 spoke)

Really minor problems are:

13. lots of internal trim rattles (from being shook about a lot)

14. A lot of dust inside the car from off-road use (haven't done anything about this as it will only get worse as this is the sort of use I got it for)

15. No load space cover

16. Missing splash guards from underside / undertray

17. Winch not working (no remote supplied and damaged wiring - took ages to trouble shoot)

18. No winch rope (£200+ to replace)

19. No winch remote £30 to replace although you can pay £80 if you don't know the right people

20. Aux lights disabled - simple fuse to put right

21... still finding more scratches

The good points are:

1. Very cheap compared to another D3

2. Low mileage (11,000)

3. Looks brand new inside - no a mark anywhere on the seats, luggage area etc. I would say that the roof rack had never been used either. (oddly though with the exception of some light scuffing and gouging from dashboard - might relate to the broken windscreen I suspect)

Despite all that - he did say that he would not hessitate to buy it himself.

This is a good list. I'll take it with me when picking up the car.

Most items are reasonable easy to check except for the steering rack. How can you check that one?

Are there more?

I know about the struts off the tailgate and the steering wheel.

Thanks Roel

Couple of additions:

- Tyres (MT/R'S) can be found on the UK for about £110-120ea inc Vat before fitting.

- if it is coming from James French I would expect a full history, and probably a wire winch rope (plasma is the challange spec and Gert/JimCarr certainly had access to some cheaper stuff)

- as it is a Bolivia Competitor Car, it should have been orange from the start - the slam panel under the front of the bonnet should list the colour as Tangiers Orange - I think only the early 54 and 05 cars started as different colours

It's still on there website as being the only one left. The outside pictures are off BN55WPT. The inside not.

It is a team car as I have seen a picture with name on the car.

I'll pick it up in september and if work permits I try to be at Peterboruogh.

I bought my 110 from Nene and it came with the original service book stating that it had been serviced when leaving Landrover ownership.

Nene told me they would ensure the Landrover warranty would be reinstated but when I checked with my local Landrover dealer he told me it had not been done but did it for me himself (they also told me everything else that was on the system about it).

Let's hope we can see you at Peterborough.