New Defender purchase
Discussion
Crumpet said:
Just trying to make the numbers work on the configurator; what discounts have you been getting? Doesn’t look like much is available but can you use BASC or NFU membership?
You can squeeze a bit still, but depends on the dealer I think, as they're selling well and they have delivery issues anyway, so assume they won't be falling over themselves to discount. i lightly threatened CarWow, and also mentioned was going to look at another car (Taycan i think), was as friendly as i could be (who knows whether that makes a difference!) and got a bit off, 2k. Won't name the dealer as wouldn't be cricket. Was a very heavily specced car though, with lots of accessories. Those accessories are dealer fitted, so wonder if some additional margin in there for them to play with....
cidered77 said:
You can squeeze a bit still, but depends on the dealer I think, as they're selling well and they have delivery issues anyway, so assume they won't be falling over themselves to discount.
i lightly threatened CarWow, and also mentioned was going to look at another car (Taycan i think), was as friendly as i could be (who knows whether that makes a difference!) and got a bit off, 2k. Won't name the dealer as wouldn't be cricket. Was a very heavily specced car though, with lots of accessories. Those accessories are dealer fitted, so wonder if some additional margin in there for them to play with....
Yeah I expect there’s massive profit in the dealer for accessories. I’m pinning my hopes on ‘goodwill’.i lightly threatened CarWow, and also mentioned was going to look at another car (Taycan i think), was as friendly as i could be (who knows whether that makes a difference!) and got a bit off, 2k. Won't name the dealer as wouldn't be cricket. Was a very heavily specced car though, with lots of accessories. Those accessories are dealer fitted, so wonder if some additional margin in there for them to play with....
I’ve been looking elsewhere but it’s the same old story; Mercs look rubbish (blingy) and feel like you’re in a taxi, Audi just really not my thing (image), Jags too small, VW are ‘meh’, Toyota horrible inside. Considered a base Skoda Kodiaq with a new toy on the side but my wife says that’s not fair! And Porsche……Jesus, the pricing! Base Cayenne works out more expensive than a RRS SVR!
Which brings me back to Land Rovers…..
Crumpet said:
cidered77 said:
You can squeeze a bit still, but depends on the dealer I think, as they're selling well and they have delivery issues anyway, so assume they won't be falling over themselves to discount.
i lightly threatened CarWow, and also mentioned was going to look at another car (Taycan i think), was as friendly as i could be (who knows whether that makes a difference!) and got a bit off, 2k. Won't name the dealer as wouldn't be cricket. Was a very heavily specced car though, with lots of accessories. Those accessories are dealer fitted, so wonder if some additional margin in there for them to play with....
Yeah I expect there’s massive profit in the dealer for accessories. I’m pinning my hopes on ‘goodwill’.i lightly threatened CarWow, and also mentioned was going to look at another car (Taycan i think), was as friendly as i could be (who knows whether that makes a difference!) and got a bit off, 2k. Won't name the dealer as wouldn't be cricket. Was a very heavily specced car though, with lots of accessories. Those accessories are dealer fitted, so wonder if some additional margin in there for them to play with....
I’ve been looking elsewhere but it’s the same old story; Mercs look rubbish (blingy) and feel like you’re in a taxi, Audi just really not my thing (image), Jags too small, VW are ‘meh’, Toyota horrible inside. Considered a base Skoda Kodiaq with a new toy on the side but my wife says that’s not fair! And Porsche……Jesus, the pricing! Base Cayenne works out more expensive than a RRS SVR!
Which brings me back to Land Rovers…..
And then for the family wagon, usually go boring, as its just the family car - so just needs to work, be comfortable, and not crazy expensive. But the Defender 90 for me is so unique and different, it got me to trade right up to something way more expensive than i would usually go for (was going for a 1-2 year old GLC 300De). To the point family is so excited about it, we can ignore the obvious impracticalities.
cidered77 said:
Had a solid 4 hours extended test drive today in this with the family - as ultimately this is a specialist offroad vehicle, i thought important to drive it in representative conditions. So we drove up the A34 to oxford, parked in a multistory, did some shopping, then drove back 
Was a D250 launch edition, with air suspension, and folding fabric roof. Colour and wheels not to my taste, really. Has to be blue and steelies for me. Think suspension was raised in this photo, note. Which makes it look soo cool in my eyes.
Have to say am mightily impressed. Very very refined - little wind noise, engine makes a nice (fake I wonder?) growl when pushed. And despite those daft 22" wheels, still rode beautifully on the air springs. Stock sound system is mega as well - relative to anything i've owned before, certainly.
Infotainment works very well -light years ahead of the awful system on our 2016 DIsco Sport. Tech is really clear, and intuative. The jump seat as I predicted is perfectly useable if you need it - but probably not something you'd use every day. .It was fun for about 20 mins!
The clearsight mirror you really need - especially with the jump seat up. Maybe someone on Pistonheads tho can tell me the science on why your eyes work so differently though with a virtual mirror vs. a real one. You can look at a real mirror, and its just a mirror - you look at a screen mirror, and your eyes need to refocus. Difficult to describe, but anyone who has tried one will know exactly what i mean. DIsconcerting at first, but found myself subconsiously "pre-focusing" my eyes before looking at the mirror by the end of the drive.
MPG wise - used the car in a pretty typical "Family Saturday" pattern; bit of town, bit of parking, bit of dual carridgeway- saw about 33mpg. The Disco Sport i'd estimate would be around 38-40mpg on a similar day (but the intensely frustrating small fuel tank in that car lets it down); but the C250 estate we had from new befoe that would be much closer to 50mpg most of the time. Considering the price of the car, it's range that matters more than a few points of mpg to me - and the enormous tank in the Defender sorts that out.
Wife loved it - loved the clear 360 parking tech, and all the clever storage places and multiple USB sockets. BUT! It isn't a great family car, much as we loved it. Access is a pain having to wait for the seats to retract electrically, the boot really is tiny, and not much more impressive looking with the seats down (and the angle looks a pain with suitcases) . Doors and tailgate are very heavy as well. C250 estate we had may not have been a "mum car" in wife's eyes - but it had both this and the Disco absolutely smashed as a practical daily driver.
So - regretfully not a car you can really buy with your head, if you're looking for a sensible family wagon for next 4 years at least. So of course we bought one - arrives in October
3 months and 2 days from paying deposit and got mine! No idea how/why so quick - they just gave me the dates, they met the dates, and you'd think none of this chip shortage/factory closure/12 month wait stuff was going on at all!Was a D250 launch edition, with air suspension, and folding fabric roof. Colour and wheels not to my taste, really. Has to be blue and steelies for me. Think suspension was raised in this photo, note. Which makes it look soo cool in my eyes.
Have to say am mightily impressed. Very very refined - little wind noise, engine makes a nice (fake I wonder?) growl when pushed. And despite those daft 22" wheels, still rode beautifully on the air springs. Stock sound system is mega as well - relative to anything i've owned before, certainly.
Infotainment works very well -light years ahead of the awful system on our 2016 DIsco Sport. Tech is really clear, and intuative. The jump seat as I predicted is perfectly useable if you need it - but probably not something you'd use every day. .It was fun for about 20 mins!
The clearsight mirror you really need - especially with the jump seat up. Maybe someone on Pistonheads tho can tell me the science on why your eyes work so differently though with a virtual mirror vs. a real one. You can look at a real mirror, and its just a mirror - you look at a screen mirror, and your eyes need to refocus. Difficult to describe, but anyone who has tried one will know exactly what i mean. DIsconcerting at first, but found myself subconsiously "pre-focusing" my eyes before looking at the mirror by the end of the drive.
MPG wise - used the car in a pretty typical "Family Saturday" pattern; bit of town, bit of parking, bit of dual carridgeway- saw about 33mpg. The Disco Sport i'd estimate would be around 38-40mpg on a similar day (but the intensely frustrating small fuel tank in that car lets it down); but the C250 estate we had from new befoe that would be much closer to 50mpg most of the time. Considering the price of the car, it's range that matters more than a few points of mpg to me - and the enormous tank in the Defender sorts that out.
Wife loved it - loved the clear 360 parking tech, and all the clever storage places and multiple USB sockets. BUT! It isn't a great family car, much as we loved it. Access is a pain having to wait for the seats to retract electrically, the boot really is tiny, and not much more impressive looking with the seats down (and the angle looks a pain with suitcases) . Doors and tailgate are very heavy as well. C250 estate we had may not have been a "mum car" in wife's eyes - but it had both this and the Disco absolutely smashed as a practical daily driver.
So - regretfully not a car you can really buy with your head, if you're looking for a sensible family wagon for next 4 years at least. So of course we bought one - arrives in October
Myself and family absolutely love it. Only issue so far is we didn't get the key for the Pointless Ladder (although did for the Pointless Box), Rides beautifully on those wheels and the air suspension, tech is great (not tried it all out yet), sound system is way better than anything we'd had before, and its a very relaxing/smooth drive just wallowing about. Had it out on the dual carridgeway just now, and wind noise a lot higher than our demo car - but assume aforementioned Pointless Mandatory Accessories are behind that. That's what stereos are for anyway - and even though there is no roof rack (wouldn't clear wife's work carpark), there just had to be a ladder.
Lovely, happy, completely daft and impractical family car. Never actually *enjoyed* driving the family barge before - always been an A to B device not something you look over your shoulder at after parking it up....
cidered77 said:
3 months and 2 days from paying deposit and got mine! No idea how/why so quick - they just gave me the dates, they met the dates, and you'd think none of this chip shortage/factory closure/12 month wait stuff was going on at all!
Myself and family absolutely love it. Only issue so far is we didn't get the key for the Pointless Ladder (although did for the Pointless Box), Rides beautifully on those wheels and the air suspension, tech is great (not tried it all out yet), sound system is way better than anything we'd had before, and its a very relaxing/smooth drive just wallowing about. Had it out on the dual carridgeway just now, and wind noise a lot higher than our demo car - but assume aforementioned Pointless Mandatory Accessories are behind that. That's what stereos are for anyway - and even though there is no roof rack (wouldn't clear wife's work carpark), there just had to be a ladder.
Lovely, happy, completely daft and impractical family car. Never actually *enjoyed* driving the family barge before - always been an A to B device not something you look over your shoulder at after parking it up....
Congratulations on the new car, it looks fantastic. We had an identical one on order but lost our build slot. Then our base vehicle version was no longer available on the configurator so we asked for our deposit back. Picking up a 4matic E class this weekend instead, we’ll try again for the Defender in a year or two. Myself and family absolutely love it. Only issue so far is we didn't get the key for the Pointless Ladder (although did for the Pointless Box), Rides beautifully on those wheels and the air suspension, tech is great (not tried it all out yet), sound system is way better than anything we'd had before, and its a very relaxing/smooth drive just wallowing about. Had it out on the dual carridgeway just now, and wind noise a lot higher than our demo car - but assume aforementioned Pointless Mandatory Accessories are behind that. That's what stereos are for anyway - and even though there is no roof rack (wouldn't clear wife's work carpark), there just had to be a ladder.
Lovely, happy, completely daft and impractical family car. Never actually *enjoyed* driving the family barge before - always been an A to B device not something you look over your shoulder at after parking it up....
Ps, I love how it sits with the air suspension and those steel wheels just look so right
JustGREENI said:
cidered77, that looks the dogs (apart from the ladder to nowhere...would be better with a roofrack imo .. but that can be removed).
I'll never 'daily' an old Defender ever again, though will eventually own a new shape...I'll never sell my old Ninety though.
Ah the ladder is just ascetics , and we love it. Got to love a ladder to nowhere. I'll never 'daily' an old Defender ever again, though will eventually own a new shape...I'll never sell my old Ninety though.
Lack of roof rack is based on practicality. Would make it too high for work carpark for me and wife’s work, plus the local shopping centre. Makes a racket on the motorway too apparently….
I can use it to climb up the side and look at the roof and think “what a shame I don’t have a roof rack”. So it’s essential as you can see.
Leithen said:
Any views on tyres? Mine is on Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Seasons. 12K mileage and a possible slow puncture on one of the rears has got me thinking. Proper winters on steelies or something different on the alloys?
Can highly recommend General grabber AT3 (continental brand) 3 peak alps rated, good off road and no noticeable drop in on road refinement
All the tyre you need all year round
Wadeski said:
Anyone with the D90, how is access to the back seats?
Is anyone using theirs with kids car seats?
only a couple of days in, but - wouldn't say ideal if you're putting kids in there, and seats also .Is anyone using theirs with kids car seats?
They retract electrically for one thing, so not as quick as yanking a lever. And the gap to fit through isn't very big. We only have one kid, secondary school age, so its not an issue really for us. Two or more and younger, i'd definitely be wanted to get an extended test drive and try it for real for a bit first before buying....
TwoManyCars said:
loafer123 said:
Looks odd from that angle - reminds me of a de-bumpered discovery I saw a while ago.Hope you enjoy driving it.
Great engine - sounds good and really shifts when you want it to, but very relaxing when you don’t.
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