Any reason in particular you're looking for between 82-89 ? The best of the engines for a Defender (200 and 300 Tdi's) didn't start until 1990. FWIW I bought a 1993 Defender 90 CSW with 110,000 on the clock last November for £3k that took about £1k and a couple of weekends to set to rights.
First stop - amazon.co.uk - buy the Haynes manual and read the servicing requirements. If you're not happy doing that lot yourself, re-think a Defender or a Disco or you're going to be spending a mint on servicing - particularly if you're going to be using it off road.
If the main chassis rails or bulkhead show signs of rust (ignore light surface rust on the chassis, but not on the bulkhead) then walk away. Always take a plastic mallet and a screwdriver with you to check out the chassis - a decent tap with the mallet on the chassis rails should get a nice 'ring' - if it's a dull thud then it's probably rusting from the inside out. Likewise have a dig at any suspect rust patches with the screwdriver, sometimes what looks like surface rust isn't only on the surface. If the owner isn't happy about this level of inspection, walk away as they're hiding something. Chassis outriggers are replaceable, as is more or less all of the rest of the car, but obviously this depends on how much you're willing to spend. A car of that age will either have had the rear crossmember replaced or will need it doing - cost for a professional job that will withstand towing the maximum weight the car was designed for (3,500 Kgs - still the best for a car or light commercial in the UK) will be circa £500 to £600 all in and likely take a couple of days without the car.
A heavy clunk on taking up the drive, particularly if it clunks when you use the throttle without clutching it indicates a worn driveline - can be a simple as UJ's on the propshaft but can equally be a worn transfer box or main box). Recon main boxes cost around £900 fitted, similar for a transfer box. Prop shafts you can do yourself with a minimum of tools/knowledge for about £80 each.
Blue smoke from the exhaust is a bad sign as is white, black smoke in a diesel is normally overfuelling or a severely clogged air filter, read that as 'irregular or insufficient servicing'. If you're getting blue or white smoke from an engine that's at operating temperature - walk away. A small amount of black smoke isn't anything to worry about, particularly on turbo charged models - great belching clouds of it is.
Check the levels of all fluids - that's front and rear axles, swivel hubs on the front axle, transfer box, main gearbox and engine. If they're either seriously low or dirty/contaminated with water - walk away as it's probably not been well cared for. The axles, swivels and transfer box all use EP90 or EPx 80/90 Hypoid gear oil - this is a honey colour and pretty thick. Non V8 models with a 5 speed gearbox use ATF (automatic transmission fluid) which should be red. If there's anything else in any of them other than the above... walk away.
Brakes take a battering on these cars - check the inboard facing of the discs for scoring as calipers are an opposing piston type, the inboard piston siezes and a favourite dodge is to replace the outboard pad only when the pads wear out. Replacing front calipers, discs and pads will take a DIY mechanic a full day and cost in the region of £300 - garage prices will be closer to double that at least. Pre 1993 cars have discs on the front only with drums on the rears, late 1993 and onwards have discs all round.
Don't worry overly about dented panels, unless it looks like it's been crashed or unless you're after a nice shiny example to use on the road only, more or less any off road use in the UK will include scrubbing it past bushes/trees or worse and you'll dent them yourself in no time. If you're looking for a road only car, may I suggest a Mitsubishi Shogan Pinin as a better bet for the money anyway
Which bit of the UK are you in? I might know someone local to you who would be willing to help you check over the first one you go and see to give you some idea of what to look for.
Cheers,
looking to buy
