Which Land Rover Defender should I buy?
Land Rover’s configurator works overtime trying to spec the perfect model.
The Defender SE with the Adventure Pack. Photo: Liz Dobson
As the owner of a 2013 Range Rover Vogue SE Supercharged, Range Rover 2006 Sport HSE and a 1995 Range Rover Vogue SE Classic, it’s clear I like the brand.
It’s the ruggedness and go anywhere engineering that I love. The designs are all classic and stand the test of the time.
I have also been playing around with buying the previous Land Rover Defender and my heart came close on two 2016 models. One was a tantalising three-door 90 with just 2500km on the dial, and the other was a 110 with 20,000km.
My head wondered whether, practically, the older cars would really suit me, whilst my heart said, “who cares and they might be a good investment”.
But these recent unusual times have made me (only at the last minute) act a bit more prudently and ultimately my head ruled.
The all-new Land Rover Defender, for me, was like a dysfunctional relationship with an ex-partner. I am speaking imaginatively but there was a certain reassurance that the Defender had all the war scars of the past with the potential of a new future ahead. However, my head and heart played games as to whether it was totally right or just plain wrong!
AutoMuse had the new Defender for what was originally for three days, to eventually a week due to level 3 lockdown.
The Vogue (left) meets the Defender at Parihoa. Photo: Matt Chapman
As it drove into Parihoa, it captivated me with its striking looks. Beside my 2013 Vogue SE, the new Defender instantly looked futuristic and made the other car look dated.
The new Defender hides its 5 metre length well with its design. It looks smaller than the Range Rover, but a lot more upright with its square bonnet and square rear end. However these chunky features are rounded off with curves.
I remember Volvo doing the same when it went to the 850 after many years with the 740/940 models.
It works well on the new Defender, bringing a link between the upright original and the swoopier current version. I kept on staring at it, finding myself “seeing” the original in the 2020 version.
The styling isn’t for everyone’s tastes and I don’t think it was for mine, truth be told. But it grew on me quickly as different and will probably stand the test of time. I like cars that may still look good in a decade and I think this will be one.
The rear light design, again, isn't attractive I think but it’s distinctive. The new Defender won’t be mistaken for anything else but to some eyes it may look fussy.
My favourite feature was the daytime running lights that light the half oval front lights although beware this feature is only available on the SE upwards.
The rear lights are distinctive in the Defender. Photo: Liz Dobson
The interior is utilitarian in a 2020 way and it works beautifully. But don’t expect a Range Rover or even a Discovery, comfort wise. Ideally you will have both or all three if you want different cars for different courses!
The new Defender ties with the original in being simple to maintain on the inside. That can lead the new one feeling overpriced and underdone if you want something luxurious or just right! Again this aspect grew on me.
Speccing the new Defender really threw me. There are literally limitless combinations and I spent many hours on the configurator. What’s tricky is that you then start to imagine the 20 or 30 new Defenders you could spec that you would really like. There is also a great Instagram site called LandRoverDiscovery_2020 that I lost hours in.
The ideal for me, configuration-wise, ended up being a Santorini Black D240 SE with no high cost trim or electronic options, and then getting the lower silver pieces on the lower front and lower rear painted satin black with the roof remaining in satin black.
The James Bond Defender in action in No Time to Die. Photo: Supplied
What inspired me was a blacked out Defender that will feature in the next James Bond movie, No Time To Die.
I would then vinyl wrap the rest of the car and black the wheels, which would be the 20in five-spoke in grey or silver.
Dave at the Wrap Shop offered some prices to transform it to all black. It worked out the same cost as speccing Land Rover’s Satin Paint Protection, which is $5600, and that is only available on the green, gold and silver Defenders.
Wanting to use the car off-road and not in the city, the “wrap” would protect the paint and could be peeled off in the years to come to reveal nice gloss paint.
I loved the simplicity and also liked the look when it’s dirty, although I hoped the matte finish would make it easier to maintain, especially with a ceramic coating over the top. Dave said it could just be hosed off, and I certainly hope so otherwise this might be a nightmare to maintain!
The SE spec was necessary to get the daylight running lights, heated windscreen and adaptive cruise control, over the S version.
Interestingly the First Edition, whilst having many goodies, missed these first two features.
The Defender’s interior is utilitarian in a 2020 way. Photo: Liz Dobson
Ideally I would add the Land Rover roof rack, later, as it’s $4900 and I would see how the car grows on me without it.
I would prefer the acorn lighter interior but an ebony interior would be hardier. Mine would have five seats to allow a completely flat floor when the seats are folded, for the occasional night I might sleep in the back. The seven seat option doesn’t allow a completely flat back floor.
But all this speccing for the ultimate new Defender pushed it to130,000, left me doubting and if I was going down the wrong rabbit hole. Is this a car meant to be so hedonistic on speccing? Isn’t that better for a Discovery or Range Rover? The Defender is about transcontinental journeys, rocks, creeks and really roughing it.
That led me to thinking would a base model, D200 be sufficient? Should it just be plain, no options and no bling, for $90,000 and use it for what it's built for, in being more utilitarian and closer to the original? It could be the answer.
The configuration offered up this base model. Photo: Supplied
I was also yet to try the P400 with the petrol engine. Yes a diesel is better on economy and has fewer trips to the petrol station. But would the 400 be smoother and more liveable with motorway driving? The D200 and D240 would be better off road.
Which keeps bringing back the question to what do you want this car for: The “real thing” or to have it as a cut down Range Rover for all situations?
Or do you just shut your eyes, do it, and step into a category-defining vehicle with so much ambiguity on who the owners will be and how it will be used? This was the conundrum.
I was tempted to put two cars into this one: That would have been offloading my 2013 Vogue SE and my 2006 Sport into one solution - the above D240. That says something. I am not sure it’s good or bad, right or wrong.
The new Defender really gets you thinking of what could be and perhaps what you should leave behind (two great cars). It’s a simpler future, letting go of a complicated past!
The story is not over yet but for now I will close it, hit send to file this report and see what happens next.
A special thanks to Sam at Duncan & Ebett in Hamilton who journeyed with me on this inadvertent psychological study. Shout outs too to Corey at Archibald’s in Christchurch, Dale at Armstrong Prestige in Dunedin, Dave at the Wrap Shop and, of course, Luke at Land Rover’s head office. And the many die hard Land Rover friends and some who were not die hard, with their many opinions!
