Well, you do have a point. Let's face it. Members of this forum, mostly off-road enthusiasts, are but a miniscule segment of LR owners. Majority of Defenders sold, and that applies to all LR products, never go off-road. That's how the soccer mom/dad mall crawler meme started, after all.

 

Like you I'm also disappointed with my defender 110X since I don't plan to off-road it. Besides I have other vehicles to drive: a 720S, a C8, an Escalade Platinum and a L320 RRS. But when I do drive it, it is for some fine dining with the family to celebrate some special occasions.

 

It’s not that I dislike/disagree with your opinion—your subject heading was intriguing and you clearly had something to say. But I did not see anything substantive to agree or disagree on. I think you left that out.

Now, you made an observation that the Defender bodywork and trim is a little delicate for off-road use. I do think that would be an interesting topic for discussion. But again, you did not go into specifics. Also, if that was one of your original purchase requirements I wonder why you did not figured that out before your test drive.

Like you, I made a hasty decision once. I bought a new Toyota Camry. I regretting it the moment I drove it out of the dealership. I could not get rid of it fast enough. Nothing wrong with the car ( uh, other than a keyless entry issue that was never fixed). I simply bought it for all the wrong reasons. I was disappointed in my own stupid mistake.

 

Sounds like you were shopping for farm equipment and bought a Defender by mistake. Do they sell John Deere tractors in the UK?

 

[QUOTE=TheMoke;774706Like you, I made a hasty decision once. I bought a new Toyota Camry. I regretting it the moment I drove it out of the dealership. I could not get rid of it fast enough. Nothing wrong with the car ( uh, other than a keyless entry issue that was never fixed). I simply bought it for all the wrong reasons. I was disappointed in my own stupid mistake.[/QUOTE]

For me it was an Acura TL. Great on paper and fun on a quick test drive. In actual ownership it had bad torque-steer, odd automatic throttle input at shifts, harsh ride and so many rattles. I made a stupid mistake as well and was happily back in an Audi A4 after 6 months of the TL.

 

actually, you did say this vehicle isn’t off-road capable based on your “sheep in wolf’s clothing” remark in your original post.

as for the bodywork/trim being too nice/delicate for anything but road driving, i think that’s subjective as many take theirs to all kinds of off-reading and over-landing. The computer, the electronics, the automation and etc are part of the technological evolution and it’s in every part of our lives. Comparing the current defender to the older generation defender is like comparing word processing software with a portable device along with wireless printer to a typewriter. Yes, if a key is stuck with the typewriter while you are on a writing assignment in some remote area, you could fix it manually and carry on while a software issue might render you not being to write for unknown amount of time. But the capability and efficiency of the portable device with the modern technology is far superior to the typewriter in many regards. They are not better or worse, they are different. I enjoy both my typewriter and my ipad.

 

i don’t see any hate for the OP, all the comments are relevant to what OP stated. Just because someone offers a rebuttal or counter argument with supporting information does not equal to hate. Debate is not fighting, disagreeing is not hating especially when it’s based on logic and rationale.

 

The only reason the vehicle can be perceived as "too nice for offroading" is because most of us are paying 70K+ for them and we are trying to preserve the quality appearance. If the defender was much cheaper you would not care about beating it up as much.

Both my wife and my father have chuckled at my defender selection as they think I will be to paranoid to take it the wooded trails we have. I am going to get some paint protection films but whatever happens I will either just live with or get repaired. None of this is going to be cheap. I am going to use my defender as both a daily driver and weekend explorer and I dont want to live in fear like that.

I do enjoy nice things and have probably wasted more of the nice things I have by using them infrequently (and losing interest or going out of style) or forgetting I even own them because they get hidden away out of sight (think nice clothing or the like).

Be prudent in your decision making and then confident in your ultimate choices. Enjoy your life and your defender. Life is short.

 

As someone who still hasn't decided about buying a Defender, I welcome the OP's opinion. I want to hear both positive and negative reviews.

 

exactly about the point of being prudent in the decision making and having realistic and pertinent expectation with consideration of all the factors and most importantly, enjoy them as what they are intended to be enjoyed.

personally, a dirty defender with mud, snow, debris and etc all over is the best looking defender as it exemplifies the spirit and essence of what the truck represents and i am not an off-road enthusiast.....yet.

in terms of the “premium” cost, it’s a valid point. Though, the MSRP of a 1995 defender is about $29275. So after inflation adjustment, it’s equivalent to $51,299 which is pretty much exactly what a base defender costs today. So in a way, the defender today is no more delicate and premium than the defender back in 1995 based on their price.