Land Rover Defender prices in the UK are selling for 20% more than the list price as the last current Defender ceased production in January, will the trend come to Australia? It might already be here…
LAND ROVER DEFENDER could become a smart investment opportunity if trends in the UK are repeated in Australia – maybe they already are…
According to UK automotive valuation company, Cap, new and nearly new Defenders are selling for more than 20% of their list price.
John Watts, senior editor at Cap said: “We have already started to see an upward movement in trade values for Defender in general due to the anticipated demand and potential shortage following the cessation of production. Over the longer term we expect retail buyers to keep their vehicles longer because they know that finding a replacement will be nigh on impossible.
“Defender 90 versions are expected to be the highlight of the range since this model is closest to the original first production versions and Defender with a “premium” conversion will do exceptionally well.”
Cap say a three year old Defender 90 Hard Top with 30,000 miles was valued at £11600 average trade price last June, and now the equivalent aged model is £12300.
Here in Australia, 2014 Land Rover Defender 90 Hard Tops (with more than 10,000km on the clock) are already listing on online sales sites, in some cases, at up to $7000 above their average trade in price. Sheesh. And anecdotally, one Defender owner has told me he’s been trying to get a Defender at auction, but they’re selling for, in his words, “drug money”, snapped up, he reckons, by “inner city types with money to burn because they think the Defender looks cool”.
So, what do you think, is a Defender 90, in particular, a goo investment opportunity?
I bought 3 (one being a limited edition) new ones over the last year. I have only just received delivery of the second of the three, dealers are still getting people walking in trying to buy them even though they have been sold out for months. I needed the cars anyway, but I figured these would be a far better “investment” for my business than any of the normal company cars you could buy…
I bought a fully optioned Defender 90 for $50k in Nov 2015 have had 14,000 wonderful klms including Qld Outback in July 2016. Now it’s conservatively worth over $70K. Also have a 1984 Ninety that I have just re engined. So 2 in family and thinking of importing one for other son.