New Defender? After thoughts and ownership details

[elise2000]

Rufus Stone said:

elise2000 said:

That’s a shame you don’t trust it. How old is the car? What mileage?

Going to test drive one next week so will see what we think then.

It's just one year old, 4000 miles.

It's just the starting that causes the lack of total trust. I worry one day it won't no matter how many times I press the button.

Dealer pic ...

Nice looking car

Can the starting issue not be looked into under warranty?

[Magan]

Here is ours which has been 100% reliable, suffering from none of the niggles that others seem to have had. We have done quite a few family trips and the comfort levels, given its off-road capabilities, are superb.

We have also had 2 new FFRRs (L405s) and a new Evoque, and maybe we are just lucky but we have not had a single issue with any of them. Clearly things will always go wrong with cars that are growing increasingly complex with every iteration, but in our experience LR reliability has never been an issue.

[elise2000]

Magan said:

Here is ours which has been 100% reliable, suffering from none of the niggles that others seem to have had. We have done quite a few family trips and the comfort levels, given its off-road capabilities, are superb.

We have also had 2 new FFRRs (L405s) and a new Evoque, and maybe we are just lucky but we have not had a single issue with any of them. Clearly things will always go wrong with cars that are growing increasingly complex with every iteration, but in our experience LR reliability has never been an issue.

That’s really helpful thanks

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld]

I picked up a 90 P400 in January. It's a great car. Has all the bells and whistles, comfortable and 'high end' where it needs to be. The general fit and finish is great and it seems ideally suited to family duties.

I also took delivery of a new RR last September for my wife and I regret not ordering her a 110 instead. Whilst the RR is suitably luxurious, the defender feels like 90% of the RR with added interior durability.

[CSL geezer]

18 months ownership of a D300SE 110 and faultless so far. Love the car and probably the best car I’ve ever owned!

[Chr1sch]

We ran ours for 14 months and 14k miles, it never missed a beat. I thoroughly regret selling it as I would have to pay around £15k more now than I did for it brandnew 18 months ago.

As a family wagon, I’m not sure there is much better. And a glorious tow car.

[SpunkyGlory]

Francois de La Rochefoucauld said:

I picked up a 90 P400 in January. It's a great car. Has all the bells and whistles, comfortable and 'high end' where it needs to be. The general fit and finish is great and it seems ideally suited to family duties.

I also took delivery of a new RR last September for my wife and I regret not ordering her a 110 instead. Whilst the RR is suitably luxurious, the defender feels like 90% of the RR with added interior durability.

That's interesting to know. I've been looking at L405 FFRRs but am now leaning towards a Defender 110 instead. As it's replacing my Discovery 3, either would be quite a jump in luxury .

[Chr1sch]

SpunkyGlory said:

Francois de La Rochefoucauld said:

I picked up a 90 P400 in January. It's a great car. Has all the bells and whistles, comfortable and 'high end' where it needs to be. The general fit and finish is great and it seems ideally suited to family duties.

I also took delivery of a new RR last September for my wife and I regret not ordering her a 110 instead. Whilst the RR is suitably luxurious, the defender feels like 90% of the RR with added interior durability.

That's interesting to know. I've been looking at L405 FFRRs but am now leaning towards a Defender 110 instead. As it's replacing my Discovery 3, either would be quite a jump in luxury .

I had a Defender, cashed in when values soared after 14 months happy driving, and I’m now in an L405. Luxury and refinement is on another level, but the Defender as a family vehicle is arguably better (still has all the tech, very comfortable, much more durable)

[elise2000]

Thanks for all the replies. Looking forward to test drive on Thursday.

Are there any must-have options in peoples opinions?

Certainly want the panoramic roof, 7 seats, heated/cooling seats (is that standard or an option?), and side steps (again, are they standard?)

Thanks

[Wilmslowboy]

elise2000 said:

Thanks for all the replies. Looking forward to test drive on Thursday.

Are there any must-have options in peoples opinions?

Certainly want the panoramic roof, 7 seats, heated/cooling seats (is that standard or an option?), and side steps (again, are they standard?)

Thanks

Side steps not std (Ours didn't have them, not an issue with comfort entry).

[Mikebentley]

Wilmslowboy said:

elise2000 said:

Thanks for all the replies. Looking forward to test drive on Thursday.

Are there any must-have options in peoples opinions?

Certainly want the panoramic roof, 7 seats, heated/cooling seats (is that standard or an option?), and side steps (again, are they standard?)

Thanks

Side steps not std (Ours didn't have them, not an issue with comfort entry).

Side steps on a 110 are an £1100 option last time I looked. I purchased mine from Vulkan for £275 and fitted them myself. Are you looking at a new car or used? So much aftermarket stuff available.

[EdJ]

Another huge fan of the new Defender here. I've had a 2021 90 D300X for 9 months or so and love it.

I had a L405 FFRR before this (sold whilst I wait for new FFRR L460) and the new Defender is a huge jump up in quality. I honestly can't fault it and am trying to figure out if I could justify keeping it when the new car arrives.

[elise2000]

Mikebentley said:

Side steps on a 110 are an £1100 option last time I looked. I purchased mine from Vulkan for £275 and fitted them myself. Are you looking at a new car or used? So much aftermarket stuff available.

Used

[elise2000]

EdJ said:

Another huge fan of the new Defender here. I've had a 2021 90 D300X for 9 months or so and love it.

I had a L405 FFRR before this (sold whilst I wait for new FFRR L460) and the new Defender is a huge jump up in quality. I honestly can't fault it and am trying to figure out if I could justify keeping it when the new car arrives.

That’s good to hear

[Herdwick]

Coming up for 18months in our Defender, just completed our second trip to S of France in it, the most relaxing car we have ever had, even though we have had a number of Range Rovers and RRS in the past. Nearly bought a new Range Rover, but though we would try this, heated/cooled memory seats, nice stereo, handles as well as our last RR.

The engine is pretty much silent, just a bit of wind noise at French autoroute speeds, no issues with the car at all.

Except - we bought a '90', which means a compromise on space, great since there is just the 2 of us, but no good for collecting stuff from the builders merchants/Ikea etc.

[elise2000]

Herdwick said:

Coming up for 18months in our Defender, just completed our second trip to S of France in it, the most relaxing car we have ever had, even though we have had a number of Range Rovers and RRS in the past. Nearly bought a new Range Rover, but though we would try this, heated/cooled memory seats, nice stereo, handles as well as our last RR.

The engine is pretty much silent, just a bit of wind noise at French autoroute speeds, no issues with the car at all.

Except - we bought a '90', which means a compromise on space, great since there is just the 2 of us, but no good for collecting stuff from the builders merchants/Ikea etc.

Excellent, thanks for the info

[Rufus Stone]

I tried the lane assist today by accident. Bloody horrible, won't be doing that again.

[Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area]

I’ll ask this in here as there’s a few L405 owners posting - how does the 110’s boot space compare? It looks to be significantly smaller in photos but I’d be interested to know by how much. I guess the width is roughly the same but I can’t gauge the depth.

[EdJ]

Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:

I’ll ask this in here as there’s a few L405 owners posting - how does the 110’s boot space compare? It looks to be significantly smaller in photos but I’d be interested to know by how much. I guess the width is roughly the same but I can’t gauge the depth.

I'm a 90 owner, but I did move from an L405. We're a family of four, and I've taken the Defender on long trips to the Alps a number of times, and whilst of course the boot is smaller than the L405, the key point is how vertical the rear window is. It means that you can fit so many more bags just stacked up on top of each other. And the clever rear view mirror / camera means you don't feel like you're blinded in the way I did with the L405.

This is of course a temporary solution for us whilst we wait for the new L460, but I've been amazed at how much we can fit in the Defender.

[Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area]

Thanks for the reply