OK so you've outlined a really good spec. Color, etc. Rear locker, Acorn & Pangea =

BTW, since you're here to "learn" -- it's an inline 6. Not a V6. Inline 6's are fantastic. More refined. Blahblahblah. Anyway.

52K is a good deal for a 26K mile car. Do you have a carfax or service history. I'd wonder if they waited for the 1st oil change ... it's supposed to be 2 years OR 20K miles by the service schedule. So, hopefully they did it in 2022 (or 2023 if it was a late 2020 or 2021 in service date) with low miles at 2 years. then again in 2024 at 2 more years, at a minimum. ie -- Ideally it would have had 2 oil changes, low mileage, by now. I'd feel very good about that.

I have the HUD and it's fine but not something would move my needle either way on a car. The only thing I like it for is the adaptive cruise distance on the highway. Anyway, I wouldn't miss it. If it gave specific useful information while offroad I'd be a bigger fan but it gives general tilt angle stuff that is dumbed down and and not helpful.

PS hopefully it does not have 22" wheels because they don't sound like your use case. Does it have 20's or 19's?

 

In case you're interested it's Breeders Cup weekend at Del Mar.

 

Pangea over Acorn w/ the Off-Road pack? Good taste, my friend. Good taste.

Other than the fact that I have the P300, that is nearly identical to my spec save for the third row and the tow pack.

 

I also bought my 21 90x remote and had it delivered. I had the sales associate face time me while he went around the truck and checked everything out. It was a very useful approach for me versus a prerecorded video because I could ask the have the phone moved around in certain areas to look for off-road use damage or any signs of general neglect. They even put it up on a lift to walk around and show me the underside.

They also started it and ran it for me but FaceTime works really hard to filter out background noise so that wasn’t very useful because I couldn’t hear anything.

 

Thanks NashVegas for catching my awful slip.
I’m used to “V6” since my current ride is that, plus 2 turbos. I had inline 6’s in my Cherokee and FJ40 and loved the linear pull they have.

I do like this “noob” feeling I get when I am around here…

 

Wow this thread is great... will definitely get some fluids changed in ours before the service intervals.

 

Your X5 is also an I6. BMW is known for their I6 engines. In fact, their current I6, the B58 is in my opinion the best I6 engine ever made. Ultra smooth, extremely powerful and also extremely efficient. Also, it is reliable as hell. It exceeded all of Toyota's QC parameters when they were developing it for the Supra. My buddy has a 2022 M340i with this engine - 382hp, 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and he averages 33mpg on the highway.

If only the Defender had this engine. The Ingenium I6 is fantastic, but the BMW engine is just better. JLR should've kept the 5.0 V8 and used the B58 instead of now using BMW's N63 4.4 V8.

Don't worry about feeling like a noob... you're here to learn and we're here to help. I think you'll find the comradery around here to be pretty damn good.

 

Oh mY!!!! You are totally on it, I can’t believe the stuff that I wrote. My wife just caught on how nervous I’ve been behaving around (I have kept this a surprise till this morning) and now I’m afraid I might be making also incredibly dumb mistakes like this stuff that come out of my mouth on this purchase! i am in disbelief of the size and consecutiveness of my mistakes in a row I’m saying.

I have serviced my X5 engine several times in different areas, opened and cleaned intake valve ports by hand and can’t believe how faded my recollection of my complaints on how flipping far back inside the cowl were the 2 last cylinders! It was a true pain, and somehow in here I said V6! TWICE!

anyhow, you guys are great and I better catch myself before I wreck my self.

best.

 

You're fine! We all make mistakes. You just move on. Like I said we're here to help. You don't see a lot of criticism on this forum. Keep us posted if you decide to go for the Defender (you totally should)!

 

To everyone here that assisted me with your insights… THANK YOU!





My apologies on the prolonged radio silence on this thread, I was so nervous about this purchase not only because I am new to the brand, but also because this deal had so many moving parts that any single misalignment could had turned this adventure into a nightmare.

First of all, I live in LA and this Defender in Portland OR… the dealership (non LR) wouldn’t put it on a lift for me to show me the undercarriage via video like Pinion had advised. I didn’t like that, the salesman told me they are a large dealership and couldn’t take it into service for that, had no clearance to walk and video around that area. But mentioned that I could have a 3rd party inspection if I liked. Which I did liked, but no independent shop wanted to go pick up the vehicle, said usually all dealerships bring the cars in.
at this point I had already negotiated the price, gotten a sweat deal with a much better APR than the one from my bank, and had gotten a way cheaper prize for extended warranty than the one offered at LR here in LA for 8yr / 75K additional miles under platinum coverage…. Which I didn’t think was going to buy but couldn’t pass it…. And did I forget to mention I had already purchased the previous day train tickets with an overnight family cabin for me, my wife and daughters to travel there?
Well, I have to say, the ride was fantastic and first class in a plane can not compare with riding the Coast Starlight Amtrak train next to the coast and 3 full meals served in the dinner cart or room
service and mixed drinks!

I got the Owner of WestCoast Overland in Portland to hear my pleas while in the train halfway there and they did a fantastic job at giving me a Pre-Purchase inspection with specifics about the vehicle down to mm left of tire thread, breakpads thickness, interior / exterior condition fluids state and according to them, it appeared this Defender has never seen the Off Roads yet from any angle and was in great shape for sure!
That paired with another $700 off from the warranty I got to negotiate down and I was in heaven already way before getting there. Which by the way Portland was a beauty with its Fall trees

My trip back home with the fam was amazing, every single one of us was delighted with this amazing Defender and got to we got to see the Redwoods, drive onto a river bed and first time for my girls to visit the Golden Gate Bridge.
Long Drive!

Thanks again guys!
There are a few user quirks I don’t understand yet so I will be reading and posting questions really soon!