Question about the prices of defenders

Mp123 said:

Is there a certain model that you should get and a certain one you shouldn't.

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Some universities are actually offering a degree in this!

Example, take my 1990 Defender which has been rebuilt and take another 1990 Defender on eBay - let's just say a price tag of £10,000 for mine and £4000 for the eBay one - you look and go, right they are both the same vehicle more or less. Well this is the issue with Defenders. The seller on eBay will tell you how solid it is and how good the chassis is except for that "tiny bit of rust needing welded". Then there is mine with a new (about 10 years ago mind you) chassis, new bulkhead, new engine, gearboxes, axles, full respray... herein lies the issue!

There is no certain model you should disregard, there are aspects of all models you need to understand and then consider. Get a rot bucket and you are buying a project and either need tools and skills or deep pockets.

I am sure there is a Defender buying guide on this forum, go and find it and reach that, also watch this:



Mike is brilliant!

discomania said:

Some universities are actually offering a degree in this!

Example, take my 1990 Defender which has been rebuilt and take another 1990 Defender on eBay - let's just say a price tag of £10,000 for mine and £4000 for the eBay one - you look and go, right they are both the same vehicle more or less. Well this is the issue with Defenders. The seller on eBay will tell you how solid it is and how good the chassis is except for that "tiny bit of rust needing welded". Then there is mine with a new (about 10 years ago mind you) chassis, new bulkhead, new engine, gearboxes, axles, full respray... herein lies the issue!

There is no certain model you should disregard, there are aspects of all models you need to understand and then consider. Get a rot bucket and you are buying a project and either need tools and skills or deep pockets.

I am sure there is a Defender buying guide on this forum, go and find it and reach that, also watch this:



Mike is brilliant!

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Agree with all of that, and the other thing is that, as you have owned the vehicle for some time, and done the work yourself, it is much less likely to be stolen, or contain stolen parts, than the ones on Ebay.

discomania said:

Some universities are actually offering a degree in this!

Example, take my 1990 Defender which has been rebuilt and take another 1990 Defender on eBay - let's just say a price tag of £10,000 for mine and £4000 for the eBay one - you look and go, right they are both the same vehicle more or less. Well this is the issue with Defenders. The seller on eBay will tell you how solid it is and how good the chassis is except for that "tiny bit of rust needing welded". Then there is mine with a new (about 10 years ago mind you) chassis, new bulkhead, new engine, gearboxes, axles, full respray... herein lies the issue!

There is no certain model you should disregard, there are aspects of all models you need to understand and then consider. Get a rot bucket and you are buying a project and either need tools and skills or deep pockets.

I am sure there is a Defender buying guide on this forum, go and find it and reach that, also watch this:



Mike is brilliant!

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This+1, and yes Mike is brilliant. Here are his words of wisdom when he says the first Land Rover you buy is the worst...

Good luck i am sure you will find one.

Whatever you decide, I'd say, once you buy and get it home, stop looking at others.

You'll always find, cheaper, better, quicker, cleaner, etc, it's like buying a new TV or phone, grass is always greener and a photo at the right angle makes a dog look like a princess

But then, like most first time landy owners I bought a banger!

Hi again guy's, seen this on ebay and could I have your views on it please. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203211307879

To be frank, it's description of "condition used..." says it all. It looks near fooked. Buying at the arse end of the market will cost you a fortune in the short, medium and long term. Why not wait until you have a larger budget and buy where previous owners have wedged all their dosh into a Landy so you don't have to...

I quite like it. It would all come down to the chassis and engine/gear box. If they are ok the rest can be fixed. It will never look great because its got dents everywhere and they are really hard to get out, but it looks honest. Most everything on it will be well worn, but it should work so it depends what you are looking for. My S2a was very much like that when i bought it, its since had an engine and gear box rebuild , a rewire and chassis welding, but its still worth more than its cost and now its great. It too has dents in just about every panel but you learn to accept that.

Mp123 said:

Hi again guy's, seen this on ebay and could I have your views on it please. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203211307879

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It looks as if it has had a new rear ¼ chassis. (it failed its last MOT on corrosion see here https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ ) Its done 254000 miles and the rear tub is dented - to me it looks like it has worked for its living. The passenger footwell has been repaired (I hope he didn't pay the welder very much) Hopefully the chassis was done by someone more skilful. It would be worth a look at, if it has been well serviced often and with good quality parts, it could be worth putting an offer in (no where near that asking price IMHO).

Intergalactic mileage but 'extensive service history', again could be worth a look:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...688770?hash=item1cfb638982:g:HhAAAOSwdq5fz3XJ

Mp123 said:

Hi again guy's, seen this on ebay and could I have your views on it please. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203211307879

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That looks like an honest vehicle, with an honest seller, at a sensible price.
Will probably be useful in the short term, and plenty of room for improvement in the long term if you like that sort of thing.
Make sure everything works on test drive, and no nasty noises.

I would say it is a commercial vehicle that has been used as a commercial vehicle, ie hard use and not one person giving a toss about it!
But at 4k I guess that is pretty much what you can expect.
Does not mean it is a bad vehicle, it does mean weird and wonderful stuff is going to go wrong on you.

I was asking 6k for my 1993 200 90 and people seemed to think that was dear!

I asked him what's his lowest Price was and he said 5k I said you have it on ebay for £4250 and he said £4250 then. Weird

I've had good experience with very high mileage vehicles. They tend to have less rust because they have been moving and getting oily, the rubber bits are still bendy and they work. Agreed it looks like a working truck, so any time it stopped working it got fixed and back on the road. expect everyi9htgn to be well worn, but well worn is ok, its unlikely to let you down. The best thing to do with high mileage vehicles is drive them, the worst is take them off the road and restore. The other great thing about high mileage working vehicles is that whenever you come to fix something the bolts undo without any trouble, because they been undone a dozen times before! My Series is 50 years old and seems to have pretty much never been off the road. I can go out to service something and be sure that it will undo with no trouble.

Mp123 said:

I asked him what's his lowest Price was and he said 5k I said you have it on ebay for £4250 and he said £4250 then. Weird

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Pity you didn't say £4k. Have you driven it yet? If its drives well it could be worth a punt.

Mp123 said:

I asked him what's his lowest Price was and he said 5k I said you have it on ebay for £4250 and he said £4250 then. Weird

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Straight away he now has you down as a time watser.

Go see then haggle, haggling before you even see most lilkey means you wont even turn up, so he will just say any old shti to get rid of you.

Its up for 4.25k, so we all know he is after 4k.

Luckily for you he did not say 3k, for you to drive all the wya there, and for him to say sorry mate just sold it to psis you off

rob1miles said:

I've had good experience with very high mileage vehicles. They tend to have less rust because they have been moving and getting oily, the rubber bits are still bendy and they work. Agreed it looks like a working truck, so any time it stopped working it got fixed and back on the road. expect everyi9htgn to be well worn, but well worn is ok, its unlikely to let you down. The best thing to do with high mileage vehicles is drive them, the worst is take them off the road and restore. The other great thing about high mileage working vehicles is that whenever you come to fix something the bolts undo without any trouble, because they been undone a dozen times before! My Series is 50 years old and seems to have pretty much never been off the road. I can go out to service something and be sure that it will undo with no trouble.

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Me too. Generally speaking, I prefer to buy something that has actually been used than something that has been sat in a shed for 20 years, and everything is seized solid, or perished, in the case of rubber components.

I can't remember what a Defender speedo is like, but with a Series, you can pretty much assume it has been around the clock a few times anyway.

I'm not a time waster, never have been, I only asked him would he drop any more off the asking price before I went to see it. If anything he's a time waster for telling people he wants 5k for it when its advertised for £4250

Mp123 said:

I'm not a time waster, never have been, I only asked him would he drop any more off the asking price before I went to see it. If anything he's a time waster for telling people he wants 5k for it when its advertised for £4250

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If my own experiences are anything to go by, he is probably pretty fed up with people messaging, and asking "Is this still available?", and "What is your best price".

If I am selling something, I want them to send me a phone number, and when I ring, for them to say, "I will be over tomorrow to view, Is that OK for you?"

Just my take on it. Being an old fashioned type, I like face to face, rather than endless messaging and questions.

Face to face also protects the buyer. If the seller, or the vehicle, are well dodgy, the seller is unlikely to invite you to their house.

Mp123 said:

I'm not a time waster, never have been, I only asked him would he drop any more off the asking price before I went to see it. If anything he's a time waster for telling people he wants 5k for it when its advertised for £4250

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In that case you are the 1 percent of the population that are not, but your reply (saying you think he is the timewaster) says to me you were not going to see it anyway.

I read a cars sales forum, and the questions wannabe buyers ask the dealers is unreal, general consenseious seems to be most of the buyers are time wasting tossers.

I rememeber one telling me years ago, half the battle is getting the buyer to come see the vehicle, once they are there, there is a good chance they might buy, then there is buyers remorse, never mind the scammers etc.