Land Rover Defender Unveil

Off-Ramp
21

I never got the appeal of Land Rovers (any of them really) including the old Defender which having driven one for a few months in high school - was terrible.

However, this weekend I indulged my inner basic bitch and had a 2019 RR Sport for a quick jaunt up the SoCal coast. I did not choose the pumpkin spice latte that usually comes with it.

So NOW I get it. Yes it had issues (the climate control screen inexplicably turned off and refused to wake up until the car had been turned off) But I loved the driving position, the seats, decent(ish) power and at least an initial feeling of quality (so THAT’S why JD power has that category)

So now I’m totally all in. I love the look of the 90. It will have the same reliability(ish) of the Wrangler and probably cost the same as the higher trim level ones. There’s not a chance these will ever be leaseable with decent numbers and even less of a chance of me ever purchasing a Land Rover but I predict I’ll see a LOT of these in Los Angeles.

1 Like
22

There are pins deals from time to time.

Glad you got it. If you ever do a LR Driving Experience, you’ll get to drive it up and down a hill at almost 90 degrees and drive it on two wheels (not a side wheelie but eg passenger front and driver back).

23

I want one too, but I get the sense the only way I ever will is to buy a very slightly used one. Let someone else bend over on that depreciation.

ETA: Just built one out, $75k - I’d bet that it leases even worse than a RRS. It’s a 2% lease, lol.

24

:rofl: on pin deals.

Reminds of a LH’er who harassed JLR employees on linkedin for F&F PINs.

3 Likes
25

I hate that happened to @Bostoncarconcierge but Pin deals do exist. I became aware of pin deals about a year before I read that sad tale, I’m sure others knew before that.

In 2018 I saw $599/mo pin leases on Velars and another crazy Jag one ($699 F Pace? Not recalling at the moment).

26

That’s why the dealers simply call them “VIP” cars.

27

From what I’ve seen, most PIN deals don’t go to customers, they go home with employees.

28

Think of it as a … dealer to client … lease assumption
That’s why the warranty has started for those…

29

I don’t hate it.

30

Just built one. Well, it’s starts cheaper than I thought. Can’t believe that they want $12,500 for the engine upgrade, although I did see that coming. It was the same deal with the Velar, I loved it, thought it was awesome, but by the time I built it, it was 90k. And although I like it, the Velar shouldn’t be more than like 70k loaded.

31

Well the Defender seems to be carrying the LR torch

I could listen to customers recount these kind of issues all day, every day.

2 Likes
32

I don’t understand how they could be in business for this long, go through so many acquisitions, and learn almost nothing about reliability and electrical systems.

2 Likes
33

They’re 10 days from Lemon Lawing it… It’s really sad to see.

1 Like
34

Motor Trend also commented on build-quality issues in their car(s) and said that they were told it was b/c the car was an early production build and b/c of supply-chain disruptions b/c of the pandemic. Hmmmm…

1 Like
35

Every vin I looked at was built at Solihull in the UK.

36

I honestly don’t understand how they continue as a viable business. Every owner seems to have a ‘never again’ mentality after spending even a short amount of time with a JLR product.

Is it just that they give really nice loaners?

1 Like
37

I had an evoque for several years and it was flawless. I was quite happy with it. Granted, I sold it as soon as the warranty was expiring because I’m not crazy, but I never had to use it.

38

The good ones are good. The bad ones are terrible, and frequently unfixable.

Their ratio of bad/good seems worse than nearly anyone else, making anything remotely comparable.

Still the hottest thing on a flat bed.