How much have you spent on your Defender?

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I'd wanted one to rebuild and do what I wanted to it for a while, finally took the plunge 2 years ago. I'd already had a disco 3 and I've still got a freelander 2 now, what made my mind up to get one was driving my father-in-laws 90 td5 and I knew it was going to cost me loads when I got one, but like Lightening said every time I drive that 90 I have a smile on my face and I've never had that with any other car I've driven.
 
When I started the restoration two and a half years ago I kept all the receipts with every intention of adding it up at the end. Apart from a wheel carrier on the back it's finished, but I bottled adding the receipts up. Reading the other restoration amounts has cheered me up and I might get around to doing it now. A rough estimate (VERY ROUGH) Chassis £1500, doors x 3 £750, bulkhead £900, paint job £1500, tyres £560 That's £5,200 + a fortune in other body panels rear floor,, quarter panels, cappings, and other stuff I can't remember the price of off hand, + what will probably turn out to be another fortune on small parts, rubber seals, nuts n bolts and other sundries which don't seem a lot individually but do narf add up. Every day it puts a massive grin on my face though when I see it on the drive. :D It's awesome.
We've had it eleven years now though and so, averaged out over the years, it shouldn't be too excessive. Before the rebuild it cost very little over the years. By an Indie it had; new clutch fork and clutch while they were in there, two timing belt changes, there might be something else but can't think of it. All the services, new exhausts etc I've done myself. Oh! I bought a new rear door about 8 years ago and had it resprayed at the local Subaru dealer. That cost a canny bit.
 
Easily 10k+ rebuilding mine, plus whatever I paid for it 5years ago.
I'm never selling it so I'm not bothered, I'll sell the mrs before I sell my defender :D
 
As I keep telling the kids ' if it's got t1ts or tyres it's gonna cost you money':D

I save eighty quid a month into a parts and tyres account as I have for the past three years, currently there's about sixty quid in it:(. But as my defender was gratis I'm doing better than some of you lot:p
 
These numbers may seem scary, but remember they will pale in comparison to the cost of fuelling the thing. Diesel/fuel is by far and away the most expensive part of running a vehicle. For example; according to my phone I've spent £18,300 in 3 years on my car, however £14,700 of that is diesel and only £3,600 repairs/service/MOT/insurance etc.

Though I guess if you only do a few thousand miles a year it would probably be a different story. And I've got no labour costs as I do things myself, but a lot of Land Rover are the same.
 
Mine cost me £2.6k, the most expensive thing I have done is sound proofing, but I have spent about £2k in total on it, So 4.6k so far, I'm not getting rid of it and its nearly done, I get 30mpg+ out of Jo and do 10k miles a year in it. To me this is very cheap motoring because a new car costs £9k+ and anything like a land rover is £25k+
 
Currently at £5255.06 all in, was disappointed that doesn't include a galv chassis but looking at others I'm now a bit easier with it. Of that, 1040 was buying it and getting it delivered, about 300 wasted on paint I either haven't used or changed my mind, 50 on a windscreen that turned out to be chipped and went in the bin.
 
Al2O3 said:
Do you do 25k + miles a year?
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It has varied but generally around 28-36k a year. At the higher end of that scale at the moment due to travelling more with work but in the last 3 months (~9k) it averages at £0.179/mile all in, which is pretty cheap. However this is affected by fluctuations in the fuel prices.
 
Retroanaconda said:
It has varied but generally around 28-36k a year. At the higher end of that scale at the moment due to travelling more with work but in the last 3 months (~9k) it averages at £0.179/mile all in, which is pretty cheap. However this is affected by fluctuations in the fuel prices.
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Wow! That's impressive mileage in a Defender. Hats off to ya. :) I love driving mine, but for those sort of distances I would contemplate using something else. Have the Landy for weekends and enjoyment. Suppose you just get used to it. Is that in a 90?
 
It's a 200Tdi 90 yes. A 110 would be better, but that's currently in the workshop in bits awaiting rebuild.

I have soundproofed the cab and added various niceties such as central locking, side window demisters, cruise control, relocated handbrake, Td5 gauges, trimmed out the rear etc. to make it a nicer place to be.
 
would be interested in pic of relocated hand brake ,,if you wouldn't mind :):):)
Retroanaconda said:
It's a 200Tdi 90 yes. A 110 would be better, but that's currently in the workshop in bits awaiting rebuild.

I have soundproofed the cab and added various niceties such as central locking, side window demisters, cruise control, relocated handbrake, Td5 gauges, trimmed out the rear etc. to make it a nicer place to be.
Click to expand...
 
As the wife might read this, ours only ever needs routine servicing. It never costs any more than our other car, a Ford Focus.

Unfortunately, I can't explain why I'm unable to find a single invoice relating to work undertaken on the Defender. (Wife, if you read this:- Sorry love, I must be more diligent with my filing.)
 
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