The price is right?

DUE to a change in personal circumstances sadly I recently had to sell my 2003 Defender 90, so now we are reduced to just one car, a Freelander 1. Because I had to sell my Defender, I studied prices and what I found out was intriguing…

My 2005 Freelander 1 Td4 is a great little car. I have owned it for over five years and it has never given any trouble, yet these little cars have been much derided, maligned, abused and mistreated.

They have been left unserviced, subjected to poor mechanical repairs and endured horrific DIY bodge jobs. But they are still there, 15 years after the model was discontinued. It is remarkable how many are still on the roads despite everything and a lot of them still look good.

The number I have seen advertised for ‘spares or repair’ is saddening. It isn’t surprising, because Freelander 1s have been treated as bangers for a long time and the prices have been in the doldrums nearly as long, but there may be some hope.

Whilst finding Freelander despair a-plenty I also found some exceptional examples offered for sensible money, like the 53-registered facelift three-door Td4 with 95k and two owners from new, everything maintained, mint condition and sold for £1750. Or the 2005 five-door Td4 auto with just 79k, three owners and FSH, immaculate, for £2395.

There is also a worrying number of Discovery 3s and 4s being offered for spares or repair. These cars often seem to suffer electronic faults, but the sellers never go into detail in the ads and many are offered as having failed the MOT. I counted over a dozen on one website before losing the will to continue.

It would seem that although automotive electronics are by and large pretty bomb-proof these days, nothing is maintenance-free and components are very expensive to replace. Third or fourth owners onwards are unlikely to invest £500 to £1000 a year on keeping what they consider to be a disposable asset on the road.

These cars are expensive to maintain and it looks like many are not bought by enthusiasts, so they are used and disposed of when things get expensive. This is great news for those who can buy them cheap and repair them, but it has led me to ponder the longevity of Land Rover’s more modern cars.

And lastly, I found the prices of P38A Range Rovers going skywards very rapidly, with dealers openly calling them ‘classics’ and ‘collectable’. Chris Barton Isle of Wight

There are certainly some bargains to be had. But before investing, check out our new Buying Guide series. This issue we look at the Discovery 1 (page 114) – Pat.