Yes asking prices are optimistic. Lets look at the market on the whole. The Defender, as much as i love mine, is the outcaste of the current crop of 4x4's. It's its the Christian in Saudi Arabia (a very small pool of believers). On one side of the ledger the private sellers love their truck and think it's worth its weight in gold (just read the comments below) and dealerships are opportunists. On the other, is the current defender/series/early disco owner that harks back to the outcaste syndrome, who believes that the asking price is outrageous. To my mind the later class (the buyer) is not going to shift too far to the former (seller), therefore the vehicles for sale will hang around until there is a correction in the mindset of the seller. The eventual sale price is not disclosed therefore observers are left with only one source of information (the asking price). Until the buyers market expands (not likely with the deep rooted bias against defenders in Australia) there is little external pressure on the secondhand market. While comparing to a 70 series is attractive because of similarity of form and function, the market for that vehicle is a different type of person to the defender owner. Only a few of the disillusioned Toyota owners can and will be attracted to the light.
The new defender, by all accounts, is not going to appeal to those that kneel at the altar of the rustic roadside repairable vehicle. It's pitched at the US market and will reflect the trend to move away from the traditional 4x4 platform. Whether it will influence the market for second hand vehicles is open to debate. I suspect it will be an evolutionary step forward (like the D3 was from the D2) and the type of buyer attracted to the new defender would never consider a current defender in their purchasing equation. That leaves the current pool of potential buyers largely undisturbed.
Long winded answer to say, as a buyer, ignore the asking price and negotiate like its 1999.
As for insurance, check your policy wording to see what the definition of market value is. If it is not defined, you have a sound legal argument to say that market value is what the second hand market will bear (not redbook or glass' guide who value it on a depreciating asset model). Convincing the insurer may require threatening court action. I've love to run that case, i think i'd get it across the line.
MLD
Current: (Diggy) MY10 D130 ute, locked F&R, air suspension and rolling on 35's.
Current: (but in need of TLC) 200tdi 110 ute & a 300tdi 110 ute.
Current: (Steed) MY11 Audi RS5 phantom black (the daily driver)
Gone: (Dorothy) MY99 TD5 D110
Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by djam1
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