james.mc

Good idea.

I'd also scan the whole registration document before you send anything off to DVLA. It might come in handy to have a copy of the full original registration document on file with you in Canada.

jerseytocanada

My next 4x4 is going to be a toyota. My Land rover is the greatest off road vehicle ever. Its never on the road. Its always in the garage getting something or other fixed.

Atlantic Xpat

$110k for a (rebuilt) LR Defender? Clucking Bell.

franfluff

thanks again for all the info, every little helps everytime and yes im sure getting parts is no problem sent our way, it would still work out cheaper than the nice new 4x4 parts (the "posh" ones lol) the defenders are fab!!! xxx

scliffe

yep I know Land Rover has its following
When in Australia I had an old range Rover it was great and handled everything.
the problem is two fold
firstly like quite a few car manufacturers Range Rover tried to be clever. It turned its back on being essentially a durable farm vehicle and tried to be a trendy Chelsea Tractor. It put stupid systems like electronic air suspension climate control ect and introduced complicated computers that controls everything and they keep going wrong. Their build quality has suffered as much as their reliability.
Land Rover exported heavily to the USA and there are loads about. However the prices carry exported price tags so for something as simple asa water pump it can cost anywhere between $1000 -$2000
I made the mistake of buying a Range Rover. The water pump suddenly broke off, shattered the fan, timing belts and everything and the engine blew up just as I was entering a tunnel. I would never ever buy anything from Land Rover again. The old stuff is ok but anything post 1990 is trash and comes with heavy heavy bills and that includes your defender which is riddled to with design faults
Insurance in Canada will also nail you anywhere up to $5000 in the first year
you can try to transfer your no claims bonus but insurance people drag it out
If it was me I wish I had this knowledge in retrospect
I now drive a Jeep YJ 1994 its brilliant and cheap. its like a meccano set, something goes wrong, go to the scrap yard and bolt a new one on
so sell your Land Rover, go through the grieving period as best you can and know you are not going to get ripped off by insurance duty and parts. Not to mention alot of garages won't work on them which is great if you are travelling
the only thing that keeps this stupid company afloat is the Chinese. out side of that Land Rover should have died years ago with British leyland. Amen !!

Gazman

Just a few point;
"It put stupid systems like electronic air suspension"
That's what I was trying to explain about buying a classic RR, avoid the airbag problem

"The water pump suddenly broke off, shattered the fan, timing belts..."
Very unusual for water pump to shatter, was probably a pattern part form china . Anyway getting a classic with the Perkins engine conversion would serve threefold, 1: no timing belt to worry about, 2: Perkins are bullet proof engines, 3: The neighbours could hear you coming from a mile away and clear a parking space for you!

"The old stuff is ok but anything post 1990 is trash..."
Not quite, a later classic of say 94 would be good so long as the suspension had been converted back to springs.

"defender which is riddled to with design faults..."
Most vehicles have design faults but surely a Defender would be preferable to a P38, Discovery of Freelander

"I now drive a Jeep YJ 1994 its brilliant and cheap..."
That does make sense...but if someone's heart is set on something from the Land Rover Range for whatever reason, then perhaps they should take the plunge, enjoy it, at accept that there may be niggle to contend with along the way...

sparklingWater

I shipped my 110 and my paj in a 40 ft container 3 years ago. Cost was about 2500 GBP back then. This does not include the hidden fees (inspection by the CSBA, about 150 CAD, another 300 for pulling the container out for inspection, ramp fee of 150 CAD per car to unload the container...). Luckily the shipping cost was covered by my company. If I had to redo it, I would choose RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) from Bristol/Southampton to Halifax/New-York. RoRo is the method chosen by BMW and VW to cheap their NAS cars over. It's cheaper too, and no hidden fee compared to the container approach, but if you plan to live in Western Canada, that's not a viable approach unless you want to perform a road trip across the country. Avoid the port of Montreal, as corruption is more the rule than the exception over there (anywhere in Quebec actually ), and therefore your car may be charged big bucks for cleaning even if it is spotless on arrival (typical scheme). NY or Halifax is a safer route imo. The old landy is insured for a fair price in ON (same as my paj). The jacked-up premiums are only for the latest NAS LR. Both my cars are diesel and consume less fuel than the average american sedan. Safety was a breeze and is a total farce compared to the MOT, not talking about the emission test (diesel are exempt from it). With regard to spare parts, the shipping cost is cheaper from the UK to CAN than from within canada. Brookwells and others will ship your part to Canada, no pb. It may end up actually cheaper than buying in the UK as they do not charge you VAT on the exported parts, and the extra cost of shipping internationally is generally less than the saving in VAT. You may pay import duty when the parcel arrive in Canada, but this is only 10% of the declared cost. For the story: it was cheaper and faster for me to get a brand new alternator shipped from the UK (got it in 3 days), rather than getting the old one refurbished in Canada or getting a new one shipped from across Canada (the canadian price was a rip-off not because of the car being an import -- an alternator is an alternator when it comes to components for refurbishing -- but because cost of life is a rip-off in Canada). Apart from that, still looking for a wrench buddy to finish some restauration jobs on the landy (I don't get as much spare time here, and the longer winter period does not help either when you don't have a workshop to store the car inside.

Gazman

That's a great post, very helpful, I just have one question...
By 'RoRo' do you mean that the car is actually driven on to a vessel at say Bristol and then driven off at possibly Halifax??????
If so, that would be perfect for me because all the belongings I would want to bring fit into the back of my campervan...would be such a waste for me to pay for even a 20 foot container...

jerseytocanada

When looking in to bringing my vw van over i was told i could NOT bring stuff in the van if roll on roll off however if its in a container you can cram as much as you can fit as your paying for the container contents.

sparklingWater

Jerseytocanada is correct. For RoRo, only a few spare parts (like 2nd set of tyres) in the back of the truck/van may be tolerated by the shippers.

franfluff

thank you Fonfe i will. Paddocks (landrover parts) have also said they WILL send spares etc out to us in MB so im not that worried x

Animal

I've been toying with the idea of bringing an original shaped Mini. Be cheaper sharing a container with others bringing a small car also !

graham and george

Hi franfluff did you take your defender in the end.
I have a defender 90 short wheel base spent loads.done loads.
Is it worth the hassle to bring or not to bring

Thanks
graham

franfluff

We are still waiting for our flipping LMO to be approved! We have just bought another to take asswell, so we shall be taking 2 in a 40ft container. Depends how well you love them i suppose. We wouldnt be without one as in the same boat spent loads on the one! Know her inside out so we know what weve got and if you wanted to buy a landy out there its mega money for a tidy one!!! x

graham and george

My 90 is on a 88 plate (f reg)
2"lift
raised air intake
winch has to be a warn
tree sliders
diff and steer gaurds
mud terrain tyres


You can spend loads on them,i do most of the work myself so save on labour
Had a look on fleabay canada,looks like parts are few and far between so might use paddocks for parts