Why are old Land Rovers so expensive???

Hi guys, just been wondering why used Land Rovers are soooo expensive?
I've been looking at 1986/7 90's and they're being sold between the £2500 and £3500 marks. Amazing! These aren't concours vehicles either, pretty shoddy tired examples with rusty doors & poor paint. Let's say these originally cost £20k back in the day, well cars that cost £30k can be had now for less than a grand in better condition! I don't get it.

if you want into the club, you have to pay an entrance fee, its to keep the riff raff out!!

yes and these will still be going in another ten years unlike their imigrant counterparts

That's the point though, they won't still be going in another ten years whithout ££££'s spending on them. Most of the examples around at £2k are tired with clunking drivetrains, smoky engines and rusty bits. The only reason old Landy's are still on the road is that people have ploughed money into them. Yes they're heavy duty compared to a car but the engines, gearboxes and bodywork still suffer just like a car - and they're British engineering as opposed to German or Japanese!

The price of almost everyhting in the world is determined by supply and demand. Everyone wants old landys but there aint enough of them around so people have high prices for them! Very simple.

Some folk don't want to accept depreciation. Cos its a ninety they think that it's worth more than an older Landy. Don't forget that some of these are over 20 years old now and some of them require a lot of work, some a rebuild but not all of them I hasten to add.

Regards WP.

The trouble is we still all do it. We keep the vehicles on the road and just accept that they need a bit of mainenance (or more) now and again, I suppose that is one of the joys of LR ownership? There is also the 'comfort' thing of wanting to keep the same vehicle for years rather than chopping & changing all the time. I have thrown considerable amounts of money at my 1986 90 over the last few years but I have had a great time doing all the work and I still enjoy driving it. I have a vehicle which is 'mine' and worth more to me than one a fraction of its age (it is certainly in better condition than many younger ones).
The value thing can be very strange but sometimes it is just down to what a buyer is willing to spend (as already stated, it is supply & demand). For every experienced, informed prospective owner who will just walk away from an old shed there is a gullible one just around the corner who will buy it because it is covered in chequer-plate and looks 'pretty', forget the rotten chassis, bulkhead & shot engine. At the end of the day you have to spend a little to get onto the LR ownership ladder (moreso 90/110's than the earlier variants) but then it all depends on the amount you have to spend and the amount of work you are willing to put in to what you get out of it in the end

It does seem to be limited to 90's and to a degree 110's look on e bay and you will see rangies and Disco's going for a song!

I just brought a '94 300TDi Disco with a brand new engine, 116,000 with Full LR service history, new tyres, Air con, leather blah blah blah

For??

£2000

I'm going to green lane it and probably make a mess of it in time, I'll still get £500+ for the engine! Let alone all the other good bits

The bit I can't understand is why they cost so much in the first place. It's not as if they spend a fortune development they must have recouped that years ago.

About 2 months ago I got a g reg defender for £750, great paint, virtually no rust new rims, fat tyres, MOT, and Tax! Nice neighbouring farmer. He is quite well off though. He told me he got it for £500 something. But I'm sure he can't be serious. View my profile, I have a pic there..

Just a guess cause they're better than new land rovers...

radicalrabit said:

yes and these will still be going in another ten years unlike their imigrant counterparts

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only cos most landys spend most of their life in a dealer being repaired

GRUNT said:

The bit I can't understand is why they cost so much in the first place. It's not as if they spend a fortune development they must have recouped that years ago.

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Land rover have spent £600million in 5 years developing the 2007 freelander, i bet it'll still be full of faults and we'll have loads of recalls lol

only cos most landys spend most of their life in a dealer being repaired

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Odd comment, Clutchdust! I think you will find that most LRs over the age of three are almost never attended to by dealers and are home serviced/fixed instead or attended to by a range of small back-street garages, farm mechanics etc. Mine tends to see a professional once a year at MOT time and at 13 yo/170k is still on most of the original gear. Who'd pay £50/hour for dealer attention?

Land rover have spent £600million in 5 years developing the 2007 freelander,

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I was talking specifically about Defenders. Or do they pass the r&d costs on to the full range?