Thanks Juancl,

In my pandemic inspired online research, I've watched a lot of these videos. I really need to get vaccinated so that I can go test drive one! (Those TFL guys had some bad luck, didn't they?)

The ultimate in off road capability is certainly appealing, but If I'm honest with myself, I don't really need that. I use it in the snow (ski trips) and backcountry camping (rough dirt roads, high clearance required). It's just my wife and myself in the backcountry, so if it looks like there's a chance we could get stuck or damage the car, we turn around. We like to get away from the crowds, so finding someone to rescue us might be difficult.

In all honesty, a Subaru would be capable of 90% of what I need. But I don't want a Subaru! The Defender is just way cooler than a 4Runner or Subaru! My 4Runner is fine, it does everything I need, I'm just bored with it. My brain is asking do I trade in a 4Runner with 30k on it for a Defender that will have some sort of issues just because it's cooler than my 4Runner? Maybe. My heart says yes.

 

A couple shots from my cross country.

 

I hear you. Like you I like to go off the beaten path with my wife and kids, but no one else, so we don’t do anything extreme. Living in South FL means not a huge variety of things to do with our D5 around here, hence over the 3.5 years we have had it it has lived the urban life that 90% of LRs sold these days live. Our adventuring typically meant flying somewhere fun, renting a Wrangler and go explore. Thanks to COVID this year we actually drove to the GA mountains in the D5 and finally used it how it should be used (see video). Long story short, can’t wait to pick up our new D90 later this year in UT, and do some adventuring on that area before slowly making our way back home, with several strategic stops for even more exploration. Have also hooked up now with the local LR clubs down here to learn more about places to go and play closer to home.

 

Great shots and story! Looking forward to picking ours up and driving it 2/3 of the way across the country. Hope we get one of the good ones like you did and that the MY21 X-Dynamic karma is strong!

 

LOL. Only a Land Rover owner would be so proud that his vehicle has been problem-free after only 2 months of ownership. That speaks volumes about owner expectations.

In the same vein, Land Rover has finally admitted their reputation has cost them thousands of lost vehicle sales annually.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39590/...ity-reputation

 

Well, Initial Quality Score is actually a thing... so I think most buyers of new cars actually care about driving off the lot without a visit to service until the first scheduled maintenance is due...

And, yeah, if you're expecting a luxury car not called Lexus to be defect free -- and especially a Land Rover -- you're nuts.

https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...lity-study-iqs

 

Really useful JD Power article ... thanks for sharing.

 

I wonder if they could cut down the cost on lost revenue by offering longer warranties?

 

... or just pay and pay and pay to fix things under warranty!

 

The article indicates that reliability is increasing as evidence by a decrease in warranty claims. If they are improving quality and afraid of a reliability stigma extend the warranty out a year or two to bring in more people who might be willing to take the plunge under those conditions. IMO the stronger warranty to the consumer shows me how much more the brand believes in its product.