Every time Land Rover changes out one of its models this same conversations start up. All the purists start bitching and talking about how this new piece of shit will never be as good as his 20 year old rusted out shitbox he likes to bounce down a trail now and then.
Jymmiejams argument is based in real automotive knowledge. I respectfully disagree with him on the end result. But he brings up a valid argument.
Discohasbeen on the other hand wants to zero in on a request for some government loan. The whole world economy has come to a grinding stop. Lots of companies have had to get bailouts to keep a workforce employed while the worlds consumers put everything on hold for a while, especially buying high end vehicles. It's a temporary setback that has everything to do with outside economic pressure, not people's desire to buy this product.
I had to scramble to get those Defenders ready for the sales dept. People were waiting in the waiting room for there turn to see it, feel it, drive it. There is no shortage of People wanting to buy this truck.
For me, it's a chance to buy a new truck that does what I need. And not having to look high and low for a clean example of a vehicle with dissimilar metals causing it to rot from the inside out. Then spend hundreds of hours making it dependable and setting it up the way I want it. That whole process has become like pushing water uphill. This place was filled with people who had these trucks when there was still good examples available, and they weren't so far gone that you could get to a good truck more easily.
Just like I'm taking the wrappers off these 2020 Defenders, I was a 30 something young guy taking all the wrapping off the original Defenders, Disco 1, Disco 2, Range Rover Classic, P38's. I've been thru all this before.
So now that I've seen a couple and drove a couple I like it SO FARR, now we spend a year letting other people own them while I have a front row seat for any problems the vehicle has. Then I watch those issues get worked out, then I'm buying one if I still feel like it's a good truck.
I don't know what the general public will pay for them but I've stripped one down to just over 40 grand. The other thing I'm considering is a stripped down Silverado pickup truck. The price is very similar.
