Hey all! New to the forum here and had a couple of questions with regards to a build. We were looking at a Defender 110 but my dog's crate just won't fit in the boot and overall storage is pretty low inside (we do a lot of back and forth between Utah and Montana with lots of gear), so we think that going up to the 130 makes sense in a 5 seat configuration. We intend on likely adding a second dog, which would mean a dual-crate set-up. The local dealership has some builds but they're all 8 seat, and the way the seats fold down and the hump just doesn't seem very good for this. Most builds are also rocking the 22s" which doesn't work for our use case of driving on dirt/gravel roads throughout southern UT and Montana.

I was originally going down the route of building an X-Dynamic based vehicle, but it looks as though I should build the SE platform as the lower rocker panels will be plastic vs. gloss paint finished. I plan on adding the explorer pack since we'll be carrying large gear up top and I noticed that X-dynamic builds with this look kind of funky with matte wheel arches and painted rocker panels. I don't think it's ideal for me to take off these covers and paint them gloss because of the roads/trails we'll be driving, I would much prefer the plastic throughout. We're replacing our a Toyota TRD Pro (awful for 7hr drives in every dimension) in this use case and the 5 seater version has roughly the same storage volume as the T4R.

Questions:
- Is this accurate in my understanding between X-dynamic vs. SE here with regards to rocker panels? It looks as though I can get all (even more options like HUD) of the options we'd like on the SE version. Or is there anyway to have the gloss removed on an X-dynamic trim level? I thought it might have been the extended black visual pack, but the rocker panels still look gloss online when that is removed.
- Is it dumb to order this as a 5 seat vs. 8 seat? I do ideally plan on keeping it for a long time assuming its first few years are reliable enough, so resale isn't my top concern, but a slight one. Would it be smarter to build out a platform for dog crates over an 8 seater? The boot space is still not overly large even as a 5 seater. I do understand the primary buyers of this are likely large family, but I would imagine there is still a bit of a market for a slightly larger build like this for a use case similar to ours.
- I also noticed when I set standard seating (vs 8 seat option) on an X-dynamic build, it removes the 3rd row in the pictures. It does not do this when I spec out an SE spec, so I am not sure if it's just a website bug, or if you can't do 5 seat outside of X-dynamic or higher? Would anyone happen to know? I didn't get great info from a local dealer as they didn't even know you could get it as a 5 seat config.

Here is my ideal build: https://build.landrover/FF2DF9C1
Here is an X-dynamic build showing the 5 seat config in pics: https://build.landrover/CA9CDB7D

Thanks for any info!

 

Welcome. I picked up my 130 SE at the end of December and have loved it ever since. I was initially headed down the X route but liked the white roof, all tan leather and, like you, realized you can get everything you want in an SE without the unexplained mark up of the X badge. That said, I don't know what games LR are playing this week in deciding who gets the features they ordered. D130s have generally faired better when compared to 110s.

Not sure how big your dogs are but most people looking at a vehicle this big are looking to haul humans, 8 seats will always be more valuable, it's why I got the 130. Not sure how a dealer would "ding" you on resale for not having 8 seats but it's a narrow market of folks that want a bigger vehicle and even narrower for those that want a big SUV with less seats. That said, buy the car for your needs not some future owner.

Can't answer your last question but it sounds like a website bug or perhaps some other option doesn't allow you to have 5 seats.

Good luck!

 

I would do some more research on the matter. I didn't think the 130 came as a 5-seater in any option. let us know what you fin out!

 

I've got some updates here. I spent some time in person at a local dealership yesterday and ended up ordering the vehicle the way I wanted and will be here in mid-August.

As a follow-up to the questions that I had, just in case anyone else is trying to figure these questions out:

- Rocker panels are indeed gloss on X-Dynamic trim and up. You can get nearly the same spec build in an SE trim with plastic trim to match the explorer pack extended wheel wells and just load up the options, so that is good.
- 5 seat vs. 8 seat on the 130: You can indeed order the 130 in a 5 seat configuration and end up with a bigger boot space with a flat storage floor! The website is just broken for the SE trim from an image perspective. If anyone wants to order a vehicle with just 5 seats, you just need to select "Standard Seat Configuration" vs. "8 seat config" under the interior section of the build site. You can then confirm with your local dealership on the build sheet that it does indeed show up as 5 seats. Option codes on my build sheet: "033AV - 5 Seats" and "033QC - No Third Row Seats"

Cheers

 

Initially I was interested in the same configuration as you - 130 with 5 seats to allow more room for the dogs. I ended up staying with the 110 but glad to see others out there thinking the same way

 

You guys must be very excited about the new 130 model with only 2 rows! Should be out soon I believe?