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Thoughts after four years of ownership and extended warranty
Hey all, just wanted to do a quick post briefly summing up my ownership experience over the past four years and what I'm doing going forward with my extended warranty.
Today marks four years since I took delivery of my Defender. It also means that I no longer have a factory warranty. I purchased an eight-year, 120,000-mile extended warranty from my dealer for $4,511.43. I like many here prefer not to deal with extended warranties, but since I got special pricing, it was an offer I just couldn't refuse. I think they usually charge like $8k for this warranty. It is a full bumper-to-bumper warranty from ASC Warranty that covers everything except normal wear & tear items and exterior trim pieces. My car is warrantied out until January 2033 or 120,000 miles. As I write this I currently have 39,8xx miles, and plan on using my Defender as a daily for at least another 2-3 years before replacing it with a new daily and using it for off-roading, a winter beater while still driving it regularly. So the eight year mark will come before I reach 120k miles.
My Defender is a 2021MY 110 S P300. I originally was dead set on the P400, because I was coming from a V8 LR4 and also at the time had a supercharged D5. However, after driving several early vehicles, I just didn't like the throttle response. Below 2500 rpm it just felt completely dead, then you get a surge of torque all the way to redline. I then test drove a P300 and while it has noticeable turbo lag under 3000 rpm at wide open throttle from a standstill, it was very linear and in normal driving conditions, turbo lag is nearly imperceptible. I was very impressed and didn't feel slow or underpowered whatsoever. It has no issues getting up to speed and even when you're already at highways speeds, you can floor at and it still accelerates pretty well. I ended up going with the P300 and ended up saving about $15k compared to the P400 SE that I initially planned on ordering. I have driven newer P400 Defenders, and that throttle lag is no longer a thing. If I were to buy another one, I'd get a P400 or P500. Despite that, I still highly recommend the P300 as it still is a great engine and suits the Defender well. Ideally, I'd prefer that 3.0 I6 diesel that the ROW gets, but the engines we get here - P300 I4, P400 I6 and P500/P525 V8 are all excellent.
I placed my order on October 4, 2020 and took delivery on January 23, 2021. My car arrived exactly as I ordered it with the following options:
- Pangea Green metallic
- Acorn/Lunar Leather/Robust Woven Textile interior
- Light grey powder coated cross beam
- Off-Road Pack: Active electronic rear differential, off-road tires, and the 110v domestic plug socket
- Advanced Off-Road Capability Pack: Terrain Response 2, Configurable Terrain Response, and ATPC
- Comfort & Convenience Pack: Meridian sound system, center console refrigerator, and ambient lighting
- Cold Climate Pack: Heated windshield, heated washer jets, headlight power wash, and heated steering wheel
- Sliding panoramic roof
- Premium LED headlights with signature DRL
- Front fog lights
- 19" Style 6009 wheels
- Heated 12-way semi-powered front seats
- Rough-Cut walnut veneer
Some features like air suspension and the digital instrument cluster were standard equipment at the time, There are a few things I regret not adding including: ClearSight mirror, towing pack, 3-zone climate, HUD, and heated rear seats. Of course, the towing pack and ClearSight mirror can be retrofitted, and I plan on doing both in the near future.
I've also installed accessories over the past four years. The following accessories have been installed:
In terms of maintenance, I've always done oil changes/cabin filter every 5,000 miles, tire rotations every 5,000 miles, brake fluid at 21,000 miles, and I did the rear differential flush at 33,000 miles. I recommend doing this earlier than the recommended 62k intervals set my JLR. I also plan on draining and topping off the transmission fluid at 70k miles. I swapped out my OEM 19" wheels on the Wrangler Adventures for 20" wheels from an LR4 XXV Edition and Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws sized LT265/60R20.
As for warranty repairs:
- 03/2021 the ECU for the fuel pump went bad and was replaced
- 12/2021 the USB ports in the center console stopped working and were replaced
- 12/2022 the A-pillar trim was replaced per TSB# JLRTB0205NAS1
- 11/2023 the 12v battery was replaced as it couldn't keep enough charge to perform an OTA update
- 02/2024 the driver's side LED DRL went bad and headlight assembly was replaced
- 06/2024 the passenger's side LED DRL went bad and headlight assembly was replaced
- 08/2024 the center console armrest damaged and replaced, and TSB# JLRTB0276NAS2 for the keyless entry was performed
- 11/2024 the heated steering wheel quit working and was replaced
- 01/2025 the auxiliary radiator was leaking caused by damage from a rock. Radiator was replaced
Of course the Defender isn't perfect. No vehicle is. As for things I don't like:
- Cargo space in my 110 is abysmal with the second row in place. With it folded it is pretty generous. Still nowhere near as good as my old D5 and LR4.
- I don't really care that much for the swing-out tailgate. I know it has to be there because of the tire, but I miss the split tailgate on my old LR4.
- Headlights aren't that great. Low beams are perfectly acceptable, high beams are abysmal for a full LED system.
- A $70k Land Rover should have full power seats. I'm the only driver, so my seat stays in the same position, so the semi-powered seats are fine. But for the price, it should be full power, not just power backrest and 4-way power lumbar.
- No reverse dip mirrors. This for some reason is tied to the memory seats on JLR products. Since I don't have memory seats, no reverse dip mirrors.
- It is a bit too wide for technical trails. The LR4 was the perfect width. If the Defender was 4"-6" narrower, it'd be perfect.
In all, I still absolutely love this car. It puts a smile on my face every single time I start it up. I still believe the Defender is one of the absolute best SUVs on sale at the moment. It can do just about everything. You can park it in front of the opera or fancy steakhouse on Friday night, tackle the toughest trails on Saturday and use it as a comfortable and luxurious daily the rest of the week. Mine has handled everything I've thrown at it, whether it's road trips, moderate off-road trails, hauling my friends around, or traversing 12" of snow, the Defender has always been my trusty companion allowing me to travel in style while being so confidence-inspiring. I have no intentions of selling it or trading it for a new one. This one is a keeper and here's to many more adventures!
The day before I took delivery. How it arrived off the truck.
Delivery day!
Interior
Off-roading at the Biltmore.
Having fun on the trails!
a Pangea Green tripod.
How it looks today after all the accessories I've installed since delivery.
Last edited by CincyRovers; Jan 24, 2025 at 08:24 AM.
Couldn’t agree more with that ‘smile’ bit in the last paragraph. The Defender is 100% the best SUV daily on sale right now.
Never considered how they will start to become ‘beaters’ soon though…
Great write up! Similar path to me. I regret not having the ClearSight but it was a covid thing. In my next Defender (which is so far in the future they likely won't be around any longer!) I would love to trick out an Octa. But, I'd also rather not plant that much into a vehicle. So my route would be to get a base S so that I could get the Tasmin blue and then add the crap out of options to get almost an X. It really grinds me that colors come with certain trims.
Love the info, the thoughts behind them and the pics!
I made an edit to the original post by listing the things I don't like about the Defender. It is only fair to list some of the negatives. There's no such thing as a perfect car, but the Defender comes awfully close!
Excellent summary! I agree that all the improvements made to the Defender over the LR4 outweigh the loss of cargo area space and the split tailgate.
Our 2021 turns 4 next week. I'll be ordering an identical replacement soon, hoping nothing breaks on it over the 6 months while waiting for the new one to arrive.
Thanks for sharing! I have been waiting for people start doing videos and sharing stories about long-term ownership. It's always funny that they say a "long-term ownership review "after 6 months or a year. Things really get interesting with Land Rover after the warranty and many years have passed.
Thoughts after four years of ownership and extended warranty
