Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

Military Rebuilt 2.5 N/a Diesel With Low Miles on 2040-cars

Year:1980 Mileage:47513
Location:

Portland, Maine, United States

Portland, Maine, United States

With a heavy heart, I list my Land Rover for auction. I've owned it for almost three years and, sadly, I need either more space or better towing capacity (if you've never owned a D90 before, go see one in person, trust me, it's not as big as it looks back there). I'm open to trades on something along the lines of a 110 or 109. So if your into these ugly, slow moving vehicles like I am, let me know and maybe we can set some sort of trade up! Here's what I can tell you:

The Good:

- I purchased it with help from GMR4x4 of Vermont, and had it shipped in from overseas. Those guys are pros and have a person in England that does quality control for them before it gets purchased and loaded onto the boat. It had no rust (save some surface spots) and only 20 something thousand miles on a rebuilt engine (block has a plate that says it was done in 2006). It didn't come with nor does it have a title (Vermont and Maine don't require it, PLEASE check with your state to see if this is the case) and the VIN is a UK VIN so it doesn't show up through Ebay. Also, the steering wheel is on the "wrong" side- wrong for North America, perfectly acceptable for a Land Rover

-From what I gather the military did an excellent job at maintaining it until it was decommissioned. Based off the paint shades and condition, it has a relatively new hood, firewall, and tailgate. The chassis was waxoyled before it came over and I've been keeping the rust at bay with linseed oil and Fluidfilm.    

-It originally had a canvas soft top (but that doesn't fly in Maine year round) so I purchased a hard top (which is in great condition, save the poor paint job and surface rust on the interior of the rear door) and had the new problem of it being WAY too hot whenever the sun is out. The dual sunroofs make it a solar oven during the summer. The new top came at the expense of the roll bar, which still has the mounts and holes for it, but no actual bar. The next "mod" (I use this term loosely) was to add more comfortable seats, so it has re-purposed Minicooper seats. I drove it to Utah and back and didn't want to get whiplash if I was hit from behind so I looked for the smallest seats that fit and had good support. I also hated how I couldn't reach the wheel with my leg to steer with my knee. Problem solved. I have NO idea how legal this is, but it was way better than getting a spinal cord injury. If you have big thighs, it might be a tight fit.

-There are jumpseats that face eachother with no seatbelts and an interior mount on the inside for a hi-lift jack. The jumpseats went in so I could work on my laptop in the back, sitting at one and using the other as a table. The hi-lift mounts got put inside so I could leave it places and not worry about someone stealing my jack.

-I replaced the starter, battery and fuel filter within the last year. It really stemmed from one problem- the fuel filter was clogged, which caused the engine to crank too much when starting, which killed the battery and eventually the starter. Everything works fine now, the old starter was garbage anyways.

-I wired in a 12v outlet to charge a cellphone, run a GPS etc.

-Radiator muff is included for winter operation (this works like a charm, definitely keeps the cabin toastier) 

The Bad (arguably, the ugly):

-Depending on your tastes, the paint is a disaster. Basically an encyclopedia of cosmetic defects. There are scratches, uneven shades, areas where the paint is haphazardly caked on, dings, nicks, you name it. I tried to take pictures of the worst spots to get you an overall idea of the condition of the car. I thought about painting it... but honestly, it looks better like this.

-The windshield is cracked, under the rear view mirror. I don't even notice it any more, it hasn't spread, but its there.

-It doesn't leak very much of anything, which is rare for Land Rovers. It does weep a little though when it gets extremely hot or very cold (i.e. when the fluids and seals expand and contract)

-The rear door above the tailgate should be sanded and repainted. Solid, but it doesn't look very nice. I just bolted it shut because people kept on opening it at night.

-Contact corrosion put a hole in the exhaust which I repaired with one of those wide, generic autozone exhaust clamps. I think stainless steel would be the way to go eventually, but it works fine for right now. 

-The front left signal will not turn on when the head lights are on. Your guess is as good as mine. Turn the lights off... no problem. Same goes with the passenger side map light.

-Temperature gauge was acting erratically for a few weeks and decided to park itself at cold. Hasn't had any effect on vehicle operation.

Most of these problems are hardly noticeable day to day. Bigger issues to think about if you're considering a vehicle like this are:
-The complete lack of acceleration that a 2.5 diesel engine has.
-The fact that there is a learning curve driving on the other side of the vehicle
-The matter there is no power steering (city dwellers beware, parallel parking can be painful)
-On the highway, you will never see 70MPH nor will you be able to hold a conversation with your passengers over the engine noise at 40MPH.
-If it rains, you will get wet. If it's hot, you will sweat. If it's snowing, you'll get covered in snow. Look at it like an upgrade from a motorcycle, not a regular passenger car.
-My state doesn't require inspections for antique vehicles, yours might. Will it pass with right hand steering, aftermarket seats, etc? 

There's no warranty, but like I said, I drove this from Maine to Utah and back with NO problems. That being said, you could in theory drive this home, but if you've never driven something like this before, you will crash without some practice. I might be willing to drive it to you, depending on my work schedule and provided you don't live somewhere like Alaska, if you would pick up the fuel costs. If not, shipping or pickup is the buyers responsibility. Ask as many questions and you want and I'll make sure to answer them- thanks for looking!

Auto Services in Maine

Tuffy Auto Service Center ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Brake Repair
Address: 22750 Pontiac Trl, Salem-Twp
Phone: (248) 437-4800

Pat`s Automotive Center ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Gas Stations
Address: 669 Main St, Wade
Phone: (866) 595-6470

National Mechanix ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Brake Repair, Auto Transmission
Address: 10983 Hi-Tech Dr., Salem-Twp
Phone: (810) 519-2119

Maaco Collision Repair and Auto Painting ★★★★★

Automobile Body Repairing & Painting
Address: 32754 W 8 Mile Rd, Salem-Twp
Phone: (248) 442-8510

Island Auto Repair ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Brake Repair
Address: 1391 State Highway 102, Mount-Desert
Phone: (207) 288-5388

Grimmel`s Service Station ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Gas Stations, Tire Dealers
Address: 681 Lisbon St, Greene
Phone: (207) 782-9160

Auto blog

Top horsepower-per-dollar cars in 2017

Tue, Feb 17 2015

Bang for the buck. That quasi-scientific statistic is bandied about by motor heads everywhere from classrooms to barrooms, though the truth of the matter is that it's exceedingly complex to measure. A fair performance-per-dollar index would include something like cross-referencing MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) with point-to-point times on a track or driving route, which is obviously hard to do comprehensively. But, for the sheer joy of talking about cars and playing with a big spreadsheet, there's always the horsepower-per-dollar index, which is more straightforward, albeit hilariously flawed. There are vagaries even with this simple formula, of course: MSRP for vehicles can change at a moment's notice, to say nothing of the bottom-line shifting that happens with local deals or showroom negotiation. For this list we're running with the straight MSRP wherever possible, and as recently reported as we can get it. All the vehicles on this list are 2017 models, and all trims are reported where the lowest price and differing power levels intersect. Some choices were made for personal preference and some for sanity, avoiding things like all 48 trim levels of the Ford Transit, all with the same horsepower). If this list were a simple top ten, or even a top fifty, you'd be bored to tears with all the red, white and blue that is represented. Following perfectly with conventional wisdom, American cars really do lead the world where hp/$ is concerned. So, for the sake of variety (and the sheer joy of seeing a minivan 'win' one round of this thing) I've sorted out some top five and bottom five lists for broad power categories. Let's dive in. Less Than 100 Horsepower Okay, okay, this is hardly a category we'll grant you. But we've often tried to click off all the sub-100-hp cars on sale in the US, and making this list gave us an excuse. It also illustrates that none of these smallish vehicles bring cheap horsepower to the table - for that you'll need a motorcycle. The segment-leading Chevy Spark (above) asks just over $139 for each hp, and that Smart Fortwo Electric Drive has hp on sale for about the same price as its very distant family cousin, the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG (insert your favorite Smart joke here... we know you want to).

Jaguar XE to be built in China

Mon, Dec 29 2014

After a six-year absence, the Jaguar XE will return that most English of automotive companies to the compact premium segment, the brand's first whole-hearted launch into that market. For certain Western markets it begins production at the Land Rover plant in Solihull early next year, but it will also continue the brand's venture in to China having been chosen as the first Jaguar to be built there, according to a report in Automotive News. Jaguar-Land Rover owns a plant in Changshu, a joint venture with Chery Automobile, that started building the Range Rover Evoque this year and will add the Land Rover Discovery Sport. Previously, The Leaping Cat was selling cars built from kits at its factory in Pune, India. The brand figures to sell 20,000 cars in China next year, which would be less than a fifth of in-country sales for the JLR group, but the XE is the "spearhead vehicle" that "could make significant inroads" there, according to Jaguar. For comparison, Audi moved 120,450 A4s alone and BMW sold more than 100,000 3 Series models in China in 2013. Globally, Jaguar is predicted to sell 80,000 units this year. By 2017, after the release of the XE, new XF and coming crossover, plus factory expansions in China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, it hopes to get that number up to 200,000 units; Forbes has a piece detailing why they think it's possible. The JLR group is shooting for a target of 850,000 units worldwide by 2020. Featured Gallery 2016 Jaguar XE: Paris 2014 View 12 Photos News Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req. via Paul TanImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL Plants/Manufacturing Jaguar Land Rover Luxury Sedan jaguar xe jlr

Jaguar Land Rover opens first overseas factory in China

Wed, 22 Oct 2014

Anyone who's a car fan knows that Jaguar and Land Rover cars and trucks all come from the UK. And while we don't doubt that will remain true for the most part, it won't be an absolute truth for long, as the British automaker has just opened its first factory overseas.
Its new plant in Changshu, China, is the result of a $1.8-billion joint venture between JLR and local automaker Chery. It covers some 4.3-million square feet and will, once at peak capacity, produce 130,000 units specifically for the Chinese market, where JLR sells over 100,000 vehicles each year to make it the company's single largest market worldwide.
Production at what's officially known as the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Company will start with the Evoque, of which one in five globally are currently sold in China. Production will eventually encompass three models. We already know that the Discovery Sport will be next, but the third model line has yet to be announced. JLR has confirmed, however, that the Changshu plant will produce unique models and derivatives specifically for the Chinese market, so we wouldn't be surprised to see a long-wheelbase version of the forthcoming XE or next-generation XF assembled there to satisfy local tastes.