Thread: Why have Land Rover only made minor changes to the DEFENDER over the years??

Originally Posted by gusthedog

LR haven't changed for so long because they are stupid and stuck in the past.



I understand that people love defenders and I've had two myself. But when you look at some of the inherent weaknesses, they should have been solved before counties turned into defenders. Like room for a driver, lining up panels, reliability, water ingress, weak diffs and gearboxes on later models, lack of any safety (eg: airbags, crumple zones etc etc). People either love them or hate them and they are a purchase made with the heart, not the head. Of course all of this rant is in my humble opinion. Instead of a massive change in 2015, they should have evolved like other brands have throughout their history. Instead, they are stuck in the past and are reminiscent of an old world superpowers approach to building a car - if we build it, they will buy it because it's a land rover.

I can tell you that I won't be paying 60k plus for a vehicle that leaks, has a 71% chance of breaking down in the first three years (Land Rover revealed as the UK's least reliable car, as 71 per cent over three years-old break down at least once a year | Mail Online) or has no safety to speak of.



End of rant.

I suppose it comes down to personal taste, I used to have a Hilux dual cab from new for 5 years and it had its share of problems. It all comes down how you treat them. I love my new defender and yes very agricultural but I enjoy it more than the Hilux.
If they don't produce a new version, well that is how it is these days, all about profits, at least I have one now.

Originally Posted by stealth

So what is exactly supposed to happen in 2015?

You haven't heard?

They are changing Land Rover on the bonnet to Defender.

Another massive change

Oh, and in 2016,it gets an all new body,gets loaded with electronics and a new drive train.

Sort of come in late

Defender - Landie - apart from many of the opinions already voiced here, and concurring with many, would also suggest in addition to those is the $$$$$$$$$$/Pounds. Someone mentioned hand assembled and cost. Yep, but Landies R&D and tooling has been amortised many times over, and it still "works". You can also bet that it was cheaper to put RRC and D1 running gear underneath than it was to continue to build what by then had become the "orphan" Series chassis etc.

All same same Ford's F series utes/trucks and the GM's Blazer and the Chrysler Ram Series. All produced with minor changes year after year and are licences to print money...............all "grandfathered" as is/was Defender till the Eurocrats came calling.

Cheers

RF

The reason that the current Defender looks like Land Rovers of old is really due to lack of investment by various parent companies. Remember the series 111 was never ment to be. After the introduction of the series 11A the Land Rover design office came up with a completely new design of vehicle to replace the series 11A. They were not given funds to go any further than this design stage but told instead to come up with some "improvements" for the existing model i.e. the series 11A. The money they wanted was used to help the car division with their products.
The powers that be reasoned that as the Land Rover was selling in large volumes with no competition on home soil and import preference rates of duty in the commonwealth why spend money on it. The proposed replacement for the series 11A that got no further than the drawing board was very car like in appearance. Should have a photo in an article somewhere. If I can locate it I'll stick it up.

Originally Posted by Judo

I've wondered that as well, and the fact that it takes so many years to develop and build a vehicle, must surely be why there are such high costs associated with cars in general. I often wonder how much effort goes into trying to streamline the R&D and build process? Labour is surely the main cost in all that, so for every month they could get ahead, it would equal good savings.

Is it really that hard to make a car?

Absolutely,not just designing the thing but tooling up the factory for it,it's a huge undertaking. Pat

Originally Posted by gusthedog

LR haven't changed for so long because they are stupid and stuck in the past.

I understand that people love defenders and I've had two myself. But when you look at some of the inherent weaknesses, they should have been solved before counties turned into defenders. Like room for a driver, lining up panels, reliability, water ingress, weak diffs and gearboxes on later models, lack of any safety (eg: airbags, crumple zones etc etc). People either love them or hate them and they are a purchase made with the heart, not the head. Of course all of this rant is in my humble opinion. Instead of a massive change in 2015, they should have evolved like other brands have throughout their history. Instead, they are stuck in the past and are reminiscent of an old world superpowers approach to building a car - if we build it, they will buy it because it's a land rover.
I can tell you that I won't be paying 60k plus for a vehicle that leaks, has a 71% chance of breaking down in the first three years (Land Rover revealed as the UK's least reliable car, as 71 per cent over three years-old break down at least once a year | Mail Online) or has no safety to speak of.

End of rant.

Good to see you've based all that on facts . Pat

Hi Volton , one of the reasons Land Rover have been slow to change was customer pressure . As we all know Land Rover have sold to many Armed Forces , and governments large fleets all over the world , including here in Australia . If they were to keep changing models and designs every few years , then spare parts would be a nightmare . This is one of the reasons Nissan , or Toyota , or Mitsubishi don't even tenner because they don't want to be making parts for twenty or so years . Mercedes are one of only a few prepared to do so . After Afghanistan the Land Rovers were found to be no good when IEDs went off ,giving on protection to the occupants , So even the British Army has had to look at there function in a war zone . I must agree on a lot of other comments that have also been made on this post ,cheers Jim...

Fans of Defenders may also appreciate this: looks too good to be true (condition, not make).
1982 Toyota Landcruiser HJ60RG Deluxe