I’m curious as to what people’s outlook is for the longevity of keeping their new Defender.

We have a 2020 with almost 30k and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Not a single issue with it.

As a previous multi Land Cruiser owner we’ve been pleased with our first Rover.

As we are more than half way through our factory warranty now, I’m beginning to wonder what’s a realistic lifespan for this vehicle. For example I looked into LR4s in the past and the V8s are pretty rock solid once some internals are updated during major service intervals.

We’ve purchased previously both a 2015 Tahoe and early 2010s X5 that were literal pos’ and we bailed on them even during the factory warranty. So I’m definitely aware that sometimes you just get a bad car plagued with issues.

So what are people’s expectations in how many miles or years you’ll keep the Defender for? What advice do long time owners have for newer converts such as myself?

 

Not any answers from me, but asking your same question! I have about 19000K on mine after a bit over a year. I've made a job change which requires a 70mile commute daily, and add a recent overloading trip to Colorado, weekend jaunts and a planned ski trip to New Mexico this Christmas... so my milage has been climbing faster that I wanted. I've even thought about getting a cheap beater, just for my commute, but after buying such an expensive car, I can't convince my better half for us to spend the money... So, I'll just keep on driving! I love the vehicle and it has been perfect so far! But as you asked @NativeTexan , what can we expect going forward? I figure even the very first 2020's aren't getting much past 50k miles yet, unless someone is a real road warrior!

Who nows? Can I put 100k miles on it in 6-7 years?! Will it start to give me problems? As much as I want it to perform perfectly for 100k-150k+, we all know that these are not Toyotas!

 

I can not speak for the defender yet myself. We have about 21k miles on a 2020 Defender X. All I can provide is my experience with other Land Rover products.

2010 LR4 165k miles. Still going strong and other than an irritating lower control arm issue x 2 which are tires it has been fairly solid. Regularly maintained.

2020 Range Rover Sport. 25k miles and literally zero real issues. Took it in just now for a seat frame and a USB port not working but that's it.

Had a D2 as well but was leased and can not remember the miles. Had some water leaks, a window motor to repair but other than that 5 years no issues.

Everyone has their own experiences but I have not experienced after owning 4 land rovers the systemic realizability issues everyone goes on about. I have no concerns the defender going well above 100k miles and I plan to keep it a long time. Have modified it based on this.

 

In Toyota Landcruisers the drivetrain used usually comes from the previous gen LS sedan. So there’s several years of feedback from use observed before the drivetrain “passes as approved” for use in the Land Cruiser.

This is just an example.

But I wonder if the P300 and 400 drivetrains (as well as the main computer/hybrid system) have any cross reference use cases that we could draw determinations from…

Did anything get passed down from Range Rovers possibly that we could draw from? Any Euro models even possibly?

 

The P300 engine has seen a lot of duty in other Land Rover variants (Discovery, Range Rover Evoque) and I believe I read somewhere that it's the same engine in some of the 300HP Mercedes Benz 4-cylinder turbo cars.

 

I'm a terrible example, I haven't kept a car over 50K miles in maybe 20 years. I do my best to keep the used market alive.

That said I'm getting older, and maybe just maybe a little wiser, however I don't want to own any gas burning vehicles that are under 40MPG or just flat out don't use gas by 2025 or so, and that means the Defender would need to be replaced. My biggest pinch in style to doing this is my youngest is 10 (out of four) and my 19/21yo have failed to launch so far. so I've needed larger cars. The defender was first attempt at a trim to a 5 passenger vehicle, but now it just means two cars are going everywhere when we do family activities.

 

I'm a first-timer also, coming not from the Toyota but from the Jeep (i.e. Chrysler) world. So far, my 110 has just hit 21,000 miles, which puts it 6000 miles past where my last Jeep (2014 model) had to have a new engine (long block) installed by Jeep after eating a valve seat in the No. 6 cylinder. And... drum roll... it was on the Salt Valley trail just outside of Moab, so at least they made the Jeep whole under warranty without giving me any chit about where the engine had grenaded. (And honestly, nothing I was doing or that you COULD do would have contributed to this happening. But I was sweating bullets for a week while they tore it down in Grand Junction CO and assessed the problem before telling me it would be covered.)

Anyway, funny anecdotes aside, I'm used to very problematic Jeeps, with way more problems than just losing an engine here or there. So my reliability bar for my off-roaders is pretty low, and so far over 21k miles and 18 months nearly the Landie has been flawless, literally. I have full expectations it will be great for another few years at least.

 

Our last Rover we kept for 10 years and almost 100k miles and sold it to someone who's still driving it. I expect the same out of our 2020 Defender. 2 years in, and the Defender has been flawless. I think any modern car that's maintained should last 10+ years. We also do expect some maintenance. We do our oil changes every 5000 miles, other fluids every 15k miles. Our last Rover had an air shock failure around 80k miles (any car could have a shock failure at 80k, but it is more expensive with a Rover). We also had lower control arm bushings wear out at about 55k miles (not a huge deal) My opinion is that it will not be a Toyota, but it will be extremely reliable and last a long time if taken care of. Not to mention it will look better, be more capable, and have much newer technology than a Toyota.

 

Same here. Don't tell me - LR4? Ours was a 2010 V8 (Still have it) but it ate tires until the CAB was replaced

 

What's that?