Thread: Buying a New Defender - Sydney

I can’t really comment on Sydney dealers other than to say the quotes I got from them were significantly more than I was quoted in Canberra. You may like to consider getting quotes from dealers outside of Sydney (eg Dubbo, Wollongong, Canberra) as well (do it by telephone and/or email). The warranty is not tied to the purchase dealer. More important is what dealer (in Sydney) will give you the best warranty servicing.

Another consideration may be that Purnell Motors bought out Garthons who for many years were the best and most knowledgeable Land Rover dealers in Sydney. Not sure if Arthur’s son (can’t remember his name) is still involved in the business.

When my Father was looking for a new defender in 2002 the only dealer in sydney that was interested was Purnell. They were in Hurstville then, and are in Sylvania now.

I spoke to them recently about buying a Puma and found them to be helpful. They used to have a demonstrator.. but it hasn't been there the last few times I have driven by.

Many dealers only seem to want to sell Rangies and Discos, and not really know much (or care much) about the Defender.

Dec

Thanks Karl,

Yup am more than willing to travel country NSW for my Landy - can't say I was expecting Sydney to be more expensive. I have family in Tassie and SA and cars usually more expensive there...

I'll extend my research.

Cheers,

Dule

Originally Posted by DukeR

Are there dealers in Sydney I should just avoid alltogether?

Yes, all of them, as far as I'm concerned!

Useless sales people ... couldn't get any info out of them regarding acceptable tray dimensions for a 130 for example. But worse than that is they don't want to know you anymore once you parted with your hard-earned cash. I've had other models of cars besides LR, but I had absolutely the worst experiences in after-sales (read warranty) support from LR, both back in the mid 90s with a TDi and then again 2009 and ongoing. I heard better stories from some regional dealers (but no direct experience). So I'd stay away from Sydney dealers if you can.

Yeah is what i feared. Or they think that the only people who would buy Defenders are the sort that will buy them no matter what so service, courtesy and basic customer care are unnecessary...

Thanks for the comment.

Duke

Ouch.

There seems to be a theme happening here...

Appreciate the feedback slt.

Cheers

We bought our 110 wagon from Purnells at Blakehurst last year. After some initial disagreements with one salesman, the sale was taken over by the sales manager after a call to the dealer principal and went smoothly from there on in.

Have had the thing back several times for minor warranty issues (ABS sensors x2, window regulator - power windows are tools of the devil) and these were handled promptly. Have also had one repair for a brake hose I managed to destroy - ditto the above and surprisingly, a second mortgage wasn't required to pay for same.

Tried the other dealers in Sydney when looking around - would tend to agree that they are mostly interested in selling Discos or Range Rovers. As most people wanting Defenders know what they want and probably know more about the vehicle than the LR salesmen, moving the things off the lot ain't that much of a stretch for them.

We were able to get a pretty good deal on the thing (2001 TD5 Disco as trade-in) - got metallic paint, tow-bar, cargo barrier, mats, and window tinting thrown in on the deal, although I think some of that was due to the initial problems with salesman #1. None of the other Sydney dealers were able to match, let alone beat the price.

One of the salesmen we had a bit to do with when we were at the initial tyre-kicking stages was Mark. Unfortunately he was with another customer when we walked in ready to part with the hard-earned (probably would have had fewer problems initially had we waited to see him) - he would be a good man to talk to if he is still there.

Good luck with the purchase - hope all goes well wherever you end up purchasing.

My parents have a new 110 on order, they called or emailed every dealer in nsw and victoria. Sydney dealers were found to be quite uninterested selling a defender, except one.

As they knew exactly what they wanted, it came down to who could give the best price, everywhere managed within $750 of each other, except Blacklocks in albury/wodonga, who undercut the 2nd cheapest by $1750. They also seem quite interested in selling defenders being more rural and on a whole, great to deal with, so might be worth a call if you're prepared to go that far!

Seano