New 2025 Defender Owner. PICS INSIDE
 

Picked up my new Defender this past weekend and wanted to introduce myself. First off, I am completely new to Defenders, off-roading, and SUVs, so apologies in advance if I'm active in this forum with extremely newbie questions. My last two vehicles were a 2021 BMW M4, and 2010 Triumph Street Triple R if that gives you any indication of how little I know about this world.

VEHICLE: 2025 Defender 110 S (4 Cylinder)
REASON: Some of my close buddies have gotten into Overlanding/Camping and I started to get very intrigued. I was looking into different SUVs such as the new GX550, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, and Defender. I'm a bit ashamed of this, but I mentally ruled out the new Land Cruiser and 4Runner for being 4 cylinders because in my uneducated mind, 4 cylinder = weak. I also ruled out the Defender because of feedback I was reading online regarding it's reliability and I was feeling overwhelmed with the massive number of different trims/options (it's crazy how a new Defender could be 60K or 140K depending on what you choose). The choice was clear: GX550 Overtrail+. I set up an appointment at the Lexus dealership and it kind of went south. Test driving the GX, I was very underwhelmed. Then we ran some numbers and it just didn't seem to make sense. At the end of the day, the GX just didn't feel right to me and definitely didn't feel like an 83K vehicle and walked away from a deal. Good news: I was only 0.4 miles away from the Jaguar/Land Rover dealership.

At the JLR dealership, I once again had no intention of going the 4-cylinder route and figured the V8s were overkill, so was only looking at their available 6-cylinder options. I finally found a 6-cylinder that seemed to meet all of my standards and asked if I can test drive. Once I got the keys, I noticed that there was no gas (seemed odd for a brand new vehicle with only 5 miles on the odometer) and I didn't really feel comfortable driving it when it was warning me that I had a zero mile range in the tank. They asked me to wait about 10-15 minutes while they drove it to put in a couple gallons. Interestingly, the one I wanted to test drive was blocked off in the lot by a 4-cylinder, so they had to get the keys for that one to move it out of the way. While they went to go gas up the other car, I asked if I can test drive the 4-cylinder while waiting. I was completely blown away of how capable that a 296 HP 4-cylinder could be and it had more than enough power. I drove the 6-cylinder when it came back and although it was more powerful, it was not enough to justify the cost increase.

I was now settled on a 4-cylinder, but back to why I avoided Defenders as a top contender in the first place: There was a dizzying array of different options. Each time I looked at a sticker, it either had something I didn't want or lacking something I did want. Do I want air suspension or coil? Do I want summer tires or their sorry excuse for A/T tires (Wranglers)? Do I absolutely need a heads up display? Do I really need upgraded 19" wheels if I plan to go off-roading anyway? I honestly ended up running numbers on multiple vehicles since I didn't know which one I wanted. I ended up settling for the one you see below. Although I'm overall happy with my choice, I still feel some regrets.

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Welcome to the forum!

I will let you know that the AJ200 2.0T I4 has been in production since 2017 and has proven to be a very reliable engine. There are no major issues with this engine. I have had my P300 for almost four years, and I haven't had any mechanical issues in the 37k miles I've put on it. The only big problems I've had were both LED DRLs went out, which was a common problem on 20MY-22MY Defenders, so your 25MY should be perfectly fine. I also had an ECU for the fuel pump go bad about a month after I took delivery. It did leave me stranded at my house, but I only live 15 minutes from my local JLR dealer. Other than that, my Defender has been great!

Other than reliability, what are your regrets?

Congratulations! Your defender looks fantastic. Now, time to get some good AT tires. :-).

take a look at the sticky thread on tires - lots of great information on that thread. I’ve run both KO2 and Wildpeak AT4W on my 20” wheels.

Thanks!

My current regrets are as follows:

• Exterior Color: I absolutely love my color combo (Pangea Green with Fuji white roof), but two associated regrets. I feel like I put too much importance on the color and de-prioritized other options. I also really like the look of the black package (gloss black lower grill, corners, rear bumper, fender flares), but it didn't come with it. Was researching on how to do this myself using aftermarket parts, but seems to be a huge process to replace these parts.
• Coil suspension: I kept reading pros/cons of air suspension and ended up with coils, but still have regrets not getting air suspension.
• Lack of HUD: Got used to having a heads up display on my M4 and my Defender didn't come with one.
• Wheels: I love and hate that I got the 20" satin wheels. They look great and I love them for street usage, but I keep wondering if I made the right choice once I go off-roading. I get paranoid thinking I'll scratch them up as well as the fact that smaller wheels/bigger tires are better for off-roading.
• Tires: Knowing that I'm going to do at least some off-roading, I figured I should get the A/T tires instead of summer tires. However, it seems like these stock Wranglers are not great off-road and I might have been better off getting summer tires and getting my own off-road tires.

Congrates and welcome! Nice to see it fits into the "compact" spot. :)

Thanks! It helps that the cars next to me never move, so I don't have to worry about being over the line one way or another. One is some classic car with a tarp over it and the other is a Jeep Rubicon that appears to be heavily modded for off-roading, but hasn't moved in 2+ years.

Congrats and welcome aboard.

Unless you needed a car immediately, why didn't you order exactly what you wanted? L663 allocations are readily available and usually delivered within four months. Much better than nearly a year like it was back in 2022.

The black pack can be easily done with just replacement badges and a new grille bar cover, which I have linked below. The X-Dynamic is the only one that comes with the gloss black trim around the bottom of the car. You can easily get the wheel arch protection, and it is very simple to install. The lower bumper would have to be removed to be repainted. https://www.powerfuluk.com/collectio...-defender-l663

I have the air suspension on mine, as at the time all Defender 110s came with the air suspension. The air suspension has significantly better articulation than the coils, offers a lot more ground clearance, and has better body control and a smoother ride thanks to the adaptive dampers. The coils still ride well, but if you want an exceptional ride and want to do any kind of moderate off-roading, get the air. If I bought another Defender, the air suspension is the first option I'm choosing. There are some folks on here who swear by the coils, but I'd rather have no Defender than a Defender with coil springs. LR air suspension is significantly better than it was ten years ago and it has always been one of the best in the auto industry.

The HUD is nice to have, but not necessary IMO. I have a HUD in one of my other vehicles and it is fantastic. I didn't order the HUD on my Defender, but if I bought another one, I would get it. I miss it more than I thought I would.

Wheels and tires are definitely important. Defender comes standard on all-seasons, not summer tires. The Wrangler Adventures are optional, and Goodyear Duratracs are available as a dealer-installed accessory. I ordered mine with 19" wheels and the Wrangler Adventures. Last year, I swapped them out for 20" wheels from an LR4 wrapped in Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws, and I haven't had any issues with them on moderate trails. Of course 18" wheels have more sidewall, but you'll be fine on 20" wheels. The standard Goodyear Wrangler Adventures are okay. I don't think they're nearly as bad as what everyone says, but they are not great by any means. The biggest problem is the soft sidewall, as the ones we get are JLR spec made without the Kevlar that is found in the regular off-the-shelf Adventures. If you only go on light trails and lots of desert off-roading, they're fine. Anything more than that, I'd get something more aggressive. See the sticky thread at the top of the forum for everything you'd want to know on this subject.

Really appreciate the feedback here. My responses below:

• Ordering - It was very situational how I ended up with Defender off the lot. The lease was up on my previous car. I ended up buying out the lease, but my friend told me something I did not know: If I sell it within 10 days, I don't have to pay the sales tax. Looked it up and it was true and was forced to do a quick sale (ended up making a 13K profit and got my sales tax refunded, so not too upset about it). As mentioned, I left my house that morning fully expecting to return in a Lexus GX550 and just happened to end up at the Land Rover dealership. The salesman knocked off a decent amount off the MSRP to make a sale and I was looking at a 3 year lease anyway, so I didn't really feel that I was making a life-long decision.
• Top Grille Bar & Gloss Black - My Defender already comes with the top grille in gloss black (see photos), so I'm really just looking to upgrade the gloss black trim at the bottom of the car and bumpers. I'm used to doing upgrades like this myself, but watching youtube videos, this seems to be very time consuming. I also started a related separate thread on chinese aftermarket vs OEM.
• Air Suspension - I agree with you. Air suspension was at the top of my list of necessary options on my Defender. This is one of my biggest regrets and I ended up prioritizing the exterior color for some unknown reason.
• HUD - Not a deal breaker by any means, but do miss having one.
• Tires - Planning to do some light OHV/off-roading and see how my stock Wranglers perform. Depending on how it turns out, may decide to change these out. Thanks for letting me know about the sticky thread.

"Life is all about compromises"!<g> It looks like a great Defender. You'll have fun. I have all sorts of minor "regrets", but overall love mine. The MAIN one I have is more of a grievance. I would have loved better color choices. The VERY cool Tasman blue is only limited to some trim levels/specs and I wish it was more readily available.