We get asked several times a week why all the inexpensive Defenders in the USA are in such poor condition, when there are so many great trucks available in Europe for such low prices. Often we have replied with a variation of the below information depending on the source question. I am hoping that this post will help clarify the costs associated with importation into the USA for individuals looking into their first Defender purchase.
There are several factors that impact Defender pricing in the USA when compared to EU countries:
Firstly there are a small amount of good condition Defenders eligible for import relative to the overall available supply.
As an example, we will assume that there are ~500 Defenders available for sale in a particular market at any given time, of which 50% of them are advertised nationally or internationally, the remainder are available only for local sale in various countries or unlisted altogether. Of those trucks we will for this discussion assume that 20% are eligible for import to the USA (Meeting the CPB definition of age appropriate with unmodified engine type & original chassis).
So from our example of 500 available trucks in the market, there are 50 advertised trucks, and 50 unlisted trucks for sale that COULD be imported.
Further let us divide this pool of trucks by general condition -
10% are garage kept, low miles, and time capsules of 1983-1993 Defenders
30% are daily driver type trucks being sold-on for whatever reason
60% are trucks that have been sitting for some time due to failed MOT, have serious mechanical issues, etc?
The last 10% are total rubbish - parts cars, wrecks, off-road buggies, abandoned projects, etc...
This leaves a count of export eligible trucks as:
10 great trucks
30 trucks that need age appropriate maintenance
60 trucks with rusted out chassis, serious body rot, or worn out/broken engines
10 trucks that are little more than a chassis, engine, and a vin
So while there may be 500 trucks available at any time in the EU - there are only 15 readily available that fit the objective of most buyers, as half are listed for sale only locally across the continent.
Continued here: DefendersNW
Defenders Northwest services can source and import trucks into the Northwest through Tacoma for customers in the Western US only - please contact us and we can walk you through the process and associated costs.