Thread: Any Defender 130 owners near ChCh?

Originally Posted by LandieMan

The long story... we're planning a trip around Aussie but the cost of shipping our 110 across the ditch and back is just too much so we were thinking of buying a 130 in Aussie. I was wanting to "eyeball" one up close to see similarities/difference between the 130 & the 110.

Another thing we're considering is to ship some bits off our 110 to fit onto the 130 (underbody protection, locking diffs, radios etc.) for the duration of the trip. We wouldn't then be sinking the costs of these into the 130 and not being able to recover them when we have to resell it at the end of the trip. I'm guessing they are very similar apart from 20" (or is it 17") added to the chassis.

One thing I was interested in is the set up for mounting rear seats in the 130 and how they compare to the 110. I've modified the rear seats in our 110 to take a pair of high back Defender front seats, they just bolt on like the originals, inclduing folding forward. They are much more comfortable for the kids and I was wondering if they too could be shipped and fitting to the 130 in Aussie.

Cheers, LandieMan.

I shipped my 110 to ozzie and drove around about ten years ago, all I can say in my experience it is better to have the truck that you know and have maintained and setup the way you want that perhaps to "risk" buying one and putting all the gear in etc, if you ship the car you can put everyting in the container, no air freight costs for excess baggage etc
I got the Landrover dealer in Christchurch to "lend" me some major parts for 15% of their value (which I never needed!!)

Regarding shipping your vehicle don't completely ignore the "emotional benefits" of doing the adventure in your home vehicle and the memories of the trip it will hold for you when you are driving it to the shops or the kids to school etc.

Notwithstanding that, I have to concur with Mrs Ho Har, if you buy a vehicle whatever you bring don't bother with the diff lockers. I've done a lot of outback tracks, cut tracks that were tracks when the map was printed but tracks no more, I did the Gunbarrel early in the dry and faced mud and water crossings all without diff lockers. In fact it was only on the past couple of trips I bothered using the centre lock on loose gravel roads (acting from advice here). I thought it was for mud and sand only.

I don't recall on any of the trips looking at some detour that looked interesting and thinking "better not try it, I'll lose traction".

Just out of interest, how much would the shipping costs have been?

Originally Posted by sashadidi

I shipped my 110 to ozzie and drove around about ten years ago, all I can say in my experience it is better to have the truck that you know and have maintained and setup the way you want that perhaps to "risk" buying one and putting all the gear in etc, if you ship the car you can put everyting in the container, no air freight costs for excess baggage etc
I got the Landrover dealer in Christchurch to "lend" me some major parts for 15% of their value (which I never needed!!)

Thanks for your reply. You might be getting a couple of PMs from me with some questions...

Originally Posted by LandieMan

Thanks for your reply. You might be getting a couple of PMs from me with some questions...

no problem happy to help if I can

Originally Posted by JamesH

Regarding shipping your vehicle don't completely ignore the "emotional benefits" of doing the adventure in your home vehicle and the memories of the trip it will hold for you when you are driving it to the shops or the kids to school etc.

Ooohh yes, believe me I know what you're talking about.

However, it is a double edge sword. The 110 we have now was our home for 18 months thru' Africa and Asia 10 years ago which means we REALLY REALLY want to take it to Aussie now so the heart is battling the head (i.e. $$). But, if we buy another Land Rover for our year around Aussie, my wife is concerned that we'll fall in love with that too and want to bring it back to NZ after the trip.

That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact we already have 3 of them.

Originally Posted by slt

Just out of interest, how much would the shipping costs have been?

We're being quoted anywhere between $4500 and $3500 NZD each way for containerized. RoRo is cheaper at about $2500 NZD each way but we'd have to empty the truck and ship camping gear etc. seperately.

Cheers, LandieMan

[QUOTE=LandieMan;1116984]Ooohh yes, believe me I know what you're talking about.

However, it is a double edge sword. The 110 we have now was our home for 18 months thru' Africa and Asia 10 years ago which means we REALLY REALLY want to take it to Aussie now so the heart is battling the head (i.e. $$). But, if we buy another Land Rover for our year around Aussie, my wife is concerned that we'll fall in love with that too and want to bring it back to NZ after the trip.

That wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact we already have 3 of them.[/QUOTE]

and you problem would be what.........I have 10 soon to be 14


Mrs ho har