1989 Land Rover Defender Pickup Green Defender 90
1989 Land Rover Defender Defender 90
Vehicle Details1989 Land Rover Defender 90 ‘Pickup’ RHD
This was imported from the UK in 2021. Used on private land on the east coast (upstate New York) and then had it shipped to the west coast late 2022. Hardly used, sits in storage mostly. Have 4 other Defender projects and this one needs to go.
This has had an engine swap at some point to the Discovery 200 TDI, engine block number starts 12L (think it was 1990-98 for these engines). Engine had a reported 50k miles when it went in, 20k miles ago but can’t guarantee for sure.
77,800 miles on the clock. Again can’t guarantee this as the electrics can cut to the odometer at times, but the engine and trans feel a little better than ones with 100-150k+ miles I’ve driven. Engine looks relatively clean, some new hoses have gone in at some point and not original but seem to be in well, new clips and I replaced some of them too.
Starts up first time. I have a temp tag from the CA DMV and paid registration so took it for a drive a couple of weeks back to clean it and run it a little. 50 miles and kept running.
New tires, wheel bolts, oil change and air filter in the last 3 months / 100 miles. Previous owner had put the Exmoor trim carpet kit in it, which looks a lot nicer than the usual standard rusty metal or rubber mats.
New steering wheel in last few years, gear gaiters, LED headlights, door cards seem pretty new and a rear rubber bed mat I just put in from another defender I have as no longer needed it there.
The not so good -
- Brakes aren’t great but they stop the car. Would recommend a good check.
- Door latches; tightened but not a great hold and doors don’t fully shut flush.
- There are rattles and knocks and shakes at certain revs from loose windows and trim. Easy fixes I’m sure for someone who is handy and has time.
- Window seals aren’t great.
- The dreaded door rot is present on these (photo of underside of the door).
- At some point it’s been re-painted green (was a light blue in between it seems ) probably 10+ years ago. Also the roof was originally white, but is now black externally. From the looks of it this isn’t done too badly but rest of car paint close up has flaws.
- No wiper arms - cheap fix, just never used them.
- Engine hood lever not reliable, takes two people to open.
- Side lights and some blinkers aren’t working. Only one side of rear brake also.
- Seatbelts aren’t in properly. Previous owner looks to have cut the bolts to the inner belt clips. Have new seatbelt kits, just needs fitting and the old bolts knocked through.
These don’t drive like a new car so please don’t expect that. No title as I haven’t finished the registration process but all import duties paid, have all the customs paperwork and docs ready for new owner and can guide the new owner on what’s needed to get them done at DMV’s.
Entertaining offers for a quicker sale, priced nicely against others out there for sale but as always, sold as seen. Happy to have people view it in Palos Verdes area of Los Angeles.
- Make: Land Rover
- Model: Defender
- Type: Pickup
- Trim: Defender 90
- Year: 1989
- Mileage: 77800
- VIN: SAXL1500000000000
- Color: Green
- Engine size: 200 TDI
- Number of cylinders: 4
- Fuel: Diesel
- Transmission: Manual
- Drive type: AWD
- Vehicle Title: Clean Want to buy? Contact seller!
