Lightning

The cheapest new Defender is £51,000 for the 90 D250 Commercial lt's got everything that you need as standard. Well, apart from rear seats. There's no such thing as a basic vehicle these days. Also being a Commercial Vehicle the road tax is only £360 and it's exempt from the £2,000+ first year road tax on vehicles over £40,000.

Your only hope will be the Land Rover main dealer, parts supply has improved this year but you'll just have to wait for them to come in to stock. l ordered an interior door handle two weeks ago, there was no stock and no delivery date but it arrived within a week and l have the part now.

UPDATE This was my best effort on a local journey, using "ECO" mode but not holding up the traffic

l had a look at one at the dealer yesterday (the 130) lt actually works really well, so long as you need a vehicle that size. lt would make a great family wagon, particularly if you were using it for holidays. lf anything it does seem to work better than the 110.

l guess you're right. I have always been passionate about cars and if l was working on the design l would want to drive the vehicle as soon as it was available. But l guess in real life that's not how it works. l know someone who worked on the software for the new Defender and he's never driven one either.

Update The renewal premium was £680 with LV 2022 Defender 90 D250 Commercial

What stood out for me was that's he's never actually driven the new Defender, after working on the vehicle and "knowing it for eight years"

l fear the O/P has come....and gone However, just in case. Hopefully you managed to sort this out. What was the cause in the end?

50mpg? l've got a 2022 90 with the D250 (3.0 diesel) and the best l can get on a run is 40mpg. Round town, driving between customers l am averaging 25mpg although if l drive really carefully l can get 28.

I've driven the Grenadier and it is a great vehicle although feels quite large. Nevertheless l would have bought one if it had been classed as "Commercial" by HMRC, which it isn't. So l couldn't put it through my business. lnstead l bought a basic coil sprung Defender 90 Commercial. Putting this through my business has saved me £14,000 in tax, effectively making the Defender £40,000 For my business use the new Defender is fabulous, the D250 diesel generates 600Nm torque at 1500rpm, and towing our caravan is completely effortless. However if l was setting out to drive to Cape Town it would be the Grenadier l would choose.

True enough But it's actually a bit more complicated than that. As it's the "Commercial" version l've been able to put the Defender through my business and saved £14,000 in tax due to the govt scheme that was running last year. So long as l don't sell it because then l would be taxed on the sale price.

Discovery 4 is an awesome vehicle, hindered only by the issues with random engine failure. I would have bought my friends (and saved around £25,000 over the cost of my Defender) but there's too many failures of the TDV6

"Don't get me wrong, I like the new Defender. It is a brilliant Discovery. Which clearly many potential Discovery owners also agree with" Have you owned or driven all three vehicles (Discovery 3/4, Discovery Sport, Defender) to come to this conclusion? The new Defender is nothing like a Discovery, l've driven both Discovery and Discovery Sport. My friend had a Sport until it was stolen. l drove that from time to time. Completely different vehicle My other friend swapped his Discovery 4 for a Defender 110 and l drove that one a fair bit, including towing a twin axle caravan with it. was nothing like a Defender.

But the new Defender still has a full order book and waiting list of up to 15 months on the Commercial version. They are everywhere round here. Sales are what's most important and in that respect JLR will consider the new Defender a total success. lt's a shame JLR didn't build a "Grenadier" though. But l doubt they would have sold as many if it was at all compromised on road. For instance Just look at all the whingeing in reviews about the Grenadier steering. (they've used a steering box as it's a "proper" off road vehicle) I own a new Defender 90 Commercial which is a great vehicle, but if l was crossing Africa l would sell it and buy a Defender TD5 or TDi. While the new one would undoubtedly do it, l would feel more at one with the journey in the old model.

Well, that was an accurate prediction. Basic 2-seater van version starts at £65,000 and the cheapest car version is £75,000

ls nothing straightforward on this vehicle. Couldn't Land Rover have observed the standard wiring colour code for the trailer socket like every other manufacturer?

There will always be a market for extreme versions of vehicles with huge wheels and three times the power of the normal version. l predict that this new model will soon have an 18 month waiting list, Land Rover will build what people will buy, and they'll make more money on these than the regular versions.

Not sure the O/P is still around on this forum.

The O/P never updated. l wonder if he's still got his new Defender

These parts are now coming up second hand as new Defenders get broken for parts after being written off. There was a complete centre console on Ebay last week.

At least you'll probably get all the mounting kit if you buy that one. You can ask that they supply any extra parts needed to fit it. As the vehicle is being broken for parts.

You mean the centre console? There won't be any available second hand unless you can find a Defender being broken for spares. There have been a couple online. Here's one currently for sale, but it isn't cheap. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285474224150?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=roM2goNNT56&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=Cj4IjO6GTG6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY The other option would be to buy the part new from Land Rover. But l am not sure what else you'll need in order to fit it.

Yes it can be disabled. But few do it. l am still surprised on the "stolen" sites such as "Landywatch" how few had any extra security fitted. You would think that by now, everyone would have some extra security devices fitted but many still don't. One owner left their late model 110 under a tree for weeks and l quote "it was greened up" and then they were surprised when it got pinched. When l suggested they might have made more effort to secure it, l got a bollocking online from them.

My Defender doesn't have keyless entry. I believe you can turn it off, if fitted. l put the Disc Lock on overnight which will also make it harder to steal.

Vehicle theft is at epidemic levels, around ten Range Rovers stolen in the London area every DAY apparently, and that's just Range Rovers. Apparently the issue is, the actual ringleaders are often in Eastern Europe and not traceable, all we catch are the "drones" sent over to steal vehicles. Then they just send more. These "drones" are paid £1,000 every vehicle they steal. So plenty of volunteers. When they are caught they are often bailed and disappear. The vehicles leave the country in containers, which apparently can't be checked as there are too many. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a solution.