Sulisuli wrote:

Am I right in thinking Dolly is that beautifully waxed wet look one I’m thinking about?

Sulisuli, that's the lady!

K.M wrote:

Probably the wrong place to ask - given it's a Defender forum ( ) but given that there many MANY people have chosen to modify their Defenders, and equally many people also have - or have had - Vogues / RR Sports, I thought I may get some informed answers.

Currently I have a 2016 (25 May 16) Defender 110 SW called Dolly and she is very much loved BUT she rarely gets used... she did less than 1000 miles between Mar 18 and Mar 19!!!

The household currently has 3 cars... Dolly, a company BMW (which changes every three months) and the other halfs little Fiat 500. I have purposefully chosen company cars which aren't compatible with the dog (5 series saloon, X4s and convertibles) so that it forces us to use the Defender for the dog... But living in an area surrounding by fields, we often just use what we have locally rather than traveling distances to walk him.

My thinking is:

Sell - I sell Dolly and we just go to a two car household. We can drive each others cars and I could go for an 5 series estate which is ideal for the dog etc and generally a lovely car!

Sell & Buy - I've looked at the 'USED' section of the LR website and found there is a good selection of 64/15/65 Vogues or Sports available in Autobiography. HSE etc spec ranging from £32k - £40k... this would give use a vehicle we can throw the dog in, use to collect big things for the house (restoring an old house) and generally a big car for when we need it. I can't even fit plasterboard in the 110! It's also an easy car to drive for when we need to go on long distances with the dog.

Keep and modify - We currently live at the bottom of a valley in Salisbury / Amesbury and the family live in Leeds... the times we've had to make the 5.5 hour trip for family occasions (with the dog in tow) are tedious and I dread them in the Defender. But when I think why it comes down to the lack of luxuries and conveniences I have in the BM. So do I go down the route of double din, sat-nav, cruise control and a Stage 1? Or am I throwing good money after bad in terms of increased insurance premiums (if any), added risk of theft and the same impracticality as I'm currently finding...? The mods would quickly add up to a few thousand....!

Whilst the value of the Defenders have reached a more sensible limit now, even with obvious depreciation in the future, it will continue to hold it's worth a lot LOT longer than the Vogue or Sports alternatives! I have looked at things like XC90 but the reviews seem to be in favour of the RR!



Any input or advice would be appreciated!

First world problems if you dont use it get rid of it!somebody will cherrish it!....in pure financial terms it will be best to sell now as once the looney sandle wearing, tofu bothering numpties get their way the defender will be a museum piece by 2025,

The defender prices are going to hit a tipping point soon so i in your situatin I would sell (the new defender might be your cup of tea)as its going to cost a lot more in taxes just to keep the truck on the road and a lot of us may be priced out of defender ownership.