I don’t think it’s a case of just scaling back - in my case we aren’t talking about roof racks and snorkels. Here’s the details on my Gren build that ends up being $113k and why I can’t/don’t want to scale back these options:
Base wagon, white, steel wheels. I went for the KO2s which do not increase the price.
Utility Trim.
Heated front seats - I love and travel in a country that can often get to -40 Celsius. Heated seats are a very, very important “nice to have” but ultimately way cheaper from the factory than aftermarket.
I did opt for both Saddle Leather and for a premium sound system. Saddle leather is for longevity and durability — I strongly dislike covers for steering wheels. I spend a lot of time driving so having a comfortable grip and a good audio system are important to me. That being said, I do concede I COULD do without, and that would save me about $2k. But I wouldn’t want to, and neither of these things are easy to add after the fact.
I went for the Rough pack for the lockers, the integrated winch, and the tow package. My reason behind the winch is that the aftermarket has yet to show us what they will produce in terms of bull bars. If I skipped on that, I’d have no real time horizon on when they’d be available. An ARB bar is likely to run me about $2300 delivered, based on bars for similar vehicles. Plus the winch, which would be another $800. The difference is caught in the factory wiring; I could do that myself after the fact but the cost savings when compared to my time and the overall fit/finish are moot - but there might be a few hundred bucks of wiggle room here. Let’s be generous and say if I ditched the winch, and did it afterwards, I’d be another thousand ahead. Not having a winch is not an option though. A tow package cannot be easily added afterwards, in particular the wiring. A hitch and brake controller are east enough but the ease of wiring would depend on where the Grenadier’s loom ends.
I’ve added Safari windows - nearly impossible to add afterwards - and the utility belt, which I want to have from factory because that is then an engineered, rated mounting point and it eliminates any issues with a DIY solution.
And with all that, I’m at $113k CDN. No racks, snorkels, tinted windows, dual batteries, etc. - much of which I’d want and would have to add later.
Comparably, the new Defender I built is substantively similar - I can stand up on my seat and take pictures through the roof, it’s got the tow pack, best available off road package, and exceptionally good sound systems and long wearing interior. And it’s nearly $25k less than the Grenadier.
Our global tour that we are planning has a “shoe string” budget of $2500 per month all in - fuel, food, etc. That’s nearly a year’s worth of travel in the New Defender for the money saved on the Gren.
The Jeep can be built in a substantively similar way, and with that option I’d probably be saving closer to 18 months of travel in terms of cash.
I don’t expect I’ll see many of these in the bush. Maybe in the valet line of the Fairmonts, though.
