RE: Land Rover Defender 90 | UK Review

[100SRV]

Bill said:

Hmmm, shame the seats don't fold flat.

I asked about folding rear seats in the chat on the LR online configurator and was told that they did fold, they neglected to mention that when folded the load area is compromised. I bet it needs tools to completely remove them too.

:-(

[CArmo123]

75 grand for a defender?!

[loveice]

oilit said:

hyphen said:

Nice car.

Its a shame rear seats don't fold flat though

is that for real? if it is then that is an epic fail...

The 2nd row seats on the new 90 may fold the same way as the 2nd row seats on the 110. In order to fold the seat backs down flat, the bottom parts need to be folded forward first, then the seat backs can be fold down flat.

However, even if that's the case, Land Rover somehow messed up one design detail. When folding down the seat backs, despite the headrests are lowered to the lowest possible position, they somehow still catch the metal brackets on the back side of the seat bottoms. So each time when the seat backs are folded flat, the nice leather on top of the headrests get scratched by the metal brackets. Such a thoughtless design!

Btw, in the article it says the rear seats can only seat two adults comfortably. I thought those rear seats are the same as the 2nd row seats on 110. Are they not...

[clarki]

I like the new defender.

But, had a side hinged door on a rav once in the past. Never again, what a a pain!!

[mooseracer]

CArmo123 said:

75 grand for a defender?!

Would you rather they called it something else?

[Drekly]

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:

I live in the an area where there are about a lots of shoots. They seem to be selling very well...I've seen dozens over the last month.

But...reliability seems to be as folks expected. Yes this is one example, but the worry for JLR is that they can't seem to fix it...and it's a car that is getting a lot of media attention. It's a bit of a sorry tale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlCaBBsoD8

167 miles and then check-engine light!

Yep, already watched that, not a great start.

The other thing is, after having a good look at one in a dealership, don't even think about buying a 90 and using the back seats for passengers regularly, especially for little people.
The climb up into the rear, and even worse back down again is likely to give you a sprained ankle if you're not careful.
Which is a shame as I much prefer the thought of having a short wheelbase one. It is the price of having that great wading depth.

If you are never having anyone sat in the back then the 90 Commercial must make more sense.

[croyde]

I read the review thinking that'll be about £40k....

[legless]

SantaBarbarian said:

Ed. said:

Would it have been impossible to call them 100 and 120 so the numbers would mean something?

I'm with you on that one, numbers have no meaning anymore, the automotive ignorant millennial marketing teams have thrown it all out the window, whether it's wheelbase, engine displacement, or turbo charged electric cars. I wish they would respect naming conventions.

I like the Defender 102, but it's just too expensive.

On the other hand, Land Rover have never built anything with a 90 inch wheelbase, but it didn't stop the previous model being called the Defender 90.

[Numeric]

flukey5 said:

After seeing one in real life I felt like the tail lights reminded me too much of the Jeep renegade's (truly, a hideous car) and the front wasn't distinctive enough from all the other range rovers out there.

They should have taken more of a retro look like the new bronco or g-wagen.

I hope it sells for JLR though, would be nice to see them do well.

I fear you are right. I am surprised at how utterly dull I find them, possibly being linked to recession colours (I know you'll think it odd, but Brown cars are often popular in recessionary periods I often think - well in my addled mind anyway - 1974 Cortina GLX anyone, or how about poo coloured BMW X1s in 2009?)

Many details seem messy like the tail lights, while functionality which I hoped aped the series 4 Disco for the long wheelbase looks to have been missed with less interior load height and smaller load door aperture though I am merely basing this on visuals.

So ultimately a fashion car - and there in lies the rub. Classic styling and defined performance parameters seems to lead to repeat purchasing - the Range Rover is a good example where people I know just get another as its does what they want, hence long model cycles and relatively shallow volume degradation curves. I fear these cars will be bought as they are 'interesting' but will be one off purchases as people switch to the next shiny thing - having been there and done that. You used to see this a lot with sports cars - aggressive launch sales curves with stories in the press of shortages - but 2 years later new models being discounted out. The first gen Freelander also seemed to be a short lived 'super selling' model but my memory is hazy and somehow this reminds me of that car.

Time will tell as they say.

Edited by Numeric on Wednesday 28th October 11:14

Edited by Numeric on Wednesday 28th October 11:55

[cuda]

Its a Disco lite.

Would prefer a V8 Rubicorn...

[carscribes]

dukebox9reg said:

The Mad Monk said:

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:

I live in the an area where there are about a lots of shoots. They seem to be selling very well...I've seen dozens over the last month.

But...reliability seems to be as folks expected. Yes this is one example, but the worry for JLR is that they can't seem to fix it...and it's a car that is getting a lot of media attention. It's a bit of a sorry tale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlCaBBsoD8

167 miles and then check-engine light!

That video is, er, um, well, shall we say enlightening?

But, to be honest, it doesn't tell us anything we didn't know already - did it?

They also have a model Y where the boot/roof didn't align in the slightest and the rear door didnt open. It took 3 visits to the dealer to fix.
Their brand new Corvette C8 is also broken.

I have been watching their channel for years, nearly every single new car they have has teething problems so getting the pitch forks out for 1 new defender having some minor issues (coil packs and ECU not letting the cameras work, not the end of the bloody world) is a little short sighted and seems to be typical of the anti-JLR brigade.

So dont just focus on the Defender, most new cars always have some minor bugs to sort, It been known for years, if you want a new released car that works with no bugs, dont buy the first MY.

I don't think it's a case of being anti-JLR - Land Rover has been producing cars with shonky reliability for decades and somehow getting away with it despite the huge price of its vehicles. Having pissed off so many customers over those years it's not unreasonable to expect Land Rover to have ironed out simple things such as coil packs before launching the new Defender. If it has problems now, what on earth is it going to be like in six or seven years' time? More money spent on properly rigorous testing and development and less on pandering to the styling studio, perhaps?

[Helicopter123]

Looks good, pricing a little punchy perhaps...

[Deranged Rover]

hyphen said:

Nice car.

Its a shame rear seats don't fold flat though

More importantly, why have they put them in the wrong way? Everyone knows they should be facing sideways in a 90!

I really like it, but the Range Rover-esque pricing is a bit alarming.

[TheOctaneAddict]

Its worth adding you can get them a lot cheaper. A decent spec diesel defender s 90 is £45k. For what it can do i'd say it was a decent price.

Edited by TheOctaneAddict on Wednesday 28th October 11:38

[tyrrell]

Looks stunning in 90 form, they are going to sell like hot cakes.

[parhelion]

Drekly said:

The other thing is, after having a good look at one in a dealership, don't even think about buying a 90 and using the back seats for passengers regularly, especially for little people.
The climb up into the rear, and even worse back down again is likely to give you a sprained ankle if you're not careful.

There's masses of room in the back seats – I went round the same Eastnor course in a 90 this month with three people, so spent a lot of time in the back. Yes it's a climb up, but the front door is vast (longer than the new 110 and seemingly nearly twice the length of the original) plus the seats slide fully forwards electrically.

It's less drama getting into the back of a 90 – especially one with air suspension as it drops down when parked – than it is getting in to the driver's seat of an original one.

[Helicopter123]

Reading the review of the new Mercedes S Class I note that

Land Rover Defender 90 P400 from £75,475
Mercedes S Class S350d from £78,705

Different cars, but I didn't think that any new Defender would literally be S Class money...

[Mr-B]

Yep strong pricing at the top end!

Rear seats up that boot space is non existent! Probably less than a MINI Cooper.

[Mday835]

Hmm not a good look. Bonkers price.

[dukebox9reg]

Helicopter123 said:

Reading the review of the new Mercedes S Class I note that

Land Rover Defender 90 P400 from £75,475
Mercedes S Class S350d from £78,705

Different cars, but I didn't think that any new Defender would literally be S Class money...

So bottom spec diesel with no options (Merc option list in mental) vs top spec with most the toys included?

Strange comparison when most have already commented that a decent diesel spec is in the 40's.

A base Touareg is 45k, X5 60k, an X3 43k, an SQ5 vorsprung is 66k! So for me the Defender is in the ball park. A 400bhp SUV is expensive......

I think a lot of these comments are being made without realising how much the competition actually costs