Thread: What to buy? (I know this might open a can of worms)

Thats easy................Brand New !!

Build it up the way you want it, iron out all the "glitches", and then add to it and add to it and add to it - you get the idea.......

Dual cab as in 130 with tray or high cap tub, or dual cab as in 110 styleside ute?
The factory 110 dual cabs have only been available in the last 2 years or so.

Sorry I should have been more specific; 130 dual cab with tub.

I worked out that if you bought one at the runout price - $40k a while back - and then compared it to buying a well maintained late 300tdi (96-98 say) or early Td5. At the end of three years you would have spent about the same money and you'll have a vehicle with a greater resale value than the second hand purchase.

Reckoning that you can't get a decent 130 for less than $14k and spending a minimum of $2500, optimistic, per year maintenance.

budget??

I suspect you will know best what is the most suitable for you. To help tease out your preferences, ask yourself the following questions

1.) What is the intended purpose of the vehicle
- how much weight do you envisage the vehicle to carry (typical and maximum)?
- how much on-road vs off road travel do you anticipate?
- is it going to be your primary mode of transport or work/touring/weekend use vehicle?
- is it just for you, you and your better half, or for the whole family?

2.) How handy are you with a spanner or conversely, how handy do you want to be with a spanner
- do you envisage maintaining the truck yourself, or will you get it done at a garage (are you a tinkerer)?
- how much do you value your time?
- how much garage space do you have?
- how understanding is your better half?

3.) What is your timeframe for buying a vehicle and what price did you have in mind?
- If / when the bug bites, you will undoubtedly want to customise /accessorise the truck. You may want to work out what (you think) you want and factor that in when comparing prices
- If you're buying new, you will likely be paying full price for the accessories you want. Buying 2nd hand on the other hand, you will get any fitted accessories at a (sometimes significant) discount. The downside is that finding the right combination of what you want is a time consuming process, and you usually have to compromise. You may also have to do some maintenance /repairs, which can get costly if you're not doing it yourself.

4.) How long do you intend to keep it for?

To illustrate with an example, both my 4WD's are secondary vehicles, so I can afford not to have them running all the time.

I have a 120 that I'm setting up for touring, potentially in remote areas, so the emphasis is on a rugged setup that is reliable, versatile and easy to fix / maintain. Comfort is secondary to functionality. Doing all the work myslef means I get to know the car, learn about car mechanics and save some money. If/when something breaks down, it means I know what to look for and how to fix it. On the downside, I do sink a lot of time into it. If I had a young family, I would value my spare time a lot more, and that would not be an option.

I also have a 90 that is a weekend / tinker toy. Over the last 3 years that I have owned both of them, on average I've had at least one on the road for about 2 years. If they were my primary mode of transport, that would not be an option.

Because I intend to keep them forever, I'm not that fussed about resale value. If I was to sell them however, I'd likely recoup all the money I've sunk into them (not valuing my time at all).

Nehow, that's something to get you thinking - let us know what your preferences are.

Cheers

Bojan

Hey Bojan thanks for the info mate -

This might make you laugh but I have (pratically) no mechanic capabilties at all. The main reason I am thinking Defender is me and the missus are starting a family (so I need a dual cab for our trips) and I'm a chippy (so I need a ute).

I have a cruiser at the moment, but as I'm sure you know - no dual cab option other than a custom setup and all the other dual cabs (hilux, triton etc) are just not my cup of tea.

Going by your information (about spare time) and a previous reply that the average maintenance costs are around $2500 per year (guessing if that's doing the work yourself) it's starting to seem like a Defender may not be a great option if my time is taken up with a new bub and I don't know a great deal about mechanics?

like all 4wd's, if you cant do much in the way of mechanical work on it yourself then you need a proportionally bigger wallet

they all break and they can all cost a bomb to repair at times...