Don't be.

The diesel Ingeniums seem to me infinitely more problematic than the gas Ingeniums.

Diesels in America are slowly dying for everything not in the heavy-duty truck segment. It sucks.

 

You’ll love it. I had a Disco 2 also in early 2000’s. The 4 cyl is more powerful than the V8 was in the Disco.

 

I agree with the majority of this thread. On the more contentious details, here is what I think:
- The air suspension is great. Allows you to get into short car parks in the city and get over large obstacles on the trails.
- I love the fridge. Although it only fits four plastic water bottles, that's all you really need. If it's just me in the car, I won't drink more than that in one drive - and if multiple people are in the car I just have a 12 pack case of waters in the back seat and kindly ask my passenger to refill the fridge to ensure we have chilled water for the remainder of the drive. It also gets properly cold.
- In my opinion the larger 11.4" screen is something you want. The 10" screen is alright, but is still relatively small. 11.4" screen is standard from MY25 onwards, with all models getting a 13.1" screen from MY26 (I deem this unnecessarily large).
- In terms of trims/colors, I think people who get white/black with black trim and black wheels are very boring. Get something interesting like Tasman Blue or Pangea Green.
- The standard Wrangler all-terrain tires are good enough in my opinion. Everybody is saying they are like cheese, but the ones I used to have on my MY23 110 X seemed to be okay, on-road and off-road.
- Don't bother getting the third row on a 110. It's too small and removes under floor storage. Get a 130.

 

About colors: I ordered mine with Tasman / white roof / white steel wheels and of course I like it. I got that because of nostalgia for my old Arles blue / white roof OG Defender. (Tasman is almost identical to the old Arles.) But I also think it looks particularly sharp in white. The reason is that the bright white over the lower matte black trim creates the illusion that it's significantly raised.

I have the smallest screen, which I think looks elegant since it fits perfectly within the upper and lower dash trim. The larger ones are slapped over the trim and look more like an afterthought. Sure it could be bigger, and I'd appreciate that, but I have no problems with it. It's fine to view and I almost never touch it, since Carplay does almost everything I need by voice. Anyway, the small ones are gone by now.

One more thing that I don't think has been mentioned: Get the clearsight mirror! I got it "for safety" because the rear view is mostly obstructed. I thought I'd dislike it because your eyes have to adjust from far distance to close and back vs. a mirror, which feels uncomfortable at first, but you get totally used to it after a few days. After that, it's so much better than a mirror. It updates pretty fast, has a wide viewing angle, and it's sharp. On the other hand, it's awful at night in an unlit road, but so are mirrors. The main complaint people raise is that it's up so high that you can only see the top edge of the windshield and back half of a car if they creep up on your bumper, which is unnerving at first, but you get over that pretty quick too. And you can always flip it down and use it as a standard mirror (but you won't).

 

Confirm every word.

I was hesitant to order it for the reason people mentioned - looking at the road and into the camera requires your eyes to change accommodation, but my accommodation is shot by staring too much at flat screens. Turned out, non-event, I got used to it in a pretty short time. Now I'm feeling weird when driving other cars. Also, I think my tired eyes are getting some nice to have exercise, so win-win.

One reason I wanted it for - I knew that the cargo space would be loaded to the brim and was counting on having MOLLE plates installed (did already), this makes the old style mirror pretty much useless, but the camera works.

About the sharpness - yes, it's a bit dull at night, but shows you the headlights, that's all you need from it. Added bonus, high beams don't blind you. There is one obscure corner case - your rear vision is blinded when the sun is shining at a certain angle from behind close to sunset - the glare just kills the image completely. I was petrified when I saw that the first time shortly after I got the vehicle, but, interestingly enough, that was the only time I saw that phenomenon since February this year.

 

So I noticed one thing , and its kinda a turnoff . The Discovery 2 seats have reinforced pockets in the back , which can accommodate magazines and large gazettes . Very well made , The Defender , however, has these dainty mesh pockets behind the seats and in the rear cargo area. Cheap looking . Not impressed . Anything else I should be aware of that Defender could have done better ? Oh , and one more thing .............the Discovery 2 transfer case is GEAR driven , not chain . Is that so on the Defender ??

 

There is a stout chain in the transfer case. Not high on my list of concerns. I'd be far, far more freaked out about those mesh seat back pockets! What a nightmare! That settles it: the Defender is totally ruled out! Maybe get a G-Wagon. I hear their seat-back pockets are almost as good as in a Disco II. Good seat-back pockets totally make the car! They are a must!!!

Oh, and did you hear it has independent suspension!? Not as bad as those seat-back pockets, but yeah!

;-)

 

My 10,000lbs offroad tank has a chain driven t-case. It's literally the last thing on the Defender I'd be worried about. As for the seat storage in the Defender - that seems like a pretty minor complaint given the unique and plentiful storage options in the Defender. The dash shelf is quite honestly one of the best storage features ever... something I was truly surprised how much use it gets when on road trips. Everything from phones, to tables, to books, to water bottles to bags of chips gets tossed up on the shelf and since its right in your face every time you get in the car - that stuff doesn't just "live" there ... it gets removed when its no longer needed.

The center console storage area is pretty nice as well. The only real storage letdown on the Defender (in the 110) is the cargo area is smaller than I'd like but its still plenty large enough to carry belongings for me, my wife and our two dogs for a week.

 

I've been looking at the 130's , too . Without the 3rd row seat , to gain more storage space . But then the rear side windows are blocked out , so you can use it for commercial purposes ? It's nice to have owners admit to some of the downsides of the rig . Is there an after market roof rack available ??

 

There is no perfect vehicle - despite what we'd all LIKE to claim about our trucks. It's just a series of compromises and which ones you're willing to make for the payoffs that those compromises give you.

For example, yes the 130 has more storage than the 110, but the compromise is that it wouldn't fit in my garage (which is a problem in Maine) and that I think it looks a bit derpy with that big ole Jennifer Lopez booty on the back. Like i mentioned before, in our 110 we can pack all of our belongings we need for a weeklong trip to the beach (including our beach gear such as chairs and fishing bucket and stuff) and leave the back seats available for the furry tyrants. While its not as large as the D5 or competitors like the GX550, its is definitely "big enough" for us - and it fits in the garage when the snow drift has covered the entire door.
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