New Defender envy?

**barney** · 10th August 2021, 02:01 PM

I live on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and work on the Lower North Shore, so I see plenty of new Defenders driving around.

I got to drive one about 8 months ago and was very impressed.
I got an initiated wave from a guy in a black one the other day.
I saw one with a dead headlight the other day.
I've been overtaken by many of them.

They are a very cool vehicle and if I had any chance of making enough money to not only buy one, but maintain it as well, I would probably do it. But I can barely maintain the two I have.
But given the limited space in the back of the 110 and my intimate knowledge of the shortcomings of a vehicle so dependant on computers for everything, my 1984 110 V8 and my 2003 TD5 90 would be staying if I ever planned to do any extended trips into the unknown.

The original Defender was classless. It was the favourite car of farmers, company directors, tradesmen and royalty. Now, with the new one, as they are so much more expensive than the previous models were, it is creating a class-divide.

Gone is rugged "go anywhere, I don't care if my feet get wet, drive in the rain with the window down because I have to put my elbow out" that some will be glad to see the tail end of, but if they didn't like it, they could always buy a disco. The comradeship between Defender owners is fading as there are now 2 groups, or is it 2 classes? Your traditional Defender owner could be anyone - you just never knew by their vehicle. The New Defender owner is earning a fair bit of money (or has no mortgage or kids) will probably drive around in the bush with the windows up and climate control on in dead silence "enjoying" the great outdoors.
I have always argued that you are not really experiencing 4wding in the Australian bush unless you are getting smashed in the face by wayward branches every now and then or trying to shoo a wasp/bee/spider/bull ant out of your cabin while trying not to run into a tree.

A lot of people will disagree with me and say I'm just jealous. I'm not, I'm just a bit disappointed.

I still think it's a great vehicle, but my budget will never stretch that far and I'm ok with that.

**one_iota** · 10th August 2021, 05:53 PM

Lots of food for thought there Barney....as a current "classic" Defender owner and new "Defender" aspirant I'll have to compose my thoughts and reply when those thoughts have been gathered.

**chuck** · 10th August 2021, 07:04 PM

Must admit that sums me up to - disappointed.

I priced up a what i thought was a nice Defender and it came to $136,000.

I even left off a few big ticket items.

Significantly more expensive than my D5.

**grey_ghost** · 10th August 2021, 07:11 PM

There is so much that could be said on this - essentially it all has been already.

But - the old Defender is dead. It wasn’t profitable, it didn’t meet strict regulations in the USA/EU, and at the end of the day - people simply weren’t buying it enough.

If the old Defender was so great - how come nobody bought it?

Yes the new Defender isn’t the same as the old one, but it was never going to be.

It’s like someone saying “I love my old B&W television. It had valves, rarely broke down, and was easy to tune.”

Yeah - I get that, but the government moved away from Analogue, forcing manufacturers to go Digital, with remote controls, streaming, apps, many more channels, lighter units, bigger units (can you imagine an 80” CRT screen?!)

Was land rover going to build a new Defender without the same (or more) tech than it’s rivals? Well clearly the answer is no.

Let’s all be honest with ourselves - we all like to think that we are outback adventures (me included), but how much time do we really spend driving a vehicle in the “hard” or “extreme” conditions versus on the bitumen getting there! (Hell it is bitumen all the way to Marree now!)

Not as much as we would all like.

So Land Rover built a vehicle that is great on road, and great off road.. And they can’t make enough of them.

LR were never going to build a new Defender that was the same as the old one, which wasn’t selling….

Look at the Grenadier - it was going to be everything that the new Defender wasn’t… It isn’t built in the UK (the economics didn’t add up), it has a BMW engine, it’s automatic, and it has plenty of electronics in it (touch screen anyone?). I am not saying that it’s not a great vehicle - what I am saying is that when they designed it, they realised that due to regulations/economics - they couldn’t build an old Defender and make money.

Live and let live I rekon!

Remembering - I drive an FFR, 101, Series 2, Disco 1, 4DR RRC, Freelander 1 and am restoring a 2DR RRC and Series 1.. So I love my old Landy’s.

But I think that the new Defender (although expensive) is what it should be…

Just my opinion though.

Cheers,
GG

**I Love My Landy!** · 10th August 2021, 07:15 PM

Very well written Barney! I could sympathise with many of your thoughts.

I was hoping that the new Defender was going to be affordable and so much better than the old Defender that people would move on from the old ones and prices for them would drop so I could finally afford to upgrade from my 600,000 km old 110, but alas, everything has done the opposite!

I won't be buying a new one. They don't appeal to me. Being worth about $120,000 more than what I can afford doesn't help either... I do hope that the owners of the new ones love them though!

Edward

**I Love My Landy!** · 10th August 2021, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by grey_ghost

(Hell it is bitumen all the way to Marree now!)

GG

Wow!

**chuck** · 10th August 2021, 08:36 PM

Not disappointed with the car - disappointed with the price.

Originally during development it was marketed as being more affordable than it ended up.

I guess that was the disappointment waiting for the release for so long & then finding out the price.

TB · 11th August 2021, 07:07 AM

Barney, those are insightful thoughts well expressed. Nice one.

Just want to reassure you though that when I'm in low range among the trees in my new 110, the aircon is switched off, the windows are down and the sunroof is at least cracked if not fully open. How can you enjoy the bush if you can't hear it or smell it?

Come to think of it, I'm yet to hand wash this thing (it's had the cheapest brushless car wash treatment a fair few times) and I smile to myself at seeing the dirt on the rubber floor in the drivers footwell. No fully-capable modern 4WD is cheap, but even so I don't think the Defender spirit is actually departed yet.

**jon3950** · 11th August 2021, 03:37 PM

I think one only needs to compare it to the 300 Series. Starts to look like good value. At least its a modern design.

**one_iota** · 11th August 2021, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by one_iota

Lots of food for thought there Barney....as a current "classic" Defender owner and new "Defender" aspirant I'll have to compose my thoughts and reply when those thoughts have been gathered.

GreyGhost covered a lot of ground with that reply.

So some thoughts to share:

As I am looking 10 years ahead my beloved Defender will be quite old like me so replacement now is warranted. If I was to let my head rule my heart the obvious replacement is a Toyota 70 series but as a LR tragic that would be unthinkable. Of course, I could keep my old Defender and have a new "Defender". That would deprive someone else of the experience and take up room in the shed.

The second thought gets a bit esoteric. There is a book called "Status Anxiety" written by Alain de Botton. In this book he touches a lot of nerves...so many I couldn't finish it. My anxiety is that being an owner of a new Defender will demote me from my current status of owning a cool and characterful vehicle to being a ****** with way too much money looked down upon by owners of said "Classic" Defenders. Of course, the only way to deal with this is to wave.

Defender is only a name. Land Rover is the brand.

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