Thread: Considering a Defender, A Few Questions

Originally Posted by Beery

Hi everyone. Thought it was about time I stopped just reading and joined the conversation!
Pickles, you're about spot on with the wait time...I placed an order for a MY15 130 crew cab chassis on 13 June (it was a Friday as well..I hope its not a bad omen! ).
Got a call from the dealer last week giving me a rough delivery date of early November...so thats about 5 months.
Went with the option of ABS, ETC & DSC too...I wonder if it will be one of the first 130s in Australia to have this!?

Tom

Good stuff.
Well, you might be one of the first to have ABS etc etc, I don't know, but you'll certainly be one of the last to take delivery of an iconic 130 in Aus.
What colour will yours be, & what options have you specced?
Funnily enough, we ordered our 90 in June last year, & received it in November.
I was a bit worried as the build date approached as there was the threat of considerable strike action a Solihull, which I thought might delay things, but the strike was averted, & all was well.
You may be interested in asking your Dealer to supply you with copies of the ordering docs for your 130,...they show the order date, build date, options etc, & you can get an update when a VIN is allocated!
Your wait will be worth it. Pickles.

I didn't go too crazy with the extras, but it will have:

• Corris Grey with body coloured roof and wheel arches
• Front mudflaps
• Genuine rubber floor mats (they chucked them in as a sweetener)
• ABS/DSC/ETC

It'll also get a Dubbo City Welding steel dropside tray.

I wanted to get the premium part leather front seats...but they're no longer available in the 130. Plus it looks like they've dropped the black ones for MY15 anyway.
Ive got a copy of the contract which has all the vehicle details on it, but of course the boxes for VIN, build date etc are empty...might enquire if I can get that from them now.
Believe me, November cant come quick enough!

G'Day Beery, the documentation I'm talking about is the "internal" Dealer stuff that they have on their computer,...I like to keep all that sort of stuff!
A bit early to get a VIN yet I reckon,...won't happen to closer to build date?
I actually wasn't keen on the premium seats, not that they're no good, just that we preferred the more "traditional" look of the standard seats, which in our case, are heated part leather.
Pickles.

I also wanted the part premium seats but was told they had ceased offering them. I have ended up with all black leather seats. At first it appeared you could only get the new contrast leather look but then they said no problem.

Let's see what I end up with.

Ah right, well I dont have that info. I know the production run started on 7th July so it could be getting built anytime now. But I'd say with a November delivery it might not be built for a while. I'll see what I can get out of them.

I hear what you say about the look of the premium seats Pickles...they do look pretty comfy though! Thinking I might get some custom made sheepskin covers on the standard seats instead...still half the price of the premium seats!

Before ordering I test drove a black 110 wagon that had just been delivered to the dealer (17km on the clock!). Id never actually driven a defender before, although there have always been Landies in the family (Series 2a SWB & '94 300tdi Disco). Straight away, I had a smile on my face. Felt pretty much the same as sitting in the Series 2...a 50 year old vehicle! The angle you look down on the bonnet and everything else, same. The handbake, same. Even the clutch feels the same!
On the road, the steering and body roll around corners just made the smile wider. If only the transmission whine in high gear was still there!

I guess it means you "get" Land Rovers if they have that effect on you!
Tom

Originally Posted by EastFreo

I also wanted the part premium seats but was told they had ceased offering them. I have ended up with all black leather seats. At first it appeared you could only get the new contrast leather look but then they said no problem.

Let's see what I end up with.

I wasn't too keen on the contrast coloured seats. I didnt realise you could get black full leather seats!? Ah well, sheepskins it is for me!

Originally Posted by Beery

I wasn't too keen on the contrast coloured seats. I didnt realise you could get black full leather seats!? Ah well, sheepskins it is for me!

Maybe not.
There is a time frame before build where you can still lock in changes,...See your Dealer if ya wanna change something.
Pickles.

Update
=====

The vehicle the dealer had hoped to secure for me had already been sold to someone else (anyone on here?).

I was offered another identical vehicle with cloth seats (for a discounted price) but eventually managed to talk the dealer into doing full leather seats for the original price.

The best news is that the delivery time is now early-mid August!