Is this a TB42 or TD42

[Johann 1984]

Why do you say so Spike?

[Spike]

Buying from them is like buying from an auction. The only difference is that you don't bid, the price is fixed. Take a look at their smallprint. Voetstoets. They push it as "wholesale" "car industry" etc, not retail. You sign away your consumer rights.

Their business model is (in my opinion) to buy and sell in high volume with no frills. Buy anything with wheels, add fixed mark up, give it a valet, sell with no negotiatiation. A commodity.

If something doesn't sell they will move it to another branch. Amd if it still doesn't sell it gets sold off "in house" to the motor trade. Very rarely have I seen a price been dropped to the public.

Their salesmen are not "car people", they are purely there to move stock at the predetermined price. They could just as well be selling gym memberships or fibre internet.

But sometimes they advertise very good bargains though. And they probably don't even know it's a bargain because buying department just bought it, middle department just cleaned it and added their stipulated mark up, and it got plonked in the sales department to be got rid of.

It's up to the buyer to spot them and take a calculated risk. You can't take it back next week with a comeback because you found something you don't like.

Your target car, combined with your apparent lack of hands on knowledge about the car, screams to me to walk away and wait for a more suitable one. And no point discussing it with them because the salesman has even less knowledge about the car. It just landed in front of him and he must sell it

Disclaimer. I'm not a motor trade expert, but I wasn't born yesterday and I've spent a bit of time in the market to buy cars from those guys, including flying to their other branches around the country, and the blurb above is my assessment of them.


Edited to fix typing error

[Anthony Forgey]

I looked at the photo of the engine bay. One of the things I do is clean up after everyone's mess where wiring/modifications were done. from what I can see in the pictures the EFI conversion has been done properly. It appears that some care has been taken. The vacuum lines, air intake hoses and flexible hose joints, fuel pressure regulator fitted. upgraded coil pack neatly fixed to the firewall and neat HT lead wiring. the water hoses don't appear to be tampered with. There's even a second battery tucked in on the passenger side near the firewall. I actually think that this is probably a good buy.

[Francois Theron]

Spike I think you summed up WBC's model very well. It's neither right nor wrong. it's just what it is. Up to the buyer to decide.

[Dungbeetle]

Well it makes more sense to gamble 100k on that fuel injected modified Patrol than on any Tata etc is the same price range.....

[Alex Roux]

Depending on the use you want to put the vehicle to, my advice may be exactly the opposite. For the following reasons:
1) It is now almost impossible to find carb kits.
2) I doubt there are more than a handful of guys left who can re-build a carb properly once worn.
3) The same applies to the distributor.

Fuel injection specialists are a dime a dozen, and some of them really know what they are doing. A well set-up fuel injection system is superior to a carburettor in every way...

Once again, just my opinion.

I agree carburattor is old school and all, and fuel injection is more practical in the long term serviceability. A well set up ecu will idle and accelerate just as smoothly.

One advantage that fuel injection cannot compete on though is low down torque. From standstill a carburattor crawl rocks much easier.

[Johann 1984]

Ja, this is a bit tricky. It seems it's a risk. My problem is: these guys are becoming less and less. Three years back I wanted one and found a diesel TD42 that had radiator issues. I doubt it would've made the trip from Potch to Kimberley. It was a mere 42K. This one looks better aesthetically. But, what happens if it has diff issues, gearbox issues, etc. I suppose that there is an element of downright risk here...

Regards

Johann

[Johann 1984]

Point is: there will be an element of big risk to all of them.

[Alex Roux]

Point is: there will be an element of big risk to all of them.

Johann

If a car is 30 years old or more (or thereabouts), I think it is fair to assume it will need attention.
Radiators that last as long as that are exceptional - to name one item.
The question is how much, which is where some risk always remain.

[Peter Connan]

The point is, what else can you buy for similar money with less risk? I don't think there is such a thing.

And if you are prepared to spend the money for a "risk free" proper 4x4, it will cost you much more than buying a "risky" old Patrol and re-building everything with issues. Because I firmly believe that if you leave the engine and it's associated systems out of the equation, the Patrol is far more robust than any of the competition.