I'll preface my post by saying that we're coming from a 2023 GMC Yukon XL Denali and are first time Land Rover Defender owners. We've had the 2024 Defender 130 in Gondwana Stone with the light oyster/lunar windsor leather interior for a week and a half.

Pros:

• Drives/rides incredible. Sharp turn radius, very little noise and even with 22" wheels it handles potholes and uneven terrain really well.
• User interface took a little bit of getting used to, but we enjoy the customization.
• Meridian surround was worth the small charge to upgrade. It's a little boomy from a bass perspective, but overall it's better than what we had previously (bose). I did a lot of research prior to purchasing about how to upgrade the system aftermarket, but it's been good enough so I think we'll stick with the factory system.
• Love all the aftermarket accessory options. I've already ordered/installed several things from Hunters Prestige. Shout out to them - great customer service and quality products.
• Enjoy the vertical sense of space in the interior. We have a light headliner, maybe that helps. Also appreciate they put a fixed sunroof above the 3rd row.
• It's unique/fun- you don't see too many on the road and we've received several compliments on the vehicle and it's color.
• Climate control/vents - I don't know if it's the placement of the vents or what, but overall design keeps the cabin temps even and the airflow seems to be distributed well. I never feel like certain parts of the cabin are receiving a big blast of air. This was a problem in our Yukon - air was either blowing in our faces or if you redirected the vents, it didn't feel like you were getting enough air.

Cons:

• Front seats are uncomfortable, especially for longer trips. Not sure why they decided to have the side bolsters stick out so far.... it creates a narrow sweet spot. Our daughter has a Range Rover Evoque, which is a very small car and it has more comfortable front seats.
• 3rd row access - we looked at this before purchasing and I don't know if we just didn't get in/out enough to make a more educated decision, but the fact that the middle row only slides forward and doesn't slide/fold/tilt like our Yukon and several other SUV’s on the market makes getting in and out tough. It's going to work for 90% of driving, but we happened to have family in town this weekend and used the 3rd row a lot.
• Location and width of the B pillar makes for a nasty blind spot.
• Lane keep assist is pretty aggressive.
• Sunroof doesn't open very far on our Defender or Evoque.
• Not going to lie, we miss the space in our Yukon XL a little bit and it's going to take some time to get used to. We knew this going in and it's just a matter of having more time to adjust.
• Aftermarket accessories! It's hard not to want to spend, spend, spend. I'd like to get the urban automotive 20" wheels soon, but have already spent over $4000 on accessories and need to chill.

Misc: I read a lot about tinting windshields prior to doing it. So many people comment that it's ridiculous and possibly dangerous. We went with 55% XPEL XR+ and LOVE it. Not only has it increased our comfort and visibility during the day, but we're enjoying our night drives a lot more as well. We'll see what happens when it's dark, cloudy, and pouring down rain but so far we're glad we did it.

 

Enjoy your new ride and happy motoring! You can turn the lane assist off. The Defender will go off road to places where the Yulon will never be able to.

 

Very nice write up!
Congrats on the new Defender.

So far about the only thing I have found difficult for me to really get used to, and it is not something I can fix with aftermarket parts or my new GAP tool.
It has to be that intrusive hump in the floorboard under the front seats that sticks out into the foot well if you have the seat all the back like I have mine.
Other than that, I am starting to get use to a lot of the other quirky little things. It been a really fun vehicle to drive for sure.

 

Nice write up. Definitely disarm lane assist. Enjoy.

 

Very good summary. I have had a few GM big SUVs and always loved them. I can't fit the Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade in my garage and that's what prompted me to look at the Defender.
As for the seats, having recently come from a Porsche SUV, I wished the Defender seats had more bolstering - especially on the bottom cushion.

 

Having recently had a Yukon Denali there are a few things I miss about it:

-Remote start on the key fob, just handy to reach into your pocket in the grocery checkout line and be able to get the climate going.
-Cooled and heated seats that turn on automatically upon remote or regular start based on exterior and interior temperature differences.

Hands down we much prefer the Land Rover overall, I just wish JLR would spend a few hours of programming time to automate the climate seats like GM did.

 

100% agree on this one. Seems simple enough.

 

Agreed, I too was a bit surprised a car in this price class did not have remote start.
Must not be a very common option for customers in the UK???
It has been commonplace on about all the mid-range and up domestic brands of vehicle here in the US.

 

I find the remote start on the app is easy to do - I tend to have my phone in my hand so it's not that much of a hassle.

 

Good point. I have the app setup on my phone, hadn’t really thought to check it for remote start feature.
‘Thanks!