TLDR: Decided on Purchasing a Launch Stock ‘23 LR RR Sport



Hey guys, I know I’m posting on the Defender Sub Thread but I see no info, news, or other threads on the new 3rd Gen Range Rover Sport, and very little on the new 5th Gen Range Rover. If you guys know of a better place to post, please let me know. (Also, I just feel more comfortable posting here since I’ve chatted with a few of you before.)

Anyways, after being told by many dealers all over the country that they wouldn’t be able to sell me a ‘23 Defender 90 (sold my ‘22 D 90 S back in March and wanted to upgrade and keep something this time) or if they could (ie one in NY), that there would be a markup. Granted it was a V8 with $10k markup which isn’t that bad, I’d still like to pay MSRP. Regardless spoke to my 3 local dealers: Land Rover Montrose Westside, Land Rover Solon, and Land Rover Akron. I inquired about the Defenders and the new RR and RR Sport at all 3.

At LR Montrose Westside, where my previous Defender was wholesaled to, they wanted to charge a $5k markup on a ‘22 RR Sport HST, then reduced it to $3k. They also wanted to sell me back my ‘22 D 90 because no one is interested in it, for $71k. Mind you I purchased it for MSRP for $59k last year in Buffalo new. Anyways, while I was definitely not interested, they showed me PPT printed out with some valuable info. Supposedly LR is sending out 2 launch stock ‘23 RR Sports to every dealer in the country, 1 Fuji White and 1 Santorini Black. The top 150 dealers also will get a Firenze Red model. All will be identical other than that, I think. They’ll have the Demo Spec Packs and a few other options. All will be the Dynamic SE trim with the P400. One of the 2 Full-size Demo Spec Units LR Montrose Westside will be getting will actually be going to Lebron James, salesperson showed me his build sheet.

Spoke to LR Solon about it, they said they believed the launch stock wouldn’t be for sale at all but offered a brand new ‘22 RR Sport HSE Silver Edition for MSRP. Mind you, this is where my D 90 would be serviced at, and the closest dealer to me. I’m not sure if I believed them then and think there info is wrong as the other 2 dealers told me otherwise.

So then I called LR Akron, actually the dealer where I first saw a D 90 in person last June. I spoke to someone and confirmed that this is true and they would let me know all the stipulations as soon as they get more info. They said I’m the only one who knows about this and first in line for it. He’d even see if he could just sell it to me as soon as it get there’s in 1-3 months. Just a $2,500 refundable deposit as soon as I know the specs and all the info is confirmed. At MSRP too, since Akron doesn’t go over either. So yeah, would love to go with Akron on the Santorini Black unit.

I will say, while these units will have the Demo Spec Pack’s, I’m not sure they will need to be demoed for 30 days and can then be sold, as the PPT didn’t mention that like it did for the full-size ‘23 RR. Even so, Akron said they were able to sell one of those Full-size demo ones without being demoed at all, so I’m just not sure yet.

Worst comes to worst, I’ll just order one and line up and wait like others. But would be cool to have the first one in the Cleveland area regardless.

So yeah sorry for the long read, here’s what the Launch Stock Unit should look like and the PPT info below. Lemme know if you guys have other info or if I’m completely wrong. Thanks sorry for the long read.

 

I have nothing to add other than those twin shark fin antennas look terrible. That, and LeBron James is a buttwipe.

 

Congrats! Looks great. After three RR Sports, I decided to go with the Defender. But you can't go wrong with either.

 

Yeah not sure why they have two, I know one can house the rearview mirror camera but even if ya don’t have it, you still get two. If anyone knows that would be interesting to find out.

And yeah I don’t like him either.

 

Yeah my ‘22 Defender 90 was the best car I ever had.

 

In March we were shopping for another vehicle but needed delivery in May when our kids were coming back from college. Certainly couldn't order another Defender and get it in 2 months. Test drove a RRS which we liked, then an X5 and there was no comparison. The X5 steering, handling and braking were far better than the RRS and we could get it in 7 weeks after placing an order. Really enjoying the X5 so far.

But that new RRS has my attention, and I'm sure they improved the issues noted above. Plus the new RRS will be offered with the same BMW V8 that is in our X5. I look forward to test driving it someday. Only issue is that when I did the 2023 RRS build on the LR website, it's $20K more than a comparable X5. And I guess there is a second issue...no roof rails on the RRS so far. If I can't add a roof box to the RRS, that would be a deal breaker.

 

Hadn't noticed the lack of roof rails. Certainly those will be coming.

 

Yeah at least for the Defender, it was a $0 option. They kept taking it on and off the Build and Price but seems like it's on for the 23.5 MY LR's. For the RR S, I have no idea. Also, take note that the new V8 sourced from BMW, is only available on the First Edition trim, the highest of them for '23 MY. 99% sure that will change when the trim goes away for '24 MY.

 

Black one in the background should be similar to the Launch Stock one, its absolutely beautiful.

 

Yeah, idk. I'd rather have a defender than this new sport. Have owned 3 sports. All high spec. Like the Defender better.