When is it time to say goodbye?

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Nechaken

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Having owned a Defender for over a year, I have finally accepted the unique styling. LR4 is just a classic, timeless design. And I really miss the load space of the LR4, I can see myself getting a 130 once they are available.

Now the positives...on road handling is amazing. No idea how they got something so tall to handle and steer so well at speed. I did get the optional torque vectoring which I'm sure helps.

Off road ability is far better than the LR4. Really. I can just drive off the road onto the beach in really deep soft sand. No sand mode, no low gear or airing down needed. But nice to know those options are there. Same with deep snow...absolute beast that feels unstoppable.

But in all honesty, still miss our LR4. It just did it all!

I wonder how much of the snow / sand improvement is the loss of 800-1000 lb of weight.
 

sonicpix

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I have a 2006 LR3 HSE with 260k km. Also in Canada. My repairs have been mostly typical. I'm getting bearings done now. The suspension compressor went. I've been lucky but it sounds like I have the best of the engines. Thought the same thing about getting rid of it. But what would I get as a replacement. I tell people, you don't buy a Land Rover, so much as you take it on as a hobby.
 

Mozambique

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Diesel?
Of course all LR4's and every other SUV should be diesel..........THANK YOU VW for terminally killing diesels in North America not only once, but twice!
Even though diesel popularity is waning in Europe due to VW and particulate emission concerns, in my mind we would all be better off driving diesels re. better gas mileage / lower CO2 emissions at least until EV infrastructure is decent and EV car costs have come down.
 

PaulLR3

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I wonder how much of the snow / sand improvement is the loss of 800-1000 lb of weight.

I'm sure that helps but the Defender terrain response software is on an entirely different level of genius. (LR4 terrain response programming goes back to the 2005 LR3) There is even low traction launch mode and low traction cruise control. Or you can configure all the terrain response settings/differentials yourself. (No idea why - vehicle is far smarter than whatever I would select)
 

Winegrower

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Owning the Land Rover is one of those emotional decisions on which the human brain makes about 85% of it's decisions. Often illogical, erronous, and even incorrect it's those decisions that create happiness. And I must say the LR makes me happier than I've been with a vehicle for years. What cost happiness? What's disposable income for anyway?
 

remember5

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I'm sure that helps but the Defender terrain response software is on an entirely different level of genius. (LR4 terrain response programming goes back to the 2005 LR3) There is even low traction launch mode and low traction cruise control. Or you can configure all the terrain response settings/differentials yourself. (No idea why - vehicle is far smarter than whatever I would select)
Curious how your year of Defender ownership has been as far as issues with the vehicle. Many reported problems upon delivery so I wondered a year later what problems may have come up that had to be fixed.
 

wallyyfm

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I feel your pain - I have a 2010 with 240k miles on it and I just listed it because I have a new VW ID4 coming and don't have the garage space.sure, it was expensive to maintain but as stated above - always a pleasure to drive with pride (almost always). I listed (see link) it high and sure to get a bunch of low ball offers. but a car is worth what? a car I worth what someone will pay for it and I want someone who appreciates it to take for the next 240kmiles... I know an EV is no replacement for it bt it is slightly offsetting the 12 years of premium fuel ;-). do we know of many other owners at this mileage ?
ID4 owner here hit me up for any issues, I’ve had a couple.
 

PaulLR3

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Curious how your year of Defender ownership has been as far as issues with the vehicle. Many reported problems upon delivery so I wondered a year later what problems may have come up that had to be fixed.

No problems at all with our Defender. I suspect the robots in the new Nitra plant do a decent assembly job. Many early complaints were about loose A-pillar trim and the trim rattling in windy conditions. Or the dumb people that selected "update now" when notified of an available OTA software update and had to sit and wait 20 minutes while it downloaded and installed. I think once my radio sound didn't return after a phone call. Having owned JLR products for years I knew exactly how to fix it...simple restart.
 

ryanjl

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I'll hand it to Land Rover. For a totally new vehicle, the Defender seems pretty reliable. The only notorious issues I am aware of are:

1. TFL's first Defender that had some sort of engine problem and had to be bought back by Land Rover. I haven't heard of anyone else having a similar issue with the 2.0 engine.

2. Some other lesser-know youtuber who had a suspension issue while he was driving off road. Turned out to be an airline got disconnected from a strut, which seems more like an isolated issue than any widespread problem.
 

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