Mat Armstrong's girlfriend buys a 2021 Land Rover Defender expecting light damage and gets a reality check

Mat Armstrong’s girlfriend bought a 2021 Land Rover Defender, expecting it to have light damage, but she soon got a reality check.

After years of watching her boyfriend rebuild cars, Hannah decided to take on her own project.

She ordered a wrecked 2021 Land Rover Defender online, blissfully unaware of how bad it’d be.

Could she do something with this car, or was it totally beyond the point of no return?

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Had Mat Armstrong’s girlfriend bit off more than she could chew with this project?

Mat Armstrong has taken on a lot of different cars in his time on YouTube.

There was the totaled Porsche GT3 RS that he rebuilt to race against other supercars.

He really challenged himself with an Aston Martin DBX that he had bought dirt cheap because it had been submerged underwater.

But it’s not all about the sense of accomplishment – he once spent six months rebuilding a wrecked Ferrari to gift it to his dad.

Now it was his girlfriend’s turn to handle a wrench, and she had a 2021 Land Rover Defender to work on.

The car seemed repairable at first: a few dents, missing arches, and an urban kit that was partly damaged.

They discovered this car was the 3L diesel version.

Fortunately, the engine ran smoothly after jump-starting, showing promise.

On closer inspection, they found major chassis damage behind the front wheel, confirming it was a Category S vehicle, meaning there was structural damage.

Fortunately, that puts the vehicle on the lower end of the damage scale.

Motorway.co.uk puts it below Category A and B, in which a vehicle is declared ‘beyond repair’.

A Category S vehicle ‘has sustained serious structural damage, but can be repaired and driven.

Could this car be put right again?

Could this 2021 Land Rover Defender be fixed?

Hannah removed the suspension, brakes, and the front components to access the damaged area.

The subframe and arms were bent, necessitating replacement.

They methodically disassembled the brake lines, the driveshaft, the shock absorbers, the steering rack, and the lower arms.

With the help of her dad, Hannah acquired a used subframe for $894, and they lowered the car onto the subframe and aligned the engine mounts accordingly.

There were some bumps along the way, like ABS faults, but they were smoothed over.

By the video’s end, they had gotten the car fixed up and took it for a test drive.

Mat certainly seemed happy with his girl’s handiwork, although he joked that she owed him some money in labor costs as he’d helped out.

At any rate, she wasn’t looking to sell the car, and we don’t blame her.

To see Mat Armstrong’s girlfriend take on this restoration in full, visit Mat Armstrong’s channel.

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