tottot
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 8,027
- Location
- west wales coast
Is the non opening from inside of the rear door getting sorted?
Defender L663 review !
- Thread starter lightning
- Start date
This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Minor update
Off road again today. The ride quality off road (well, on bridleways) seems to have mysteriously improved.
The suspension must have needed time to bed in or something. That's good news because initially it was not as good as l expected.
Off road again today. The ride quality off road (well, on bridleways) seems to have mysteriously improved.
The suspension must have needed time to bed in or something. That's good news because initially it was not as good as l expected.
Hicap phill
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 16,237
- Location
- Wiltshire
The joints need to stretch
LR Specialist (who bought my old 110, and still have it up for sale) have thrown me a curve ball.
lt took me months to make the decision to buy the new one, and now they've offered me £3,000 more than l paid for my new one plus my old one back at the same price they paid me for it.
More sleepless nights.....although l wouldn't be much better off in the end. Not sure l want to go back to where l was before.
lt took me months to make the decision to buy the new one, and now they've offered me £3,000 more than l paid for my new one plus my old one back at the same price they paid me for it.
More sleepless nights.....although l wouldn't be much better off in the end. Not sure l want to go back to where l was before.
Last edited:
tottot
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 8,027
- Location
- west wales coast
Cor blimey.
Don’t hang about!
Given the tax "thing" is open till March - is it an option to order another new one within the time limit, and pocket the £3K ? ...
No there's a nine month waiting list
l've got to look past the emotion (which would have me down to the dealer tomorrow morning and accept their offer) and figure out which vehicle would actually be better going forward in my business.
The arguments for both sides were so involved that four months of talking about it just about resulted in the decision to buy the new one, and my missus was by then totally fed up with me going on about it.
We're going to try towing the caravan this weekend and see how the new one handles that.
lf the old one is better (and it's about more than just engine performance) l may consider taking their offer.
The old 110 was made to tow, it walked it and was a pleasure to use in that capacity.
l've got to look past the emotion (which would have me down to the dealer tomorrow morning and accept their offer) and figure out which vehicle would actually be better going forward in my business.
The arguments for both sides were so involved that four months of talking about it just about resulted in the decision to buy the new one, and my missus was by then totally fed up with me going on about it.
We're going to try towing the caravan this weekend and see how the new one handles that.
lf the old one is better (and it's about more than just engine performance) l may consider taking their offer.
The old 110 was made to tow, it walked it and was a pleasure to use in that capacity.
new to all this
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 243
- Location
- East Sussex
Generally I believe in never looking back and moving forward.
you need what is best for your business and the new one does all of that. As others have said you can’t compare the two.
your old one is a great example for someone but at slightly high mileage how many years of heavy business use would you get out of her?
you sold yours well by the looks of it and bought at the right time. The new one will no doubt always hold its value.
you need what is best for your business and the new one does all of that. As others have said you can’t compare the two.
your old one is a great example for someone but at slightly high mileage how many years of heavy business use would you get out of her?
you sold yours well by the looks of it and bought at the right time. The new one will no doubt always hold its value.
freelance
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 8,685
- Location
- essex and beyond
Yawn
Hicap phill
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 16,237
- Location
- Wiltshire
Don’t do it.
The dealers would class your “new” defender as used & be able to get rid of it quickly.
I see plenty of the new defenders towing heavy kit round the country(some times I think they are over weight) plenty of mini/midi diggers
The dealers would class your “new” defender as used & be able to get rid of it quickly.
I see plenty of the new defenders towing heavy kit round the country(some times I think they are over weight) plenty of mini/midi diggers
Took the caravan for an outing today. Predictably the new Defender had no trouble with it, although it felt a bit more bouncy than my 110.
When attaching a trailer, the Defender asks you to "calibrate" it. First it asks for the length from the hitch to the axle, and then the width.
Then it wants you to "drive straight until calibration is complete" which l wasn't able to do this time due to traffic.
Not sure what difference this will make, l imagine it's for the reverse assist where the screen feels you where the trailer will go if you carry on with your current steering input.
When attaching a trailer, the Defender asks you to "calibrate" it. First it asks for the length from the hitch to the axle, and then the width.
Then it wants you to "drive straight until calibration is complete" which l wasn't able to do this time due to traffic.
Not sure what difference this will make, l imagine it's for the reverse assist where the screen feels you where the trailer will go if you carry on with your current steering input.
I would consider it, if money could be made.. £3K is probably enough to make it worth a small amount of hassle..
However:-
So, dead as a doornail then IMO - stick with what you have..
However:-
So, dead as a doornail then IMO - stick with what you have..
The Grenadier looks really interesting. However there's still no date as to when the first customers will receive their vehicles, l asked the question on a Grenadier forum and nobody could give a date.
Apparently production has "started" but even the lneos website doesn't reveal when the first vehicles will actually be delivered.
l am hoping someone on here is at the front of the queue!
Apparently production has "started" but even the lneos website doesn't reveal when the first vehicles will actually be delivered.
l am hoping someone on here is at the front of the queue!
Another update at 1,500 miles
HOW'S IT GOING THEN?
Okay, mostly
MOSTLY?
l don't like driving an automatic transmission
WHY NOT?
lt's an eight speed and is constantly changing gear. Although it's very smooth, you can tell it's changed gear.
Does it really need eight speeds?
WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM THEN
It's hard to ignore it and a bit like Chinese Water Torture, you don't know when the next gear shift is coming, particularly in slow moving traffic.
Not that l've experienced Chinese Water Torture but l imagine it's similar.
For instance
When moving forward in a traffic queue it will almost immediately change from 1-2 and then back from 2-1 again straight away.
ANY WAY AROUND IT?
You can shift manually and in slow moving traffic it will stay in second gear which makes it a lot smoother.
Manual shifting is a pain on the open road because with so many gears you're always changing gear.
ANYTHING ELSE?
No, the vehicle is running perfectly and has no faults.
Not even a rattle or squeak....very impressive
HAVE I TOWED WITH IT YET?
Yes, it made light work of our 1.000kg caravan and it would be easy to forget you are towing.
Stability was perfect, again no different than when not towing.
ECONOMY?
Around 28mpg overall. Mostly town driving. 40mpg at a steady 70mph
Around 24mpg towing the 'van
HOW'S IT GOING THEN?
Okay, mostly
MOSTLY?
l don't like driving an automatic transmission
WHY NOT?
lt's an eight speed and is constantly changing gear. Although it's very smooth, you can tell it's changed gear.
Does it really need eight speeds?
WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM THEN
It's hard to ignore it and a bit like Chinese Water Torture, you don't know when the next gear shift is coming, particularly in slow moving traffic.
Not that l've experienced Chinese Water Torture but l imagine it's similar.
For instance
When moving forward in a traffic queue it will almost immediately change from 1-2 and then back from 2-1 again straight away.
ANY WAY AROUND IT?
You can shift manually and in slow moving traffic it will stay in second gear which makes it a lot smoother.
Manual shifting is a pain on the open road because with so many gears you're always changing gear.
ANYTHING ELSE?
No, the vehicle is running perfectly and has no faults.
Not even a rattle or squeak....very impressive
HAVE I TOWED WITH IT YET?
Yes, it made light work of our 1.000kg caravan and it would be easy to forget you are towing.
Stability was perfect, again no different than when not towing.
ECONOMY?
Around 28mpg overall. Mostly town driving. 40mpg at a steady 70mph
Around 24mpg towing the 'van
MINOR UPDATE
l read that a software update can improve the automatic transmission. l called my local dealer but they couldn't look at it until the end of March due to a lack of courtesy vehicles.
Land Rover Assist will help you, they said.
Land Rover Assist have been out to the vehicle this Sunday morning (at 7.30am!) The technician was great, he said it needed a software update to the transmission control module.
Can't fault the service from LR.
I've driven the vehicle this morning and initial impressions are that it's much improved in terms of how well the transmission works.
You don't get that on a Defender TD5. Let's hope it's reliable in the long term, because you won't fix this vehicle on your drive with a socket set and screwdrivers
l read that a software update can improve the automatic transmission. l called my local dealer but they couldn't look at it until the end of March due to a lack of courtesy vehicles.
Land Rover Assist will help you, they said.
Land Rover Assist have been out to the vehicle this Sunday morning (at 7.30am!) The technician was great, he said it needed a software update to the transmission control module.
Can't fault the service from LR.
I've driven the vehicle this morning and initial impressions are that it's much improved in terms of how well the transmission works.
You don't get that on a Defender TD5. Let's hope it's reliable in the long term, because you won't fix this vehicle on your drive with a socket set and screwdrivers
Glad you're getting good service from LR - our experience of LR Assist mirrored yours when we had the FFRR - they were very good.. ..that the vehicle itself was a POS was somewhat outside their remit ...
This is the principal advantage of the modern stuff IMO - that the software can be "tweaked" to sort some/any of the "issues" which somehow get "missed" ( I'm not having a go here - sometimes it becomes obvious that stuff can be improved after the fact as it were .. - D3 crank being a rather obvious example!! - but it can't be fixed in software!).
The minor downside is that, as Crapple proved, an update could also be used to "limit" things - however, as L663's get more common, and after market developers get involved, then I think that door will be closed - in much the same way as TD5 ecu's can be quite easily fixed and remapped now..
..that the vehicle itself was a POS was somewhat outside their remit ...This is the principal advantage of the modern stuff IMO - that the software can be "tweaked" to sort some/any of the "issues" which somehow get "missed" ( I'm not having a go here
- sometimes it becomes obvious that stuff can be improved after the fact as it were .. - D3 crank being a rather obvious example!! - but it can't be fixed in software!).The minor downside is that, as Crapple proved, an update could also be used to "limit" things
- however, as L663's get more common, and after market developers get involved, then I think that door will be closed - in much the same way as TD5 ecu's can be quite easily fixed and remapped now.. Hicap phill
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 16,237
- Location
- Wiltshire
Sounds crazy that they will come out in a Sunday. But as you say you can’t fault services like that.
so as you have a reliable motor are you enjoying the spare spanner time you now have ?
so as you have a reliable motor are you enjoying the spare spanner time you now have ?
