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@Ftbnc Anyone who has more than 1 Land Rover in their vehicle history will tell you that weird stuff happens, Lucas is the Prince of Darkness, and that it is like a long term marriage: you know all her faults and you still love her.
I've also developed a close friendship with a local 3rd party Land Rover service department and will avoid the Dealer's version like the first month of the COVID pandemic.
Excellent points. I think people coming from Audi & BMW will appreciate a Defender for how it drives and it's amazing capabilities, and more easily accept the faults. I had a couple of Audi allroads that I loved despite numerous issues. People coming from a Lexus transportation appliance will lose their minds with a Defender ownership experience.
I agree, my local dealer is useless. A big dealer conglomerate bought the two nearby Land Rover dealerships then proceeded to close one. So now the one that is left is overwhelmed and lead time for a service appointment with a loaner car is over a month.
I own an MY20 P300. I have used it as my daily driver and have taken it off-road. Minimal issues but mostly because it was in the first lot to be delivered. Air strut leaking, fixed under warranty and new models don't have an issue. Coolant issue but it looks like it was under filled and has been correct. The defender has been one of my favorite cars to own. You will be very happy with it.
I know there's not going to be huge jump in reliability because at the core it's a Land Rover, but I'm hoping for a decent improvement in reliabilty from MY20 to MY23 as they work out the kinks
You have to love them or not!! I bought my first LR in '96, a Disco 1, put over 200K miles on it, had a '04Disco 2 after, put 150K mile on it. I then owned a '09 LR3, put 160K mile on that one, owned a '13 LR4 for about 3 months, hated it. Different trim level than the LR3, traded it in on my '20.5 Defender 110, and loving it, 17K miles, no problems.
I've had many issues with the LR's over the years, but they never left me stranded, like I said I love them.
Oh yeah, I also own a '66 Series IIa pick up and a '89 110 CSW.
They're in my blood.
BTW, I've a friend who says that BMW has gone the wrong way over the last few years and doesn't respect them anymore, and he was a die hard Bimmer guy.
BTW, I've a friend who says that BMW has gone the wrong way over the last few years and doesn't respect them anymore, and he was a die hard Bimmer guy.
I have to agree. When we were shopping for a vehicle we could get in a reasonable amount of time, the base X5 seemed on par with the new MDX and Genesis GV80. But once we test drove the M50i, we couldn't stop smiling and knew we found the X5 we wanted. Looking forward to seeing that same BMW V8 in more LR models.
As others have mentioned, forums will be a mixed bag for reliability feedback.
My experience - 2021 110 P300, base trim. About 10K miles in one year. Some mild off roaring, commuting, and a couple of road trips (Puget Sound to Montana). Zero issues (other than a rock chip in the windshield). Called the other day to schedule a one year service and they said if I wasn’t having issues, bring it back closer to 15K miles.
I have about 12k miles on mine 2022 90 p300 and daily driving it well over 1k miles per month. Had it in the dealers for a tail-light issue and one stall incident, aside from that just the a-pillar flap noise and misc seat clicking noises. As for reliability the jury is still out in my opinion. I need a lot more miles on to decide.
So far I love a lot about it and would recommend it but yes there were some issues as stated. Retaining value is big, can't argue with that, I'd just dive in as long as you can swing the payments I'd say it's worth it.
this forum is so helpful!
