Value of an '80s Defender 110?

[onewhippedpuppy]

As much as I'd love to see Defenders flooding the market, dropping prices and becoming as common as Discoveries........ain't gonna happen. As much as I love the things, they're definitely not for everyone. Susie soccer mom isn't going to replace her H2 with a RHD 25 year old import Defender. They will continue to be a rare niche vehicle that only attracts a certain owner, I'd be shocked to see prices significantly decline.

 

[meatblanket]

I don't think prices are declining despite the fact you can legally import several model years now.

Unless they've been substantially refurbished, most ROW 25+ year old Defenders are rotted, RHD wheezing 4cyl models. The parts are expensive, and you have to pay sea freight and import duty to get it here. The same money would buy you a whole lot of Toyota, which is a much more logical choice of vehicle for use in the USA.

 

[jwlester]

Who knows what will happen to NAS prices, but I can't figure ROW prices will do anything but drop as the available supply opens up.

 

[Red90]

The parts are expensive

Compared to what?? The part price I pay for Defender bit is much less than any other vehicle I've ever seen.

 

[gchinsr]

Unless they've been substantially refurbished, most ROW 25+ year old Defenders are rotted, RHD wheezing 4cyl models. The parts are expensive, and you have to pay sea freight and import duty to get it here. The same money would buy you a whole lot of Toyota, which is a much more logical choice of vehicle for use in the USA.

Searching the right type of vehicle pool eliminates a lot of the common problems associated with 25+ year old Land Rovers. And although you pay some importation/broker fees to bring them here, it's not a deal breaker if you find the right vehicle, and do your homework on shipping/exportation. With the increased cost to export to the west coast, you are only looking at less than $8500.00 total. The difference in cost is not there, for your buy domestic advantage. As far as parts go, I do buy everything in the UK, and have it shipped here for less than I can buy it here. Once you know the available shipping options, it is not as expensive as one would think.

 

[meatblanket]

But parts are expensive in the USA. I can't go to a salvage yard for parts. There aren't 20 of them in town being parted out on Craigslist. Many new parts are marked up by USA retailers or I have to pay shipping from the UK, currency conversion fees, etc.

I'm not suggesting it makes more sense to buy a Defender domestically-- on the contrary, I think it makes more sense to import one, if buying one of these makes any sense in the first place.:sombrero:

 

[mongosd2]

Parts aren't anymore expensive for a Defender than parts for any Land Rover...As a matter of fact, Defender parts for ROW trucks are easier to find than ones for NAS spec trucks. For example, most NAS spec electrical harness are NLA (no longer available), as are the rollcage parts and pieces. But, a complete wring harnesses for 1983 110 is readily available for under $500.00us. As for getting parts from the UK, I have gotten parts faster from LR Series (UK parts house) than I have from Rovers North, and at half the price(including shipping) of what Rovers North charges. A typical parts order from them (LR Series) takes about 3 days, and I have placed MANY orders with them...

 

[gchinsr]

Once the decision was made to import our 110 here, we accepted the fact that all parts would come from the UK, as they will cost less than any available sources here. Yes we dont have yards full of parts needed, but a phone call to the UK will fix that easily. I have no problems finding what we need, and getting it shipped here is a 2 or 3 minute job. The parts are expensive compared to what? Heck the Land Rover parts are a whole bunch cheaper than parts for our X3, or my brothers Rav. I dont understand your point of price. If you chose to buy parts for more money here, because you dont like exchange rates and shipping even though you save money, I cant help you with your choice to do so. This is a discussion of a member looking at ownership costs for a 110, not a why do you want to import a Land Rover debate.

 

[mongosd2]

My 1983 110 is better shape than most 1994/1995 D90's that I looked at...The reality is that good trucks are just plain hard to find now...if the rear crossmember is shot, mostly likely the rest of the frame has issues.

I paid 16k total to get my truck, and maybe 500 bucks for some things to make it more comfortable. I drive it every day and get 26MPG

 

[gchinsr]

The key to this is all in the choice of the truck you are buying. Buy the best example you can find in your price range. Most expensive is not always the best, as condition is more important than price. I paid 2500GBP($8413 total inc shipping to CA) for a working ambulance, which eliminates a whole slew of issue compared to a farm vehicle. I had 2 know issues when I bought it, costing less than a h$100 to fix them. As I am dis assembling the truck for my new drive train upgrade, there is very little surface rust on a couple spots on the chassis, and every panel looks like new after a soapy rag cleans it, so only a few new nuts and bolts needed. My costs are only for upgrades/freshening up in preparation for using the vehicle for our trip, not to make it road worthy. If I did not intend to use the truck to go down So America, I would be done where it is now. From this point on, it all maintenance parts, which are very inexpensive to buy from the UK compared to here. If you chose to buy a rusty vehicle from the start, you will need to spend a lot more to get the vehicle road worthy, and will be replacing a ton of parts as you go along. Spend the time to find a better example, and save a lot of time, energy, frustration, and cash. IMHO

 

[meatblanket]

The parts are expensive compared to what? Heck the Land Rover parts are a whole bunch cheaper than parts for our X3, or my brothers Rav. I dont understand your point of price. If you chose to buy parts for more money here, because you dont like exchange rates and shipping even though you save money, I cant help you with your choice to do so. This is a discussion of a member looking at ownership costs for a 110, not a why do you want to import a Land Rover debate.

My gripes on this topic are driven by my current project, a 200tdi I'm putting into a 2.5NA exMOD 110. Any domestic truck or Toyota and I could head to a salvage yard and pick up stuff like a fan shroud, air cleaner bracket, etc. but not with this one.

The reason I brought this up is because along with the cost of importation, the cost of refurbishment (once in the USA) is just another factor that will keep the value of ROW Defenders from dropping like a stone even though every year more of them will be legal to import.

Fwiw $15k was a good price for that 110. I know the owner, and I've had a ride in it. The engine is very strong, I had to yell at him to slow down as he was scaring me a bit. In terms of value, I think a lot of people didn't like the fact that it was brown, had a swapped in engine, was RHD, and had some nasty looking wheels on it (which he changed out just before selling it). Someone smart enough to look past all of that got a good deal.