Arkonik Trucks

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
This morning I was talking with a buddy who owns a Defender shop and had a customer bring in an Arkonik 110 in for repairs. The truck had less than 5,000 since its "rebirth" and was on its 2nd owner. I was shocked with some of the workmanship issues that he mentioned and what it took to get the truck back on the road.
The saddest part is that the customer had asked for my help in finding him a 110 while I was out of town. He found this truck on his own and bought it without a pre-purchased inspection or even asking me about the builder. Caveat emptor.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I've seen at least one of their trucks. I don't remember why it kept having to go to the shop, something about the engine, but there were a couple of things that I could see on it that seemed very odd for something as expensive as that truck must have been. Badly fitting seams and panels, cheap paint, etc...
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
I've seen at least 3 of their trucks in person. Seemed like Britpart rebuilds with shiny paint. All of the ones I had seen had pretty undesirable drivetrains that had seemingly been spray painted to look new. I want to say one had the water pump painted black.

I loved the guy on D-90 that had one with a water leak where he was told that is normal, then Mike Smith from ECR chimed in saying that he sprays all of his builds with a pressure washer to water test before delivery. Same price range, totally different product.
 

Uncle Douglas

Well-known member
Callsign: delete
This morning I was talking with a buddy who owns a Defender shop and had a customer bring in an Arkonik 110 in for repairs. The truck had less than 5,000 since its "rebirth" and was on its 2nd owner. I was shocked with some of the workmanship issues that he mentioned and what it took to get the truck back on the road.
The saddest part is that the customer had asked for my help in finding him a 110 while I was out of town. He found this truck on his own and bought it without a pre-purchased inspection or even asking me about the builder. Caveat emptor.

I guess they quit flying techs over to fix quality control issues.
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
Would be useful to potential buyers of Arkonik if flaws in trucks we see are documented here.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I've seen at least 3 of their trucks in person. Seemed like Britpart rebuilds with shiny paint. All of the ones I had seen had pretty undesirable drivetrains that had seemingly been spray painted to look new. I want to say one had the water pump painted black.

I loved the guy on D-90 that had one with a water leak where he was told that is normal, then Mike Smith from ECR chimed in saying that he sprays all of his builds with a pressure washer to water test before delivery. Same price range, totally different product.

That reminds me, even I figured out how to keep my shoulders and knees from getting soaked in Oregon. Totally dry inside now. Can't be that hard for a company to do it.
 

nas90tdi

Well-known member
I haven't seen anything on those trucks that made me feel like they were built with longevity in mind. Tarted up ghetto mobiles trying to draw big bucks from people.
The one on their site with the rainbow seat insets and headliner is hard to look at. It sort of makes me uncomfortable. Either eye strain or just sort of embarrassed.
 

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Daddymow

Well-known member
I saw Lawn at a very reputable Rover shop in South Florida among other issues Arkonik had never put door seals on the truck and the buyer didn't know any better. The result was a completely ruined interior from all the moisture and rain water getting in.
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
Forgot door seals! More importantly, why do people keep giving them business? Do folks not go past the first couple of google returns(which is tricky to even get them to come up if you don't use the word 'rebuilt') or do they see them on eBay or other ads?
 

mongosd2

Well-known member
We had one here in Tucson that was a absolute piece of shit...

covered the rusted out frame with Waxoil
covered the seatbox and floor with a Wright Offroad mat system to hide the corrosion (glued in so you couldnt remove it)
paint was orange peeled
engine swap to 200 tdi looked like it was done by a 10th grade shop class...


could go on, but hey, some say they are great trucks...
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
They are advertising hardcore. Arkonik popped up in an ad banner. I've never seen any Land Rover related banners except for the actual company.
 

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copleymotorcars

Well-known member
From a market perspective, one of the telling things about Arkonik, ECD, etc is that they will not buy their own trucks back (at any price). The secondary market is very, very thin.
 

chuckc4

Well-known member
They are advertising hardcore. Arkonik popped up in an ad banner. I've never seen any Land Rover related banners except for the actual company.

The online advertising they are doing is very inexpensive. And, if you clicked on one of their ads even out of curiosity, you are probably being retargeted, which is even less expensive.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I'm pretty sure I have this company figured out.

I bet they take 5 trucks, they build one as it should be, super, spectacular, perfect. That's the one they get the photos of and use for marketing. The other 4 are built by their monkeys, or original Land Rover factory workers from the 1970s or 1980s.

Either way, the one, or maybe two trucks I've seen of theirs are ...OK... but nowhere NEAR the price they ask for them. They look good from a distance, but still have a lot of issues. I would think the 1 in 5 might be worth what they beg for it, but only because some people are willing to pay that much for these things. But the others should be considered borderline fraud.

One way or another, you'd end up with a lot of good, new parts.

It really makes me wonder what I could legitimately ask for my truck if I were to put $5k into simply making it look good, then posted it on Craigslist in Hollywood.
 

CDN38

Well-known member
The online advertising they are doing is very inexpensive. And, if you clicked on one of their ads even out of curiosity, you are probably being retargeted, which is even less expensive.

I don't know how many people I know that see my truck and say " Nice truck! I was thinking about getting one like that. I was looking at someone that Arkonik web site and they look pretty sweet!"

My reply usually puts the Arkonik trucks in parallel to a hot looking girl, wearing a lot of makeup, with a nasty dose.

That usually gets the point across pretty good.
 
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