A year ago I reported (below) on my first two years ownership of the new Land Rover Defender, which I bought in late 2020 and which was delivered in January 2021 during the height of a covid lockdown. My conclusions below remain broadly the same after a further year's ownership and I love the car so much I'm keeping it after the expiry of the PCP agreement under which I bought it.
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| My Land Rover Defender in its element |
I'd like to add a few comments after what is now three years ownership:
- When I bought the car over three years ago I was sure that by now there would be a green alternative with the same capabilities. There is not and Land Rover are still some way off a vehicle of this sort. That's disappointing, but hopefully means that they will produce a truly excellent electric version in due course - they've had enough time to develop one. Having said that, I'm now less in a hurry to own a electric car as the UK's charging infrastructure seems unable to keep up with the demand and its reliability is a concern.
- The car has remained completely reliable. My only grumble has been with the stainless steel wheels which have developed unsightly corrosion - a cosmetic rather than safety concern (I'm reassured by Land Rover), but an unfortunate reminder of the old Land Rover propensity to rust. The wheels have been dealt with under warranty - but why not just make steel wheels that don't corrode?
- At three years I became aware that support for some of the tech comes to an end (such as the navigation system and the hopeless app through which one is meant to be able to communicate with the car (it seldom worked for me)). The limited nature of these elements of the car and the fact that payment would be required after three years for services like updates to the navigation was not made clear when I bought the car. I'm not paying for them and am now using Google Maps and doing without the Land Rover app.
- The Land Rover garage at Torver in Cumbria has been outstanding and I highly recommend their services.
Below are my original thoughts on the car from a year ago:
I've been the owner of the new Land Rover Defender for two years (written January 2023). I have used it for what it was designed for; long motorway drives, winding and swooping A roads, narrow rough country lanes, floods, snow, ice and occasional off-road. I bought it as I needed a tough and reliable car which would be highly capable on poor roads and rough terrain, and that is precisely, with a few reservations (read on), what the new Defender has proved to be.
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| At the launch of the new Land Rover Defender at Gaydon in September 2019 |
Mine (pictured below) is the base model 5 door 110; the only extras I paid for are green paint and a roof-rack. Despite this it came very highly-specced and there is nothing I have regretted not ordering. The inline 6 cylinder diesel is powerful, has plenty of torque (but is far from frugal at just over 33 mpg). It's excellent as a quiet and refined motorway cruiser. The seats are comfortable, the interior roomy with an element of minimalist yet highly practical luxury. I can easily remove the clip in carpets, leaving a washable plastic floor, the seats are reasonably stain-proof and there are grab handles, unconcealed rivet-like bolts and a dash that combines hi-tech with a memory of early Series Land Rover and Defenders in its shape.
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| Land Rover country |
Indeed the whole car cunningly combines traditional Land Rover styling with contemporary design genius. This is a beautiful, chunky, tough-looking car. Land Rover designed it with durability as its key characteristic and, at the launch, claimed it to be the most capable off-road/road vehicle yet. This is achieved partly through the technology that allows the touch screen to be used to set up the car for most types of terrain. There are no red and yellow headed mechanical levers to be pulled and pushed (as on the olde Defenders) to select high and low range and four or two-wheel drive or (on later Land Rovers) the diff. lock. That's all history.
Higher models than my basic D300 allow a little more control for extreme off-road stuff, but I suspect these are little used as these cars will rarely be used for extreme off-roading. Although they would be excellent for that they are costly to put at too much risk. The touch screen settings have seen me through all sorts of terrain, snow, ice and floods with consummate ease. It's this reliance on tech that was one of the reasons that traditional Land Rover owners were so against the new Defender who felt that mechanical simplicity is essential to the Defender name.
I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the new car at Gaydon in September 2019. This was accompanied by a great wailing and gnashing of teeth from die-hard old Defender fans, few of whom I suspect had seen the new car, let alone driven it. I felt it fairer to approach the new car with an open mind (and I own a 1967 Series 2a Land Rover station wagon, so am not entirely in the pocket of the devil). I loved the appearance of the new car and was impressed by Land Rover's determination to make the new Defender a success as the most robust car in their range.
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| My Land Rover Defender has seen action in all sorts of conditions. The steel wheels are ideal on the poor rocky roads I drive on. |
We forget that the old Defender had changed very little in its 60 years. While most car manufacturers had changed their models' designs every few years; the Defender remained fossilised, little changed over the years. It's interesting to speculate whether a more conventional and gradual development and updating over that 60 plus years would have led to a vehicle much different to the new Defender.
Sadly, the old Defender didn't meet emission or safety requirements and, while the diehards may have been unwilling to admit it, was not selling well its last few years. Change was needed and has been achieved: the new car is better than the old off-road and very refined on the road.
The shortage of computer chips initially caused long waits for those wanting the car. As one of the first owners of the new Defender, it's been interesting watching the types of owner who've been attracted to the car as it became more widely available. The numbers of heavily blinged Defenders that will never see mud or an off-road lane suggests that for some, this is a fashion vehicle. This type of ownership can't conceal the real potential of this car. As one of the (I suspect) minority of owners who drive it as a real Defender, I love its robust practicality for use on poor country roads, off road, in floods, ice and snow and as a refined touring car, rather than as a pimped up toy.
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| Our new Defender is a superb tourer: Scotland (top) and Cumbria (above) |
I've enjoyed the new Defender immensely. It's been totally reliable (so far). I love almost every aspect of the car. What don't I like? These concerns weren't deal breakers for me, but will be when the contract expires early next year:
Firstly, this is a large car: it's large for rural use on narrow lanes and roads, suggesting that Land Rover saw its real market elsewhere. I'd have preferred something around 15-20 cm narrower. How much of this width is the result of a need to meet safety requirements I don't know. The cameras help with management of the width in narrow spaces and the driver soon gets used to the size. However, the demise of large cars has been predictable for some years and I don't know why Land Rover felt it necessary to make it so bulky.
Secondly, like a few other car manufacturers, Land Rover are behind in developing green vehicles. There should be an all electric car with a good range on the stocks but this appears unlikely to materialise until at least 2024 [now 2025 I understand]. There's a dissonance here between the high tech nature of the car's design and the reliance on old fossil technology.
Thirdly, I achieve some 33.3 mpg from the car, not bad for such weight and power, but it looks outdated in a car so advanced in other ways. The car is described as a 'mild hybrid', with a small amount of electrical power being generated by the car which reduces fuel consumption by a limited amount. It would be good to see Land Rover further ahead with green technology.
The Land Rover Defender
Mine is the 5 door 110 diesel model, the shorter 90 has three doors. An even larger 130 model and a V8 powered car have appeared since I bought mine but I've not yet seen one on the road in 2024. There is a basic commercial model, but it's rarely seen as it's pricey compared to other rough and tumble 4WDs. A hybrid model is available but is costly and, like all hybrids, has a limited electric power range of less than 30 miles, fine if you use it mainly for short journeys but pointless for longer - and a car with two engines and batteries is arguably not a sustainable option. A fully electric is promised for 2025 (as indicated recently to me by a LR dealer).
This is a capable and fun car and I love it. Maybe one day there will be a greener car that equals its capabilities.
PS: I don't mean this post to diminish the old Land Rover in any way. That remains a superb workhorse capable of most tasks. I'd never sully my new Land Rover by throwing a pile of logs, soil, a sheep or a couple of hay bales in the back. That's a task for the original Series and Defender Land Rovers. The last load in my '67 Land Rover was a pile of dirty cobblestones which I wouldn't put in the new vehicle! But I wouldn't venture out for a long journey, or go faster than 40mph in the Series 2a.
Old and new are different cars, both supremely capable in their own ways.
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