Makes a lot of financial sense

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lightning

Well-Known Member
Posts
4,145
Location
High Peak
.....having a Defender as my work vehicle.

l bought my last van, a Transit Connect, back in 2008 for £14,000
Had it six years, did 80,000
Really looked after it so it was still very clean but it only made £4,000 when l
sold it in 2014.
Bought my 2005 110 CSW in 2014 for £14,000
Had it six years, done 70,000.
Have looked after it so it's still very clean.
Yesterday a local dealer offered
me £17,000 cash for it.

Maintenance costs have been higher, £6,000 v £3,000 on the van. That's tyres, servicing, repairs, MOT's etc but not fuel.

Fuel, well the Landy averages 28mpg where the van did 32mpg.

Looking at the figures above, tell me the Land Rover doesn't make sense.
And which would you rather drive?

The best thing about the van, was the heated windscreen, but l've fitted one in the Land Rover (being a County spec it didn't have one)

l guess if all my driving was motorway, it wouldn't make so much sense, but for local work with the occasional longer run it's been perfect. Fitting cruise control improved the annual 450 mile trip to Scotland, and only cost £120
 
Yeah.

I use my landy for work, does 350m a week, averages 23mpg but its so much more fun and enjoyable to drive.

Had a V8 D2 loaner for a month CC was lovely (since fitted it to my 110, just needs some mapping tweaks to work) but after a while boring to drive, same mpg.

Had the mrs car for 2 weeks, Hyundai i20. Cost all of £50 in fuel for 2 weeks instead of £150 but was constantly cut up, pulled out on and zero respect on the road also VERY dull.

The 110 costs alot but its fun and useful when a forklift or an artic gets stuck in the yard :p

That said ive bee considering a D2 for work for ages....
 
I use my defender as my work car. I lost 6k on an Audi in a couple years. My defender is making money and a service is only 600 if I need a transfer box or diff lol
Defender does my head in sometimes and I do miss luxury. I wouldn’t want a normal car now though - a cars got to be interesting. Say I went Audi again it would have to be an s. However, I’d be terrified of it braking, end up getting one under warranty and then you lose a huge chunk on it just from owning it!
 
Yes after six years l still look forward to driving the Land Rover every time l
leave a customers house and get back in to it.
And everyone loves the Land Rover, people comment on it all the time.
As above, l also get let out of side roads a lot more, and generally get respect on the road in it.
 
Yes after six years l still look forward to driving the Land Rover every time l
leave a customers house and get back in to it.
And everyone loves the Land Rover, people comment on it all the time.
As above, l also get let out of side roads a lot more, and generally get respect on the road in it.
Do you trust it 100%. I must admit, mines been back on the road for 3 years now and the only problem in that time was a core plug but if i have to travel any distance i take the vitara. Dont know why as I too prefer to drive the landy.
 
Well l've got breakdown cover, but l've never had to call them. l did have a couple of "what if" moments while touring Spain, and on the way to Scotland l once thought
"it would be a bummer to break down now"

But generally l don't think about it. This Defender has over the years been a particularly good one for not going wrong.
 
Yes after six years l still look forward to driving the Land Rover every time l
leave a customers house and get back in to it.
And everyone loves the Land Rover, people comment on it all the time.
As above, l also get let out of side roads a lot more, and generally get respect on the road in it.
My Mrs has to pull out of a side road on to the A1 on her way to work. It's at the bottom of a hill too, so an uphill start in to a 60mph stretch of road. She says she gets let out loads easier when she's in the Fender, especial by lorry drivers.
 
My Mrs has to pull out of a side road on to the A1 on her way to work. It's at the bottom of a hill too, so an uphill start in to a 60mph stretch of road. She says she gets let out loads easier when she's in the Fender, especial by lorry drivers.
Similar to me. In the morning at the end of my lane I turn left onto a main riding uphill. I can see about 6 or 7 hundred yards to the right and even if it's clear, I always get a line of traffic behind me before I get to the top. It's ok in 1st when the turbo spins up but when I change to 2nd, I cant get enough revs up to get the turbo spinning again.
 
Similar to me. In the morning at the end of my lane I turn left onto a main riding uphill. I can see about 6 or 7 hundred yards to the right and even if it's clear, I always get a line of traffic behind me before I get to the top. It's ok in 1st when the turbo spins up but when I change to 2nd, I cant get enough revs up to get the turbo spinning again.
That must be a hell of a steep hill Mick.
 
Depreciation is the biggest cost by far, unless you do huge mileages you never get the pay back on economy. OK I'm driving a Series but so far (5 years) its looking to be a very cheap vehicle to run. There's a lot of routine and "pre-emptive" maintenance but it 90% my time and 10% parts and only 2 breakdowns - one was fault from when I bought it (syncho spring falied and jammed box) and one was my fault - got air in fuel line and flattened battery as was facing up a 1/6 hill. Broke my golden rule of always parking facing down! We live in a town centre and the driving is dog eat dog, Series bumpers are a perfect deterrant.
 
Out of our 3 cars, my series is the only one that makes pedestrians watch it go past, especially kids. The other two seem to be invisible to pedestrians.

Col
 
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