Thread: New Defender - LR or Retro-fit?

any accessories fitted by the dealer come under your warranty......so that is also something to think about, however pretty sure they have to be fitted in the first 6 months I think

G'day DukeR,

I am in the same boat, waiting for the new 110 to arrive...
I went down the avenue of getting a price on genuine LR accessories and ended up ordering mine all through ARB.
I asked the dealer about a bullbar, tow bar etc and they use ARB anyway.
Warranty issues are not a problem when fitted to your new car because the items that you put on are warranted by ARB them selves.
If a warranty claim is in order they will asses if the option you added, caused the warranty claim and if so, it will be an ARB claim, not LR.

Hope this makes sense!

Also, going direct to ARB to order my stuff I ended up saving $1820 compared to what LR were going to charge!
Bulk buy in one go if you can afford it and the savings will be really good!

Another really good place worth checking out for accessories is Rovercraft, ordered my side steps/rocksliders through them and was a really good price!

This is my own experience with the dealer and what shopping around has saved, hope this helps.

Povman.

Originally Posted by povman

This is my own experience with the dealer and what shopping around has saved, hope this helps.

Povman.

Hey Povman,

It certainly does help - thanks for the response.

Duke

Originally Posted by dullbird

any accessories fitted by the dealer come under your warranty......so that is also something to think about, however pretty sure they have to be fitted in the first 6 months I think

Cheers for that.

Yeah - I think I actually read in my wonderings that it was 3 months lee-way. Still, it does give a little lee-way re accessories.

Yes, 3 months & then they're covered for the full 3 years rather than just 1 year under Parts Warranty. That's for genuine LR accessories of course.

I have just been down this path myself, having picked up my D90 last week. I went for all original equipment, tied in with an extended warranty so all my extras are now covered for 6 years, not something I expect you will get from ARB. Indeed many aftermarket purchases are only covered by their warranty for one year. The other thing to consider is the Land Rover prices include installation so you need to add this on to the aftermarket cost. Dealers my well fit ARB or other accessories at the time of purchase but don't be fooled, they will not be cover by the Land Rover Warranty unless they are Land Rover original equipment (eg Warn 9.5Ti winch).

Currently, genuine accessories need to be fitted within one month or 1,500 km (which ever comes first) to be cover by the vehicle warranty, not six months though that could well have been the situation in the past.

Hey Karl,

Thanks for the response.

Did you just go with the A-Frame bar and winch? I'm not sure about the A-Frame - doesn't seem enough protection for me.

Cheers,

Duke

G'day Duke

This was my sixth Land Rover purchase (not unusual on this forum) and I have had bull bars in the past. Question is what do you want to protect, what from, and in what sort of collision. Hit a cow at even 30 km per hour and you will do considerable damage to the front of your vehicle and the bull bar, similarly hit a kangaroo at 60 kph and the damage is the same. You hear all sorts of stories about how the bull bar saved my life etc. but the real evidence that the bull bar makes any real difference is just not there. Indeed if there is any evidence it is that they are dangerous to others, particularly pedestrians and bike riders. I am not suggesting we ban them or anything like that, I just think their role in protecting the vehicle is a bit over rated but accept that others, often with far more experience and wisdom than me, have a contrary view. Still if we all went the way of the majority view we would all be driving Toyos.

As for the A-bar, it does afford some protection (as would a bull bar) for the radiator (you can always get home with a buggered mud guard, but much harder with a buggered radiator). The other thing you can do with the A-bar (as again you can with a bull bar) is mount "driving lights" (but need to be mindful of their affect on air flow); and you can mount an antenna though the OEM A-bar brackets at the top, are plastic and need to be replaced with metal ones (available mail order from Mantec for under $40 to your door and then 10 minutes to install).

You can get the OEM winch without the A-bar, and winch price includes the heavy duty winch bumper. The fit is very neat and certainly doesn't compromise the approach angle any more than is absolutely necessary.

Other extras I got were raised air intake and front mud flaps; and also, so I didn't have to wait until July when the next lot are coming into the country, dual finish alloys and sun roof (these two are factory fitted options that the dealer can't change), and metallic paint. I have posted a picture of the Beastie under "Show us your Deefers".

Cheers
KarlB