Well, my supervisors always gave me vague deadlines, but it was me who had to set my own deadlines and meet them. I was on a scholarship though, and not 'funding' per say, so basically, I either put in the effort and got the thesis done before my scholarship ran out, or I had to start paying.
However, I was a social science PhD, so it was pretty much my own project the whole time with my supervisors assessing my work/ensuring I was on the right track...